“It started small. It started off as a pipe dream and a joke over beers. I know that sounds dumb, but it really was,” promoter Leann Mellum said.

Mellum said the first germ of the idea began back in 2015 when she was working for Norsk Hostfest as marketing director. Mellum said a contact had offered to facilitate licensing with Valiant Comics, which she conceded wasn’t a good fit for the Scandinavian heritage festival.

“‘Bloodshot’ doesn’t really have anything to do with Scandinavia, so I just jokingly said, ‘Maybe we should just start a comic-con,'” Mellum said. “The following day I’m driving up and down Broadway, and San Diego Comic Con live on the radio pops up, and I jokingly said, ‘It’s a sign.'”

After a meeting with representatives with Visit Minot, Mellum was pitched on the idea of creating a homegrown comic convention at the former Holiday Inn. Mellum embraced the serendipity of the moment and took the leap to make the dream a reality in October 2015.

CHARLES CRANE/MDN The iMagicon show floor bustled with activity on the first day of the convention at the North Dakota State Fair Center Friday, April 24.

“All of a sudden everything snowballed. It was like a wheel rolling down a hill and there was no stopping,” Mellum said. “We planned the first one in 90 days. It was chaotic and wonderful at the same time, but 1,700 people went walking through the door.”

Mellum credited the numerous community partners for iMagicon’s initial success, but she said a date change was necessary due to her commitments to Hostfest at the time. The second iteration was held six months later the following April, which has become its permanent home on the annual event calendar.

“Our tagline at that time was ‘imagine the possibilities.’ We never could have imagined the possibility that 12 years later, but here we are. If you had told me 12 years later I’d still be doing it, I’d have told you you were crazy,” Mellum said.

By 2019 Mellum said the convention had outgrown hotel spaces and moved to the Minot Municipal Auditorium, which she described as an “excellent incubator” for the event.

“The auditorium is really a hidden gem in Minot. There are all of these great side stages and areas. We were using the locker rooms for escape rooms,” Mellum said. “It really helped us at the end actually make money on the event and pay off our startup debt. It takes time, so we’re actually able to generate revenue and stockpiling it away that we could start getting bigger and bigger names.”

CHARLES CRANE/MDN Actor James Saito, famous for his portrayal of Shredder in the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," signs an autograph at iMagicon on Friday, April 24.

Mellum said intentionally reinvesting the event profits opened the door for iMagicon to take the next leap to the State Fair Convention Center. The convention’s first year at the state fairgrounds drew more than 6,500 attendees, according to Mellum. It has lead to both show floors being filled with vendors drawn from throughout the state and around the country.

“I always said slow and steady wins the race. We were very cautious and intentional with our growth, so when we moved out here we were ready,” Mellum said. “Now we’re exploding, and that’s fantastic, and now we have the space to do it.”

While some fandom events cater to specific niches, Mellum said the vision has always been to make iMagicon a place where all the disparate fandoms in the pop-culture ecosystem could come together. In addition to the usual smattering of panels, celebrity autograph signings, and endless rows of comic book long boxes and other assorted treasures, iMagicon also boasts table-top gaming and video game tournaments hosted by local gaming shops, and a convention-wide escape room put on by The Mouse River Players.

“We wanted to be open ended so we could continue to build, but not be pigeon-holed into ‘you can only be sci-fi. You can only be furry,'” Mellum said. “If it wasn’t for the community partners that are coming out of the woodwork, the comic book shops and the gaming stores that stepped up, the iMagicon volunteers as well, we wouldn’t be where we are.”

Mellum described the lineup of celebrities at this year’s convention, which includes a reunion of major cast members from the 1990 “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie, as a big leap of faith. But she’s confident the event will continue to take the pipe-dream to even greater heights.

CHARLES CRANE/MDN iMagicon attendees peruse katanas and other souvenir weaponry on the show floor.

“If you’ve never been, I think it’s really worth seeing. I think people will be blown away when they walk through the doors and see what’s happening,” Mellum said.