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Wellsboro Comic Con celebrates its fifth year on August 8, and this year the festivities start a day early.

On Friday night, the Dean Center lawn will host a performance by Infrared Radiation Orchestra as part of the summer concert series, while the Arcadia Theater offers a free 7:30 p.m. event called “Peek Behind the Magic,” featuring effects specialist Gary George, whose credits include Star Trek, Aliens, and Titanic.

Saturday’s main event, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. across Central Avenue and the Dean Center grounds, will include activities for all ages, from an all-ages coloring contest with age-group prizes to a cosplay contest that regularly draws hundreds of costumed attendees wandering Wellsboro’s Main Street.

Around 35 special guests are expected, several fresh from San Diego Comic Con, and VIP packages will include exclusive comics — including a Wellsboro-themed Little Archie cover and a Jughead variant featuring Godzilla — along with posters, bags, and green room access.

Also debuting at this year’s show is “Legends of Valdoria,” a six-volume graphic novel series from G-Force Comics – following a group of misfit kids recruited to save the world. The project, ten years in the making and endorsed by Sylvester Stallone, will be available for pre-order at the Comic Con booth, though books won’t be signed and distributed until a dedicated event at Pops Culture Shoppe on November 7.

Organizers say the weekend is designed as a community-wide celebration, continuing what guests have described as the small-town charm that keeps them coming back year after year.