Hall of Heroes Comic Con returns with The Hulk this weekend

Feb. 28—ELKHART — Comic and movie fans can help raise money to grow the Hall of Heroes and meet with comic book and action celebrities, including Lou Ferrigno, at the Hall of Heroes Comic Con this weekend.

The fast-growing annual fundraiser for the only superhero and comic book museum in the world, housed in Elkhart, will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the RV Hall of Fame.

Featured celebrity guests include: Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk, Hercules, Cage), Johnny Yong Bosch (Power Rangers, Akira, Bleach), David Barclay (Star Wars, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal), Reb Brown (Captain America, Uncommon Valor, Space Mutiny), and artist guests Jim Shooter (Marvel Comics editor-in-chief, DC Comics, Valiant), Tom Cook (Masters of the Universe, Scooby Doo, Super Friends), Stuart Sayger (KISS, Bionicle, G.I. Joe) and Scott Rosema (Space Ghost, Marvel, DC). Cosplay guests include Knightmage, Envy the Green Fairy, and Shamus Smith.

There will be a cosplay parade and costume contest, a charity auction for the Elkhart County Boys & Girls Club, Q&As with special guests, and panels and presentations on topics including droid building, 3D printing, cosplay photography, comics in video games, low-budget filming and more.

Museum owner Allen Stewart added that a new vehicle will be on display during Comic Con as well, but the specifics remain a secret until the Con begins.

The museum is in the midst of a remodeling project. Both Marvel and DC sections are complete, with additions added, and an independent comic section is in the works. Cases have been moved into rows, and 10 cases have been added and the walls now boast 15 new pieces of original art.

A favorite of Stewart's is a print of Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel's first character in 1939. With a movie in the works, Stewart was able to snag an original Sub-Mariner page, drawn by Marvel's first writer-artist Bill Everett in 1967.

"It's an original page by Marvel's first artist featuring Marvel's first comic book character," he said. "A lot of people think that Namor is a rip-off of Aquaman — actually the reverse is true. ... This is like, deep-dive history. A lot of people don't know this."

In addition to the new art, exhibit information is posted on new plaques in each of the cases across the museum, detailing interesting historical facts about the items within the cases, which are organized in historical order starting with the 1940s.

"It starts with Marvel in the 1940s, and of course, we've got the Captain America Number 1 — we're one of only two museums that has that rare comic book." Stewart said. "You'll only see it here, and the Library of Congress."

Across the museum, autographs from artists, can be seen. Some autographs came attached to items, while others come from artists coming in to sign them.

"Saturday night, we do a private tour here for the celebrities, and then take them out to dinner," he said. "They come here and we do what we call 'Pass the Marker' and they just start autographing stuff throughout the museum that pertains to them, which is a lot of fun."

Rare comic, artwork, statues, toys and even props are scattered through the cases, in storage spaces and along the walls throughout the museum. Stewart said as one of the foremost comic book historians in the country, he feels qualified to discern what items of the multitude of thousands in ownership by the Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum are displayed at any point in time. Collections are changed regularly.

"Sometimes we switch things depending on what movies are out, because that's what hot and popular," he said. "Like right now the new 'Black Panther' movie is out, the 'Shazam!' movie is coming out in two weeks. ... The art where we introduce Namor, we actually bought that a few months before the movie came out because I knew Namor stuff was going to go way up."

Then there are large staple items, such as the Ghost Rider's Hell Cycle and the Shelby Cobra that Iron Man smashed, and a wealth of costumes and props purchased and donated from studios, celebrities, directors and special collector's auctions.

"Usually right now, we're trying to pick up a couple of nice-end art pieces every year," Stewart said.

Proceeds from the Hall of Heroes Comic Con, the museum's largest fundraiser, are what make that possible.

"It helps us do acquisitions, capital projects. Like last year, from Comic Con proceeds we got the big parking lot sign done, which was like $11,000, and we got all the windows done with the superhero murals, stuff like that," he said.

Stewart added that the window murals, which are only visible from the outside, also help to keep the sun out of the building to protect the antiques and collectibles in the building.

The museum boasts a collection of more than 70,000 comic books, more than 10,000 toys, props, and figures, and more than 100 pieces of original comic art pages and animation cells. In some cases, newly created plaques dive into Hollywood secrets from production.

"Usually, when we get the pieces a lot of history comes with the items so I learn a lot of stuff when we get the piece," Stewart said. "It's good to know the history on these pieces. It's kind of cool to see how they do some of these behind-the-scenes special effects."

Tickets range from $15 to $65 plus applicable fees. Photo ops with special guests are an additional cost and must be purchased in addition to Con tickets, ranging from $50 to $100 plus fees, and based on the celebrity.

To purchase tickets to the Hall of Heroes Comic Con and be a part of the museum's continued growth, visit hohcomiccon.org.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.