By Alex Gilbert
Is there a better way to spend a Friday night than collecting new comic books, playing games with friends, and winning prizes?
This past weekend, on March 8, many students had a fantastic time at the Comic Con event held by Campus Activities Board and WARP Gaming. The event ran from 8 to 11 pm in Rivers Memorial Hall, where many exciting events on campus are regularly held.
Around 40 students were lined up at the doors prior to the start of Comic Con, anticipating getting the first selection of the wide range of giveaways. When the event finally started, students were led to the main table, where they encountered a large assortment of free comic books, pins, stickers, capes, and LEGO Star Wars droids. The highlight of the giveaways was the comic books and every student who wanted one could choose a book from the stack to enjoy reading later.
Caylen Hunt, CAB’s newly elected Director of Membership, planned and organized this year’s Comic Con event, and it was a massive success. Hunt was pleased with the high turnout, saying it “was a great way to kick off Nerd Weekend,” with WARP Gaming’s Mario Kart event closing the eventful weekend on Sunday, March 10. Hunt is also treasurer of WARP Gaming, so he was happy to unite both clubs together to host Comic Con.
The fun at Comic Con lasted the whole night, with many games to play and prizes to win. Both sides of Rivers were filled with projectors and Nintendo Switch consoles, allowing everyone to play popular games such as Mortal Kombat, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros. CAB and WARP Gaming also ran tournaments for both Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, allowing students to play competitively against each other. The winner of the Mario Kart tournament received the LEGO Super Mario Piranha Plant set, while the winner of Super Smash Bros won a Kirby plush.
As is typical for Comic Con, costumes and cosplay were heavily encouraged. Many students dressed as their favorite video game, movie, anime, and comic book characters. People in costumes were given exclusive raffle tickets to enter to win a replica of the Iron Man helmet, which was won by a student who dressed as Elvis Presley. In addition to the raffles, a costume contest awarded a lucky costumed student a toy Legend of Zelda Master Sword.
Even people who didn’t dress up still had the chance to win some amazing prizes, such as the Lego Harry Potter Dumbledore’s Office, a Nintendo Switch Lite Bundle, a toy laser sword, a Dungeons and Dragons starter set, and an assortment of Minecraft merchandise. Each student received a raffle ticket upon entering the event, and the winning tickets were pulled at the end of the night. There was a crowd of excitement as a few lucky students went home with some new epic prizes.
The event also kept the entertainment going with the opportunity to have a professional artist draw a goofy caricature drawing of them. It only took a short time to get a drawing made, and many students went home with a memorable piece of personalized artwork.
The Comic Con event was an exciting and fun time for many students who attended, demonstrating the importance of hosting events on campus. Fun events like Comic Con only happen because of the dedication and effort of the hard-working students in clubs such as CAB and WARP Gaming.
Hunt said he always loves organizing and making programs but was nervous to tackle running Comic Con for the first time. “It’s my first time ever running a CAB event, so it was nerve wracking, but especially since it’s Comic Con, I really enjoyed all of it,” Hunt explained. Picking out the prizes and giveaways was one of his favorite parts of running the event, as it made him feel like a little kid choosing them all, with the Iron Man helmet being the highlight. The event came together amazingly and was a memorable time for all students.
