Meet a few of Denver Comic Con fans - #lakewoodnews

For the non-initiated, "Superpower" refers to the power you'd have if you could, "Guild info" means profession and "Origin Story" is a person's bio.

Name: Zac Skellington ConleyAge: 42Superpower: I'm BatmanGuild info: SkellOArt is my business, Sisters of Mercy Monster Carnival is my comic, and I'm part of 5280Geek, a network of artists, designers, professional and self-proclaimed "geeks."Origin Story: I do a little bit of everything, and this year, that's exactly what our booth, No. 615, will be too.For the past 20 years I've been a professional artist, selling my sketches, paintings, sculptures, photographs, illustrations, toys and tattoo designs. I also was the art director for several national campaigns, including "Coyote Ugly." My most current projects are a 60-foot 3D mural at the Wizard's Chest in Denver with two dragons, some baby dragons and a couple of knights guarding the stairwell and launching the children's book, "The Night-time Monsters" by Jason M. Adams, which I illustrated.I'm not a big convention goer, but I love the artist collaboration and the exposure my work gets at cons like this. I've shown at Denver all five years, and was at San Diego and Long Beach's cons before that. At this year's Denver Comic Con, our booth will feature 10 different people showcasing their work. From elegant Japanese brush paintings and photography, to illustrations, jewelry and signing cosplayers up for the Colorado Cosplay Registry, we've got it all -- and the best part is -- it's a fundraiser.We're raising money for Cap for Kids, a Colorado nonprofit that sends superheroes to children in area hospitals.If there's a cosplayer at the Con, I want them to come to this booth. They'll be able to register on the cosplayer registry and support Cap for Kids, which is seeking cosplayers to join their ranks of visiting superheroes. I'm trying to get all the cosplayers I can to come and donate the change in their pockets to this charity.Name: Kristian YeagerAge: 25Superpower: Poison Ivy's, only because when it comes down to it, she can make anything grow out of dead soil. So I would never go hungry and could survive anything that is thrown my way.Guild info: Celebrity HuntressOrigin story: My entire life has revolved around comic books, really since I can remember.I love Wonder Woman, Batman, Spider-Man and X-Men, so it's really cool to go, see the art and the costumes. I love watching cosplayers and seeing all the intricacies of their costumes. A lot of time and artwork goes into those.I also love the celebrities. We've been going to the con since it started and meeting all the celebrities has been awesome. We've met George Takei, the original Batman voice actor, Kevin Conroy, and the original "Darkwing Duck" voice actor, Jim Cummings, among many others.While I don't dress up, I love taking pictures of and with cosplayers and celebrities. To me, it's a great environment -- it's a giant family.Name: Nathan TrujilloAge: 29Superpower: Magneto's power Guild info: Crafty ConGoerOrigin story: I've been attending all sorts of SciFi, Fantasy and Comic Cons for years, it's really cool. So five years ago, when Comic Con first came to Denver, there was no question, we had to go.Originally I hail from Thornton, but now claim Wheat Ridge as my domain. For me it's always an interesting and fun experience. I design and make props and costumes -- usually two a year -- for friends and various cosplayers who attend the con. And at my first con, I was walking around with an Iron Man helmet and this guy, Colin Ferguson, who played in "Firefly," came up to me -- hopped up on energy -- and asked to see my helmet. He tried it on and began posing with it in pictures.Ever since then, I've had several of my pieces sold or on display at the Con. I even sold a Thor Hammer to Lou Ferrigno, aka "The Hulk." Later he came to the Con and we chatted for quite a long time about it. It was awesome.This year I'm most looking forward to seeing Stan Lee. I have stuff signed by him, but nothing that I made, and it would be cool to have something that I made signed by him.Name: Cassidy CromwellAge: 17Superpower: Teleportation without limitations or Rogue's ability to borrow other people's powersGuild info: Cosplayer extraordinaireOrigin story: I'm an Arvada West student and two or three years ago, my friend and I thought of going to NDK, an anime con held in Denver each fall. While there we realized it's more awkward if you're not wearing a costume, so we decided to dress up together. I was Jill Valentine from Resident Evil.After that, I knew I had found a new hobby.The next spring we decided to go to Denver Comic Con and well, we're hooked.For the past two years we've been dressing up at both cons, usually making a few different costumes for each. This year I'm going as Arcade Riven from the online game "League of Legends" and I'm excited. The design is really cool and they have pretty nice artwork for the game.For me, a character has to have giant weapons, I like to make them. I can't sew, but I fabricate all of our props and major costume accessories. It takes a while, and we're always thinking about what our next character will be.Name: Katie HartkoppAge: 37Superpower: I aspire to be Supermom and be cloned in multiplicity so I have a few more of me to do everything I want to do.Guild Info: AuthoressOrigin story: My husband I both grew up in Wheat Ridge, and now we're living out our dreams.I'm a mom, actor, former executive director, seamstress -- and now -- I can add authoress to the list. A few years ago, my daughter, Leona, was looking through Daddy's picture books. My husband, Blu, is a commercial photographer and she loves looking at his photos and creating stories behind them.So we decided to actualize her stories and created two children's books under the company, "Daddy's Picture Books."We've created two books, written by myself, which feature Blu's photographs and Leona as our subject. Our first book featured photographs of her, sitting among a beautiful rose garden, playing with her stuffed animals.Our second "I'm a Superhero" is written in comic-book style with verse and encourages children to use their "superpowers," such as brushing your teeth to vanquish plaque and holding mom's hand to keep her safe while walking across the street, to be safe and live a healthy life. In the back we included neighborhood kids as the everyday superheroes in our lives.We're now working on a third story highlighting the natural world through a child's eyes.There's winsomeness in a children's book.Name: The Melberg Family, Mitch, Robin, Zoey and LeiaAges: 34, 34, 11 and 7Superpowers:Mitch -- Super strength, there's nothing that beats throwing cars at people.Robin -- Oh I'd be Rogue -- you can take other things, just borrow powers.Zoey -- The four elements. It's cool to have fire and water powers and also air. Just cool to control the elements.Leia -- I'd be invisible, so I can sneak up on my sister and scare her.Guild info: House of Alter EgosOrigin story: We meet our hero family, The Melbergs, in a local beverage establishment just three short years after they moved here from North Dakota where, well, nerd culture wasn't really a big thing.The patriarch hailed from the local town of Arvada, Colorado, where he now resides with his personal hero, Robin, and their two heroes in training -- daughters Zoey and Leia. Just like their parents, the two heroes-in-training now have a passion for science fiction, fantasy and comic book characters.Each spring, the family dons a different set of costumes for each of the three days of the Denver Comic Con. Once in disguise the family ventures upon the convention to show the world their creative mastery.From "Ghostbusters" and "Star Wars"' Hans Solo to Princess Bubblegum and Honey Lemon from Disney's "Big Hero 6," the family dashes into the costumed culture around them, seeking out fellow characters, and of course, heroes in disguise.

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