The epic return of Coeur d'Con
<p>Dressed in Star Trek attire, Kyle Desimone of Coeur d’Alene aims up a slingshot at targets at the Zelda Slingshot Challenge on Saturday at the first-ever Coeur d’Con comic con at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.</p>
<p>Brayden Moon, left, and Teagan Lang search though stacks of purchasable comic books Saturday at the first-ever Coeur d’Con comic con at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.</p>
COEUR d’ALENE — On Saturday, the Coeur d'Alene Public Library will be transformed into a world where hobbits, ewoks, Gotham villains and many more will intertwine.
Enter the universe of Coeur d'Con, where art, literature, science fiction and fantasy unite with endless imagination. Coeur d'Con is the Lake City's version of Comic-Con, a convention that celebrates all things geek, from "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" to Japanimation and video games.
"It is geeky, but it encompasses so many different genres," Lake City Public Library branch manager J.D. Smithson said Monday. "I think it's definitely a nostalgia thing. These genres bring you back to when you loved Spider-Man and Superman.
"It's not even nostalgia-based for everyone because of all the people enjoying these things now," she continued. "It's a continuation of this love."
This is Coeur d'Con's second year following a smash success inaugural event in 2015. About 1,000 people attended its debut and the library is expecting to see as many as 1,500 people this year.
"This year we actually have more things planned," Smithson said. "We had panels and meetups last year, but we have more this year. We have a geek story time for the younger children. One of the biggest displays are big graphic photo booths, so hopefully we'll get some social media going with our hashtag, #coeurdcon."
A big part of the event is "cosplay," where event-goers dress in costumes representing their favorite characters from books, films, games, graphic novels, comics and everything between.
"People dress up for their favorite fandom and they try to do it as authentically as they can," Smithson said. "There are some people that will take two different genres and mesh them together and make these amazing costumes."
She said as of Monday, 30 people had already signed up for the costume contest, but more are expected to participate at the event.
Coeur d'Con is free to the public, open to all ages and begins at 10 a.m. at the library, 702 E. Front Ave. It will include on-site vendors and activities throughout the day, such as paper crafts, a comic book workshop, board game lounge, "Legend of Zelda" slingshot challenge and much more.
Online voting is happening now through Friday for the cosplay contest at www.coeurdcon.wordpress.com. In-house voting will close at 1 p.m. Saturday and winners will be announced at 3:15 p.m.
Info: 769-2315