MANCHESTER, NH – Big news deserves a big rollout and that’s just what Scott and Chris Proulx of Double Midnight Comics did Wednesday, press conference style.
Due to the growing success of their annual comic book and pop culture expo, the Proulx brothers announced the expansion of the 2024 Granite State Comicon to include the SNHU Arena, doubling the reach of the convention. In addition to hotel Armory for the Friday preview night, where guests can mix and mingle with attendees, the action will take place at both the Doubletree Hilton Expo Center and now the SNHU Arena over two days on Sept. 21-22.
“We started the Granite State Comicon here at the hotel when it was the Radisson back in 2003. We used a portion of the ballroom… and over the years we kind of grew a little bit more,” said Chris Proulx. As years passed they took over the whole hotel ballroom and expanded to the Armory. “We eventually go to the point where we took over every available space. One thing we knew – and we could see the writing on the walls – was that we were running out of space and so we started looking at different options.”
The Doubletree is an ideal space and the Proulxs said they wanted to continue having the convention in the heart of Manchester.
“We love being here in downtown Manchester, it’s the central heart and hub of everything. We live in Manchester, we went to school in Manchester we met our wives in Manchester… we grew up outside Manchester, in Auburn, but we did everything in Manchester so it was important for us to stay here,” Chris Proulx said.
Adding another venue was the best solution.
“We are adding the SNHU Arena – adding the venue to the floorplan map – we took a page out of Disney’s playbook by opening a second gate which means there will be stuff happening here at the hotel as well as at SNHU Arena,” Chris Proulx said.
The 2024 Comicon also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the birth of Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, which will mean expanded programming for that alone. They also will be adding pop-up events throughout the downtown at additional venues, including the Palace and Rex theatres and other special promotions.
“We have more details coming after the first of the year,” Scott Proulx said – now that the “ink is dry” on the SNHU Arena contract they can begin signing up artists and vendors.
“When we started this back in 2003 we did not envision people traveling from Australia, Brazil, Europe – now it’s an international thing, and it’s going to mean more people here going to restaurants and bars and staying in hotel rooms,” Chris Proulx said. “We just want to make a positive impact on the city.”
They extended thanks to sponsors and supporters and a shout-out to Jodi Nazaka and Erik Lesniak of the city’s Economic Development Office for helping with the expansion plan.