The Montreal Comiccon is just around the corner! This celebration of fandom offers once again a solid program that should please geeks of all kinds. Here are ten highlights from this year’s edition.

Star Trek 50th Anniversary Celebration

The hallowed Sci Fi franchise celebrates half a century this year, and Comiccon has landed none other than the original Captain Kirk, Montreal’s own William Shatner as a guest! To help celebrate this milestone, he’ll be joined by Nichelle Nichols (the original Uhura), Brent Spiner (Data from “Next Generation”) and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway from “Voyager”). A separate ticket is necessary to attend, but you don’t need a Comiccon ticket. But it’s hard to imagine anyone interested in this foregoing the pleasure of attending Comiccon!

Cosplayers

The costumes! The costumes! At Comiccon you’ll find tremendously talented professional cosplayers but also loads of fans who come disguised as their favourite characters. Some spend all year perfecting their costumes! Just walk around Comiccon and you’ll see amazing characters come to life.

Artist Alley

One of my favourite things to do at Comiccon is to walk around the section known as ‘Artist Alley’. Stall after stall filled the most amazing artwork, from legendary comic artists like Neal Adams to new stars like Yanick Paquette to amazingly talented artists you may not have hear of yet. Most artists spend a lot of time at their booths so you can chat with them or buy a print for your wall.

Celebrity Q&A

Do you have a question you’ve always wanted to ask of one of this year’s celebrity guests? You’re in luck! Most have a Q&A session during the con, and will take questions from the fans. They’ll also share tales from their careers.

Photo ops and autographs

Looking for the ultimate memento to add to your collection? All celebrities will sign autographs and do photo ops. Fees vary per guest so check the con’s website. Note that autographs are cash only!

Wrestling

Wrestling has had a place at Comiccon for many years, and this year’s guests are none other than The Nature Boy Ric Flair and Eric Bishoff. The two will participate in an event called “Bishoff vs Flair: Fall of WCW” that will surely shed some new light on an event that shaped the last two decades of professional wrestling. Saturday at 19:00, separate ticket necessary.

Concerts with OVMF

What would our favourite franchises be without a great musical score? L’Orchestre à vents de musiques de films will offer three programs of amazing music that makes these movies and TV shows come alive. Friday at 19:00 is the Geek Universe concert, while on Saturday at 18:00, they’ll tackle the History of Video games. They’ll cap this amazing weekend on Sunday at 16:00 with a concert featuring the music of Star Wars. Not to be missed! (separate tickets are necessary to attend)

Shopping

Looking for that elusive collectible, or the perfect gift for the geeks in our life? For sure you’ll find something among the many vendors present in the Exhibition Hall. From rare comic books to collector statues to costumes to collectible cards to… almost anything! I know my wallet starts burning a hole in my pocket anytime I walk through that area.

Panels

The hidden treasures of Comiccon. All throughout the three days, you’ll find presentations on a variety of subjects ranging from cosplaying to video games to e-sports and everything in between. It’s worth pouring over the schedule to pick out any that might interest you.

Movies

During Comiccon, you’ll find a few movie presentations. One of the highlights is the double feature of 80’s horror comedy “Fright Night”, presented by its star Chris Sarandon (who’ll also sign autographs during the con), as well as “Wolfcop”. The latter’s production crew and cast will be on hand to meet the fans. Both are shown back to back on Friday, starting at 20:00. You can also catch a showing of the recently minted cult movie “Turbo Kid” (Saturday at 21:45)

The Montreal Comiccon runs from Friday July 8 to Sunday July 10. Tickets can be purchased online here. Hurry up! They’re going fast.