MIDLAND Chris Setlzer hopes to have his own booth out at the Permian Basin Comic Con.

The Midland native, who is currently a senior at the University of Texas Permian Basin, is majoring in graphic design and hopes to have his illustrations displayed sometime in the future at the convention.

“That would be nice,” Setlzer said. “It would be really fun.”

Keith Haynes, a vendor from Austin who specializes in cereal box art, talks with the media at the Permian Basin Comic Con X Friday at Midland Horseshoe Arena. (Michael Bauer|Odessa American)

But for this weekend, Setlzer was just happy to come back to the Permian Basin Comic Con along with his family.

The convention began Friday and will continue through Sunday at the Midland Horseshoe Arena.

Many different vendors, artists and voice actors were in attendance at this year’s convention which has brought in a high number of guests each March.

“Just seeing all the cool artwork and the anime is fun,” Setlzer said. “There are cool figures and comic books. There’s just all sorts of variety.”

There was something for everyone to enjoy at the convention.

Numerous vendors were selling items from comics to artworks to Venetian facemasks as well as plenty of action figures and funko pops.

For Setlzer and his family, this was their sixth time coming out the Permian Basin Comic Con.

“We come as much as we can,” Setlzer said. “It’s wonderful.”

Some of the vendors return each year to the Permian Basin Comic Con.

One of those vendors included Drue Ferry, who was selling funko pops.

“I specialize in the hard-to-find ones,” Ferry said. “I have lots of Iron Man and other Marvel ones. They range from $15 and up.”

Funko Pops sit on display at the Permian Basin Comic Con X Friday at Midland Horseshoe Arena. (Michael Bauer|Odessa American)

Ferry has been coming back to the Permian Basin Comic Con for about four years now.

“It’s a great show,” Ferry said. “The people are awesome. It’s really a good place to be.”

Most funko pops are produced in limited quantities, making some of them rare.

Those include characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies including Iron Man.

For other people, funko pops have been collectibles for years now.

“I think a lot of people like funko pops because of the nostalgia factor,” Ferry said. “They’re hard to find. It reminds people of their childhood and that’s what really sells it to people.”

One vendor that was making his debut at the Permian Basin Comic Con was artist Keith Haynes from Austin.

Haynes specializes in making cereal box-styled art of various cartoon characters.

Those characters range from cartoons to anime.

“It’s really cool when you get a chance to meet someone and there’s something that they’ve been searching for that’s hard to find, like maybe a niche cartoon, anime or comic, and it just really makes their day,” Haynes said.

For Haynes, it’s always fun to meet other fans.

“Honestly, it’s how nice people are. I’ve met some of the nicest people on earth at a lot of these conventions and just how helpful and appreciative they are.”

Sonic the Hedgehog plushies sit on a stand at the Permian Basin Comic Con X Friday at Midland Horseshoe Arena. (Michael Bauer|Odessa American)

It may be his first time in Midland, but he’s been to other different conventions over the years.

“It’s nice,” Haynes said. “I think a lot of people are really friendly and just happy to be out. You can tell when conventions are busy. Last year and this year, attendances have been up. It’s been fun coming out to these conventions.”

Haynes said he has about 600 different images in total but had maybe less than half of them out at the convention on Friday.

“I have about 200-250 today,” Haynes said.

He has several favorites but if he had to single one out, it would be one of Logan (Wolverine) from the X-Men.

“I’m an X-Man fan,” Haynes said. “The Logan’s (art) here is one of my favorites. I really like that print.”

This year’s guests also include Francois Chau, known for his roles as Dr. Pierre Chang in ABC’s “Lost,” Quick Kick on “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” as well as Dr. Chang in the film “21 and Over.”

Another guest is Canadian voice actor Brian Drummond who is known for “Dragon Ball Z,” “Death Note” and “Mobile Suit Gundam Seed.”

“Power Rangers” fans will get a chance to meet Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy who were known for playing the roles of Bulk and Skull from the popular 90s TV series this weekend.

For more information about the convention, go to tinyurl.com/tpverzdv.