GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 10th annual Grand Rapids Comic Con was held at the DeVos Place over the weekend. Thousands of fans came out dressed as their favorite characters for the event.
“It’s a lot of fun. And, and that’s the whole point of it is get away and escape for a few hours,” said Grand Rapids Comic Con’s Event Director Mark Hodges.
The event’s celebrity guests include George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, and voice actor Tom Kenny, best known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants.
64-year-old Andrew Miller came from Kentucky for the event. Miller is a Star Trek fan, who has been collecting signatures for his jersey. Takei’s signature joined Willaim Shatner’s (James T. Kirk) and Anson Mount’s (Christopher Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds).
At Grand Rapids Comic Con, cosplayers not only dressed up as their favorite characters, but also made the costumes themselves.
Sonja Grasman came to the event as Lucifer Morningstar from the Netflix series The Sandman.
“I started it months and months ago and just did like tiny bits at a time,” said Grasman about the costume. She went on to say, “I drew it out from the basic shapes, got the fabric and put it all together.”
Another visitor, Lex Gerstenfeld, has been cosplaying for about seven years. She came to the event as the moon daycare animatronic from Five Nights at Freddy’s. She made her costume with the help of a friend.
“We thought it’d be really fun, because we both like the game,” said Gerstenfeld. “She made the head. And I made all the accessories for both of us.”
Gerstenfeld also says that Grand Rapids Comic Con is always the highlight of her year.
“It’s something to look forward to, you know,” said Gerstenfeld. “Like, I’m spending all my time in college network. But knowing that I have something coming up, even if it’s months away, is enough to really get me through those bad days.”
The next Grand Rapids Comic Con event will be held on April 12 at the Kalamazoo Expo Center.
