Given the success of last year’s event, the Alachua County Library District will host a second annual Fandomonium comic convention Saturday.
This year, the event will cater to a larger audience.
“We’re building on the event’s success last year and bringing people into the library to have a fun-filled day centered around a Comic Con event with activities and events for all ages,” said Nickie Kortus, the marketing and public relations manager for the Alachua County Library District.
The free event will start at 10 a.m. at the Alachua County Library District Headquarters, located at 401 E. University Ave.
Husband-and-wife duo Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti will speak at the event.
Both Conner and Palmiotti are professional illustrators who have experience as comic-book artists. Published fantasy author Meredith Ann Pierce will also speak at the event. The writer was once a librarian at the Alachua County location, Kortus said.
Tina Bushnell, a youth services librarian and co-chair of the convention, said there will be four panel discussions throughout the day, ranging from time travel to cosplay ethics.
Each panel discussion will involve panelists who are relevant to the topic of discussion and a mediator asking questions, she said. Questions will be fielded from audience participants as well.
“It’s all done in a fun way, although we do try to bring awareness to some of the issues that are involved in the different fandoms,” Bushnell said.
The “Ethical Cosplay” panel will discuss ethical issues such as race, culture, disabilities and gender. The panel will be comprised of four individuals who participate in cosplay — dressing up as specific characters from comics, shows, games and movies — at conventions around the country.
Other panels will include “Comics Are for Everyone,” “Tabletop Roleplaying 101: Enhancing Characters and the DM Experience” and “Time Travel: Future Past Tense.” A complete schedule of Fandomonium can be found at aclib.us.
A costume contest and fan art contest will be held during the event. The costume contest will be open to all ages and will be judged at the event.
Photographer Stacston Carter will be taking pictures of the costume contest and providing a free photo session to the winner of the contest, Bushnell said.
Food trucks and vendors will also be selling food and products throughout the event.
With interactive games, a sequential arts workshop and movies playing in different parts of the library, the coordinators hope the event will cater to a larger scope of people.
“We want to appeal to the whole community, even people that aren’t familiar with what a comic con is,” Bushnell said. “It’s a library, so we want something that appeals to the whole family.”
