Kelowna Fan Xpo returns to the city this weekend for a fourth straight year.
The event celebrates all things pop culture - comic books, science fiction and anime - and last year it attracted over a thousand people.
Many fans will be dressed as their favourite characters, and Kelowna artist John Delaney says it's been wonderful seeing what was once underground - go mainstream.
"As the years have gone by, more and more people are coming forward to say 'I really like these kinds of things, I really like comics, I really like playing games, I love doing these things', so it's become much more accepted in the popular culture, so as a result, people want to celebrate it more," he says.
Delaney, who's drawn characters like Superman and Wonder Woman for DC Comics for 25 years, and has drawn The Simpsons characters for Bongo Comics, says the humble comic book has evolved into a higher art form.
"Ever since graphic novels came out where you can print things on better paper and get a higher quality of colours, you're seeing people who do fully painted comic books - you're seeing people who do graphic passes that literally look like you're looking at something that comes from a film," he says.
Not only that, but Delaney says when a comic book does well like "Watchmen" and sells millions and millions of copies, it's a great launch pad for a movie. He says it doesn't take a genius to figure out that "maybe we should make a film out of this."
The Xpo begins Friday, March 24th and ends Saturday March 25th with the Canadian premiere of the sci-fi movie "The Recall" which was filmed in Vernon.