THUNDER BAY -- If there was any doubt that the nerd kingdom had reached the mainstream, it has been replaced by how much bigger the culture can get.
ThunderCon organizers sold more presale tickets for Sunday's convention at the Valhalla Inn than they anticipated they would sell in total.
From those dressed as comic book and video game heroes to trading card and miniatures players, the hotel was flooded with all forms of fantasy.
"I think it's bigger than what we all thought it would be," said Thunder Games and Gifts owner, Hoyt Nowak.
"People don't associate that (being a geek) with negative anymore... Everybody talks about how Big Bang Theory has brought more specific geekdoms out into the light -- Dungeons and Dragons, the different 'Cons' they've attended, enjoying your local comic book store, that kind of stuff."
Children shot stormtroopers with foam darts for charity at one end of a room while Live Action Role Players fought with softened medieval weapons on a stage at the other.
In the next room, Kurt Martell sat on a panel before a 40-person audience discussing tips on surviving a zombie apocalypse in Northwestern Ontario.
"Thunder Bay has a strong community," said the local author of 2012 graphic novel, Nowadays.
"You have a lot of family and friends. You probably know police and firefighters and what have you. We're in a good place where we can work well together. We've survived floods and stuff like that. We're so isolated that other places won't bother us and we'll be fine.
"We'll be the capital of North America, eventually."
Martell was anxious about the turnout but by mid-afternoon, he's hoping ThunderCon grows into a weekend-long event in 2016.
The more exposure the better for Gene Capar, the local designer of the miniatures game Rack & Ruin. Although Internet outreach has brought his game around the world, he's fundraising to develop an expansion set and bringing more local gamers into his world grows its community.
"When I was a kid, I would have loved to see all this superhero stuff and Star Wars stuff," he said.
"As I'm raising a little nerd, it's so awesome to have all this stuff at hand."
