Steel City Con held their first event of the year on April 12-14, 2024. The show returned to the Monroeville Convention Center at 209 Mall Boulevard in Monroeville, PA.
Steel City hosted a Beverly Hills, 90210 reunion with Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, Gabrielle Carteris, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, and Brian Austin Green. They also had a Breakfast Club reunion with Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, and Ally Sheedy.
The guest list included Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), John Carpenter (Halloween), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Ahsoka), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings), Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets), Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Paola Lazaro (The Walking Dead), Heather Graham (Boogie Nights), Hayden Panettiere (Scream 6), Santino Fontana (Frozen), Booker T and Christian Cage (pro wrestlers), Mark Dacascos (Agents of SHIELD), Maria Zhang and Ian Ousley (Avatar: The Last Airbender), and Drew Fuller (Charmed).
Many of the guests participated in Q&A panels, including Lewis and Ricci from Yellowjackets, the Beverly Hills, 90210 cast, Davis and Sarandon from Thelma & Louise, and The Breakfast Club stars. Events also included the Artist Quick Sketch for Charity and the costume contest.
The original car from Carpenter’s horror film Christine was at the show and fans could take photos with the vehicle.
Steel City Con is well known for having comic book dealers and vintage toy sellers. The convention hosts multiple comic dealers selling everything from $1 back issues up to key first appearances priced in the thousands, as well as trade paperbacks, hardcovers, and graphic novels. Vintage memorabilia included toys from the ‘60s to ‘90s, puzzles, boardgames, action figures, and more. Some sold newer action figures, predominantly from DC and Marvel, Funko Pops, statues, LEGOs, trading cards, VHS, and DVDs. They also had apparel, leatherworks, gaming supplies, and other knickknacks. Some sold fudge and other sweets, there was a moonshine booth, and a tattoo booth.
Artist alley showcased the talents of many creators who offered prints and posters, photography, wood carvings, handmade bags and wallets, wands, and other homemade creations.
Steel City Con faced an unforeseen challenge for their first con of the year. In February 2024, it was announced that the Monroeville Convention Center had been sold and would be closing down, though the sale wouldn’t affect the April 2024 installment of Steel City Con. Soon after that news, the hotel next door to the convention center (a DoubleTree by Hilton), announced that it would be closing immediately. The hotel’s closure was a major setback for the convention because guests and attendees stay there during the show, and Steel City uses two large conference rooms to host the overflow of their celebrity guests. To compensate for the lost space, Steel City converted their panel room for celebrity guest signings. Then a large tent was constructed in the parking lot to be used for panels. They were able to keep all of the guests who were contracted to appear at the convention and still present their usual slate of panels, though they did lose a significant number of parking spaces. (Just a few weeks after news of the closure, it was announced that the Monroeville Convention Center would remain open, due to efforts by the local government.)
Steel City Con did a great job of compensating for the loss of the hotel space, considering how little time they had to do it. The convention has become a packed event, and it seemed that the April show would be chaotic given the major changes, but the convention staff managed things well and were able to control the crowd and flow of lines. All said and done, it was a successful event with a great guest lineup and variety of vendors and artists.
The next Steel City Con will be held on August 9-11 at the Monroeville Convention Center.
To see more photos from Steel City Con, jump to our In the Limelight section.
