At GalaxyCon, fans can take home a permanent souvenir of their experience: a tattoo

Realistic costumes, huge props and celebrity sightings are among the mainstays of any comic-con experience. At GalaxyCon Raleigh, life-size Star Wars robots rolled down walkways and brightly colored signs directed you to different panels and vendors.

But on the Mezzanine Level, before you descended into the exhibit hall, you’d find a vendor not often found at a comic-con. The sign read “Tattoo Row,” and it’s where you could find tattoo artist Robert Weaver.

GalaxyCon Raleigh wrapped up this past weekend. Weaver, who co-owns River City Tattoo Company, travels to GalaxyCons across the country to offer tattoos of select celebrity autographs after they’re signed on the exhibition floor. River City also specializes in the kinds of comic art and pop culture characters that are all over comic-con.

Weaver envisions a different kind of tattoo parlor: a place where young people, minorities, LGBTQ+ people and of course, nerds, can express themselves through tattoo art in a judgment-free environment. He says setting up at a comic convention offers a unique experience for those intimidated by a more traditional tattoo parlor setting.

“There’s a lot of young people who maybe were intimidated by the tattoo process,” Weaver said. “Twenty to 30 years ago everyone that worked in a tattoo shop looked very much like me.”

Weaver is tall, muscular and has sleeves of tattoos going up both his arms. On the surface, he might be intimidating to some.

“We want to change that,” he continued.

A GalaxyCon partnership

River City Tattoo Co. is based in Richmond, Virginia. When GalaxyCon Richmond began, River City Tattoo was an exhibitor at the event, offering limited tattoo and piercing sessions in the Exhibition Hall.

“That went really well,” Weaver said. “And so we started traveling with them nationwide. We do all their shows, coast to coast.”

The partnership between GalaxyCon and River City Tattoo eventually allowed the creation of Tattoo Row at GalaxyCon events. Weaver said that River City will be at 22 GalaxyCon events across the United States in 2025.

While River City owners still operate their four locations in Virginia, a select group of artists from Richmond, along with Weaver and co-owner Jessica Simmons, set up shop at GalaxyCon Events.

At each event, attendees can pre-pay to get an autograph from select celebrities. Packages start at $355. On the exhibition floor, the celebrity signs their name on the guest’s body. The guest heads to the River City booth to get the signature tattooed onto their body, then returns to show the celebrity their new tattoo and get a picture with them.

“It’s a passion project,” Weaver said.

That’s clear from his own tattoos. A tattoo on Weaver’s left arm depicts Galactus, a notable villain in Marvel’s Fantastic Four comics. Weaver said he attended comic conventions as a kid and enjoys them more so now.

At GalaxyCons, River City’s services also include licensed tattoos, where guests can get symbols from Dungeons and Dragons, Pokemon and other art that expresses their interest.

The art that GalaxyCon guests typically get factors into Weaver’s vision of a judgment-free environment.

“They were sort of looked down on,” Weaver said of people looking for nontraditional tattoos in regular shops. “They were told, That’s not cool. That’s not a real tattoo.”

A moment to remember

Shasta Walton of Wilmington and her son got matching tattoos at GalaxyCon on Thursday.

“My boys really love Club Penguin,” Walton said. “As we were walking through GalaxyCon there were Club Penguin posters.”

Walton and her son decided to get matching Club Penguin tattoos to not only commemorate their love for the game but to connect it to GalaxyCon and their experience at the event itself.

“Let’s just do it. We’re here. This will kind of commemorate this event,” she said of their decision to get the tattoos at GalaxyCon.

Walton and her son had each gotten a tattoo in the past, and she spoke of a different experience at GalaxyCon Raleigh.

“It was just an easier experience,” Walton said. “I don’t really like the idea of going into a place that I am unsure of what the atmosphere is, but walking in and there were already people there, it was less intimidating.”

It’s not just guests like Walton that Weaver aims to create a different experience for.

“This is the place that a lot of these kids, many of whom are on the spectrum, and things are just more uncomfortable,” he says. “This helps them be comfortable.”

As for Walton and her family, she said she would definitely do the experience again. “We are already looking at like what the next events are going to be,” Walton said.

For Weaver, he feels that what River City does at comic-cons means more than just a tattoo.

“You get to literally scroll your identity on your flesh,” he said. “We help you carve out that identity in some way.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2024 at 8:00 AM.