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48-608: The first comic book convention held in the Orlando area was OrlandoCon , held annually from 1974 to c. 1994. Regular guests included C. C. Beck , Floyd Gottfredson , and Hal Foster . MegaCon was founded by James Breitbiel and first held in 1993 at the Orlando Expo Center (Now the UCF Center for Emerging Media ). Along the new show until 1998, there was a smaller sister show, Tampa Mega-Show, also organized by Breitbiel. The convention

96-752: A "mini-MegaCon" held August 22–23 featuring a number of actors from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show. On April 7, 2015, it was announced that MegaCon had been sold to Informa . The con now operates under the auspices of Informa's Fan Expo group, although it has maintained the MegaCon branding. Following MegaCon 2015 it was announced that for the first time MegaCon will be extended to 4 days in 2016. as well as another mini-MegaCon event, "MegaCon Fan Days" in November 21–22, 2015. Shortly after MegaCon 2016, MegaCon Tampa Bay

144-458: A WhatNot booth. Numerous traffic issues in the surrounding areas due to record attendance reached local news headlines. Several tiers of tickets including family packages and youth tickets were sold out on Saturday. Surpassing Comic Con International 's attendance cap of 130,000, MegaCon became the second most attended fan convention in the United States after New York Comic Con . The last day of

192-578: A banquet for attending cartoonists and the presentation to the guest of honor of a gold brick called the Ignatz Award named in honor of George Herriman 's Krazy Kat . Recipients of the Ignatz included Don Martin , Ralph Kent , Joe Kubert , Martin Nodell , Don Addis , Burne Hogarth , and Dik Browne . (The OrlandoCon Ignatz Award is not connected to the current award of the same name presented annually at

240-427: A black widow spider named Witchitar and an albino snake named Blink. The species of spider Ctenus monaghani  [ de ] is named after him. An avid outdoorsman, Monaghan enjoys activities such as surfing, kayaking, snowboarding, football, basketball and hiking. He has also explained that he likes hunting for insects and reptiles outdoors. He learned karate as a child, used to practise yoga and often goes to

288-520: A few non-actor celebrities. OrlandoCon OrlandoCon , also known as O'Con , was a long-running comic book and comic strip fan convention which was held annually between 1974 and 1994 in Orlando , Florida . The first comics convention held in the Orlando area, OrlandoCon billed itself as the "Central Florida comic art convention and early TV/film festival." Captain Marvel -creator C. C. Beck

336-399: A large number of comic guests both veterans of the industry from Marvel and DC as well as indie publishers wishing to use the convention to kickstart their jump into the comic scene. Other guests: In some years, MegaCon has been host to popular guests of other professions including authors and internet celebrities. Some vendors at MegaCon like RangerStop may also share their table space with

384-500: A short titled Gloria . It was part of a programme titled REESES Puff's Extraordinary Cinema (where the teenagers replace the pros ). He played the part of Caleb Reese. In 2010, Monaghan and US actress Megan Fox made an appearance as a couple in an abusive relationship in the music video for Rihanna and Eminem 's song " Love the Way You Lie ". Scenes include the celebrities on top of a liquor store. Fox and Monaghan also filmed inside

432-729: A tattoo of the English word "nine" written in the artificial script of Tengwar , a reference to his involvement in The Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring . Seven other cast members and John Rhys-Davies ' stunt double also got matching tattoos during the film's production, at Monaghan's instigation. Below that tattoo is another that reads, "Life imitates art", an Oscar Wilde quote. On his left arm

480-609: Is a British-Irish actor. He is best known for playing Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck in Peter Jackson 's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), and Charlie Pace on the ABC television drama Lost (2004–2010). Monaghan first gained fame as Hetty Wainthropp's sidekick Geoffrey in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996–1998). His first film role was as Sasha in the television film Hostile Waters (1997) based on

528-456: Is a fan of The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Podcast and has appeared as a guest in both April-November 2016 and May 2018, as well as submitting several audio questions which are played on the podcast. While appearing as a guest, Monaghan said "It's the best fantasy football podcast out there". Monaghan is a contributing writer for the music and culture magazine Paste , primarily writing articles about Premier League football. Monaghan

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576-418: Is a tattoo, "Living is easy with eyes closed", a line from The Beatles ' " Strawberry Fields Forever ". He also has two stars tattooed on his left foot: one black, and one white. In 2010, Monaghan got two more tattoos, one on the upper side of the back ("Love you take is equal to the love you make", taken from the song "The End" by The Beatles). The other, done by Kat Von D on the reality TV series LA Ink ,

624-456: Is home to life-size replica exhibits from many fan organizations including the 501st Legion , Rebel Legion , Daleks of Florida, the 405th, and the Delta Fleet. These groups often raise funds for local charities via voluntary donations or paid photo ops. Celebrity: Actor guests of MegaCon have booths in this area. The booths form a ring that is empty in the center to allow for longer lines for

672-410: Is hosted in a large panel room with activities directed towards preteens and younger. Activities include a kids cosplay contest, a sorting hat ceremony, and padawan training. Afterparties: MegaCon has been host to afterhours entertainment since 2003. These events grew to include offsite locations in 2006. Since 2010, Moshi Moshi Productions has handled offsite after hours events with a kickoff party in

720-631: Is located on his lower right arm and reads "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter", a quote from Yoda . He resides in Los Angeles, California . In 2008, Monaghan held a photographic exhibition in Los Angeles in which he sold prints of his own works. A portion of the proceeds from the exhibition were given to an orangutan rescue organisation. Monaghan was in a relationship with his Lost co-star Evangeline Lilly from 2004 until 2007. In June 2008, Monaghan travelled to Argentina with Lilly to film

768-522: Is often subdivided into comics and anime sections. A small section "Tattoo Alley" is home to several tattoo vendors. While a majority of the businesses are small, some larger vendors also appear with more frequent ones including NASA and Dragon's Milk . Artist Alley: A section where several hundred artists are given a booth to sell their wares. This section is surrounded by a ring of comic book guests ranging from independent publishers to writers for DC and Marvel . Community: The community section

816-597: Is the voice of Sightseeing Manchester's bus tour, recorded in March 2016. Since August 2018, he has been starring as a serial killer in Channel 9 Australia's murder-mystery/drama TV series Bite Club , which is filmed in and around Sydney. He was named as part of the cast for the last film in the sequel trilogy which is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker , reuniting with J.J. Abrams , the co-creator of Lost . He appeared as Beaumont. In May 2020, Monaghan joined with fellow Lord of

864-417: Is where attendees pickup their badges required for attendance or buy new tickets. The lines are separated by ticket type. Past the ticketing booths is the show waiting area where attendees await the show's opening hours. The MegaCon store is in this area and sells convention themed merchandise as well as convention exclusives. Retail: The retail section is home to shops numbering in the hundreds. This section

912-763: The Bethesda, Maryland -based Small Press Expo .) Each show featured a charity auction to benefit the Milt Gross Fund of the National Cartoonists Society . The OrlandoCon often featured screenings of early TV shows, as well as panels, seminars, and workshops with comics professionals. In addition, there was a floorspace for exhibitors, including comic book and comic strip dealers, and collectibles merchants. The show included an autograph area, as well as an Artists' Alley where comics artists signed autographs and sold or produced free sketches. The first OrlandoCon

960-578: The Icebar Orlando on Thursday, and themed parties on Friday and Saturday at the Rosen Plaza and Rosen Centre respectively. In 2023, a Wednesday afterparty was hosted at ICON Park . In 2024, the convention booked an exclusive afterhours event at the nearby Universal Islands of Adventure theme park. MegaCon brings in large numbers of celebrities of various professions for fans to meet and receive autographs and photos with. Actors: Since its migration to

1008-400: The 2022 convention hosted a memorial service for the late comic artist George Perez , who was a frequent guest at the convention. 2023 introduced advanced paid parking from several parking lots as well as shuttles to the convention as a way to alleviate traffic issues. A Wednesday pre-launch party was added to the afterhours party line up at ICON Park . Tickets for the 2024 event went on sale

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1056-612: The Hobbits of the Lord of the Rings , reuniting on stage as well as Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes of the Jay and Silent Bob show, Brendan Fraser , and Gina Carano being other highlight guest appearances. MegaCon inaugurated FanExpo's partnership with virtual auction site WhatNot, featuring a Virtual MegaCon with virtual celebrity signings, comic artist sketch streams, and streams of cosplay contests, as well as

1104-520: The International Inn, where the convention stayed for most of the rest of its existence. Even though he moved to Pennsylvania in 1974, Charlie Roberts stayed with the OrlandoCon as co-organizer with Jim Ivey until 1979, at which point small press publisher Bill Black became involved with the convention. With the collapse of the comic book speculating market in 1993, the show petered out. One of

1152-515: The Orange County Convention Center, MegaCon has drawn in celebrities who have starred in various films and television shows. Some years may see a collection of actors from a particular franchise like the four Hobbits from Lord of the Rings in 2022. Voice Actors: MegaCon is frequented by voice actors from various western animated and anime shows as well as video game characters. Comic Artists: From its beginning, MegaCon has had

1200-509: The Rings castmate Boyd in the Canadian production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead . Monaghan is a nature lover and has been active in the planting of trees and cacti. He bought a mango-tree forest in India. Monaghan has a great love for insects and reptiles that he developed during his childhood, and has kept an exotic assortment of pets, including a leaf-mantis named Gizmo,

1248-454: The Rings castmates, along with writer Philippa Boyens and director Peter Jackson, to appear on Josh Gad 's YouTube series Reunited Apart, which reunites the cast of popular films through video-conferencing, and promotes donations to non-profit charities. Monaghan and castmate Billy Boyd started the podcast The Friendship Onion where they talk about their time filming The Lord of the Rings . He made his stage debut in 2024 with Lord of

1296-580: The Shining Jewel. Non RPG gaming is also hosted at MegaCon ranging from the card-based Magic: The Gathering to strategy games. E-gaming arcades are available and tournaments are held at the event for games like Super Smash Bros. Cosplay Contest: Since 2018, MegaCon has been home to the FanExpo Masters of Cosplay Grand Prix Sunshine Qualifier where dozens of cosplayers display their talent in costume construction. Family Zone: The MegaCon family zone

1344-666: The TV film Hostile Waters . Monaghan later starred in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as Meriadoc Brandybuck , for which he achieved international acclaim and success. Monaghan narrated Ringers: Lord of the Fans , a documentary about The Lord of the Rings fandom. He also provided the narration for The Discovery Channel 's documentary Devil's Bible in 2008. He also appeared in Soldiers of Fortune alongside Sean Bean and Christian Slater . He

1392-506: The convention from the failing CrossGen, which was restructuring (the publisher went bankrupt in 2004). Widera, who is a board member of the comics charity The Hero Initiative , ran the show along with her daughter Christine Alger until 2016. In 2007, MegaCon hosted the first live presentation of the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards . This was followed in August 2008 with the convention hosting

1440-1915: The day after the 2023 event ended, a change in tradition from tickets going on sale 5–6 months prior to the event. NOTE: The Wayback Machine has been unable to properly archive the MegaCon guest lists since the 2021 event due to a page script and all guests were added here shortly before each event. Originally scheduled for March 18–21 but pushed back. Masks were required. Prepaid parking introduced Actors: Robbie Amell , Stephen Amell , Paul Bettany , Don Bluth , Johnny Yong Bosch , Gina Carano , Hayden Christensen , Holly Marie Combs , Kevin Connolly , Anthony Daniels , Keith David , Geena Davis , Felicia Day , Kevin Dillon , Shannen Doherty , Cary Elwes , Eman Esfandi , Giancarlo Esposito , Jamie Farr , Jerry Ferrara , Michael J. Fox , McKenna Grace , Adrian Grenier , Sean Gunn , Butch Hartman , Tom Hiddleston , Michelle Hurd , Ke Huy Quan , Diana Lee Inosanto , Jason Isaacs , Alex Kingston , Jason Lee , Juliette Lewis , Matthew Lewis , Christopher Lloyd , Daniel Logan , Gaten Matarazzo , Rose McGowan , Ewan McGregor , Vivienne Medrano , Alyssa Milano , Cameron Monaghan , Shameik Moore , Temuera Morrison , Jaime Pressly , Jason Priestley , Randy Quaid , Jacob Romero , Eli Roth , John Rhys-Davies , Katey Sagal , Chris Sarandon , Susan Sarandon , Aidan Scott , Greg Sestero , William Shatner , Wallace Shawn , Joonas Suotamo , Ethan Suplee , Loretta Swit , Lea Thompson , Marisa Tomei , Danny Trejo , Alan Tudyk , Grace Van Dien , Jeff Ward , Ming-Na Wen , Rainn Wilson , Thomas F. Wilson , Finn Wolfhard , Robin Wright MegaCon since 2012 has had an exhibit hall sectioned into many different sections listed below: Ticket Hall: The ticketing hall

1488-476: The final OrlandoCons was produced by local retailer Mike Kott on September 10–11, 1994, at the Clarion Towers; guests include show founder Jim Ivey and Martin Nodell . The huge Orlando-based multi-genre convention MegaCon was inaugurated in 1993 and is the spiritual successor of OrlandoCon; it continues to this day. Dominic Monaghan Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan (born 8 December 1976)

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1536-590: The first inaugural Project Fanboy Awards ceremony, awarding authors, writers and publishers with honors voted on by Internet users on the Project Fanboy website. Following 2009, the Project Fanboy Awards event was discontinued. In September 2008, MegaCon headquarters moved from Safety Harbor to Live Oak, Florida , although the actual convention remains in Orlando. In 2009, in addition to the main show, held February 27–March 1, convention organizers produced

1584-470: The gym for strength and weight training. He is a longtime fan of Manchester United since his childhood. Monaghan loves playing all games and has hosted game nights for fellow cast members in the past, and is also fond of The New York Times ' crossword puzzle. He enjoys playing League of Legends with fellow Lord of the Rings cast member Billy Boyd. He is fluent in German. On his right arm he has

1632-430: The host of the convention. The new location allowed MegaCon to be the home of the long-running "Paranoia LIVE!" from 2001 to 2019. LARP , based on Mongoose Publishing's Paranoia . In 2002, the logo was changed to one with rounded rectangular letters with a capital "G" in lowercase size. 2003 introduced after hours entertainment at the convention. This expanded to offsite locations in 2006. In late 2003, Widera purchased

1680-543: The main cast. In 2009, Monaghan starred as Chris Bradley / Bolt in X-Men Origins: Wolverine . On 15 July 2009, it was confirmed that he would join the cast of ABC Studios ' science-fiction television series FlashForward as the character Simon. The series premiered on 24 September 2009. It was cancelled after its first season. On 18 March 2010, Monaghan was spotted at the Universal Sheraton filming

1728-399: The more popular stars attending the convention. A separate area adjacent is used for photo ops of more popular celebrities. Food Courts: Multiple areas of the show floor and lobbies contain food courts with food options provided by the convention center. Cuisine options often include: Chinese , Papa John's , barbecue , Starbucks , Häagen-Dazs , and Tex-Mex . Outside the exhibit hall,

1776-442: The show has many events in the convention center lobbies and panel rooms. Panels: MegaCon is host to panels of many genres relating to cosplay, anime, gaming, and world building among many other subjects. Celebrities attending MegaCon may also star in their own panels. Gaming: Several RPG games are hosted at MegaCon including Dungeons & Dragons living campaigns , Living Forgotten Realms , Pathfinder Society and Legends of

1824-590: The store and "at a seedy dive bar next door" to the store. In November 2012, a new show on Channel 5 titled Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan started airing in the United Kingdom. The documentary shows Monaghan travelling to different locations such as Venezuela and Ecuador to film and interact with the exotic and often dangerous local wildlife. During the summer of 2013, Monaghan appeared in various live-action teasers for 2K Marin 's science-fiction video game The Bureau: XCOM Declassified . Monaghan

1872-574: The true story of a Soviet and a US submarine colliding in the Cold War . His other film roles include playing the young mutant Chris Bradley formerly known as Maverick in the superhero film X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and playing Beaumont Kin in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), reuniting with J.J. Abrams , the co-creator of Lost. He also has hosted the nature programme Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan (2012–2016). Monaghan

1920-407: Was a regular cast member on the ABC series Lost from 2004 to 2007, playing English former rockstar and drug addict Charlie Pace . Monaghan originally auditioned for the role of Sawyer. The role of Charlie was then changed from an old, washed up rocker from the 1980s, to a young one-hit wonder to accommodate Monaghan's age. Monaghan returned to the series as a special guest star after departing from

1968-478: Was a regular guest of the show; as were many other Golden Age comics creators who lived in the Orlando area. The founders of OrlandoCon were regional chairman of the National Cartoonists Society Jim Ivey (1925–2022) and local enthusiasts Charlie Roberts, Rob Word, Richard Kravitz, and Neil Austin. Most OrlandoCons took place over a September weekend. Each year's show featured

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2016-455: Was acquired by the Tampa -based publisher CrossGen in 1999, with Elizabeth Widera brought on to run the show in 2000 and Breitbiel moving on to become CrossGen's Marketing and Distribution Director. During this period, from 2000 to 2003, MegaCon heavily promoted CrossGen products as the show continued to grow. After being the venue once in 1997, the Orange County Convention Center has since 2001, been

2064-482: Was announced for October 28–30. MegaCon Tampa last happened in 2018 and has not returned since due to the increasing sizes of convention rivals Tampa Bay Comic Con and Metrocon as well as the size limitations of the Tampa Convention Center . Stan Lee made a surprise appearance at MegaCon Tampa Bay 2017, his last at MegaCon, to raise funds for those affected by Hurricane Irma weeks prior. The 2020 event

2112-803: Was born in West Berlin , West Germany , to British parents: Maureen, a nurse, and Austin Monaghan, who was of Irish descent, a science teacher. Monaghan's family lived in Berlin, Düsseldorf , Stuttgart and Münster , moving about every four years. When he was about 11 years old, his family moved to Heaton Moor in Stockport , England. In Stockport, he attended St Anne's Roman Catholic High School (where his uncle taught and later became head teacher) and Aquinas College , where he studied English literature, drama and geography. Although Monaghan held many occupations when he

2160-461: Was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Initially planned to be held April 16–19 and June 4–7, it was replaced by a smaller "limited edition" "mini-MegaCon" restricted to 25,000 in attendance with the next main event to be held on March 18–21, 2021. These dates were also cancelled with the next date, August 12–15 being a return to operations, though masks were mandated. During Covid, the show's website

2208-596: Was held in September 1974 at the Orlando Howard Johnson's Convention Center — guests included C. C. Beck , Roy Crane , Hal Foster , Ron Goulart , Mel Graff  [ fr ] , Les Turner , Ralph Dunagin , Bill Crooks , Harold McCauley , Scorchy Smith artist Edmond Good , and Disney artist Ralph Kent . In 1976 OrlandoCon moved venues from the Howard Johnson Convention Center to

2256-469: Was redesigned with a new logo introduced as part of a larger rebranding of FanExpo with the text forming an arch. The 2021 event was plagued with many guest cancellations due to pandemic-caused filming conflicts affecting many including Elijah Wood , Brendan Fraser , and James Marsters who were to be among the headline celebrities of the event. 2022 featured a return to normal operations with Elijah Wood , Sean Astin , Dominic Monaghan , and Billy Boyd ,

2304-712: Was younger, he long wanted to be an actor. After his second year at St Anne's, Monaghan became a regular in school plays such as Oliver Twist , A Christmas Carol and Bugsy Malone before joining the Manchester Youth Theatre . There, he was scouted for Hetty Wainthropp Investigates , in which he starred alongside Patricia Routledge and Derek Benfield as Hetty's under-aged sidekick, Geoffrey Shawcross, for four series. Monaghan has since credited Routledge as "an amazing teacher" who taught him some "very valuable lessons" that have influenced his acting career. He made his feature-film debut as Russian sailor Sasha in

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