The Mid-Ohio Con was created in 1980 by voice actor and announcer Roger A. Price. Price used the convention to raise money for various charities, including the March of Dimes, an organization founded to combat polio. Initially, the Mid-Ohio Con took place in various venues throughout Ohio, predominantly in Mansfield. In 1993, the show found a permanent home in Columbus.
In 2008, Price announced he was retiring and would no longer be able to organize the convention. The Mid-Ohio Con was acquired by GCX Holdings and merged with Ohio Comic Con, another fan convention founded by Teresa and Jamie Colegrove. By then, the convention had been struggling a bit, and the merger helped give it a second life.
In 2010, the show was acquired by Wizard Entertainment, a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across the United States and Canada. Originally a publishing company, it has been focused exclusively on producing conventions since 2011. Wizard Entertainment runs and manages over 20 annual conventions in Minneapolis, Des Moines, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Albuquerque, Orlando, Chicago, Nashville, Madison, Oklahoma City, Austin, New Orleans, etc.
With the convention’s acquisition by Wizard Entertainment, the Mid-Ohio Con was rebranded as the Wizard World Ohio Comic Con and later as Wizard World Columbus. Like most pop culture conventions, it features a large exhibitor area, an autograph area, and an Artists’ Alley. The convention offers an impressive array of events and activities, including panels, seminars, workshops, meetings with celebrity guests and comic book professionals, autograph sessions and photo-ops, portfolio review sessions with top comic book publishers and video game companies, a costume contest, and more.
Like other major fan conventions, Wizard World Columbus features celebrity guests, mainly actors known for their roles in sci-fi and fantasy films and televisions shows. Past guests have included Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Supergirl), Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk), Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse), Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men), Jason David Frank (Power Rangers), and others.
Photo: prlog.org
