Tom Range traces his love of comic books to a playground mishap that left his younger brother with two broken wrists.
“I was in fifth grade. [Vince] was in third grade. He broke both his wrists trying to swing all the way around on a swing set at recess,” Range says. “Aunt Sue sent him some comic books to read to cheer him up. But both his hands were in casts and I had to sit next to him to turn the pages for him. That’s how we got kind of addicted to comic books.”
Range eventually found his way to Penn State, where he played sousaphone in the Blue Band; he graduated in 1989 and embarked on a career as an educator in Bucks County and New Jersey. His passion for comic books never waned. He and his brother ran a comics shop in Bucks County for a time, until his children came along. Later, Range became more involved attending comics conventions.
That gave him an idea: Penn State “would be a perfect place for a comic book convention.”
Years later, Range and his family brought that inspiration to life. In 2023, they founded the Happy Valley Comic & Collectibles Convention. The event, casually known as Happy Valley comic con — or HVC3 (C to the third power, Range says) — celebrates its third year March 1-2 at the Nittany Valley Sports Centre.
HVC3 almost met disaster before it ever got off the ground. While preparing for retirement, Range and his wife, Maureen, in 2012 bought the Keller House bed-and-breakfast in Centre Hall. The reconnection to Happy Valley renewed Tom’s interest in launching a convention here, but Maureen felt the timing wasn’t right.
“Originally we were looking at 2020 as the debut,” he says. “My wife [a physical therapist] wasn’t retired yet. I was about to be retired, the bed-and-breakfast was taking up time, and she’s like, ‘Let’s not.’ And it was probably the best decision because we would have been destroyed; we would have been bankrupt because we would have planned everything and it wouldn’t have been able to be held” because of the pandemic.
Once it ultimately did take flight in 2023, HVC3 was an immediate hit, attracting more than 2,000 people in its first year and tripling that to about 6,000 last year. The 50,000-foot convention space will again be “filled to the brim” with vendors and entertainment, Range says.
HVC3 has grown with the help of two tourism grants totaling $18,000 from the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, as well as contributions from investors, sponsorships, and community alliances.
But Tom, Maureen, and their adult children Mitch and Megan — both also Penn State grads — remain the superheroes of organizing the convention.
“I think we’re on the right track,” Tom says, knocking on wood. “I think this year will be the tipping point, the ‘Hey, this was a good idea, I think it’s working.’ I think at the end of this year, OK, this is something that is going to be here for years to come.”
Here are some other highlights from our conversation:
You started collecting comic books at a young age with your brother and became a comic books dealer. What’s your favorite?
Range: It’s interesting how he and I went two different ways. He’s more of a DC (Comics) guy. I’m more of a Marvel guy. He’s definitely DC, Superman. My favorite, and actually the first series I finished, was a group called the Defenders. And it was considered a non-group. Their membership changed regularly. It started off with Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, Namor, and the Hulk. And then Valkyrie came in and it grew.
If it had a single character, I always liked Daredevil. Here’s a guy who was blind, but his other senses kind of took over. Supposedly he was blinded by a radiated isotope that hit him in the eyes, but the radiation heightened all his other senses. And of course, Spider-Man. Everyone loves Spider-Man. That’s the holy grail of superheroes, I guess. And again, it depends if you’re a Marvel or DC (fan). Marvel, it’s Spider-Man; and DC, it’s Superman. Superman started the whole comics superhero genre.
Why do you think events like yours are so popular? What is it about comic books and superheroes that capture the imagination of so many people of all ages?
Range: I think there has always been a fascination with “super” people.
What are sports stars? Maybe just low-level superheroes that can do things that normal people can’t. How many times have we seen a spectacular play and been envious that we can’t do that? These superheroes are the beings we wish we could be.
And we as a species have had superheroes from the beginning. What was Hercules if not a superhero?
We talk about Thor and Loki, thinking they are Marvel superheroes [or villains] but those characters have been around for centuries in Norse mythology.
What was Beowulf if not an early superhero?
I think it is just in our human nature to create beings of immense power, because deep down, we wish we could be them.
Now comic conventions are popular because they give you an avenue to enjoy your favorite character and celebrate him or her. You get an escape for a few hours to immerse yourself in a culture you can enjoy and get to know people that are very similar.
No matter how obscure a character you might like and enjoy, there will probably be at least someone else at the convention that likes and enjoys the same character.
How important is the Penn State audience to your convention?
Range: I find it very, very important. I mean, if one of our big selling points is that Penn State has 46,000 students, am I [saying] 46,000 people are going to show up to my convention? No. But if we get 10 percent of that, that’s almost 5,000 people. [A shuttle bus runs from East Halls to the convention.) And Penn State already offers groups that are interested in the stuff that we’re dealing with. I just presented to the Yu-Gi-Oh! club. There’s the Magic the Gathering club. There’s the Students of S.H.I.E.L.D, which is a comic book club. There’s the Star Wars club, the Disney club, the anime club. There’s the Alliance of Heroic Hearts. That’s the first group we did an alliance with. They are cosplayers that show up to local hospitals and different events for children. We give them a booth, and they help us advertise; they were in the homecoming parade, handing out fliers and things like that.
More generally, where do you attract people from? And how would you describe your audience?
Range: Oh, the range is 5 up to 80, like it’s all over the place. We have a special family day on Sunday where kids under 10 are completely free. And then we try and have the costume contest that day. But on the first day, it’s mostly comic book collectors. Now, where are they from? They’re from all over. The Adventure Bureau [has access to cell phone data]; they could tell you where the phones are coming from. Because of that information, I found a lot of people were not coming up from the Harrisburg area. We were getting a good crowd from Clearfield northwest and some north, but [not] the southeast. So, we decided we’ll put billboards on [Route] 322 during the football season. … But obviously the largest percentage are locals or university students.
Was there anything as you got this up and running where you thought, “Wow, that was a curveball; I wasn’t expecting that.”?
Range: The cost of getting a celebrity. It might be, “I need this amount of money to show up to your convention,” and most of the time it’s a guarantee. So, you have to think, OK, will enough people pay for an autograph from this guy that I don’t have to take money out of my own pocket or out of the convention pocket? That’s the game. But it’s not only the guarantee. How do I pay for how this person gets here? And then once they get here, there’s usually a stipend for food, and then also hotel and board. So, when someone says, “My guarantee is $1,000 or $2,000,” I have to add at least another $1,000 to $1,500 out of my pocket to offset that.
On the flip side, after a couple of years, what do you find most satisfying about doing this?
Range: The feedback, the overall enjoyment from young kids and families all the way up to longtime collectors. I think one of the best feelings I had was at the end of the very first day of the very first show. Now, I’m like, I hope this is successful. I hope we don’t lose our shirts on this because we’re responsible if only 500 people show up. We need 1,000 to break even. But at the end of the first show, one of my vendor friends came up and said, “Tom, I don’t care what I make tomorrow. I had such a great day today. I already want a booth next year.” And I was like, that!
You have your hardcore folks who are into collecting or into Star Wars, things like that. But what would you tell people who haven’t been to a convention, to urge them to check this out?
Range: Well, the nicest thing is, we’re probably the cheapest [entertainment]. If you’re just coming in Saturday, it’s 15 bucks. I mean, nowadays it’s hard to even go to a movie theater for 15 bucks. And then if you buy the ticket online, it’s 13 bucks. Sunday, it’s 10 bucks, or eight bucks online. And then if you decide, “I can go both days,” it’s 22 dollars or 20 bucks online. For 20 bucks, you get two days.
I mean, you don’t even have to buy anything. You could look at the Star Wars cosplayers. We have some Padawan [Jedi] trainers. They have their own lightsabers that you could borrow, and they’ll show you some moves, which is pretty cool. We have panels and things like that.
We’re a great introductory of, “Hey, this is what a comic con is.” Because a lot of people hear comic con and they watch reruns of “The Big Bang Theory” and they’re making a big thing, going to this comic convention and trying to get tickets. We’re a non-threatening, non-expensive opportunity for you to experience it and just see. Just coming and seeing the costume contest is amazing. T&G
Mark Brackenbury is a former editor of Town&Gown.
