Thousands get their geek on at Modesto Con

Supervillains roamed the streets of downtown Modesto on Saturday. But don’t worry, superheroes roamed alongside them. Along with Disney princesses. And stormtroopers. And warrior orcs. Even a time lord or two.

Thousands came out to see and be seen at the first Modesto Con, a pop culture convention celebrating the worlds of science fiction, comic books, action movies, video games and beyond. The two-day event opened to robust crowds, many of whom streamed into Modesto Centre Plaza dressed as their favorite or reimagined characters. It continues Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Modesto has really shown that this is their con,” said Modesto Con board Vice President Carrie Shea. “We are so excited by everybody who is here. The costumes are amazing. It’s just wonderful.”

Like the world-famous Comic-Con held annually in San Diego, Modesto Con sought to bring together a diverse array of fans. The locally produced convention was organized by a group of area pop culture enthusiasts, performers, cosplayers and promoters. Three hours after the doors opened Saturday morning, the space had reached its 5,000-person capacity.

Among the big draws were celebrities such as “Flash Gordon” and “Ted” actor Sam J. Jones and “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” actor Doug Jones. Fans lined up to get autographs and take selfies with the stars. But for most, the appeal of the event was each other.

“It’s cool to have something really positive and upbeat in Modesto and to see the nerd community gather and have one place to commune,” said Keyes resident Ashley Fee, who was cosplaying as a female winter soldier from the “Captain America” franchise. Fee is also emceeing several of the panels over the weekend and is a designer in the Geek Fashion Show that was set for Saturday evening.

Cosplayers such as Fee showed off their creativity in largely self-made or sourced outfits ranging from Spider-Man to Sailor Moon, Jon Snow to Agent Carter. Salida resident Fred Arrollo led a band of green-skinned, big-fanged orcs from the “World of Warcraft” video games and new movie. The 56-year-old has been doing cosplay (short for costume play) for five years, but before that he took part in Renaissance fairs for two decades. It took his crew more than five hours to get ready and into their full makeup and costumes for the event.

“As cosplayers we want to encourage people to participate, and maybe come out themselves next year in something,” said Arrollo, who handcrafted all of his crew’s leather and metal outfits and weapons, including the two faux bear heads he wore as shoulder epaulettes. “Every cosplayer’s outfit is individual to that person and looks great. And that’s what we all bring to the show.”

Those in costume and out browsed through more than 100 vendor and artist booths selling everything from watercolor paintings to comic panels, action figures to custom T-shirts. Turlock wood burning artist Misty York said the event was her first con and would not be her last.

“It’s going really great. I think I’ve found my place. Before I went to a lot of arts and crafts fairs. But this, this is it,” said York, while her husband, Daniel York, stood near her attracting his own crowds dressed as Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” horror franchise.

Sunday will be Family Day at the Con, with a children’s costume contest and visits from McGruff the Crime Dog and the Modesto Fire Department. Entry for children 12 and under is free throughout. Tickets for adults are $5.

But families were already out in full force Saturday, with plenty of pint-sized cosplayers and fans asking for selfies with their favorite characters and even posing for their own.

Modesto resident Amanda Cannon brought her two boys, ages 12 and 7, to the event and had been there for several hours by Saturday afternoon. This is the second con they’ve attended; the first was in Sacramento in June. But they were excited to have an event such as this in their hometown.

“Usually we have to travel to do neat things like this,” Cannon said. “So this is really exciting.”

Her eldest son, Joe Cannon, agreed. The Glick Middle School student was all smiles Saturday afternoon with a phone full of photos.

“This is the place to geek out and have fun,” he said.

This story was originally published July 9, 2016 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Thousands get their geek on at Modesto Con."