The Ohana Comic Con is a place where people are encouraged to geek out over their nerdiest hobbies.
The traveling convention will return to Hanford on Feb. 19 and will have activities, vendors and collectibles that reflect the many branches of pop culture fandom.
“The geeks and nerds — it’s become very cool to be one now,” said Ohana Comic Con organizer Tom “Ziggy” Star. “It’s cool to see the kids, that they’re accepted. It’s OK to be into your anime or into your comic books, into Daredevil or Spider-Man or Ghost Rider. It’s all accepted. It’s really just a geek festival.”
The idea that everyone could be accepted for enjoying their hobbies and that everyone could get along while doing so is what Ohana Comic Con is all about, in fact it’s in the name. Ohana means “family” in Hawaiian.
Bringing people together through fandom is what Star hopes to see at the shows, which come to Hanford about twice a year while traveling around the state.
“It’s cool to watch neighbors run into each other and say, ‘What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were into this,’” he said. “It’s a cool thing to see.”
This year’s show will feature vendors of all types selling collectibles, memorabilia, art and other items. Star said that vendors’ wares are always subject to recent trends and lately he’s been seeing more Japanese anime and manga items for sale as well as retro items — and nostalgic items that have become new for a younger generation.
“I’ve got a couple [vendors] who carry record albums. Vinyl is hot right now, it’s a little bit of a collectible,” he said. “Who would have thought that records and 8-track tapes would become collectible? People will collect anything you loved as a kid.”
As always, the biggest draw to the Comic Con is the cosplay contest. For those unaware, it’s sort of an impromptu Halloween, without the spookiness. Fans come to the event dressed as their favorite superheroes, Jedi, Dragon Ball Z characters, members of the Starships Enterprise or anything else and vie for prizes for the best costume or best in-character performance.
This year’s cosplay contest is set for 2:30 p.m.
“There’s this new Mario movie coming out in April or May, so we’re seeing a lot of Marios come out [for the cosplay contest]. We’re also seeing a lot of Sonic [the Hedgehog] and a lot of anime characters,” Star said. “It’s a mix of everything.”
Ohana is scheduled to return to Hanford on Sunday, July 2.
