STATE COLLEGE — If you don’t know what HVC3 stands for, it stands for the Happy Valley Comic and Collectibles Convention and, this year, it will take place on Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, at the Nittany Valley Sports Centre. This year’s convention will be the biggest one yet, with celebrities, artists, vendors and activities for young and old.
In its third year, the convention is the brainchild of the Range family in Centre Hall. The family learned about what makes a convention successful over the years of being both convention goers and convention vendors.
“Basically, it’s a three legged stool,” Thomas Range, event organizer, shared. “You need vendors to help pay for the space, you need celebrities to help entice attendance and you need attendees to support the vendors. If any of the three are out of balance, the convention isn’t successful.”
This year’s celebrities are varied. There are some live-action actors like Susanna Malak and Christine Galey from Star Wars shows “The Book of Boba Fett,” “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka.” Voice Actors like Jon Allen from “Rick and Morty,” James Urbaniak from “Venture Brothers” and Michael Haigney from “Pokémon.” And then there will be one actor who is both a voice actor and a traditional actor, Bobby Costanzo. Costanzo provided the voice of Detective Harvey Bullock in “Batman The Animated Series” and Phil in the “Hercules Animated Series.” In film, Costanzo has been seen with Bruce Willis in “Die Hard 2” and Arnold Schwarzenner in “Total Recall,” while in television, he played Joey’s father on “Friends” and “Joey.”
With the help of Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications and the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance, Andrew Kevin Walker will also be making an appearance. Walker is the screenwriter of many films including “Se7en” and “The Killer,” currently on Netflix.
Walker will be at the convention only on Sunday, March 2, but The State Theatre in downtown State College will be hosting a special showing of “Se7en” on Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m., the night before the convention. A question and answer section will follow the movie.
There will be a special meet and greet before the movie that is limited to only 40 people. Tickets to the movie or meet and greet are available on the State Theatre website.
Additional celebrities include comic book artists like: Scott Hannah (“Spider-Man”), Brian Middleton (“Wulfbourne”), Kevin Conrad (“Spawn”), Jose Jaro (“Fortune Finder”), Wayne Faucher (“Star Wars”), Mark McKenna (“Batman”), Rags Morales (“Identity Crisis”), V. Ken Marion (“Wonder Woman”), Khoi Pham (“Spider-Man”), Keith Williams (“X-Men”) and many others. Of special note is Al Milgrom, who has created some of the most iconic covers in comic history, including the first appearance of Moon Knight, first appearance of Black Cat, first appearance of Sabretooth plus many others.
All artists will be willing to autograph their comics, and a Certified Guarantee Company signature witness will be on hand and a CGC facilitator will be there to take your comics for grading. In addition, there will be a special Nightwing Comic Con variant cover created by Pham and Conrad that can only be purchased online with an early entry option to the convention.
But celebrities are not the only thing HVC3 has to offer.
There will be plenty of vendors selling their wares. From comic books, anime, trading card games, Funko Pops, Lego, sports cards, sci-fi fantasy books, clothing or the like, there will be something for everyone to purchase.
Add in the cosplaying and costume contests, panels and discussions, lightsaber training, gaming materials, “Magic: The Gathering” tournaments, “Pokémon” tournaments, “Yu-Gi-Oh” discussion table, magic wands, Japanese imported toys and tattooing, attendees will not be bored.
“There truly is something for everyone at the convention,” Range said. “If you can’t find anything to do, you aren’t trying very hard.”
Maureen Range added, “After two successful conventions, we are going for a Hat Trick this year.”
The convention is made possible by a bevy of sponsors including: The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, The Centre County Board of Commissioners, 98.7 The Fox, The Comics Vault in Altoona, PA and the Comic Cove in State College. The Happy Valley Brewing Company will be offering convention themed drinks and offer attendees who book reservations discounts on appetizers.
Tickets can be purchased at a discounted rate before Saturday, Feb. 15, at happyvalleycomiccon.com. After, tickets will only be available at the door.
