Adam Essex is excited about the second edition of Lethbridge Comicon which takes place at the Lethbridge College Barn, Oct. 17-19.
 The event, which took place last year at the Italian Canadian club, but has grown enough to  warrant a bigger venue and bigger guests.

 Dirk Benedict of the A-Team and Battlestar Galactica will be at the event as well as plenty of comic book artists, vendors and lots of special guests  professional Cosplayer Vegas PG, Spawn, Death Dealer and ‘68 artist Nat Jones and Kyle Charles and street artist Mark Oliver ‘Twist” and Eric Dyck, the Lethbridge creator of the comic Slaughterhouse Slough.

Eddie Spears of Hell on Wheels

is unable to attend as planned due to conflictingshooting schedules.

“ For me it’s been nice and easy planning it this year,” said organizer Adam Essex.

“This year it was so easy to find  guests and vendors,” he said.

 Picture Butte/ Lethbridge actor Chad Rook is excited to come back home for Lethbridge Comicon, just after his debut as the Weather Wizard— the primary villain in the the new TV series the Flash, which premiered on Oct. 7 on CW. It also stars Tom Cavanagh (Ed, Love Monkey, Eli Stone, Scrubs, The Following) , Grant Gustin (Arrow, Glee, 90210), Candice Patton (The Game, Young and Restless, Entourage) and Jesse L. Martin (Law and Order, Smash, Ally McBeal).

“I’ve been a professional actor for 15  years, so it’s good to finally be able to say I’m making a living as an actor,” said Rook who moved out to Tampa Bay Florida  to pursue a modelling career in 2001 shortly after graduating from Picture Butte High School.

“You have to follow the work,” he said.
He moved to Vancouver a year later to pursue work as an actor. He has appeared in a plethora of series such as Supernatural, Bates Motel, Cult, Alcatraz, Shattered, Sanctuary and John Doe.
 But he is very excited about playing the Weather Wizard, though he wasn’t a big follower of the Flash before he got the role.

“I always liked Batman. I was a big fan of the Batman villains, especially the Joker,” he said. So he did a lot of research.
“I read all of the comic books and talked to the fans. All of the characters in the Flash have huge back stories,” he observed.
“ The Weather Wizard can manipulate the weather, so he causes hurricanes and tornadoes. He’s a bank robber, so that’s how he earns his keep,” he said.

He said he didn’t feel a lot of pressure while becoming the Weather Wizard.
“ Nobody has brought that particular character to TV or film, so there wasn’t  a bar to reach.  I got to set the bar,” he said.

“So it was a lot of fun to bring that backstory to the screen.”
  He said he couldn’t confirm how many episodes he will be in.
“ I can’t say. But we’ve filmed 11 episodes. Usually they order nine, but they already put an order in for three more and that’s even before the pilot aired,” he said.
“ So I don’t even know. The pilot is going forward. I’ve got one more day of peace left,” he laughed.
 They filmed the pilot from March 1-28.
“Usually it takes a week to film an episode, but filming the pilot was like filming a movie. They wanted to make sure everything looks just right,” he continued.
 They film the series in Vancouver, which meant contending with a lot of rain.
“ We shoot most of it indoors. But because I’m the one causing all the chaos, it worked in my favour,” he laughed.
While he is mostly known for playing villains or more dramatic roles, he is stretching his comedic chops in a couple of other projects for 2015.

 The TV movie “My Life  As  A Dead Girl” is expected out in 2015 and he wrote, directed and will be starring in his own movie “The Perfect Pickup.”
 “It’s a comedy about  about four guys who try to come up with the perfect way to pick up girls. It’s a comedy, so it’s a little different for me,” he said.
 He is excited to come home for Comicon.

“I’ll be there meeting fans and signing autographs and I’ll be around for the after-parties. It will be nice to see friends and family and hanging out with my Lethbridge peeps,” he said adding he tries to get back to Lethbridge at least once a year.

“ I’ve been to Com icons all over the United States and Mexico, but it is just very cool to be part of one in Lethbridge,” he said.
 Adam Essex is excited about the bigger and better Lethbridge Comicon, which is three days long instead of two days last year.

“We have  30 vendors,10-12 guest artists and four more special guests,” he said.
“ So this year is bigger and better the more people who attend,” he said.

“It’s a place for people to get together and see people who have similar interests. I’m excited to see people dress up in Cosplay in an all inclusive, non-judgmental atmosphere,” he said.

“It gives people an opportunity to hang out with people who are like minded,” he said he is also excited to see the reaction of people when they meet the special guests.

“ I get a kick out of people who are excited people like Dirk Benedict whose work they admire and who they followed as kids,” he enthused. He is excited to meet all of the guests particularly street artist  Marc Oliver Twist who comes from Montreal originally, but now lives in Red Deer.
 Essex organizes this event in addition to managing the Canadian -Italian Club  where the event was last year.

“I think it is very cool to be able to bring this experience to people and try to make this event sustainable,” he continued.
They are also adding a few extra special events like “Geek Speed Dating” and Quidditch and a variety of other activities.

“ It’s speed dating for people who are geared towards pop culture,” he said.
there will also be an after party at the Owl Acoustic Lounge featuring Calgary's Go For the Eyes and  Windigo, Oct. 18.