2012 EPCON

Andrea Acosta
The Prospector
Coming back for its third year, EpCon 2012 will be held at the El Paso Convention Center on Sept. 14-16, bringing the El Paso and Ciudad Juárez region a high level of entertainment with superheroes and famous comic icons.

Julian Lawler, one of the owners of EpCon and a UTEP graduate, said that he and his team have been working very hard to make this year’s EpCon bigger and better. He said they have made new implementations that will attract a broader audience and surpass last year’s attendance of 6,000 people.

“EpCon has radically improved over the years,” Lawler said. “We had an attendance of 1,200 people in 2010 at the Wyndham Hotel, but this year we are expecting a lot more people to come.”

Lawler said that this year, EpCon has teamed up with Qello Network in order to televise the event and share it with people who can’t make it.

“We are very excited about this new implementation to EpCon,” Lawler said. “Qello will make a two hour video and sell it for only $1.99 on iTunes, for anyone that is interested in purchasing it.”

Another addition to EpCon 2012 is the recent collaboration with FEA Merchandising.

“We were able to sign a deal with FEA Merchandising, who handles some of the best known artist such
as Nirvana and Foo Fighters,” Lawler said. “They will be distributing all our brand shirts to markets such as Wal-Mart and Hot Topic.”

Denisse Nuñez, co-owner of EpCon, said that they have been organizing the event since last year.

“It is a very tiring but exhilarating process,” Nuñez said. “We literally started working on this year’s EpCon from the moment EpCon 2011 ended, we have been very busy.”

About 30 volunteers will be helping with EpCon. One of the groups will be in charge of filming the  event, from the moment of set-up at 9 a.m. Sept.14 at Basset Place to the last bit of activity on Sept. 16.

Anilu Dominguez, freshman graphic design major will help videotape the event.

“This will be my first year attending EpCon, so I’m really excited,” Dominguez said. “Although I won’t have time to fully interact during the con, mostly because I will help cover the event, I’m really looking forward to the concerts.”

Luis Muñiz, junior creative writing major will also be filming over 100 hours of footage. He said that although his job takes a lot of responsibility, he likes that he is in charge of it. “It can be a very tiring process, especially having to edit it,” Muñiz said. “But what makes it worthwhile is seeing the final product.”

Celebrities slotted to make appearances include Tyler Mane (X-Men, Halloween), Dave Prowse (Star Wars), and Walter Jones and Eric Roberts.

 The bands performing include Hit the Lights, Forever Came Calling, Gentlemen, When Odds Get Even and Terror Eyes, among others.

“This will be my third time attending EpCon,” said Roberto Carbajal, junior financial analyst major. “All I can say is that it has been improving (throughout) the years, getting bigger and with a lot more variety.”

Carbajal has also attended San Diego’s Comic Con, which took place July 12-15. Carbajal said he mainly attends these conventions because he likes collecting any type of comic art, autographs and pictures.

EpCon 2012 will have a masquerade on Sept. 13 at Tricky Falls. They will also have the annual CosPlay (costume play) Contest, with McKenzie Westmore as the judge.

Ruben Rascon, senior electronic media major, has not only participated in the CosPlay the past two years, but has also contributed in the creation and design of a new character called Sonic Man.

“After three previous drafts, the product was finalized on January 25, 2007,” Rascon said. “I designed the costume using a lot of myself in the creation of the character.”

Rascon said that coming up with an original idea and watch it come to life was a very exciting process.

Other events at the convention include two game rooms, one sponsored by Best Buy and the other by Daxie Bay Toys, and a large number of exhibitors, authors, film and television stars as well as vendors.

“We are thrilled to have the support of downtown, promoting us through their Facebook page,” Lawler said. “As a result, the event was shared 17 times with four people related to the EpCon group.”

Attendees are invited to the launch party that will take place at 6 p.m. Sept. 14 at The Garden and the after party at 9 p.m Sept. 15 at The Hoppy Monk.

Tickets may be purchased at Ticketmaster or at the door the day of the event. Tickets are $35 for a three-day pass, which includes “Preview Night.” Individual tickets are $40 for Saturday and $25 for Sunday.

For more information, visit ep-con.blogspot.com.

Andrea Acosta may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.