Working for a Living | X Con co-founder works long hours to make comic con a success

On Friday, the Myrtle Beach Convention center plays host to the eighth annual X Con World, a comic convention and show featuring celebrity guests, writers, artists and vendors, this year boasting the likes of Josh McDermitt from AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” iconic wrestler Ric Flair, Tim Russ of “Star Trek: Voyager” and many more over the three-day event.

Steven Haines, co-founder and self-proclaimed Grand Poohbah of X Con – also operations manager of X Con Comics in Myrtle Beach – has been a Myrtle Beach resident for 20 years. He has been involved with comic books here for almost as long.

Many might remember Haines from his tenure at the old Heroes Hangout in the now-defunct Myrtle Square mall, where he worked for six years before opening Corsair Comics, which later became X Con Comics at Palmetto Studios.

But he wasn’t a rabid collector as a youngster.

“That’s the strange thing about it,” he said. “I didn’t really buy comics that much as a kid, and kind of got into it more out of high school. Of course, once you get into working in a comic book store, then you buy comics like they are going out of style.”

What drew him in was the art.

“Having grown up an artist and being obsessed with art books and people’s process and how they make art – seeing comics and being able to look at page after page of art – I think that’s what really pulled me in,” he said, adding that goth comics were starting to make an appearance when he got out of high school. “That’s the direction I was going in at that time in the early ‘90s – and of course we were all vampires.”

At X Con Comics, which is also the headquarters for X Con World – Haines puts in eight to 10 hours a day, six days a week. Day-to-day tasks include maintaining customer subscriptions and keeping the store stocked, which is not as easy as it might seem.

“That’s always a challenge because you order the comics two months in advance of when they come out,” he said. “The ordering is really half of the battle for us, because you kind of have to predict the future.”

This involves spotting trends via trade resources and keeping an eye on what comic-related movies are coming out, such as the Marvel/Disney juggernaut “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

“There is always a spike in those movies’ comic sales,” he said.

As X Con World continues to grow, Haines said it’s all about making sure the vendor spots are full, maintaining the guests and what they might need – and signing up and training volunteers.

“This is a multi-tasker’s nightmare,” he said.

“We actually have a volunteer manual, and our volunteer training is kind of famous in the industry,” he said. “Most conventions don’t do that. They take a lot of their volunteers right at the door, throw a T-shirt on them and say ‘go do this.’ We want our people trained, and we are kind of proud of that.”

X Con World is a 501(c)3, and is involved in community and charity work.

“Right now we are partnered with the Boys & Girls Club, and one of the things we want to do is to get them a new building,” he said. Another aspect of this partnership is bringing some of the Boys & Girls Club kids in as volunteers, offering them responsibility and a wider realm of experience.

Haines admits he rarely has the time to venture out or to decompress. He couldn’t tell you the last time he has been to the beach, although he sees it every time he walks out of his front door.

“I am a cheeseburger aficionado,” he said, adding that he is very fond of the cheeseburger at Carolina Roadhouse. He might also be spotted with wife Chris Donevant-Haines for the occasional movie at the Stone Theatres Grand 14 at The Market Common.

He and X Con president Robin Roberts have been known to hit up other conventions as far afield as Chicago or just up the road in Charlotte, N.C., representing X Con with a booth – along with one or two members of their promotional team.

“We try to presell tickets and get vendors from these shows,” he said. “We sell screen-used movie props and vintage toys – things that you are not going to see at everybody [else’s] booths.”

What are Haines’ expectations for the future of X-Con?

“Our goal is to blow out year 10 – to fill up the entire Convention Center with year 10,” he said.

This year, X-Con has doubled in size, and the plan is to grow out of regional status into national status.

“So far, so good,” said Haines.

This story was originally published May 12, 2015 at 4:03 AM with the headline "Working for a Living | X Con co-founder works long hours to make comic con a success."