The 12th annual Cape Comic Con will kick off at 4 p.m. April 21 at the Osage Centre, located at 1625 N. Kingshighway. Event organizers have hopes of drawing in more than 4,000 fans.

The event is an opportunity for anyone in the Cape Girardeau area who has an interest in comic con to come out for a weekend full of fun and networking opportunities with fellow peers who have the same interests.

Ken Murphy, director of Cape Comic Con, said he is excited to host the event, which allows fans from around the region to arrive in their favorite comic con costumes.

“Cape Comic Con was started to provide artists, writers, filmmakers, voice actors, gamers, cosplayers and fans a chance to come together and enjoy a weekend of programming, networking and fandoms,” Murphy said. “These guest include, Brian Rhodes, Santiago Cirilio and Michael Nicolosi. We also have legendary comic artist, Mike Grell.”

Another guest who will be in attendance and is excited about the costume contest, is a vendor for Cape Comic Con, Scott Throne. Throne has been operating Castle Perilous since 1990 and has attended Cape Comic Con several times over the last 12 years.

“My favorite part about Cape Comic Con is that since I have read comics for years it’s the opportunity to see comics that I remember reading years ago,” Throne said.

Throne said he looks forward to walking around and seeing everyone’s costumes and other vendors when he is not at his vendor's booth.

“My favorite part is meeting the public. Unlike musicians, artists usually toil away from the audience, so it’s nice to meet them,” Nathan Bonner, creator of the Indavo web comic, said.

Bonner has taken the last year off to create an animation story “Indavo: Fiery Vengeance,” which will premiere at 1 p.m. on April 23 at Cape Comic Con.

While Bonner will be presenting his work on Sunday, he said he’s looking forward to the costume contest where he will be dressed as Galvatron.

“Galvatron is a large, crazed, purple decepticon tyrant — what's not to love — but the costume would be very heavy,” Bonner said.

The costume contest is a fan favorite where guests have a chance to win $200. Murphy is expecting more than 100 entries for the contest and the winner will be revealed at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Gaming all weekend long is one of the other activities outside of the contest that guests can participate in; rules and regulations for gaming are listed on the Cape Comic Con website.

Tickets for the weekend will be $10 for a single-day pass on Friday or Saturday and $5 for a single-day pass on Sunday. Other special passes include a weekend pass, gold pass and silver pass with pricing ranging from $20 to $40.

To purchase tickets for this event, please visit the Cape Comic Con website. Tickets will be available for pickup at the door opening night.Gaming will consist of daily tournaments. The games will include Mortal Kombat XL, Smash Bros. Melee Singles, Magic: The Gathering Free Play, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-OH!, and Smash Bros. WiiU Doubles.