This past weekend, I attended the Wizard World Louisville Comic Con. Wizard World is a national organization that hosts comic book conventions in various cities around the country.

I like going to these, to meet the authors and artists, to shop at the various vendors who carry all sorts of memorabilia and oddities. There were toys, sculptures, knick knacks, gadgets, games, and more — over a hundred vendors.

But one of the biggest attractions for me is the costumes. I saw Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow, Batman and Catwoman, the Joker and Harley Quinn, Static Shock, Red X, Batman Beyond, Beast Boy, Deathstroke, Supergirl, Thor, Kingpin, Dr. Octopus, the Mad Hatter, Beetlejuice, a Discworld wizard, Vashta Nerada, Medusa and Jeepers Creepers, a Guy Fawkes Teletubby (that I can’t unsee), and many more.

I wore two of my own costumes there — Mini-Me, and Cyborg Pirate Ninja Jesus.

Here’s some coverage from a local TV station and newspaper.

There are similar conventions in Louisville, each with a different focus and run by a different group:

• ConGlomeration is a nonprofit fan-run science fiction convention, and my personal favorite; crowds are small and friendly
• Derby City Comic Con is fairly new and rapidly growing, with plenty of local creators
• WonderFest is a special effects and model-building convention, and attracts a lot of Hollywood pros
• FandomFest has grown rapidly into a 30,000-ish fan convention, with a focus on celebrities
• Louisville Anime Weekend collects cartoon creators and fans
• Imaginarium is a creative writing convention with top-notch programming
• Fright Night is focused on horror films

Besides enjoying the usual festivities of being among my own kind, I also held the church service on Sunday morning.

My sermon this time was based on Ghostbusters, in honor of my friend Ryan Kemp who passed away recently. The scripture I used was Luke 16:19-31, with references to Psalms 146:4, Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Isaiah 8:19, Leviticus 19:31, Revelation 12:9, James 4:7, 1 John 4:1, Romans 8:38, Matthew 27:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and Acts 24:15. The gist was that we don’t need to be afraid of no ghosts, because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

As usual, I game a shout-out to various geeky ministries.