As Alabamians flock to the coast for Memorial Day weekend, Lee Foropoulos hopes plenty of nerds stick around Mobile.

Early projections are that a good number of them will. The lure is a three-day weekend of socializing with the like-minded over board and video games competitions; meetings with actors, script writers and costume designers; and role-playing while dressed as their favorite superhero or villain.

"We normally see 1,200 people, but I'm thinking we'll top 3,000 this year," said Foropoulos, who is in his first year as president of "MobiCon," Mobile's version of the comic book convention or "comic con" event that has soared in popularity throughout Alabama and the U.S. in recent years. The Wall Street Journal, in citing figures from ShowClix, tallied 519 major pop-culture fan gatherings in the U.S. last year, up from 469 in 2014. The new events are more than double the number of debuts in 2009.

That popularity, organizers say, is attributed to the rise of pop culture in cinema where movies based on Marvel and DC comics often shatter box office records. Aside from the comic books, other genres - science fiction, horror, paranormal, animation, Japanese anime, toys, collectibles card games, video games, fantasy novels, professional wrestling - are also part of the craze.

"With DC and Marvel bringing out these movies and the rise of science fiction, it's gotten crazy," said Foropoulos.

The events are luring thousands to their respective cities. Huntsville celebrates with Hamacon and Con Kasterorous - a Dr. Who convention - in June, and Rocket City NerdCon in October. Birmingham has Magic City Con in June and Kami-Con in March. Play On Con takes place in July in Columbiana. AnniCon occurs every March in Anniston.

"This is really about being 12 years old in your basement and talking about whether Hulk can beat up Thor or Thor can beat up Hulk," said Dan Carroll, spokesman with Dragon Con, among the largest southern comic con conventions held during Labor Day weekend in Atlanta.

'Common bond'

And while no one will anticipate comic cons replacing football in Alabama as king of the social and cultural gathering, the nerds are definitely having their revenge by gathering thousands of people to each of these events.

"The generation in the 1970s and 80s, when you talked about comic books, you were ostracized at best and, at worst, you got your tail kicked by the football team," said Stan Daniel, one of three partners of the defunct Alabama Phoenix Festival in Birmingham. "If you weren't on board with sports and football, there was really no place for you in Alabama. Now with the saturation of superheroes, it's almost uncool not to be a part of them."

John Alsbrooks, who co-owns the annual "Geek Gathering" each September in Sheffield, said the conventions are a chance for Alabama residents living in rural and remote areas to leave the house and do something other than hunting or fishing.

Alsbrooks, whose convention has gone from a one-day event of 700 attendees to a two-day gathering that lures more than 2,500, said of the fans: "They come home and read a book and go to bed. The only time they get out of the house is to go to these conventions. This helps a lot of people who are isolated."

Carroll said one of the "great things" about having the conventions in the conservative areas of the South are that they tend to bring people together who otherwise would not meet.

"They bring people together from different political, social and economic backgrounds," Carroll said. "You have folks working at a gas station talking with lawyers. Baptists and Muslims. They share this common bond. If you are in a rural area and can find someone who bonds with you on this, that is great."

In cities like Birmingham, Sheffield, Huntsville and Mobile, one of the biggest eye-catching themes of the convention weekends are the "cosplay" - short for costume roleplaying.

Foropoulos anticipates plenty of adults dressed as Superman, Spiderman or Princess Leia roaming downtown Mobile this weekend.

Alsbrooks said the costumes put Halloween get-ups to shame. During last year's Geek Gathering, "at least 40 percent" of attendees showed up in costumes that ranged from a "seven-foot, four-inch Chewbacca" to superheroes like Batman and Superman.

The costume judging lasted more than three hours, and some people had to be turned away, Alsbrooks said.

"With Halloween, you buy something off the rack," he said. "This, you see a costume and spend a year making it. Your heart and soul is poured into it."

A mix of age groups attend the annual gatherings. Kami-Con tends to draw a younger crowd of 20 to 30 year olds. Other events, such as MobiCon, will be diverse. "We have kids as young as 3 and people as old as 70," Foropoulos said.

Most events are family-friendly. "Alabama is a conservative state and most of our conventions we have here, that I know of, are kid friendly," said Alsbrooks. "Ours is a fundraiser for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. It doesn't get more kid friendly than that."

'Tremendous potential'

Very few of Alabama's conventions have faltered, even though industry representatives nationwide worry about an oversaturation of them.

Raymond Lenzner, founder and president of Kami-Con, said the gaming community in the Southeast is "generally friendly" and that convention hosts don't consider other events as "competition."

"We consider ourselves friendly patriots doing the same thing," Lencner said.

In situations where a convention has been canceled, such as the Phoenix Festival in Birmingham, there are hopes for a rebirth.

Daniel said there are tentative plans to resume the event in 2017. The last show ran in 2014, but future events were shelved because of personal matters involving one of the partners. The event, in its three years of existence, saw a "gradually higher" attendance, Daniel said.

In Mobile, the goal for this year's MobiCon, held at the downtown Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel, is to outgrow the setting. Should attendance rise, the plan is to move into the nearby Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center.

Foropoulos is hoping to get all of downtown Mobile involved in this year's event. Some of the bars are getting into the act and hosting themed parties related to MobiCon - for instance, O'Daly's Irish Pub is hosting a Harry Potter-themed event, The Brickyard has a Marvel-influenced "sexiest superhero" contest, and Alchemy Tavern will host a Star Wars party.

"The growth potential is tremendous and Mobile is such a great fit for such a unique event," said Stacy Hamilton, spokeswoman with Visit Mobile. She estimates MobiCon doing $231,482 in direct business sales.

Foropoulos doesn't have to look far for inspiration. About a 45-minute drive east of Mobile is Pensacola, home to the popular three-day Pensacon that attracted 22,000 people in 2015 and added a $3.8 million jolt to the city's economy.

The event, held in February, encompasses some of the city's largest venues: Pensacola Bay Center, Rex Theatre, Saenger Theatre and the Crown Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel. Bookings are already underway for the 2017 version, and three special guests have already been announced: David Bradley of the Harry Potter film series, James Marsters from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and professional wrestling legend Mick Foley.

Foropoulos said he hopes MobiCon can, someday, become a must-go event that grows to Pensacon's level. But, he said, there has to be a balance.

"We want to grow where they have grown to but we don't want to lose sight of what we do so well, such as gaming," said Foropoulos. "We do gaming well. Pensacon has grown to a point where it's more or less about the guests."

He added, "We want to get into the convention center and bring in bigger name guests."

An increase in advertising, including spots on The CW Network, has helped generate a buzz with this year's event.

"We've done a lot more advertising this year and told people we were here," Foropoulos said. "This con was a tight-knit group of people who came every year and knew it was there but there were a lot of people who didn't know we were there."