The Con Is On

Celebs, cosplayers + collectors convene for Houston's Comicpalooza 2025

It’s time to charge your lightsabers, dust off your capes, and prep your cosplay — Comicpalooza is back June 20-22 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, and it’s bigger, bolder, and better than ever.

Whether you’re a hardcore Jedi, casual anime fan, or just someone who loves a good haunted house and a throwback dance party, Comicpalooza delivers three jam-packed days of fan-fueled fun. It’s a celebration of everything pop culture under one very enthusiastically air-conditioned roof.

Houston Comicpalooza Photo by Kevin Ventura

A star-powered celebrity lineup
Let’s start with the star power. This year’s guest list reads like a nerd’s dream journal. Leading the charge is Star Wars legend Hayden Christensen, alongside fellow galactic icons Ming-Na Wen and Temuera Morrison. That’s right: Anakin Skywalker, Fennec Shand, and Boba Fett will all be in the building.

Need more reasons to nerd out? Patton Oswalt is bringing his Ratatouille charm and razor-sharp wit, while Adam Savage, the brains behind MythBusters, will have fans geeking out over gadgets. And comedy legends Cheech & Chong will be there to light up the nostalgia (and probably the room).

Fans of SYFY’s Resident Alien are in for a treat, with Alan Tudyk, Corey Reynolds, Sara Tomko, and Alice Wetterlund appearing for panels and signings. Plus, Dragon Ball Z fans can power up with voice actor Sean Schemmel.

Explore the ultimate fandom playground
Along with celebrity selfies and autograph hunts, Comicpalooza is a full-on playground for pop-culture lovers.

Hit the sprawling show floor to browse everything from rare comics and anime merch to custom art and collectibles you didn’t even know you needed.

Houston Comicpalooza Photo by Edward Hall

Pop into the Okashi Japanese Arcade for a hit of Tokyo-style nostalgia, or brave the bone-chilling thrills of the brand-new 13th Floor Haunted House walkthrough, because it's never too early for Halloween.

You’ll also want to plan your schedule around the many live panels featuring Q&As with celebs, industry insiders, and content creators who are just as obsessed with your favorite fandoms as you are.

After dark = after-party
When the sun goes down, the real party begins. Comicpalooza After Dark is strictly 18+ and 100% epic.

On Friday night, the “Throwback to the Millennium” bash will teleport you back to the early 2000s with the best jams from the TRL era — bring your low-rise jeans and frosted-tips energy.

On Saturday, the rave returns with a vengeance, thanks to Club Kaijuu and its lineup of anime DJs spinning beats straight out of your favorite opening themes.

Something for everyone
Bringing the kids? There’ll be no shortage of family fun. Kidtopia will be buzzing all weekend with hands-on activities like the Kroger Chef Junior demos, where budding chefs can get their hands dirty (in a good way) while whipping up tasty treats.

Creative souls will want to check out Comic Couture, a stunning fashion show featuring original designs inspired by comic books and anime, all dreamed up by students from UHD and HCC.

Houston Comicpalooza Photo by Emerson

Photo by Amial Velasquez

Find your people here.

And no visit to Comicpalooza is complete without catching the iconic Cosplay Contest on Saturday night. This all-out display of craftsmanship, creativity, and cosplay bravado is sure to inspire next year's getup.

Oh, and did we mention the wrestling? That’s right: Texas All Star Wrestling will be bringing the heat as fighters clash in the ring for the coveted Comicpalooza Dragon Belt. It’s high-flying, body-slamming, spandex-wearing chaos in the best way possible.

Why you won't want to miss it
Comicpalooza isn’t just Houston’s biggest pop culture convention — it’s a high-energy celebration of all the weird, wild, and wonderful corners of fandom. From anime to sci-fi, horror to wrestling, and cosplay to cuisine, it’s a weekend where you can be unapologetically you, whatever that looks like.

So whether you're a Jedi master, a Marvel maniac, or just someone who loves an epic party with a few thousand of your new best friends, grab your tickets, plan your costume, and get ready to nerd out hard.

comicpalooza comics star wars cosplay anime promoted

Movie Review

Spielberg-inspired movie The End of Oak Street is a dino-snore

Photo by Daniel McFadden

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street.

Steven Spielberg is the iconic director of the last 50 years, so it’s no surprise that many other filmmakers have borrowed from his classic films. But most of the time those come in the form of references or homages, not straight up theft, which is what it feels like watching The End of Oak Street play out in front of your eyes.

Set in the early 1980s in an idyllic suburban neighborhood of an unnamed city, Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are parents to two teenagers, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery). They’re also possibly heading toward divorce, as Audrey is secretly writing a novel with a thinly-veiled plot about their life, and Brian is cagey about having to earn extra money with a pizza delivery job.

That all gets put on the backburner when a mysterious event takes their entire neighborhood back to the time of dinosaurs. Armed with little more than a shotgun and sledgehammer, Audrey and Brian do their best to keep the family safe in their house. But the longer the ordeal goes on, circumstances force them out onto the streets and into the increasing danger that’s all around them.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film tries immensely hard to be like the Spielberg movies its filmmaker clearly adores, but fails at almost every turn. It never earns the broken family in ‘80s suburbia vibes that were prevalent in E.T., going all in right away in the opening scene with a neighborhood block party that feels forced. Other elements like a bully who has it out for Brian, the family dog that disappears, and an angry neighbor come across as the tropes they are and not as organic parts of the plot.

When it finally gets to its dinosaur sequences, they pale in comparison to those found in Jurassic Park. The strange manner in which the dinosaurs appear is a big part of that, but the action involving them forgoes ominous moments that could build tension for those that play up gore in an unexpected way for a PG-13 movie. Many of the attacks have so little emotional meaning that they come off as comical, which is entertaining but in a hollow way.

As if those weren’t enough, Mitchell — perhaps at the behest of producer J.J. Abrams (who made his own Spielbergian film, Super 8) — tries to honor Spielberg in other ways. Just like in Jaws, he employs the use of a split diopter lens, which keeps characters in both the foreground and background in focus. But instead of using it judiciously, it’s brought out in three separate scenes, including a laughable one with the four family members where it turns into overkill.

Hathaway, coming off of a role in The Odyssey that could earn her an Oscar nomination, is the best part of this film. But even her evident skills are dragged down by the ridiculousness of the story, which requires hysterics that even she can’t sell. McGregor can normally be counted on for a good performance, but he gives several line readings with strange cadences that make his already-underwritten character come off worse. Stella and Convery are okay, but their roles are unmemorable overall.

Mitchell and his team can never settle on exactly what type of film they were trying to make, and so even though The End of Oak Street has a few moments that work, they’re surrounded by many others that don’t. In trying to emulate Spielberg — there’s even a blatant Back to the Future (produced by Spielberg) rip-off towards the end — all Mitchell has done is show how difficult it is to be the master.

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The End of Oak Street opens in theaters on August 14.