From Oct. 20 to Oct. 22, people of all ages flocked downtown for the Grand Rapids Comic Convention, or GR Comic-Con for short. The convention was held at the Amway Grand Plaza and DeVos Place. The first GR Comic-Con was held in 2013 with 10,000 attendees, this year comic con expects over 30,000 people to attend.

In line to enter DeVos Place stood people with regular clothes, mixed in with the cosplayers, people dressed up in costume as their favorite character. The cosplayers wore outfits, either purchased or hand-made, in resemblance to Pikachu, Darth Maul, Link, and even the character of Pennywise from the new horror movie It. Other costumes included characters from Adventure Time and Stephen’s Universe, as well as anime characters such as Naruto and Attack On Titan.

Inside DeVos Place, vendors and dealers sold comics, plushies, hand-crafted jewelry, toys and books, all focused on the geek, nerd, gaming, anime and comics culture. Booths offered cosplayers items like colored lenses and make-up.The main floor had dedicated areas for Star Wars, Ghostbusters and Legos, with another area for replica cars from different movies and comics. There was also a stage for guest-speakers, food booths and a blood drive. There were also workshops on how to make your cosplay costume, how to break into the art world of comics and screenings of films and anime.

One of the main attractions was famous artists that have done voice-overs for anime and cartoons or that have participated in movies. including Billy Dee Williams, featured in Star Wars, and Mike McFarland, voice-actor for Attack on Titan and One Piece.

Among the mass of comic book culture, attendees could also find artists of all types: published freelancers and independent creatives. Most of these artists sold copies or prints of their own projects or sold “fanart” — art that represent well-known characters from anime, cartoons, Disney, Marvel or DC Comics. Some artists sold their own comic books or graphic novels, like K. Lynn Smith, from Lansing, who has just finished her series “Plume.”

A Calvin alumnus, Alexis Royce, graduated in 2010 with an interdisciplinary major focused on comic art and was present with her wife. Royce sold art and printed copies of her two webcomics Evil Plan and Sire. Royce started Evil Plan in 2007 during her freshman year at Calvin. After graduating, Royce worked a job and did her comic on the side. Royce started going to Comic Cons and now has even gone to Japan to sell her work. Today she creates comics as her full-time job. For her work as an artist, she feels that she got the most from her English minor and her communication classes.

“I think [Comic-Con] is good for people,” said Royce,“I also really love conventions, because it’s a place where you can be a little bit more free to be yourself. Like, a lot of times, people with poor social skills, i.e. me, have a better ability to talk to people, because you can see somebody in costume from something that you know and you already have a conversation starter. So it’s easier to make friends.”

Conventions like the GR Comic-Con are important to Royce because they bring together people with similar passions and hobbies. Royce hopes to grow the “open and affirming” attitude found at comic conventions.