Sean Maher, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Simon Tam in Joss Whedon's critically acclaimed "Firefly" series and follow-up feature "Serenity," topped the first list of celebrity guests released for this year's Spa-Con on Monday.
The multigenre comic and pop culture con, set for Sept. 21-23 at the Hot Springs Convention Center, will also feature comics artist Arvell Jones, known for his work on Marvel's "Iron Fist" and other titles, and Nightingale Vixon, a cosplayer making her second appearance at Spa-Con, Visit Hot Springs said in a news release.
The third annual Spa-Con, presented by Visit Hot Springs and the Garland County Library, will also feature an array of activities including laser tag, an escape room, video games, panel discussions, workshops, cosplay contests and interaction with the celebrity guests, the release said.
"We will have more than two dozen celebrity guests at this third edition of Spa-Con, and it is going to be the greatest convention we've had so far," said Bill Solleder, marketing director for Visit Hot Springs and one of the organizers of Spa-Con.
"We had over 5,000 people in attendance last year," Solleder said, "and our guests included appearances by Shannon Purser of 'Stranger Things' and Sherilyn Fenn and Sheryl Lee of 'Twin Peaks.'
"We already know we are going to have the most exciting lineup of stars we've ever had, and we'll be announcing the other celebrity guests in the coming days."
Maher recently appeared in the season 2 finale of "Looking" for HBO and portrayed Mark Scheffer, aka Shrapnel, on the hit series "Arrow" for The CW. He is also the voice of Nightwing for the Warner Bros./DC Comics animated universe.
Jones is known for drawing the martial arts superhero "Iron Fist," a character that was recently featured as a live-action series on Netflix, and co-created the character Misty Knight, along with Tony Isabella, for the "Iron Fist" series.
He has worked on other Marvel titles including "Deathlok," "Thor," "Iron Man," "Luke Cage," "Avengers," "Daredevil," and "Captain America."
Morgan Durfee, who portrays a cosplay character named Nightingale Vixen, has been to Spa-Con before.
"This will be my second time attending Spa Con," she said in the release, "and I can't wait to be back at the most interactive and fun convention I've ever attended."
She says she has been cosplaying for about three years and "to me cosplay is more than just a hobby; it is a passion and an outlet for creativity." She is a full-time children's and teen librarian at her local library in Ohio, where for the last 10 years she has done the artwork and displays and works with teens in the library's maker space. She also is the Baby Story Time teacher for children 2 years old and younger.
Local on 04/17/2018