Would-be Sith Ahmand Young of Santa Ana bows to the dark overlord Darth
Vader at Long Beach s Comic Con. (Brittany Murray Staff Photographer)By Kelly Puente
Staff Writer
PHOTO GALLERY
LONG BEACH - Hundreds of superheroes, villains and pulp fiction icons descended upon downtown on Saturday for the Long Beach Comic and Horror Con.
The third annual event at the Long Beach Convention Center kicked off on Saturday and runs through today with a whirlwind of comic book signings, film screenings, Q&A sessions, Jedi fighting demonstrations and outrageous costumes.
The inaugural event in 2009 drew an estimated 6,300 fans. This weekend, organizers expect a crowd of more than 7,000.
First District City Councilman and self-proclaimed comic book geek Robert Garcia, who was on hand to buy a few comics, said organizers have signed on for another year.
"We're excited to have them back next year for the fourth year," he said. "It's great we can have something like this in our backyard."
To coincide with Halloween, horror was added to this year's menu with a two-day Might and Fright Film Festival screening horror films and shorts. Also new this year is a masquerade ball with costume contests in several categories.
Notable appearances for the weekend included iconic horror movie director John Carpenter ("Halloween," "The Thing"), Shane Black (director of the upcoming "Iron Man 3"), writer Steve Niles ("30 Days of Night"), actor-producer Thomas Jane ("Hung"), and actor Seth Green of the animated TV shows "Robot Chicken" and "Family Guy."
Eric Sales of Huntington Beach was one of more than 60 fans waiting in line for an autograph from Carpenter.
"He's a legendary director," Sales said. "My favorite Carpenter movie is `Big Trouble in Little China."'
Ronnie Relosa was among the dozens waiting in line for an autograph and hopefully a sketch from Kevin Eastman, the co-creator of the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comic books.
Relosa, a 38-year-old warehouse worker from Lakewood, said he's been collecting comic books since junior high. He now has more than 500 stored in his closets and garage.
"I like that I can come to a convention like this in Long Beach because I can't make it down to the big one in San Diego," he said. "My wife won't sign off on the trip."
From Bat Girl and Superwoman to Thor and the Ghostbusters, hundreds of fanboys and fangirls came dressed as their favorite characters.
John Garcia, a 28-year-old Cal State Long Beach graduate student, spent two weeks working on his elaborate "Henchman 21" costume from the animated series "The Venture Bros" on Cartoon Network. The black and yellow spandex with bright orange wings transforms him into a deadly monarch butterfly, he said.
Also on hand signing comic books on Saturday was The Go-Go's guitarist and comic book creator Jane Wiedlin.
When she's not touring with her all-female punk band, best known for their 1982 hit "We Got the Beat," she's creating comics such as "Lady Robotika" and writing for the latest "Simpson's Tree House of Horror" comic with partner Bill Morrison.
Wiedlin said she's always been a science fiction fan and recently discovered her love for comics.
"What I love about comics is the same thing I love about science fiction," she said. "It's being in that alternative universe where anything can happen."
