Three conventions set for Aug. 5 weekend in Oklahoma
Word Balloons #1174: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie weekend also host to crowded convention calendar
As a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film comes to theaters this week, multiple convention experiences also aim to capture Oklahoma fans’ attention.
Comics and pop culture conventions are set for Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Enid over this weekend.
Oklahoma City’s Horror Con
Get a jump on the spooky season this weekend as Oklahoma City’s Horror Con is a Horror themed, family-friendly event. Celebrity guests, vendors, cosplay, Q&A panels, and Nightfall Haunted Territory’s haunted forest are slated for the event. A weekend pass for the con is $40; VIP packages and other ticketed events are available.
Among the weekend’s guests is Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in the “Star Wars” prequels and also starred in the “G.I. Joe” and “X-Men” films.
Linnea Quigley and Glenn “Kane” Jacobs are also among the scheduled guests.
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Oklahoma Comic Con
This appears to be the first year for the celebrity-heavy “Oklahoma Comic Con,” being held Aug. 5 and 6 at the Cox Business Convention Center in Tulsa.
Lea Thompson of “Back to the Future” is the headliner, but there’s a long list of celebrities from whom you can purchase autographs and photo ops. Friend of the shop and Silver Power Ranger Justin Nimmo is scheduled for the event, as are fellow Rangers Austin St. John and Johnny Yong Bosch.
There are also some noted comic creators showing up at the event, including Steve Erwin (“Deathstroke the Terminator”), Sam de la Rosa (“Venom: Lethal Protector”) and Michael Adams (“Kung-Fu Legume”).
Weekend passes are $40 in advance.
Info: https://www.oklahomacomiccon.com/
Enid Comic Con
The sixth annual Enid Comic Con will be held from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 and 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6 at the Stride Bank Center, 302 S Grand in Enid.
Among the guests is Melanie Kohn, who voiced Lucy in 1970s “Peanuts” specials.
Kohn, a native of San Francisco, voiced the character in “It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown,” “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown,” “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown” and “You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown” (for which she also provided the voice of Loretta).
Tickets are $10 each day – no two-day passes. An adult costume contest will be held 5 p.m. Saturday; the 12 and under contest is at 3 p.m. Sunday.
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Turtle Power
Can’t make it all the way to a con? This weekend the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back in theaters, with the film “Mutant Mayhem.”
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have appeared in comics, TV, live-action and animated movies. You can find more Turtles at your local comic shop, as the TMNT became an unexpected comic-book smash in 1984. Creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird worked together on the first 11 issues of the comic book, as well as four one-shots featuring each of the turtles: Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello.
You can check out the earliest adventures of the Turtles in comics in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate B&W Adventures Vol. 1,” a special edition collection of Mirage Studios'' issues #1-7 along with the Raphael one-shot by Eastman and Laird.
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.