GalaxyCon rockets into OKC this weekend
Word Balloons #1217: Comic-book guests, wrestlers, celebrities and more highlight show
A large comic-book convention is rolling into Oklahoma City for Memorial Day weekend, bringing TV stars, wrestlers, and lots of comic-book creators.
GalaxyCon Oklahoma City will be held from May 24-26, 2024, at The Oklahoma City Convention Center, 100 Mick Cornett Drive in Oklahoma City.
Some of the many TV and movie guests on hand include Antony Starr (“The Boys”), George Takei (“Star Trek”), Stephen Amell (“Arrow”), and Charlie Cox (“Daredevil”). This just scratches the surface of the celebrity guests on hand – a full list is at https://galaxycon.com/pages/galaxycon-oklahoma-city-guests
There will also be wrestlers on hand, including Mick Foley, Matt Hardy, and Scott Steiner.
If meeting comic-book creators is your goal, this looks like one of the best opportunities in recent years in the OKC metro. The 30-plus comic creators on hand include Mark Waid, Benjamin Percy, Steve Englehart, and Kevin Nowlan. Again, a complete list can be found at https://galaxycon.com/pages/galaxycon-oklahoma-city-guests
One guest worth seeking out is Bob Hall, writer and artist of Marvel titles including “Amazing Spider-Man” and “Avengers.” He’s also the co-creator of the “West Coast Avengers” for Marvel. His “Emperor Doom” original graphic novel from Marvel, written by David Micheline, is noted as a particular highlight.
One of my favorite series from Hall is “Shadowman,” where he served as the writer Hall was the writer for most of the 1990s “Shadowman” series from Valiant and co-created the villainous Master Darque. He also illustrated some of the run.
“In the 1990s, Jim Shooter started a new company called Valiant,” Hall writes on his “About Me” page at BobHall.com. “Having seen plays I had authored, he invited me to write and asked me to choose one of four different titles. For me, Shadowman had the most potential, set in New Orleans, featuring a musician and involving voodoo, all stuff I could dig into. I wrote, and eventually drew the book for thirty-five issues.”
Interestingly, Englehart, a guest at GalaxyCon as well, co-wrote the initial “Shadowman” issue from Valiant with Jim Shooter. (Coincidentally, Shooter was a late cancellation as a GalaxyCon guest.) Issue #1 was penciled by David Lapham (“Stray Bullets”). Bob Hall came on as writer with issue #6, drawn by legendary “Spider-Man” co-creator Steve Ditko.
If you can’t make it to GalaxyCon in person, select panels, video game tournaments, and the GalaxyCon Costume Contest will be live-streamed on the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@GalaxyCon
Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman, Oklahoma.