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.