Related: Marvel comic creator Stan Lee fueled by fans “This will be the last chance for fans to see Stan,” Bredestege said. Lee, who will turn 94 in December, announced in May that starting next year, he will limit public appearances to his home state of California. The legendary Marvel Comics creator agreed to make the Cincinnati Comic Expo his last Midwest comic book convention appearance.
In order to deliver on that promise, expo organizers dug deep to top the rare joint appearance of Burt Ward and Adam West, stars of the 1960s television series “Batman,” to headline the 2015 pop culture convention. “Our big goal is making this year’s show bigger and better than the last one,” said Bredestege, who coordinates media relations for the expo, set for this weekend at the Duke Energy Convention Center. We want to get kids to draw.CINCINNATI - Matt Bredestege is making a big promise to anyone who attended last year’s Cincinnati Comic Expo. Some of the games are fair-like, but we also have drawing stations to keep it comic-centric, art-associated. Kids can play with Nerf archery sets and pretend they’re Hawkeye, or throw a Captain America Frisbee at a cutout of Red Skull. “It started as a corner but now it takes up a good portion of the floor. “Our owner has four kids, so he wanted a kids’ zone so there’s something for the whole family, not just artists and collectors,” Bredestege said. The theme for the geek prom this year is “Enchantment Under the Sea,” to commemorate the 30th anniversary of “Back to the Future.” There will be the usual tabletop gaming, and the kids’ zone is also growing. For the first time, the Expo is incorporating the annual Cincinnati Zombie Walk, where people can dress up as their favorite undead and shamble their way to the Freestore Food bank to donate one non-perishable food item. The usual supplemental activities and events will also be available, with an occasional twist. “He’s one of the last Golden Age artists who are still out there.
“Bellman is 90 years old, and still drawing and doing original work,” Bredestege said. On the comic book side, Bredestege said the biggest draws in 2015 will be Neal Adams (“Batman,” “Superman”), Mike Zeck (“The Punisher”), and Allen Bellman (“Captain America”). His agent reached out to us, and of course we said ‘yes.’” They’re campy movies, but a lot of people are watching them and talking about them on social media. “He’s doing the sequel to ‘Lavalantula’ this summer. “We worked with a rep of his last year, and he told (Guttenberg) about our show,” he said.
Guttenberg recently starred in the TV movie, “Lavalantula,” a ‘Sharknado’-type film about a volcano eruption that spews fire-breathing giant spiders onto Los Angeles.
On the reverse side, Katrina Law (“Spartacus,” “Arrow”) was just cast into a movie that starts production on Sunday, so she’ll be doing one day instead of the (originally scheduled) two.”īredestege said the Steven Guttenberg connection was a surprise, given that he has appeared at only one other event of this type.
“‘Gotham’ is filming right now, but because it’s filmed in New York, it’s close enough so that (Robin) can fit it into his schedule. “There are always production schedules to work around,” he said. Bredestege reminded us that these appearances are often subject to change. Some of those bigger names include 1980s movie star, Steve Guttenberg, Sean Astin (“Lord of the Rings”), Robin Lord Taylor (“Gotham”), Ian Ziering (“Beverly Hills 90210,” “Sharknado”), and the original Batman and Robin, a.k.a. But our name is getting out there year after year, which leads to bigger names and guests.”
If you ask 4,000 people, you’ll get 4,000 different ideas on how to run a show. Obviously, you can’t listen to everybody. It’s locally supported and organized, not a corporate thing. The fans like how it’s a big show but it has a small show feel. “Our attendance has grown by leaps and bounds,” said Matt Bredestege, administrator for the Expo. 18 to 20 at Duke Energy Convention Center is unabashedly commercial, devoted as much to overall pop culture as comic books. More Info: Unlike the Cincy Comicon, a related event that occurred recently, the Cincinnati Comic Expo Sept.