Conventions have become one of the biggest and best ways to celebrate all things nerdy. One that I recently attended was Nickel City Comic Con, held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center from June 28th to June 30th.

It’s a bit smaller compared to other cons I’ve been to like Boston Comic Con and PAX East, but it still packed a big punch.

The entire exposition hall was filled with vendors and artists of all kinds. Comic book legends and indie creators alike were in attendance for fans to meet and discuss their work. Sure, the likes of Michael Golden and Jason Aaron of Marvel fame were there, but the number of big names was scarce compared to the sheer number of indie creators tabling the event. As cool as it is getting my Marvel and DC comics signed by my favorite writers and illustrators, I do consider the emphasis on all things indie a unique strength of Nickel City Comic Con.

I got the chance to talk to Steve Bynoe of Comix Asylum, Elijah Chatmon of Pocket Sized Comics, and a few others about their new or upcoming works that they are creating and publishing on their own. I may not own or have read anything by them yet and have nothing for them to sign, but hearing about their stories that they want to release into the world was nothing short of intriguing.

This spotlight on independent work didn’t stop at comics. There were a plethora of indie artists showcasing and selling illustrations of horror icons, comic book heroes, and pop culture characters, as well as replicas of weapons and gadgets from movies and video games, jewelry made of dice, cute crocheted creatures, and all kinds of other hand-made creations.

There were plenty of entertaining attractions at this con. The New York Gamer’s Foundation Video Gaming Zone offered tons of classic and modern games to play, from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to an arcade cabinet of Street Fighter II and even DJ Hero. This sort of arcade experience is pretty unique for a comic convention. The Doctor Who Society was also there, bringing along some rather sassy Daleks for folks to banter with. A screen-used General Lee from the original Dukes of Hazzard proved to be a pop culture staple worth taking a picture with. Bill Diamond’s Hollywood Movie Museum presented all kinds of props and puppets to look through. Performers from 7 Gates Screampark lurked around to spook convention-goers for some immersive advertising. It was overall really cool to attend a comic con with experiences outside of what’s typically expected.

Of course, a big reason to attend conventions like this is to meet celebrities, and I did just that. My wife and I met Chandler Riggs from The Walking Dead, John Glover of Batman: the Animated Series and Gremlins 2 fame, Alyson Court who is known for her roles as Loonnette the Clown in The Big Comfy Couch and Jubilee in X-Men, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’s Henry Thomas, the iconic voice actress that is Veronica Taylor (most known as the original voice of Ash Ketchum), and Billy Zane from Kingdom Hearts, Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight, Titanic, and many other legendary performances. Each and every one of them was super nice, offered great conversation, and signed some prints and posters for us.

This is a convention, so of course cosplay was a massive part of it. My wife and I went dressed as Furbies, which caused a lot of people to stop us for pictures and funny small talk. There were many tremendous cosplays throughout the whole con, including a Carl Grimes with a wounded eye, groups of X-Men cosplayers, the usual Harley Quinns, and some totally tubular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters.

Again, this is a rather small convention. Outside of certain scheduled events like Q&As and panels, everything can be experienced in a single day. That being said, it was a day filled with a fantastic amount of fun. The next Nickel City Comic Con was surprisingly announced to be in October of this year, and I’m quite eager to see what they announce for it.

Read Next: My Favorite Experiences From PAX East 2024