Silicon Valley Comic Con Brings an Eyeful to San Jose

Thor, Spock and other assorted sci-fi and fantasy characters are wandering the halls of the San Jose Convention Center this weekend for Silicon Valley Comic Con.

As you’d expect, the people-watching will be a big draw. Not only will spectators get to ogle pint-sized superheroes in their Halloween costumes, they’ll eve catch glimpses of tech icons like Apple co founder Steve Wozniak.

Wozniak is a sci-fi fan boy and he wanted a new Comic Con close to home. “I go back 30, 40 years driving down to Los Angeles to see Star Trek conventions and see those people, and I’m going to actually get to meet William Shatner. I heard that he wants to have a dinner with me. Wow. I mean I’m real nervous over that.”

Dinner with Capt. Kirk may be the real reason Wozniak helped rally the people and capital to spawn another spinoff of the original Comic Con in San Diego. But the event is more than another opportunity to appreciate Hollywood franchises.

Local artists are displaying their work here before a genuinely enthusiastic crowd of thousands, an estimated 30,000 per day.

One such artist on display is illustrator Hannah McGill from Mountain View. Her passion is paleontology and her take on it is decidedly humorous. “I loved going to the science museum growing up,” she says. “I love the people I’ve met through it. Including paleontologists.”

Laurie Gee from Foster City likes to buy art and books at conventions like this, because she can get the artists to sign their work. “I’m downsizing, but I can’t help it sometimes,” she says before heading back to browse the display booths.

The Silicon Valley Comic Con runs through Sunday.