GalaxyCon, LLC, formerly known as Super Conventions or Supercon, is a privately owned company based in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...
, that organizes
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
and
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
conventions in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Events currently include: GalaxyCon Raleigh in
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
; GalaxyCon Columbus in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
; GalaxyCon Austin in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
; and GalaxyCon San Jose in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
.
In early 2019, the original Supercon trademark, along with the original
Florida Supercon
Florida Supercon is an annual comic book convention held in the Miami, Florida, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale metro areas of Florida.ReedPop
RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...
, at which time all other "Supercon" events were renamed GalaxyCon.
History
The first Supercon was organized by founder Mike Broder in late 2006 at the Ramada Hollywood Beach Resort in
Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...
, called Florida Supercon. He was looking to bring a large scale convention to south Florida. Another event, Anime Supercon, took place in Fort Lauderdale five months later. Estimated attendances at each event averaged around 2,000 people. As success grew, other conventions were added throughout the Fort Lauderdale and Miami metro areas.
An attempt was made in November 2008 to hold a longstanding Supercon outside of Florida, in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia, but it was not as prosperous as the Florida events. Another try did not take place until July 2017 with Raleigh Supercon in North Carolina, replacing the promotional Wizard World Raleigh Comic Con which eventually moved to nearby
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...
after the 2015 event. Raleigh Supercon 2017 drew in an estimated 30,000 people for the weekend. Super Conventions later acquired the former Derby City Comic Con in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, which was re-branded as Louisville Supercon. The inaugural event took place in November 2018.
Two recent conventions, Animate! Florida (formerly known as Animate! Miami) and Paradise City Comic Con (formerly known as Magic City Comic Con), were discontinued in 2018 so Super Conventions could concentrate on their three Supercon events. Both of those had taken place in Miami.
Sale of Florida Supercon and convention name changes
On March 11, 2019, it was announced that Broder sold Florida Supercon and the "Supercon" trademark to ReedPop of
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...
. The company owns a number of conventions around the world, including
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...
and
MCM London Comic Con
The MCM Comic Con London (formerly known as the London Movies, Comics, and Media Expo, London MCM Expo, and MCM London Comic Con) is a speculative fiction fan convention held at ExCeL London, ExCel London twice yearly since 2002, usually on th ...
. Management for the events in Raleigh and Louisville will remain the same under Broder, but are renamed as GalaxyCon. Also added are GalaxyCon events in Richmond, Virginia, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Florida Supercon, now managed by ReedPop, will continue to have its annual event in early July.
List of current GalaxyCon events
Notes: As a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, GalaxyCon Raleigh was rescheduled for July 29 – August 1, 2021. In April 2020, the convention announced that due to economic conditions and issues with the venue, GalaxyCon would not be returning to Louisville for 2020.