It was an engaging day of games, art, comics, costumes, performances and more as attendees of all ages celebrated the first ever “RosCon” at The Bryant Library on Saturday, March 21. Inspired by the iconic Comic Con, a colorful convention for fans of comic books and pop culture, RosCon joins a growing list of local libraries who have hosted the fan-driven conventions in recent years.
“It’s been an amazing day,” said Amanda Bernocco, director of Programming and Public Relations at The Bryant Library. “We’re so happy to see the community come together to enjoy our intergenerational program. Every department across the library worked together to plan this event and we were really excited to debut it.”
The four-hour afternoon event kicked off with a retro gaming session, where attendees played old-school gaming consoles and explored the evolution of video games. Comic book drawing workshops for teens and tweens followed, alongside face painting sessions that gave children the chance to transform into their favorite pop culture icons. Children also had the opportunity to strike a heroic pose in a photo op with Supergirl.
The event finale featured a K-Pop Demon Hunters performance by a singer embodying the lead character, Rumi Kang, from the Oscar-winning movie. After the show, a cosplay contest was held onstage, where attendees who were dressed as their favorite characters from comics, movies, books, and video games gathered for audience voting.
The contest featured separate categories for children, teens, and adults. In the children’s division, an attendee dressed as Rumi Kang was awarded top prize. For the teens, Brandon Yellin won for his Huggy Wuggy costume, based on a character from the horror video game Poppy Playtime. For adults, a Darth Maul impersonator from “Star Wars” notched the top spot.
Meanwhile, in the exhibitor’s space, vendors were selling their pop culture-inspired art and crafts and physical media spanning vintage games, videos, books, and more.
Stu Yellin, an art teacher from Massapequa who worked as a comic book animator and storyboard artist for many years, was at RosCon selling his comic book drawings. His 11-year-old son, Brandon, was also at the booth selling his handmade crafts, in addition to competing in the cosplay contest.
“I love comics so it’s a lot of fun to come to these kinds of fan events,” Stu Yellin said. “I always meet a lot of new people to chat with and it’s a good experience for Brandon to be a part of it.”
Margy Ringelheim, a member of the Friends of The Bryant Library nonprofit that supports the library’s events, held a raffle at the event with her team for a Nintendo Switch 2. Additional raffle prizes included an assortment of items donated by the vendors, such as posters, prints, comic books, key chains, and more.
“It was wonderful to see so many people of all ages here today,” said Ringelheim, who also served as a library board member for nine years. “And it was great to see families together here too.”
In preparation for RosCon, Bernocco and her team reached out to colleagues at other local libraries that have hosted similar events to discuss ideas.
“We love to work together and share ideas with other local libraries,” Bernocco said. “We all have the same mission and we just want as many people as possible to be going to libraries in general.”
