After ‘the most exhausting two years of my life,’ Lexington Comic Con is back

While many Kentuckians were enjoying some time away from work this past Labor Day, Jarrod Greer, long-time promoter of the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention (Comic Con), wasn’t one of them.

Instead of grilling out or relaxing on a sunny Monday afternoon, Greer was in the heart of the newly built Central Bank Center overseeing the finishing touches leading up to the Comic Con taking place Thursday, Sept. 9, through Sunday, Sept. 12. It will be the first time he has put on this event since 2019 after 2020 ultimately saw the event get postponed and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ve been waiting on the phone to ring and I’m here now and I’m actually standing in the middle of the building and it’s mostly getting set up at this point and it’s getting very real, very fast to me,” Greer said. “I’m perpetually happy that it is happening and I hope I can survive the weekend. I just hope I can live up to everybody’s expectations after two years.”

Back in March of 2020 (the month Comic Con has mostly taken place over its nine-year existence), Greer remembers being optimistic about the event going on as scheduled despite the increasing early rise and spread of COVID-19. He even went on a podcast days before and tried to emphasize the event was still happening to alleviate the concerns of attendees.

“The next day, for whatever reason, everything became very real very fast. The Sweet 16 (high school) Basketball Tournament canceled and my event was the next in line,” he recalled. “Ultimately, we had to do the right thing.”

This led to organizers reevaluating and optimistically (and, Greer admits in hindsight, naively) rescheduling the event until July 2020, leading to rebooking the flights of approximately 80 celebrity guests. As July approached, he made the call to push the event to September 2020 before ultimately deciding to cancel the event and try to put it on in a year’s time.

“It’s been the most exhausting two years of my life,” Greer said. “I can’t express what it means to be back here.”

Lexington Comic Con COVID safety rules

In addition to making sure everyone — from attendees to vendors — has a great Comic Con experience, Greer is also determined for them to have a safe one. The event typically draws more than 30,000 people and is Lexington’s biggest convention show. The Central Bank Center is expecting 10,000 – 12,000 fans per day on the conventions busiest days, Saturday and Sunday. Greer says as a COVID precaution, they are capping guest at 13,000 but advance ticket sales are soft. In the past, weekend at-the-door ticket sales are strong and a cap could happen.

There will be a mask requirement for entry and hand sanitizer stations placed throughout the Central Bank Center and they have taken extra measures to ensure the safety of fan interactions based on each celebrity guest’s comfort level. Tickets are still available at the gate and Greer said if those who pre-paid for a ticket still don’t feel comfortable attending the event this year, organizers would honor that ticket if they decided to come to the event in 2022.

Once Lexington Comic Con is officially underway, Greer hopes to knock the rust off and is looking forward to giving his all to make up for lost time with more vendors and the same number of celebrity guests as in the past.

“I always looked at it like I owed all these people something,” he said. “I owe everybody that has stood by us a good event and that was a debt I really looked forward to paying.”

Comic Con new location: Central Bank Center

As Lexington Comic Con comes back, the entire event will take place in the new Central Bank Center.

Joe Fields, director of convention management for Central Bank Center, said the previous 66,000 square feet of exhibit space extended on multiple floors split between Heritage Hall and Rupp Arena will be replaced by 103,000 square feet on three floors in one contiguous location. He said the extra space combined with a more contained event will result in easier crowd movement and, in all likelihood, a better overall experience for attendees.

“Anytime there’s a new building opening, we’ll learn as we go,” Fields said. “I think it will be a great showcase for a lot of the community to see it.”

Lex Con celebrity guests

When it comes to what Comic Con attendees can expect in the form of celebrity guests, Greer said a list of stars of recent TV hits and a variety of cast reunions from shows with huge followings should be a big draw.

There will be appearances from two of the most popular characters from the CW hit superhero series “Arrow,’ including star Stephen Amell (Arrow) and Colton Haynes (Arsenal).

Another popular CW superhero franchise, “Smallville,” will have plenty of representation with the likes of stars Tom Welling (Superman), Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), Alan Ritchson (Aquaman) and Sam Jones III (Pete Ross).

Fans of the long-running CW series “Supernatural” will be able to meet Jim Beaver (Bobby), Mark Sheppard (Crowley) and Ruth Connell (Rowena MacLead) while followers of the AMC zombie hit “The Walking Dead” will be able to come face-to-face with Changler Riggs (Carl), Alanna Masterson (Tara) and Paola Lázaro (Juanita Sanchez).

Greer said while there was limited availability on comic writers/artists doing conventions, he said there will be an All About Comics Day from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, where attendees can meet and interact with the convention’s slate of comic creators and vendors. He also said he more than made up for it in booking plenty of wrestlers.

“Wrestlers always draw here,” he said. “Lots of former wrestlers that come here say they draw more in Kentucky than anywhere.”

Wrestling stars in attendance are a mix of several from the old guard (most notably WCW superstar Sting) and some new blood in the form of AEW stars Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara.

Voiceover talent is another hot commodity on the Comic Con circuit and those coming to Lexington are from the likes of both Disney and Japanese anime, whether you are talking about the voices behind Mickey Mouse (Bret Iwan), Goofy (Bill Farmer) or Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Darkwing Duck (Jim Cummings). There will also be a rare convention appearance from Ashley Eckstein, the voice actor behind the popular character Ahsoka Tano from various “Star Wars” animated series.

Anime fans will surely be pleased thanks to Lexington Comic Con bringing in a handful of voice actors from the popular series “My Hero Academia” like Justin Cook (Eijiro Kirishima), Brina Palencia (Minoru Mineta), Jad Saxton (Itsuka Kendō) and Gabe Kunda (Rock Block).

Lexington Comic & Toy Convention

When: 6-10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9 (All About Comics Day); Noon-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12 (Kids Day)

Where: Central Bank Center, 430 W. Vine St.

Tickets: $30 Thursday only, Saturday evening and Sunday only; $40 Friday only; $50 Saturday only; Four-day “all weekend” tickets sold out

Masks: Required for entry

Online: lexingtoncomiccon.com

This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 6:00 AM.