The city of Sterling Height, Michigan is hosting a celebration of popular culture in the form of Astronomicon. BGN spoke with Organizer George Vlahakis and one of the celebrity guests at the con this year, Ming Chen from A&E’s “Comic Book Men”.
What is Astronomicon?
Well, it all begins with the Michigan band Twiztid, that George manages. He told us, “We have all kinds of interests from comic books to toys, wrestling, horror, music and we sorta combined all our efforts and all our brain power to create Astronomicon.”
He wasn’t kidding. The show boasts celebrity guests from the WWE franchise, “The Walking Dead,” “Bates Motel,” the Twztid band members, of course, along with a slew of other guests including horror icon Sid Haig—who will be in full costume.
Astronomicon also has some things for the kids, George described a Home Depot sponsored workshop and even a kid’s cosplay competition.
What can blerds expect from Astronomicon?
“They can expect as much fan interaction with their favorite celebrities as possible.” This means panels, photo ops with the celebrities in full character. This also means getting down and nerdy with Ming and one of his partners in crime Bryan Johnson. The two of them will be bringing the the same corny fun that fans view on tv. They will sign photos, answer questions, and generally have fun with the fans.
Ming shared with BGN why he is especially excited to be coming to Astronomicon. “Growing up in Ann Arbor, I didn’t have a lot of friends that were into the same stuff I was. Star Wars wasn’t as popular. It wasn’t this huge phenomenon as it is now. There were not huge comic book movies weren’t out or the huge phenomenon they are now. So, I only had about two or three friends who were into those kind of things. So now that everybody is into it, I love going to cons where I’m from and meeting fellow fans, like fellow Michigan, Indiana, Ohio fans that will be coming out to the shows. I think that’s what I am most excited about.”
So blerds can expect to come and just hangout with Ming and Bryan all weekend. He expects a lot of fun, shenanigans, and to meet a lot of area con fans like himself.
“The Comic Book Men” panel is also going give fans more than they can expect. When I asked Ming about the topic of his panel, he didn’t have a definitive answer. Instead, he explained how he and Bryan worked together on the con panels. “We’ll talk about the show and then usually we get derailed and Bryan will talk about anything but the show,” told us. “You never know what direction Bryan will go in and I tend to follow.”
There’s so much more.
Where can blerds find tickets and more information?
Get your tickets for Astronomicon at www.astronomicon.com now so you won’t miss a thing. It’s going down February 9-11, at Wyndam Garden in Sterling Heights. See the website for more information.
By Jonita Davis
