Comicpalooza. The name sounds like a grandiose gathering of the biggest names in the comic-book industry, which has a fiercely loyal following. But you're wrong—for now. A small events company is looking to make a twofold splash by turning the gathering in Houston into the gigantic event its name would suggest.

The weekend convention, being organized by Startling Events LLC, has attracted interest from McDonald’s Corp., which has come on board as a retail sponsor, says John Simons of Midnight Comics, who is leading the event-planning efforts. Simons has owned Houston's Midnight Comics for the past 15 years and created Startling Events to stage Comicpalooza.

The end result is to make the event well known, moving it not only up locally and regionally, but also talked about amongst the national names, such as the San Diego Comic-Con International and the Big Apple Comic-Con in New York.

“The comic industry [in Houston] is kind of behind [other cities], so we want to help the local creators be more known in the community,” Simons says.

The event has already made headway on the task, adding not only the major sponsor in McDonalds, but also some cult-figure science-fiction celebrities to make appearances. Perhaps the biggest change is the venue, moving from a shopping mall to Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center.

Simons has already booked some horror and sci-fi star-power celebrities, including Bruce Campbell, who currently stars in Burn Notice on the USA Network. Campbell is best known for portraying Ash Williams in the popular Evil Dead horror-film series. Also confirmed is Ray Park, who portrayed Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and most recently Snake-Eyes in the film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

A typical comic-book reader is a male between the ages of 15 and 40 years old, Simons says. However, depending on what comic conventions feature, he says they can attract just as many women as men, particularly when some of the celebrities on hand include television actors that appeal to the female demographic, such as Nicholas Brendon from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Jason Dohring of Veronica Mars, two actors who have also signed on for Comicpalooza.

“There are a lot of women who like sci-fi,” he says.

This year, Comicpalooza has lowered ticket prices for children, which Simons hopes will bring in more families.

In addition to McDonald’s, the event has picked up a diverse local sponsorship group that includes the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the University of Houston creative writing department, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, the Southwest Alternate Media Project, and MTGFanatic.com Inc., a gaming supplier.

Greg Ortale, CVB president and CEO, says Comicpalooza fits in with the bureau’s goal of helping out homegrown events that have potential to attract visitors from the region or from outside the state.

Since it is Comicpalooza’s first year as a bigger convention, Ortale says he has modest hopes for 2010, but expects it may have a chance to gain a wider following.