By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Organizers say more than 8,000 people attended the annual Del Rio Comic Con at the Del
Rio Civic Center.
Del Rio Comic Con Horror Edition, featuring a Halloween/horror theme, took place on both
Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, and saw an increase in attendees from the previous year.
display at the Del Rio Comic Con (DRCC). DRCC Executive Director Paul Mancha said 8,000
attendees were at the convention on Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, which was a higher
number of attendees than last year’s DRCC.
Executive director Paul Mancha said he believed the increase in attendance was because of the
celebrity guests and activities they had at the convention.
The DRCC has been taking place at the Del Rio Civic Center since 2012, and this year’s con
was put together by Mancha, Haven Mancha, second executive director; and Krystal Torres,
assistant collaborator.
Several guest artists attended this year’s convention, including David Roman, comic-book artist
for the Rick & Morty animated series, and Chris McCullouugh and Joe Gaudet, voice
actors from the Five Nights at Freddy’s video-game series.
The 501st Legion, a worldwide Star Wars costuming organization, was also represented at the
convention. Sarah Ann Pirrello, representative of the 501st Legion, hosted a panel where she
talked about the organization and how its members get involved in community events.
2025’s DRCC will be May 2-4, and Mancha said next year’s convention will have 40–50
stormtrooper cosplayers attending from the 501st Legion.
Several panels took place during the convention, including an artist panel put together by local
artists. Javier Espinoza, one of the local moderators of the panel, said the purpose of the panel
was to let aspiring artists ask questions and get advice about drawing.
“Sailor Moon” at the Del Rio Comic Con on Saturday, Oct. 5. Rodriguez said it was the first time
him and Lozano dressed as characters for a convention.
The convention had several contests, including cosplay contests for kids and adults and video-
game tournaments, including a Mario-Kart racing tournament on Sunday.
Besides the celebrity guests and interactive panels, conventions such as DRCC generate
excitement among fans and inspire attendees to dress up as their favorite characters. J.P.
Rodriguez and Lory Lozano dressed up as characters from the anime, Sailor Moon, and they
said it was their first time cosplaying at a convention.
Aside from people dressing as comic-book characters, DRCC also pushes aspiring artists to
make their first debuts at the convention. Mancha said one of the “main roots” of DRCC is to
showcase young artists. Alexavia Vela, an 11-year-old local artist, had her own booth, Paper
Dragons, and sold papier-mâché art and drawings of her original characters at the civic center.
Mancha mentioned they had a lot of sponsors for the convention this year, including Khoury Group’s Toyota of Del Rio,
which brought a 2024 GR Corolla with a wrapped sticker of the comic-book character, Venom,
on the vehicle. Torres said it was “so unexpected” to have the collaboration and to have the car
at the convention.
