Comic fans, rejoice: the Fandemic Tour is finally here.
The new comic convention — a three-day event — was originally scheduled for last fall. Unfortunately, that Hurricane Harvey ruined a lot of things, including this convention's launch. (Founder and former Wizard World CEO John Macaluso tried to schedule it later in the year, but several guests had scheduling conflicts.)
Nevertheless, Fandemic is here and has a lot of things in store for people who attend this pop-culture extravaganza. Here's a rundown of five major things:
The Walking Dead will represent
Since Sebastian Stan did his Fandemic appearance last month and Chuck Norris and Milo Ventimiglia have cancelled, the big stars who'll be at Fandemic are cast members from The Walking Dead. Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Pollyanna McIntosh, and Steven Yeun (RIP Glenn!) will be around on Saturday and Sunday. But they aren't the only big names. Several Guardians of the Galaxy castmates, including Dave Bautista and Michael Rooker, will be in attendance.
There will also be an interesting assortment of actors and actresses from long-gone (but still adored) WB shows, like James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville). Two men who've played Superman — Dean Cain (Lois and Clark) and Tom Welling (Smallville) — will be there. And for the B-movie nerds, Bruce Campbell, star of the Evil Dead movies/TV show and cult-movie icon, will most likely be reciting beloved lines from those films to fans.
Artists abound
Since this is still a comic convention, there will be a number of well-known comic-book artists in the house, like Rob Prior, Geof Isherwood, Rags Morales, and Arthur Suydam (aka "The Zombie King"). But don't forget about such animators as Phil Ortiz, who's done layouts and character design for The Simpsons, and Tom Cook, who has worked for Disney, Hanna-Barbera, and Filmation. This convention will also have spaces available for younger artists — really, really younger artists. Thirteen-year-old Sealy resident Megan Staba will have her own booth, as well as 12-year-old Utah artist Shelbi Webb, who created the superhero comic Sugar Glider.
Thanks to conventions like these, regional artists also get a chance to shine. And over at the area known as Artist Alley, there will be a diverse array of writers, illustrators, cartoonists, pencil artists, designers, digital artists, and other creative folk —not just from Houston, but from all around the state. There will also be plenty of businesses around selling their merchandise. Our favorite that'll be there is The Flying Pig Phenomenon, which specializes in "all your aerodynamic and airborne farm animal needs." We don't know what that is, but we're sold.
A sea of cosplayers
Needless to say, expect cosplayers to swarm the place, dressed as their favorite superhero/video-game character/obscure figure you've never heard of because you're old and out of it. Pandemic will also bring in special cosplay guests Lana Marie and Maddy Lea, who is just nine years old and has been killing it in the cosplay game. But all eyes will most likely be Merly the Cosplay Dog, a five-year-old service dog whose handler has made over 40 different costumes for her.
Hot cars
Three well-known automobiles will be available for attendees to take badass photos with all weekend. First up, the Batmobile — or, should we say, a Batmobile that's coming from a family in Cypress. Someone from Kemah will bring in a recreation of the '73 Oldsmobile Delta 88 (aka The Classic) that Bruce Campbell drove in the Evil Dead universe. Finally, there's a 1995 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, which has been converted to look like one of the jeeps from Jurassic Park. Cars, celebs, and cosplay — it looks like Fandemic is making sure comics isn't the only c-word you get at this convention.
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The Fandemic Comic Convention Tour will be this Friday through Sunday at NRG Center, 1 NRG Park. Show hours are 3 pm-7 pm (Friday), 10 am-7 pm (Saturday), and 10 am-4 pm (Sunday). Tickets are $40-$80. For more information, visit the official site.
Dave Bautista will be without his Guardians of the Galaxy makeup.
