California Republic Comic Con returned to the Merced County Fairgrounds for its third year on September 15th, 2018, and gave the fans a very rare opportunity to meet one of Hollywood legends, actor Eric Roberts.

 

Eric Roberts, who has over 500 film credits, an Oscar nomination for his performance in Runaway Train and three Golden Globe nods including his 1978 big screen debut role in King of the Gypsies, came to Merced to greet fans, sign autographs and pose for photo ops.

One of the most prolific actors in American history, Eric Roberts is widely known to pop culture fans for his roles as the Master in Doctor Who TV movie (1996) and the gangster Maroni in The Dark Knight (2008). 

At California Republic Comic Con, Eric Roberts was joined by his wife, actress and producer Eliza Roberts, best-known for her role in the 70's classic Animal House.

 

Star Wars fans came in strong at CRCC 2018: for them the convention was a unique chance to meet Richard Oldfield, an American actor who has been living and working in the UK for decades and is not a frequent guest in the States. Richard Oldfield is best-known for his infamous line "Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?" in Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, but also has hundreds of screen and stage credits. 

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Another very special and rare appearance was France Nuyen, a legendary Hollywood star known for her role on Star Trek as Elaan of Troyius, and timeless classics like Battle for the Planet of the Apes, South Pacific, and Diamond Head.

Brennan Mejia from Power Rangers Dino Charge delighted the fans appearing at the photo op in his Red Power Ranger suit. Anime aficionados could meet and chat with Joe Ochman, a very prolific voice over actor whose credits include Mobile Suit Gundam F1, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Digimon: Digital Monsters, Naruto and many others. 

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Unfortunately, due to the flight cancellations and schedule conflicts Davi Santos (Power Rangers Dino Charge), Carlena Britch (X-Files, Supernatural, Chris Niosi (Godzilla: Monster Planet) and Kira Buckland (NieR: Automata, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Pokemon Generations) could not make it to the show. They are reschedule to appear in 2019. 

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Comic book artists are always a big part of CRCC, and in 2018 the fans got to meet the industry greats: Walden Wong (Deadpool, Wolverine and The X-Men, JLA, Superman The Man of Steel, The Avengers, Guardians Infinity, The Warlord, Black Panther, Amazing X-Men, Superboy, Action Comics, The Flash, Hulk, Scarlet Spider, Guardians of The Galaxy, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spiderman, Captain Marvel, Cable, Aquaman, Titans, Batgirl, Uncanny X-Men, Bat Man, Green Lantern, Wonder Women, Captain America, Star Wars, Wolverine, Stargate, Iron Man), Thomas Yeates (Prince Valiant, Swamp Thing, Conan, Tarzan, The Warlord, Airboy, Aztec Ace, Heavy Metal Magazine, Jurassic Park, Jonah Hex, House of Mystery, Mystery in Space, Superman, Epic Illustrations Magazine, Jonny Quest, Captain America, The Hedge Knight, Star Wars), and Tobe Daranouvong (Villain Comic).

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The cosplay special guest line up included Princess Marly Cosplay, Calamity Caller Cosplay, Arlena Fae, West Wylde Cosplayer, and Merced's very own Lucky Bunny Cosplay. 

 

CRCC 2018 program also featured an international independent film festival hosted by Merced-based Violette Films, and a fan-favorite concert on the green with performances by Diversity of One, Rogeniv, Mariachi Cascabeles de Plata, Mad Skullz and DJ Lamont. 

 

The cosplay contest hosted by the West Coast Avengers and Colossus Girl, ended the program of a fun-filled day that brought together fans of all ages from all parts of California.

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