Hulking Out

by

Ohio Comic Con is bigger than ever this weekend

Though attendees of this weekend’s Ohio Comic Con will have the opportunity to encounter a number of popular celebrities, one in particular may also be spotted by residents of Delaware County.

That would be Lou Ferrigno – the actor and retired bodybuilder best known for playing the angry, green-skinned title character of the 1978-82 TV show The Incredible Hulk.

“Two years ago, I was deputized … in (Delaware County) because I’m a deputy sheriff in L.A.,” Ferrigno says.

Ohio Comic Con, organized by Wizard World, runs Friday through Sunday, Sept. 18-20. It is held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Ferrigno often appears as a guest at Ohio Comic Con. He makes Columbus a priority, as he has roots here. He lived in Columbus in the mid-1970s as his bodybuilding career was getting off the ground, working at a sheet metal plant.

Ferrigno still has friends here in Columbus, making it an easy city to visit. The crowds here are always fun to interact with, he says.

“It’s great for me, it’s great for the fans,” he says. “It’s like reliving my childhood.”

He’s seen some pretty impressive displays of fandom, too, including a woman who had Hulk tattoos on both legs and a tattoo of Ferrigno’s autograph on one of them.

Lately, meeting fans has taken on a new dimension for Ferrigno. Memories of the Hulk TV show have lasted a long time, but now, the gamma-irradiated alter-ego of Bruce Banner is enjoying newfound popularity thanks to his presence in the Avengers film series.

And though most moviegoers know Banner is played on the big screen by Mark Ruffalo – and previously by Eric Bana and Edward Norton – not as many know that the now-CGI-animated Hulk is, almost 40 years later, still voiced by Ferrigno. Every time Hulk expresses a desire to smash, that’s Ferrigno talking.

“The Hulk is more popular than ever,” he says.

Ferrigno keeps busy with other roles as well. He played himself in 2009 Paul Rudd/Jason Segel comedy I Love You, Man and in several episodes of CBS sitcom The King of Queens. And he just finished up a starring role in English action film Instant Death, to be released in 2016.

Of course, Ferrigno is just one of the guests on this year’s agenda of actors, artists and athletes.

The 2015 line-up includes:

-William Shatner, best known as Star Trek’s original Captain Kirk and Boston Legal’s Denny Crane;

-Mike Tyson, the championship boxer turned actor in The Hangover movies and TV’s The Mike Tyson Mysteries;

-Michael Rooker, raspy-voiced actor who has appeared in such films as Mallrats, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Cliffhanger, Tombstone, Slither and Guardians of the Galaxy;

-Dave Bautista, multi-time WWE world champion who recently appeared as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy and will also be in forthcoming James Bond film Spectre;

-Ralph Macchio, the original Karate Kid’s Daniel-san;

-Sonequa Martin-Green, Ross Marquand and Emily Kinney, a.k.a. Sasha, Aaron and Beth of AMC’s The Walking Dead;

-WWE competitors Daniel Bryan and Eva Marie;

-Karl Yune, Arrow’s Maseo Yamashiro; and

-Jason David Frank, a martial artist best known for his role as the original Green Ranger and White Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

All celebrity guests will be present for autograph sessions, and some will be part of fan panels.

The convention will also be packed with comic artists and writers who will display and sell their work, sign autographs and, in some cases, participate in workshops. There is also a large collection of vendors offering clothing, action figures, DVDs, accessories and the like.

The ranks of Comic Con guests are populated by a huge number of individuals who arrive in costume – from iconic to obscure, from store-bought to elaborate.

More information can be found at www.wizardworld.com/home-ohio.html.

Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.