NORMAN — For comic lovers who can’t come up with the cash to get them to Comic-Con in San Diego this weekend, Atomik Pop! in Norman is hosting an alternate event. The NotatComicCon party will take place 2-6 p.m. Saturday at the store, 918 W. Main St.
Bart Bush, store manager, said that Dark Horse Comics got in touch with the store a few weeks ago to ask if they would be interested in hosting the event for Oklahoma. Dark Horse got Red Bull to sponsor the event, so Atomik Pop! is expecting more than $500 worth of prize packages from both companies.
Bush was still in planning mode for the party as of press time, but said for sure there will be refreshments, give-aways and a cosplay costume contest. One highlight will be a phone call from a Dark Horse Comics representative to share news that won’t be revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con conference until later in the weekend.
With only a few weeks to plan and get the word out, Bush said he doesn’t know whether 50 pre-teens or 300 fans of all ages will show up.
“We have no idea what kind of crowd we’re going to have,” Bush said.
If the community responds to this year’s event, though, Bush would like to bring the party back next year, making it bigger and better with more planning.
As an additional incentive to draw comic fans in, Bush said everything in the store will be on sale to some extent Saturday.
“Comic-Con is a pilgrimage for fans of comics, video games, movies and other pop culture phenomena,” Atomik Pop!’s other manager, Rob Vollmar, said in a release about the event. “In difficult economic times like these, we were thrilled to be chosen by Dark Horse and Red Bull to host an event that is literally the next best thing to going in person, except it costs thousands of dollars less.”
