I AM NERD!

Everyone is excited for Hurley Con

There was a calling Saturday. Not everyone could hear it, but it was there, a sound in the air that only a few could hear. It was a familiar sound to people who thumb through old dust covered comic books, who roll dice of various sides, shuffle cards with pictures of demons on them, or who keep action figures in their boxes and hang them on their walls. Yes, Saturday there was a calling, and every nerd in the Four State area donned their finest superhero t-shirt, wiped clean their social calendars, and made the trek to the Jack Lawton Webb Convention Center for Hurley Con, the annual comic convention hosted by Hurley's Heroes.

Nerd Orgy

The air was thick with the smell of pizza, old comic books, and body odor, and I was among them. I went with my friend Valentin, and we met our friends Addison, Jason, and Erin. I'm not a huge comic book reader like my friends, but I am a Star Trek Fan, and I thought maybe I could find a table with some Star Trek stuff. As luck would have it, I did. Through Erin, I found out about a Star Trek group called STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. that had a chapter here in Joplin. These guys had a table, and I talked for awhile with the Captain on the group (whose name escapes me). He told me that his Commodore usually handled a lot of the PR stuff, and that he'd be there soon. I took his pamphlet and walked away slowly. These guys were just a little too into it for my liking.

Commodore Ray Brown did indeed show up later, in full uniform

Aside from the Star Trek guys, Hurley Con offered a lot of great entertainment that covered every facet of nerdom.

Toys

"I'll be quack"

LARP (Live Action Roleplaying)

Dungeons and Dragons + No Self Control or Humility = LARP

Costumes

"I'm Green Lantern, and I'm FABULOUS"

Boy, Supergirl really let herself go!

Artists

This piece was purchased by my friend Val from Amber Stone, follow the link to view her other pieces. She is talented.

And of Course...Comics

This is in issue of Lois Lane that guest stars Catwoman as the villain. You probably can't tell, but Catwoman has somehow turned Superman into a cat and has him in a cage (bottom left) with a sign that says "Superpussycat formerly Superman." This scheme is as diabolical as it is adorable.

All jokes aside, it was a really fun day. There was a costume contest for kids and adults and demos for role playing games and for trading card games. All in all, it was a nerd paradise for a few hours Saturday, and even yours truly got caught up in it.

Awesome! I always wanted to know about these.

How to run my own convention? In my dreams, maybe.

Spock Messiah? Where do I sign up for that religion?

This was $2.00. It's autographed by Armin Shimerman (Quark), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), and Nana Visitor (Kira). I will make it my life's mission to get the autographs of Avery Brooks (Sisko), Terry Farrell (Dax), and Colm Meaney (O'Brien)