The Duke City Comic Con brought together fans to celebrate comics, video games, anime, movies and TV shows, June 16 - 18 at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
In attendance were actors from popular media, including Jackson Rathbone from the “The Twilight Saga” and voice actor Alejandro Saab from “Genshin Impact” – a popular video game franchise.
Jared Rotegas, a Con attendee, said that he is interested in both the social and material aspects of the Con.
“(I want) to show my cosplay off and meet other people,” Rotegas said. “I’m also here to browse. I spent a little over a hundred bucks yesterday.”
Many businesses were selling on the Con floor. Duke City Comic Con owner, Jim Burleson, said attendees each spend an average of $250 at the Con. This influx of cash provides vital income for the vendors at the Duke City Comic Con.
“Traveling vendors rely on the shows for 100% of their revenues,” Burleson said. “Locals use the cycle to raise extra money for their local business.”
Travis Beeley from Holographic Jellys said that his and his girlfriend’s business benefits from the Con.
“If you are a niche business that can sell to other nerds, this is one of the best footholds you could ever get,” Beeley said.
The Comic Con industry shut down for nearly two years as a result of the pandemic, leaving many of these businesses to struggle, Burleson said.
“We lost more than half of our regular vendors who retired or quit due to the restrictions of COVID,” Burleson said.
Pedro Larios, the owner of PL Collectables based in El Paso, said that his business had to make sacrifices during the pandemic.
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“We had to close down,” Larios said. “It was really bad and we had to lay off a lot of our employees.”
Ember Philpot, owner of The Geeky Octopus – an online shop that sells crochet animals – said that the Con is also important to their shop’s success.
“The con is pretty much my main source of revenue,” Philpot said. “I do a couple of craft shows but this is how I make the majority (of my revenue).”
Duke City Comic Con is slowly recovering from the hit it took during the pandemic, said David Barrett who is a long time volunteer. “This is the biggest it's been since Covid. It used to wrap around the building but it's steadily getting better,” Barrett said.
Although Lairos struggled during the pandemic, he said that the people involved with the Con are an important part of his business.
“People here are amazing,” Larios says. “They bring joy and a smile to everyone.”
Danielle Knox is a freelance reporter with the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com.
Danielle Knox is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo.
