Superheroes and villains are gearing up for the third annual Nerdvana Con. Northside ISD is throwing the bash that appreciates graphic art and more.
The free fun starts Saturday morning at Stevens High School and is open to middle and high school students from any district.
Students familiar with the event can’t wait to take part. Taft High School Juniors Lesleigh Waling and Micayla Walsh take Cosplay very seriously.
“You can be somebody totally different but yourself at the same time and have fun and make friends,” said Waling.
The teens use hand-stitched outfits, 3D printed accessories, big wigs and precise make-up to transform into some of their favorite characters.
“Cosplay makes me feel like I can be confident in who I am and what I'm wearing and it makes me feel like I'm more involved with the fandom that I'm cosplaying from,” said Walsh. And it also makes me like, happy that I can do something that not a lot of people do and I can bring characters to life outside of art.”
Waling and Walsh won part of the costume contest at Nerdvana Con last year. They’re hoping to place again.
This year’s event is at Stevens High School and offers much more than a chance to get into character.
“We want to bring awareness to the value that graphic novels have as a literary medium,” said founder and Taft High School Librarian Elsa Trevino Dominguez. “There's so much research out there that shows that graphic novels are a great way to reach out to non-readers and to help them develop into readers. We also have students who do read, but they read what a lot of people tend to think of as non-traditional literature. So you have the graphic novels, the comics, the manga, which are the Japanese style comics.”
Authors, Illustrators and artists will host interactive sessions at the free Con.
This year’s featured author and artists is Kazu Kibuishi. He created the popular AMULET graphic novel series. Students are also looking forward to seeing MrCreepyPasta, Lainie Frasie, PJ Hoover, Freddy Lopez and many more.
There’s also karaoke, dancing and plenty of gaming planned.
“It's a much more educational and a much more available form of Comic Con,” said Taft High School Senior Carson Beardsall. “Just a general convention for everything nerdy.”
Beardsall and his crew will host Dungeons and Dragons sessions at Nerdvana Con. He’s also looking forward to showing students the wonders of the library.
“Books can teach you a lesson, whether it be trust people, friendship, or generally like math. You can learn anything in a book,” said Beardsall.
Nerdvana Con is a free event. Dress code will be enforced. No weapons or fake weapons are allowed.
Stevens High School is located at 600 N. Ellison Drive San Antonio, TX 78251.
Doors open at 10 a.m. The event is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit Northside ISD's Nerdvana Con website.