Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup Working on a sketch between visitors at Sunday's KidsCon is artist Cherish Springer, a Utah native now living in Boston. Springer was among the dozens of vendors who took part in the third annual event in Nashua.

However, Nathan – who lives in Lynn, Massachusetts, and was among the scores of children who came to this year’s event at the Nashua Radisson – ultimately decided to leave them in the car.

“He had them ready, but he was just a bit shy” about donning one of the costumes, Nathan’s mom said, adding that he will almost certainly wear one next year.

That shyness didn’t seem to get in the way of a memorable photo-op with none other than Spider-Man himself, however. Nathan wore a big smile as he chatted with the iconic superhero and posed with him for his mom’s camera.

Kids Con is the brainchild of Emily Drouin, a 36-year-old children’s comic book artist and author from Raymond. She initially got the idea for a child-focused convention in early 2014, after noticing how popular the interactive kids’ areas were at adult conventions.

Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup Nathan Allen, 3, manages a big smile as his mom takes his photo with Spider-Man during Sunday's third annual Kids Con New England show in Nashua.

Later that year, Drouin experimented with a “Kidzone” section at a convention in Hartford, Connecticut. She then went about putting together the first kid-focused event, which made its debut in 2016 in Concord.

The robust response convinced Drouin a larger venue was necessary, according to the event’s history. With its three ballrooms and five side rooms for workshops, the Radisson Nashua fit the bill.

Aside from the dozens of vendors set up across the three adjacent ballrooms, Sunday’s event featured such attractions as “Jedi training,” at which wanna-be padawans learned jedi arts from Jedi Master Nathan Porter of Rising Storm Training Academy.

Another workshop taught children the skills necessary to be a prince or princess, and introduced them to their favorite characters.

Available again this year was the ever-popular Pirate Camp, in which young folks with aspirations to sail the high seas learned the tricks of the trade from members of the Northeast Buccaneers. These include sword fighting, as well as how to talk like a pirate.

Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup Ten-year-old Mont Vernon resident Logan St. Denis, who turned into comic book star Mega Man on Sunday, talks with a self-published cartoonist who goes by Johnnie Torch while visiting his booth at the third annual Kids Con New England event in Nashua.

Visitors interested in the artistry behind the birth and growth of comic book characters and superheroes had plenty of opportunities Sunday, from chatting with the artists themselves or watching them sketch out their next project.

Cherish Springer, for example, used the small windows of time between interested visitors to work on her newest designs.

A native of Utah, where, she said with a laugh, the fine arts are pretty much limited to painting mountainscapes, Springer has lived in the Boston area since coming east to attend the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Not far from Springer’s booth, Black Cat and Gwen Poole took turns chatting with visitors from toddlers to full-grown fans of Marvel Comics.

Black Cat and Gwenpool, who in real life are Meshae Stojanovic and Kelly Kirkpatrick, respectively, are members of “The Guardian Legion,” the Vermont-based cosplay performance group known for its participation in events that support and raise funds for charities.

Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup Marvel Comics stars Gwenpool, left, and Black Cat, otherwise known as Kelly Kirkpatrick and Meshae Stojanovic, chat with a couple of pint-sized fans who stopped by their Guardian Legion booth at Sunday's third annual Kids Con New England.

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.

Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup Alex Nicolo, 4, enjoys a "noodle sword" fight with pirate Danny Scialdone, a member of the Northeast Buccaneers who took on all challengers during Sunday's third annual Kids Con New England event at the Nashua Radisson.

Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup Some of the work of comic book artists Rich Wentworth and Jay Mooers is displayed behind Wentworth as he speaks with a visitor to Sunday's third annual Kids Con New England show in Nashua.