Motor City Comic Con, Here We Come!

This weekend, May 15-17, I will be joining thousands in attendance at the Motor City Comic Con at the Suburban Collection Showplace. I am making the trip from Chicago, but I have friends coming in from eight other states for this great comic con. The MCCC is a “must attend” event on my yearly calendar.

For the last ten years, some combination of my local friends and I drive up on Friday morning. We have lunch, check into our hotel and then immediately proceed to the MCCC for the first day of fun. The Friday plan is always to meet as many of the celebrities as we can, which allows us to spend the bulk of Saturday roaming the dealer tables.

Over the years, I have met some of my favorites, as well as some pretty big names in pop culture. Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island), Jenilee Harrison (Three’s Company) and Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) are some of my favorite sitcom stars I have met at MCCC. Movie stars have included Lauren Holly, Linda Blair, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher. Some of my favorite wrestlers there have included Christy Hemme, Mickie James, Kevin Nash and Mick Foley. There are also always a handful of local up-and-coming celebrities like actress Jordan Trovillion and Ms. Michigan Rachael Adams.

This year, I am very excited about reconnecting with wrestling legend Roddy Piper. The Rowdy One always is a popular guest and I have the privilege of knowing him on a personal level since working with him on a literacy campaign years ago. Robert Englund is another huge name guest. Also of major interest to me are Ralph Macchio, Lori Petty and Linda Blair.

I will also be seeing some creator friends of mine, including Dirk Manning and Sara Richard. I have become friends with them and others, through the years of seeing and talking to them and other talented artists of all types. The artists are usually pretty busy with selling their works or doing on-site commissions, but they always have time to talk with their fans. They are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.

The MCCC is run with great care. It is always well-staffed and organized. I have never had any problems and nothing but good things to say about the MCCC. In fact, the only complaint I have even heard stemmed from the popularity of guest celebrity Stan Lee causing some extra long lines. If long lines for a hugely popular guest is your biggest problem, you are doing the comic con right!

On a slightly wackier note, the MCCC is always the place where I see the most attendees dressed as Aquaman, my favorite superhero. I have even seen an Aquawoman! Aquaman is usually an underappreciated superhero. Most fans choose a version of Batman, Superman or other more popular superheroes. This is just one more reason why I love the MCCC. The fans don’t dress as the popular choices. They go different and unique.

By the time we leave Sunday, we will have been immersed in pop culture goodness for over 48 hours. We will be a bit tired, but completely charged. Also, we will already be looking forward to the next MCCC!