Granite State Comicon 2024 Saturday Part 1

I have to start with the big news coming out of Granite State Comicon 2024 — Saturday attendance numbers were insane. While I don’t have the official number, I do know from top-level staffers that the attendance was roughly four times the largest numbers the convention ever had. In 2021, the Manchester Union Leader reported the convention expected about 6,000 attendees. Last year they set a Saturday record, so I think we can safely assume 2023 attendance was around 8,000. That means this year they had more than 30,000 people show up.

And boy did the crowd sizes show it. Just before the Exhibit Hall opened at 10 a.m. I had to step out to pick up an extra Press badge. The line extended from the entrance to as far back on one side as it could go, doubled back on itself and then extended as far on the other side as it could. Despite this, I heard from attendees that they only had to wait around 20 minutes in line. As “line con” standards go, that is pretty short. The biggest reason for that long line, aside from the wildly atypical attendance numbers, was the fact that for the first ever time, attendees had to pass through security scanners and go through bag checks to get into the hall. I don’t know who set that new policy, either the Center of New Hampshire office building that the Exhibit Hall is actually a part of, or the Doubletree hotel it is attached to.

For me, those huge crowds meant I have fewer photo galleries than last year, with just under 300 photos for the day versus just under 400 in 2023. The line for celebrity autographs grew so long that it blocked off access to the Cosplace area that I was in. So, while I took lots of photos of the Cosplay contestants as the sign-up and judging area was right next to where I was set up, I had less chance to grab wandering cosplayers passing by, since I couldn’t see them for a solid three-hour block of time midday. It also means we will only have one video on YouTube from the convention — a panel moderated by my partner and Nerd Caliber founder Manny, featuring the legendary Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson Games. Our other videographer, Victoria, tried to get convention B-roll with just a phone camera and a handheld gimbal, but the crowds were so jam-packed in the aisles that she gave up after about 15 minutes of jostling.

To be clear, despite the wrenches those numbers threw at us, I am very happy for GraniteCon and absolutely gobsmacked that they managed it as well as they did. I will still have three large galleries from Saturday and Sunday each,a nd I had a great time despite the insanity. Stay tuned to future posts for more stories from the craziness of this past weekend.

Cosplayers in this first of three Saturday galleries include hsc_abby, lasombrs, bigchillin.13, WaterDragondesign, Jessica Leigh, spktr_cosplay, sycosplay, gaijin_cosplays, fictitiousveronicamarie, jacky.ha.313, phaerrahmae, benspark, ashe_does_cosplay, hekabekah, biscuits._cosplays, christopherlavallee, lostsanitycosplays, merlinofstory, atticus._.cos, ghoulish_cosplays, touganloo, and many more.

We now use Smugmug to present cosplay photo galleries and will post all photos there, with a link to each gallery in its own gallery article. This will allow us to give you higher resolution images to download — still for free.

To view the entire gallery, just click on the image below. If you are pictured in any of our galleries, feel free to download the images and use them non-commercially on social media, with appropriate credit.

If you like our work and want to show your appreciation, feel free to tip us at Ko-fi or become a patron on Patreon.

Also, High-res images for sale is back!

If you are pictured in any of our galleries and want the high-resolution (3200 pixels at its widest by 300dpi) download for yourself, we can make it available via a private Smugmug link, for $10 per image. Just send an email to editor AT nerdcaliber.com. Currently limited to only photos taken by FirstPerson Shooter (aka Rodney Brown).

This was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, many of the characters being cosplayed here wouldn’t exist. Please consider donating to the Entertainment Community Fund here.