Manhattan hosted its first Tiny Con this past weekend, bringing together comic book fans and cosplayers alike at Manhattan Town Center. Chris Chamberlin, K-State alumnus and owner of the mall’s Broken Canon Cosplay workshop, took on the daunting task of organizing the convention himself.

After months of planning, Chamberlin said he was excited to see the event filled with hundreds of people in costume enjoying dance performances, costume contests and vendors while connecting over their favorite fandoms.

“By the time it was 1:30 or 2:00 on Saturday, I was finishing helping someone connect their cash register to the Wi-Fi when I looked up and realized there were hundreds of people around me, and it was like a con was happening,” Chamberlin said.

Tiny Con’s success came sooner than Chamberlin had anticipated. When he opened Broken Canon Cosplay in October 2025, organizing a comic convention was part of his five-year plan.

“I had the five-year plan that I would bring, hopefully, some sort of small con back to Manhattan,” Chamberlin said. “But then, I don’t know, I turned 40, dyed my hair blue and decided to just throw a convention.”

Chamberlin first became interested in cosplay in 2019, when a few friends convinced him to attend Plant Comicon in Kansas City. He immediately caught the cosplay bug and has attended the convention every year since, even traveling to other cities to experience their comic conventions.

After years of attending out-of-town conventions, Chamberlin wanted to give Manhattan a convention of its own. Manhattan had previously hosted Little Apple Comic Expo before it ended in 2017.

“In a town like Manhattan, where it feels like there is enough vibrancy and enough activities that it would be well received, but not to have it anymore, somebody has to do it,” Chamberlin said.

Along with Tiny Con, Chamberlin builds Manhattan’s cosplay community through his workshop Broken Canon Cosplay, where visitors can work on costumes, attend Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) clubs and hang out with people of similar interests.

Broken Canon Cosplay hosts open workshops three days a week and after-school STEAM clubs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Each day has its own special theme, with Pokémon on Mondays, Minecraft on Wednesdays and Dungeons & Dragons on Fridays.

“Here at the workshop, it’s a small group of people that all show up together and work on things, and it’s cool to see them developing friendships and leaning on each other for help,” Chamberlin said.

While developing a community for those interested in cosplay is Chamberlin’s number one priority, he also wants to give people a space to be creative.

“I want to foster community more than anything, but secondarily foster making, being creative and working together,” he said.

While Manhattan’s cosplay community is small, Chamberlin said it is still a supportive group where anyone is accepted and can be themselves. 

“The cosplay community and the comic con community, it’s kind of one and the same,” Chamberlin said. “It’s a really supportive community. Anybody can be into whatever thing they’re into.”

Small but mighty, Manhattan’s cosplay community brings people together and gives them a sense of belonging beyond their shared interests. 

“For a lot of people, that world is like their found family, and it’s very important to them,” Chamberlin said.

Hosting Tiny Con at the Manhattan mall means admission is free for all visitors, which Chamberlin hopes makes the convention approachable for newcomers, referring to it as a “gateway con.”

Both longtime cosplayers and newcomers came to Tiny Con in costume, giving Chamberlin a turnout that exceeded his expectations. After the event, he received Facebook comments from visitors describing how much the convention meant to them and asking for it to return next year.

“The next morning I started seeing comments on Facebook tagging Tiny Con and talking about how seen their kids felt and how seen they felt to have that community here,” he said. “I was crying tears of joy. I had no business expecting it to go this well. I was really thankful that Manhattan showed up.”

Following Tiny Con’s success, Chamberlin is planning his next convention for February 2027. Those interested in attending can follow Broken Cannon Cosplay on Instagram and Facebook for all the updates and information.