I’m a long way from Florida at the moment, up in Missouri to take my sister to her very first comic con. We are attending Missouri Comic Con, at the Springfield Expo Center this weekend, February 10 and 11.

If you are wondering how I have a sister that’s never attended a con, well I didn’t even know about her until my mid 20s and we didn’t meet until many years later. I was reunited with my dad’s side of the family at 23 and found out I have a half sister and brother!

We first met at my great-grandfather’s funeral, and again at our dad’s funeral. So, I wanted to make a point to go visit her and my grandmother while everyone was alive and well for once.

Missouri Comic Con Here We Come!

I had a flight credit I needed to use before March, so I had the idea to visit my sister and do something fun. She lives in Fair Grove, which is near Springfield, so when I saw Missouri Comic Con was going to be happening in February, I thought that sounded like the perfect idea for a trip.

This is the convention‘s second year, but first time in the Expo Center location. Their website back when I booked the trip wasn’t very informative, and I sent an e-mail to make sure the event was really happening. It took a couple tries and a long time to get a reply, but they reassured me that yes, it was happening.

So I booked the trip, and here we are.

I replied back to their message letting them know I was a cosplayer and blogger in Florida, and asked about press passes or guesting, as there was no info on their website about it. I never got a reply back, which seems to be the theme for this con based on their Facebook page and then multitude of people asking questions and whining about the lack of information.

I popped into a local nerd shop (vintage toys, comics, games, etc) and asked them about the con and they said the same thing- they e-mailed about doing a booth and never heard back. Then they launched into a laundry list of complaints about the con from last year including the disorganization, lack of info and the ATM running out of cash 30 minutes into the event. Let’s hope they’ve figured out how to work out some of those kinks this round.

First Time Cosplayer, First Time Con

My sister has never cosplayed and is quite the introvert. I suppose it must run in the family, lol. But I told her if we were doing this, then she was going to cosplay so she could get the total Comic Con experience.

I wanted to pick a warm outfit, so I went with Zelda’s winter wear from Tears of the Kingdom. It’s more fun if you match, so I told her to pick anything from the Legend of Zelda universe. She went with the goddess statue:

It seemed like the perfect choice for a first cosplay for someone who doesn’t like photos, as she doesn’t need to speak or even open her eyes if she doesn’t want to.

We are heading over to the Expo Center tonight to get our wristbands early, which hopefully means we won’t have to wait in a long line tomorrow. We only have tickets for Saturday, but if we decide to go Sunday, it will be in regular clothes.

I’m keeping my expectations low, as I have never seen so many people complaining on a convention Facebook page about the lack of response and information. They did finally update the website and did at least respond to my Facebook question I posted, but my e-mail never got a response.

So, with that and going into it not knowing anyone and having zero connections, it should be an interesting experience for me as well. After doing this for 20 years, I am used to people knowing me, lol. But here I’m just a random person in the crowd.

I’ll be sharing photos from the event on my cosplay Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sewgeekmama.

And if anyone reading this is going, let me know in the comments! 🙂

PS – Wristband pick-up went really smoothly! Super easy, well organized, so hopefully tomorrow will go just as good!

About the Author

Candy Keane is a digital content creator and long-time cosplayer, most well-known for being on the cover of the Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies. After making costumes professionally for over a decade, she now writes about geek culture and mom life, and continues to cosplay for fun, while sharing her love of costumes on Instagram @SewGeekMama. Her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, was published in 2020 and won a Story Monsters Approved award for Excellence in Literature.

Learn more