'A little bit of everything': StocktonCon Summer's pop-culture event has something for everyone
Angelaydet Rocha
“All things pop-culture" can be found this weekend at the 10th StocktonCon Summer convention at the Stockton Arena.
“StocktonCon is a pop-culture event that features all sorts of pop-culture, comic books, celebrities, local and national comic artists, other vendors, video games, costume contests, collectible card games, you know, meet and greets with celebrities … So, it's a little bit of everything,” StocktonCon CEO Mike Millerick said.
The family-friendly event was inspired by Millerick’s travels to San Diego for the San Diego Comic-Con. He called it “the biggest Comic-Con in the world.”
The first StocktonCon Summer took place in 2012 and was a one-day event at the University of the Pacific. This year marks 10 years of StocktonCon Summer. StocktonCon moved to the Stockton Arena in 2013 as a one-day event. In 2014, it became a two-day event.
He "fell in love" with what they did there and one day the comics and pop-culture enthusiast had an idea.
"'I wonder if we could do something like that here locally in Stockton,'" Millerick said.
The community support from those who attend to those who participate like local vendors, creators and celebrities is what Millerick thinks has made StocktonCon so successful over the past 10 years.
" 'Look mom, it's Spider-Man, or look dad, it's Spider-Man,' " Millerick said.
Millerick's favorite thing about the convention is seeing kids when they see superheroes and hearing them tell their parents.
"It makes everything that we do just so, you know, so worthwhile," Millerick said.
This weekend’s convention will have more than 200 exhibitors and artists participating in the convention presented by Utility Telecom.
Actress Irene Bedard who was the voice of the animated film "Pocahontas" and played the role of Suzy Song in the film "Smoke Signals” will be in attendance along with actress Karyn Parsons who played Hilary Banks in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Actor Mike Vaughn, who voiced the killer in the "Scream" television series for the first two seasons, and actor C. Andrew Nelson, who has played Darth Vader several times, will also be greeting fans.
Other special guests include Stockton's own UFC mixed martial artist Nick Diaz, Stockton comic book artist Ramon Villalobos and the "Sons of Anarchy" actors Ron Perlman and Ryan Hurst.
Villalobos was part of the first StocktonCon. When he invited the only artist, he knew at the time to attend the event, he was turned down because the artist didn’t want to attend a “gym event.”
Now the event attracts many pop-culture fans across San Joaquin County and other places such as South San Francisco.
There are more than 29 celebrities from actors to wrestlers and more than 19 creators signed up to attend this weekend’s convention.
The full list of celebrity guests and artists can be found on https://stocktoncon.com/2022-guests/
A portion of the proceeds from the convention to benefit local charities. Masks, vaccination cards, and negative tests will not be required. However, masks are “strongly recommended.”
If you go
When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 13-14
Where: Stockton Arena, 248 W. Fremont St., Stockton
Admission: $16 one-day pre-sale (online only) and $20 at the box office the day of the event; $20 two-day pre-sale (online and select locations) and $30 at the box office the day of the event; free for children 12 and younger with an adult
Information: https://stocktoncon.com/
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.