JCPL Comic Surge

JCPL Comic Surge logo

Get your geek on and fuel your fandom with this free event! Join us on Saturday, October 7th, 2023 at JCPL for the 7th annual Comic Surge!

Comic Surge combines all the elements of a larger comic con with the welcoming, thoughtful atmosphere of your public library.

You’ll find:

  • Vendor and artist booths
  • A professionally judged costume contest
  • Cosplayers and costumed characters
  • Live performances
  • Gaming
  • Vehicles and props
  • And more!

Schedule of Events

10 am — 5 pm

  • Vendors, authors, and artists
  • Costumed characters, props, photo ops
  • Video game truck
  • Scavenger hunt
  • Table top gaming
  • Anime film festival
  • Lego free build

10 am — 11:30 am

Jedi Light Saber Training with Lion’s Pride Martial Arts (ages 3 — 17 years) — while supplies last

10 am — 1 pm

Cosplay contestants visit judges to get scored

10:30 am — 12 pm

D&D Session 1

11:30 am — 1 pm

Local Trivia Action

12:30 pm — 3:30 pm

DJ Nytro and Big Blue Robot

12:30 pm — 2 pm

D&D Session 2

3 pm

Cosplay contestants on stage for public judging

2:30 pm — 3:15 pm

Cosplay contest winners announced

4 pm — 5 pm

Character karaoke

Children in the light saber training class with Lion's Pride Martial Arts
A boy and a man both pose as Luffy from One Punch Man.

Featured Characters and Attractions

  • Barbie, Ken, and Weird Barbie
  • “Brave” princess and one of her bear brothers
  • Katniss Everdeen and Effie Trinket
  • Little Mermaid princess
  • The Sea Witch
  • ATST
  • Speeder bike
  • Live unicorn
  • Fairy
  • Ray Coffman
  • Link and Zelda
  • Ahsoka Tano

Special Guests

A white pony dressed as a live unicorn.

Featured Guest

Bryan Sanderson leans against the 1976 Mercury Cougar from Papercut 2.

Bryan “Sandman” Sanders

Bryan “Sandman” Sanders is a professional artist and filmmaker from Wilmore, Kentucky. He has helped produce commercials, TV shows, short and feature films for over two decades. His artwork has appeared in both local and national print magazines.

He has worked with both the SyFy Channel and Lionsgate Entertainment on several movies. His latest film project, Dead Zone, is streaming NOW on Tubi!

In 2013, he released his first feature film, Papercut 2 which celebrated its 10th Anniversary at the Kentucky Theatre in March. On Papercut 2, he worked with many local and national Hollywood veterans. The Papercut 2 narrative saga spans one feature film, two short films, and four tie-in comic book film adaptations.

Chuck’s 1976 Mercury Cougar from Papercut 2 will be appearing at JCPL Comic Surge!

In 2018, he released a new comic book series called, Four Freedom. Four Freedom features artists who have worked for IDW, Archie, Red Sonja, Dynamite, Image, and Magic the Gathering. Four Freedom is currently on it’s third issue, with post production on issue four underway.


Costume Contest Judges

A montage of Hakc Cosplay cosplaying as different characters.

Hakc Cosplay

Ohayocon Best Master Winner 2023

Hakc is an award-winning cosplayer with over 19 years of experience under their belt, starting the art of cosplay as a young teenager. They have a passion for helping others find joy through cosplay, and they love sharing the knowledge they have obtained through the years.

When they aren’t in cosplay they can be found playing video games, cooking, and spending time with their cats. At the end of the day, however, they’re just someone who really likes to sew!

Innovative Cosplay cosplaying as Wonder Woman.

Innovative Cosplay

Kentokyocon Best Master Winner of 2022

Innovative Cosplay is a multi-award-winning cosplayer with nine years’ experience sewing/crafting her own costumes, and eight years experience competing in craftmanship competitions.

She loves learning new techniques/skills with each new cosplay build and enjoys focusing on detail work and screen-accuracy in the majority of her costumes. She’s worked with multiple crafting mediums, including sewing, wig styling, prop-making and foam armor building.

Her cosplay motto is to find “innovative” ways to make things work when the crafting process doesn’t always go as planned.

ShadowBrite Creations cosplaying as Punchline.

ShadowBrite Creations

Jenn, also known as ShadowBrite Creations, is an eclectic cosplayer from Nicholasville, Kentucky. Her favorite cosplays are unique spins on popular characters, incorporating gothic, post-apocalyptic, high fantasy, and cyberpunk/rave accents! She’s committed to body positivity and cospositivity.

She is also a mental heath advocate—there is nothing more important than mental health, and cosplay can play a huge role in how you see yourself and interact with the world around you.

She also hosts free quarterly cosplayer/photographer meetups so that everyone can work on their skills and to build the community as a whole. Cosplay allows her to have multiple creative outlets and gives her the freedom to experiment with all different mediums. It’s such a wonderful adventure!



Cosplay Information

Visit our Cosplay Information page for cosplay rules, photography guidelines, and more.