The Chinook Crossings branch library is happy to help you tap into your inner nerd with Comicon, June 10.

“We do story-time and programming for teens, but I’m constantly getting whined at for not doing programs for adults,” chuckled Crossings branch teenbrarian Paige McGeorge, dressed for Comicon as Dr. Osgoode from Dr. Who.

“So we’re doing Comicon so grown-ups can have nerdy fun too,” she continued.

“There isn’t a lot like this for grown ups other than Nishikaze, which is awesome,” she continued.
 Comicon begins at the Crossing branch at 10 a.m. with story-time followed be a free screening of the movie the Avengers at 11 a.m. After that there will be panels and workshops  at 1 p.m.The day ends with  a Cosplay contest at 2 p.m.

The cosplay contest is open to anyone who wants  to dress up as their favourite character with two categories based on the age of the cosplayers (12 and  under, 13 and over).
“I’m hoping some of the other staff members will dress up too so I’m not the only one. But they probably will, there’s a lot of nerdy staff here,” she  grinned.

“There really will be something for everyone,” she said.

“I hope people will come up as their favourite comic or TV or movie characters. There are a lot of TV shows and movies connected to comics book characters,” she continued.

 

The seminars will have a Southern Alberta flavour. There will be a panel on local comics featuring Slaughterhouse Slough ’s Eric Dyck and Natalie Asplund, a Fort Macleod resident who publishes the Redcoat West comic inspired by the RCMP.

“ There will also be a Cosplay panel about Cosplay Culture and A Dr. Who Club, It will be a Dr. 101 which will tell you everything you need to know about Dr. Who. There will also be a How To session on Steampunk, what it is and where it comes from,” she continued.

 There will also be booths, a pop up market featuring  shops from Kapow, the University of Lethbridge Bookstore, and Round Table Board Gamerie. There are artists and artisans covering all sorts of other fandoms, too: Harry Potter, vintage comics, anime, Manga, steampunk, and more.

“We usually get 400-500 people for storytime. We‘re hoping to get at least twice that many here,” she said.

“It‘s also a chance for people to get to see our collections of comics. We’re a small city but our collection is comparable to the collections in Calgary and Edmonton. We can also introduce people to our digital comic collection,” she said, adding the collection includes print and digital format: comics from all the major publishers (Marvel, DC, Image, Boom!, Dark Horse, etc.) as well as a broad collection of indie comics.

“I’ve been a librarian here for nine years and I love it, because I get to do cool events like this,” she enthused.
 There is no charge to attend Comicon at the Crossing Branch library.