It may seem early to be thinking about Heroes For Kids Comic Con returning to Perryville from July 19 through 20 at the Perry Park Center, but it’s never a good idea to make superheroes wait when they have something important to say.
Jessica Johnson and her husband, Lonnie (Superman) Johnson, had a successful run with last year’s Comic Con, raising $12,200 for the Kenny Rogers Children’s Center and the Perry County Senior Center. The 2025 recipients will be the Perry County Community Task Force and The Dorn Foundation.
This was a record year for us,” Mrs. Johnson said. “Our goal was $7,000, but we had a lot of people. There were a lot of ticket sales, so that definitely helped. One of our guests who came in, Marti Matulis, was absolutely amazing, and he helped us out a bit more. Because of what we were doing, Marti decided that he only wanted part of what we had contracted with him for. He wanted to make it better.”
Perryville’s Comic Con started six years ago, in 2019, as a one-day show with around 500 to 600 people in attendance. The 2020 convention was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the event bounced back in 2021. Last year, in commemoration of its fifth anniversary, Comic Con expanded into a two-day event, with the turnout ending up being bigger than ever.
Comic Con has a great lineup of special guests who will be leading brief seminars at the conference. They include:
Scott Innes
Legendary Scooby Doo and cartoon voice artist Scott Innes is also an award-winning radio personality for Cumulus Radio in Baton Rouge, La. He is better known as the voice behind Scooby Doo, Shaggy Rogers and Scrappy Doo since 1997. Innes voiced the four biggest Scooby Doo movies of all time — Zombie Island, Witches Ghost, Alien Invaders, and Cyber Chase. He’s also voiced hundreds of Scooby Doo talking toys and video games over the years.
Innes recently voiced the new Scooby Doo pinball machine and is the narrator for the new Spooky Pinball’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He was also the ring announcer in the latest 2023 “Iron Claw” motion picture with Zac Efron and has brought to life more than 25 Hanna Barbera cartoons like Yogi Bear and BooBoo, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Papa Smurf and Popeye.
His comic con booth has become legendary, and his panel is off the charts where Scott performs a montage of all the songs he’s performed in Scooby Doo movies over the years.
Philo Barnhart
Barnhart has also worked on many animated TV shows and video games such as The Smurfs, 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, Jem and the Holograms, Space Ace, Superfriends Season 5 and Dragons Lair. He worked on consumer products for several years with Disney, and to this day, consumers can find his artwork still being used on toys, books, home electronics/appliances, apparel, and posters.
On a special note, his parents, Dale and Phyllis Barnhart, were both artists at Disney Animation Studios. Growing up watching the magic of art become animation, Barnhart spends his life continuing the tradition of making stories come to life through art.
Jerry “The King” Lawler
Jerry "the King" Lawler is an American color commentator and professional wrestler signed to WWE under a Legends contract.
Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1992, he wrestled in numerous territories, winning many championships, including multiple World Heavyweight Championships, throughout his career.
Lawler is a one-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion: he unified the titles by defeating Kerry Von Erich at Superclash III, forming the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, a championship which he held 28 times. He is also known for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman and for portraying himself in the 1999 Jim Carrey film about Kaufman, Man on the Moon.
In 2007, Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Other activities planned for the weekend include a Cosplay/Costume Contest, Quick Draw/Sketch Contest, Brick Building Contest, Trivia, Super Smash Bros Tournament, D&D and, of course, Villainous Grounds will be on hand to provide various drinks and snacks during the event.
For more information about Heroes For Kids Comic Con, visit its website at https://www.heroesforkidscomic.con.org/home.
