Pop culture titan William Shatner captains Comicpalooza along with star-studded cast

In one of the most famous sketches in the history of Saturday Night Live, host William Shatner plays himself where — at a Star Trek convention — he screams “get a life!” at the collected assortment of sci-fi minutiae spouting (and all male) dorks.

“It’s just a TV show!” he flusters, before pointing out one audience member: “You — you must be almost 30. Have you ever kissed a girl?” The dejected look on the Spock-eared Jon Lovitz, sadly, answers that question.

How things have changed since 1986. Today, muscled comic book superheroes, swashbuckling space rangers, and sexy, tormented monsters not only drive seemingly all of modern pop culture, but the fanbase net is cast much, much wider.

In Houston, that’s nowhere more obvious that during the annual Comicpalooza weekend. And Captain James Tiberius Kirk himself— the 92-year-old Shatner — has set his beaming coordinates for Houston as this year’s headlining star, May 26-28 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

One of the largest shows of its kind in the country and billed as "Texas' largest pop culture festival" Comicpalooza — which began in 2008 as a tiny event in the lobby of a movie theater — counted nearly 50,000 attendees last year.

Celebrity signings and meet-and-greets, live podcasts, an Artist’s Alley, interactive demonstrations and shows, live gaming, panel discussions, and cosplay (Iots of incredible cosplay) are big attractions. Of course, most of the real estate is given to vendors selling everything from 1930’s Marvel Comics to original Kenner Star Wars figures (be on lookout for that Double Telescoping Luke Skywalker!) to today’s hottest Funko Pops.

Recently, the show even introduced Fandom Court. That’s where two litigants on opposite sides of an issue stand at podiums and argue their case, which is decided before an actual judge. One such War of Words had two Harry Potter fans quibbling about the topic “Voldemort: Genuinely Evil or Victim of Circumstance?”

Organizers will continue to roll out guests over the next few weeks, but also announced as guests with Shatner were TV’s dreamy and bloodsucking brothers Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries), actor Lou Diamond Phillips, voice actor Christopher Judge, and anime voice over talents Paul Castro Jr., Luci Christian, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Amber Lee Connors, and Jason Douglas. Visiting celeb Karl Urban is sure to draw crowds for his work in Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Thor: Ragnarok, and more.

Comic book guests (the OG genre of fandom) include Steven McNiven, Yanick Paquette, and Frank Cho, along with literature scribes Terry Brooks, Stephen Graham Jones, and Mary Robinette Kowal. They join already-announced guests including Stephen Amell and Rick Gonzalez (Arrow) and Anthony Star (The Boys).

But just like Shock Rocker Alice Cooper in 2022, and the cast of The Mandalorian in 2021 (COVID killed Comicpalooza in 2020, but it came back just like Jason Voorhees), the biggest crowds and lines will likely be for Shatner. Himself the subject of the recent documentary You Can Call Me Bill and whose latest book was Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder.

Sure, most of the questions and interest will be about Star Trek. But don’t forget T.J. Hooker, The Twilight Zone, Miss Congeniality, and the sung/spoken records. (Not even Elton John can touch Shatner’s tuxedoed and cigarette-smoking cool in the video for “Rocket Man.”) The man even makes commercials for the law firm of Smith & Hassler interesting. (His Priceline commercials were gems, too.)

Our hero even pulled a real Captain Kirk, in a boldly-go-where-no men have gone before (well, maybe a few), gravity-free journey on Jeff Bezos’ truly spacey Blue Origin rocket flight.

Given Shatner's headlining appearance and the star-studded cast, it's safe to say this year's Comicpalooza will be a real blast.

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Comicpalooza runs May 26-28 at the George R. Brown Convention Center (1001 Avenida de las Americas). For tickets, VIP information, full schedules, and more, visit www.comicpalooza.com