O Comic Con - 2016 - Cosplay, Klingons, and Combs! Oh My! Had A Great Time!

This past weekend, I attended O Comic Con that was held in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was a three day event held at the Mid America Center just over the border from Omaha, Nebraska.

I also attended this event last year, but for only one day and both times I have had positive experiences and visited with a lot of good people.

This weekend I was mostly involved with the Klingon club that I have been wanting to join since I learned about them a few years ago as OSFest. At that time, I was told that the requirement for joining the “ship” was to make a Klingon uniform. Well, thanks to the sewing expertise of my wife, I finally accomplished that first mission and have been accepted into the ranks of the I.K.V. Raptor’s Heart.

The weekend kicked off Friday with setting up our display that consisted of weapons and uniforms at a table in one of the main hallways. Although we were not in the real thick of things, we still had a number of people stop and express interest in what we were about.  I spent a lot of time working the table, visiting with people, and handing out information to try to boost membership.

One of the highlights of the con for me was once again being the emcee for our game of Klingon Jeopardy on Saturday morning.  It mostly consists of presenting a phrase to the audience and then someone gets a chance to give an answer in the form of a question. If the audience member gets it right, they are awarded chocolate, however an incorrect response is punished by getting zapped with a pain stick, which is a hand-shake buzzer mounted on the end of a handle. The event was well attended and everyone had a fun time.

Another highlight was to meet Jeffrey Combs, the actor that portrayed numerous roles on Star Trek: Deep Space 9, but would probably be best known as the Vorta, Weyoun or as the once and former Ferengi Liquidator Brunt, as well as the Andorian Commander Shran in Star Trek: Enterprise. Those are just the tip of the iceberg as he has done many other roles since 1981 and continues to remain active in movies, television, and theater.

Jeffrey spent a lot of time at his autograph table and held two question and answer panels that were quite well attended. The first thing he announces before he begins taking questions that he has no prepared remarks and that “the makeup takes two hours.” He was a lot of fun to listen to and gave each question an honest and extensive answer. His interaction with fans is very friendly and I was fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time visiting with him on Friday as he wasn’t very busy with fans.

I did have a great weekend and enjoyed meeting a lot of people, making new connections, and visiting with friends that I only get to see on rare occasions. From my point of view, O Comic Con was a huge success and will hopefully continue into the future as an event I can look forward to annually.

First up are photos I got of, or with, Jeffrey Combs...

At one of two panels Jeffrey held.  In the second one,
he arranged for Casey Biggs (Damar) to call him;
at the end of the call he told Biggs, "you're still a traitor!"

After the panel, I figured that I should get my autographs,
which as you can see, I went a little overboard on.

Chrissy, Jeffrey, and me.  Jeffrey made no bones about us wearing
the wrong t-shirts.

Two of my Attack Wing cards are now signed by the actor that portrayed the characters!

Weyoun photo for the man-cave.

Diane's favorite character in DS9 is Brunt, so I got her a gift!

Jeffrey with the crew of the I.K.V. Raptor's Heart, of which I am
now proud to be a part of.

Chrissy, Jeffrey, and me, and this time, in the right t-shirts!

Two of my very good local friends also attended the convention. One was Andrew Schmidt who is a sculptor. I was not expecting the gift he sent me on Sunday morning! These now hold a place on the mantle in my living room. You can see more of Andrew's work at his website for Andrew's Clay Creations on Etsy.

Along with Andrew, whom I threatened with a Bat'leth while in Klingon costume, Bruce Schindler, my good friend and author of the Dust and Cannibals books I have enjoyed had a more calming influence on my warrior's heart.  Learn more about Bruce and his work at BruceSchindler.com.

I had a good time wandering around in Klingon uniform, here are some other pictures.  My outfit is a work in progress...

Kevin Carroll in Steampunk, ready for battle!

Colton as Thor!

O Comic Con had activities for kids this year and Chrissy attended some of them, that is when she wasn't babysitting the Tribble...

She just couldn't resist the Tribble.

Playing Dr. Who Yahtzee.

A workshop learning to draw comics.

As either Chrissy or I wandered around the venue, we tried to make sure we had a camera and got shots of many great costumes and displays...

A Dahlek Stroller with K-9!

I.K.V. Raptor's Heart weapons display.

Handing out candy to kids passing by.

Chrissy and Black Widow.

Robert Pelletier not only portrayed Count Dookoo, but also Darth Vader, A Starfleet
Officer, A Storm Trooper, and is a Science Educator by trade.  I would enjoy attending
his classes!

John Jr. is taken away, under arrest for charity.

Bigu Gly (Big Ugly) was the biggest most elaborate costume I saw!

Hondo Murray was an extremely convincing TOS Klingon, that is until you talk to him,
then you realize what a kind and fun man he is.

Well, there it is...

Qaplah!