Every franchise out there, be it television, film or even comics need keystone characters that are instantly recognizable. These are the people that drive certain stories, help shape the fates of others and often find themselves loved by fans everywhere because they're downright awesome. 

Marvel has done a fine job of giving us characters that fit that particular mold and out of the many memorable ones they have delivered our way, only one has become so important and relevant that she has evolved from keystone character, to outright pop culture icon; Peggy Carter. 

Yes, our favorite SSR Agent has become a symbol of everything we come to expect from the super heroes we adore. She is fearless, she is strong and inspiring and none of that would be possible without the right actor taking on the role and Peggy's rise to pop culture icon is a direct result of the incredible work from the actor behind her, Hayley Atwell.

If anything it's safe to say that Hayley's performance as Peggy is so strong and so revolutionary that she is in many ways responsible for the sudden surge in strong female characters that we see in television and film, and now the actor who has helped inspire a change in pop culture and inspired generations of young women...is coming to Denver Comic Con 2016. Yes, the SSR/S.H.I.E.L.D. lineup continues to grow as DCC adds another big time Marvel Cinematic Universe actor to their already impressive lineup. 

But there is a slight catch, since Hayley's schedule is a busy one, she will only be available to greet her fans for autographs and photo ops on Saturday only. So you know the drill, don't waste any more time and get over to Denver Comic Con's Website today to get your tickets because Hayley Atwell is coming to Denver and this is another big time announcement from DCC and it's only a matter of time now before tickets sell out. 

There are some actors who do such an incredible job in making their character as genuine as possible, that you are instantly drawn to their character and love every second that they happen to be on screen. They usually happen to steal the show every single time they show up and the only actor that I know that has managed to achieve that for me in recent years is Clark Gregg with his portrayal of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent/Director, Phil Coulson.

Of course we were all introduced to Phil in Iron Man so long ago and his ability to banter and hang with Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is what made all of us fall in love with the character and I distinctly recall hearing people clap and cheer every single time he popped up in any of the Phase One Marvel movies, and he quickly became a character we cared for through and through, so much in fact that The Avengers could be considered Clark's finest work.

After all, we saw the fanboy side of Phil we never knew existed and let's be honest...everyone had tears in their eyes when he went out like a champ doing his best to keep Loki under control, and his death was so compelling and powerful that it absolutely forced me to tune in to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so I could figure out not only how he survived...but to enjoy the wonder of the character all over again. But Clark's work with Marvel often over shadows his other work in television and film, since he has appeared on shows like The West Wing and The Shield and he even popped up in One Hour Photo and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

But what matters most, is that Clark Gregg is coming to Denver Comic Con 2016 for a special one day engagement on Sunday. Clark will be on hand to meet his Marvel fans and take pictures and sign autographs on this day, and man...let's call it like it is, this is an epic announcement. Folks from the Marvel Cinematic Universe are hard to book due to their busy schedules, so for DCC to land Clark for even Sunday is simply phenomenal. Get your tickets as quickly as you can because as you can see, Denver Comic Con isn't even remotely done announcing big time guests for the con and if they're snagging folks from the MCU...it makes you wonder who else they plan on announcing for this year's convention. 

I remember, if you will...the dark ages of the horror genre. When any television show that brought forth nightmares and monsters aired at the latest possible time that it could and only lasted a season or two at a time simply because the interest was never there outside of a handful of fans.

We all know that the times have changed when it comes to that, since The Walking Dead has become one of the biggest shows on the planet and plenty more horror is starting to pop up in our prime time programming, but what I never realized, is how big of a genre horror has now become and how along the way the need to be scared and the fun that comes with it has given the genre a life it has never known, until Walker Stalker Con that is.

This awesome convention, one that travels from city to city to celebrate the wonder of the living dead and all things horror, made its way to the Mile High City this past weekend and having never attended it before, I have to say that I was blown away by it. For starters, I've never seen such an incredible gathering of cast members from The Walking Dead, but more importantly, I've never seen the zombie genre or the horror genre celebrated quite like this. It was amazing to watch people jumping up and down in line to meet their favorite stars from the show, and every single smile that went into a selfie with Michael Cudlitz or Josh McDermitt went from ear to ear. But what truly surprised me most...was how many families I saw in attendance.

Everywhere you went, there were generations of horror and zombie fans to be found. I saw little kids dressed like Freddy Krueger waiting in line with wide eyes to meet Robert Englund himself. I saw families dressed up like walkers roving about to stop for pictures and see the sights and well...the images blew me away. For a genre that was once relegated to the midnight hour to be forgotten because it was deemed to be only for a niche audience, how far we have come. Horror has finally become a true staple of mainstream pop culture and judging from how long those lines went outside the National Western Complex and from within the con itself, it's not going anywhere any time soon.

Much of that is courtesy of Walker Stalker Con itself. Sure, you'll find Walking Dead guests at conventions all around the country, but to have this many under one roof, all ready to greet their fans and say hello changes things, especially when they are this accessible to everyone in attendance. After all I had the chance to shake hands with Judith O'Dea and Russ Streiner from Night of the Living Dead and I even got to pose for a picture with Eugene Clark from Land of the Dead, all included in the price of the autograph I picked up from him and that's what makes Walker Stalker so incredibly special. It removes the mythos of horror, the stigma that the actors are tied to their characters and allows the fans to see them for the great people they are. Because of that it makes Walker Stalker Con a can't miss event, and I certainly hope they swing back through Denver and allow us to celebrate the wonder of pop culture's hottest new genre once again.

Going to Walker Stalker this year, I had no idea what to expect since it is the first time Denver has hosted this event.  The one thing that I can say for sure is that this event is made up strictly for the fans, but not just for The Walking Dead, but for the people that love a little bit of horror in their lives.  With many cast members from The Walking Dead, you also had guest members from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, Z Nation and then a couple outliers from Comic Book Men and Night of the Living Dead show up to greet their legions of fans.

Since I am an old school zombie fan, I was happy to see that a couple of the stars that had an integral part of bringing zombies mainstream were in attendance. Judith O’Dea and Russ Streiner helped to pioneer the zombie movement in George A. Romero’s original Night of the Living dead.  I must admit that I was blown away to see these two icons in attendance since there are not many people left from the movie that shocked the world.

There is no way to even guess which of these two actors I was more excited to meet since they both hold a special place in my heart. Russ is a very nice gentleman and happy to talk to you about anything that you want to hear, but one of his favorite stories to tell about making Night of the Living Dead is how he had to fight to keep his driving gloves on, for no other reason to give Johnny some sort of feature so that when he returned on the screen to eat his sister, everybody would know who he was. Then meeting Judith, well, what can I say, she is just a beautiful woman inside and out.  With more talk about the classic movie, we really hit it off in talking about the Music Box scene and how she was really surprised when the box opened up.  This scene holds more of a personal tie to me, not only because of the unknown around the house, but my grandmother had the exact same box that I would play with growing up for no other reason than it being something completely different than anything I have ever seen. Sometimes movies are able to connect with you on another level and this one, even though it is a classic zombie uprising tale, it just helps me remember my past on so many levels.

The biggest surprise I think at Walker Stalker was the appearance of Eugene Clark, ‘Big Daddy’ from George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead.  Being a vendor at the show and not a special guest, Eugene had one of the busiest booths on the floor, especially when people saw who he was.  I was happy enough to see him when the rest of the group was buying Pop figures, and I must admit for his size, he is not really a frightening man.  Running his own production company, Eugene does a ton of work for charities and will occasionally sing if requested.  I would have never guessed this from seeing him as one of the biggest and baddest zombies in the Romero Dead series, but I don’t think that there could have been a better actor to fill the role.  Being the first zombie to show consistent compassion, I can see how he was able to land the role after talking to him for a couple seconds about what he does in his free time.  He is also a stand-up comedian, which is why I think it is so easy to talk to him without feeling out of place.  If you ever get a chance, this is a person to meet that you need to add to your bucket list, he is one of a kind.

Since this is primarily a Walking Dead convention, I could not leave without talking to someone that is a little bit closer to the series, but not as an actor, but as a writer.  Jay Bonansinga was in attendance and if you don’t know the name, don’t worry, you will.  Jay is a writer that has helped bring The Walking Dead to novel form.  I never hold back on my love for writers and Jay did a great job in giving you the backstory on the man you love to hate with the Governor, and The Rise of the Governor and Fall of the Governor are two of my favorite zombie stories and he is even able to integrate some of your favorite characters from the show into the story.  But his work does not stop there as he has also completed his Ulysses Grove series and several stand-alone novels, one which I had to pick up called Self Storage.  No zombies in this one, just psychological thriller stuff that might or might not be supernatural related.  I cannot wait to jump into this one.
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I had my list of people that I wanted to meet and talk to this year and Walker Stalker was able to make that dream come true for me.  I am sure if you have friends that attended this event, you will see their Facebook pages blowing up with pictures of themselves with their favorite actors from the series, I know that I am seeing a ton of them.  Like I said, this is truly an event for the fans of the genre, putting all of your favorite characters in a massive venue and allowing them to go buck wild with autographs and selfies, it really is a dream come true for so many fans.  I hope to see Walker Stalker come back to Denver again in the future, it is really fun for the entire family.  

It's funny when you think about just how far the zombie genre has come in the past twenty years or so. If you go back in time to the late 1990's, it was all but forgotten. The living dead were just another footnote in horror trivia and men like George A. Romero were just noted as quality filmmakers in a genre that seemed to be ready to fade away into history.

But then something magical happened. In 2002, 28 Days Later hit the big screen and the zombie suddenly found new life at the box office. Fast forward to present day and it's a wonderful time to be a fan of the living dead. They dominate the ratings in AMC's The Walking Dead, George Romero is a household name and the need to consume all things zombie has grown to the point where it has spawned it's own con by way of Walker Stalker Convention.  

Now this brief lesson in zombie history is important for a particular reason. While I was already incredibly excited to go to Walker Stalker Con tomorrow here in Denver, my close friend Scotty pointed out something to me about the con this weekend that not only put a giant smile on my face, but helped WSC earn extra points in my mind as well when I learned that Russ Streiner and Judith O'Dea from Night of the Living Dead (1968) were coming to the convention as well, because this is quite frankly a huge deal.

For starters it shows that the folks behind the scenes at Walker Stalker have a deep respect for the zombie genre as a whole because Russ and Judith are well...icons from a film that more or less changed the landscape of the genre. These two actors were the first to encounter the modern zombie if you will, and their fine work in selling the terror of the moment helped draw us in to a new era of zombie storytelling and the rest as they say is history. But how cool is it that WSC is bringing these two horror legends to Denver to celebrate a weekend of all things living dead? 

It speaks to the fact that this is a show for the fans, by the fans and now I'm scrambling to decide what NOTLD collectible I'm bringing along to have these two zombie pioneers sign. Either way, it's going to be an incredible Saturday and Sunday, one filled with childhood memories of the first time we fell in love with the living dead and new ones we will forge with our friends and I can't wait to see all of you at the National Western Complex tomorrow for this unique and wonderful convention.