With Halloween upon us, Chapel Hill is in the midst of a costume craze. Soon, the streets of Durham will be littered with people dressed as everything from superheroes to cartoon characters. But the costumes seen may not be for just Halloween, because N.C. Comic Con is coming to Durham from Nov. 9 through 11.
Alan Gill, the owner of Ultimate Comics, started the event about a decade ago in the The Streets at Southpoint Mall. Gill said he was ecstatic when a few hundred people showed up to his first N.C. Comic Con. Now, Gill said, they’re expecting about 7,000 attendees at the convention.
“They think it’s all San Diego Comic Con, or New York Comic Con. None of those things are connected. We started it here in 2010,” Gill said.
Included with a ticket to N.C. Comic Con are events like movies and meet-and-greets with well-known comic artists and writers. The convention makes use of the historic Carolina Theatre, as well as the Durham Convention Center, for the convention’s biggest cosplay contest yet.
In addition, lucky attendees at the screening of “Willow” on Friday night will receive a print featuring characters from the film.
Various speakers will make appearances at the convention throughout the weekend, including Chuck Palahniuk, the author of “Fight Club.”
Quin Melvin, an employee of Ultimate Comics and one of the people with a hand in picking who gets to speak at the convention, said he was especially excited to have Palahniuk present.
Melvin said when contacting famous comic creators to come to the festival, they listen to their customers.
“We tend to go off what our customers, as well as the attendees, would be into. We listen to the people,” Melvin said.
