The geeks — and they know who they are — are going to love Howard County Library System’s first-ever ComicCon on June 6.
For those into science fiction, there’s a panel discussion with the Fantastic Quartet, a group of four Howard County locals who have written dozens of “Star Trek” novels, comic books, television scripts, nonfiction books and articles.
With a nod to the old school, reps from Third Eye Comics and Art Way Alliance will speak about the history of comics.
A superhero movie marathon will run throughout the day, starting with 1978’s “Superman,” then 2002’s “Spider-Man” and ending with 1991’s “The Rocketeer.”
Crowds flock to Baltimore Convention Center’s Comic Con and to AwesomeCon in Washington, D.C., but it can get expensive, says Fantastic Quartet panelist Bob Greenberger, a former “Star Trek” comic book editor who is now an English teacher at Owings Mills High School. “Tickets, parking, concessions, memorabilia … it adds up,” he says. “This is community-based — it’s smaller, more intimate, more like what comic book conventions used to be like back in the ’60s.”
With the event designed to appeal to older teens and adults, organizers have also invited food trucks to set up in the parking lot. The event also ties into the superheroes and everyday heroes theme of the library’s summer reading club, which is geared to the younger readers.
“A research assistant saw another library with a similar event and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun?’ It piled on from the there,” says Christie P. Lassen, director of public relations for the library system.
Drawing classes, trivia contests and a costume contest are also planned.
Although the event is being marketed to a mature audience, unlike the Baltimore ComicCon held at the Convention Center, costumes are supposed to be family-friendly, says Lassen.
The library planners have an inkling that the event will be a success. Past anime and comic drawing classes have been well-received, Lassen says.