Cleveland ConCoction returns, March 13-15

[Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.]

This is traditionally the time of year for an "anime" convention, Shinboku-Con, out west near Lorain-Sandusky. But something went wrong and it got cancelled for 2015. Just like the Browns fans hopes. And I'm having a sinking feeling that the Republican convention will cancel at the last minute as well. They'll probably back out due to rumors that the CAPTAIN AMERICA sequel is STILL shooting and has all the Cleveland-area streets blocked off.

Point is, with Shinboku-Con gone the way of so many good things around here (meaning, "gone"), where can local movie/cartoon/fantasy/sci-fi fans get their fix this weekend of dressing up in "cosplay" as film-TV-comics characters, or similar vices?

That's where the Cleveland ConCoction comes in. This is a fantasy/sci-fi and gaming convention, a celebration of science-fiction and fantasy art, dramatizations, role-playing gaming (a la Dungeons & Dragons), comics, cosplay/fashion, stop-motion filmmaking lessons, film screenings, VIP celebrities, and just about everything that fan conventions are about.

Boldly go where No Con Has Gone Before, the Cleveland ConCoction, May 30 to June 1

Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Ever since LeBron left, the most significant thing about Cleveland, we can all agree, is the Cleveland ConCoction. This is an all new fantasy/sci-fi and gaming convention, making its inaugural outing this weekend, Friday, May 30, through Sunday, June 1.

(Thus, in the years between LeBron's departure and the ConCoction now occurring, ...there was nothing significant about Cleveland. That explains the local residents' longstanding feelings of desperation, futility and nameless dread. That and the sports teams.)

The ConCoction is devoted to a celebration of science-fiction and fantasy art, dramatizations, role-playing gaming (a la Dungeons & Dragons), comics, cosplay/fashion, and just about everything that fan conventions are about. Visit with vendors of "steampunk" gear! Attend bizarre and esoteric panel discussions! View galleries of Games of Thrones and Halo-type fan art! Listen to the unspeakable melodies of "filksong" bands, inspired by Harry Potter and the like! And watch (or, worse, participate in) a costume contest, partially judged by Plain Dealer reporter/critic and sci-fi buff of longstanding, Julie Washington.