The Moody Comics & Anime Club held Cub Con, a multi-genre entertainment convention, March 17, 2018, at Moody Air Force Base, Ga.

The convention included a costume contest, zombie demonstration, live painting seminar, and kids face painting. It was held to spread awareness of the library’s new weekend hours as well as get people excited for Tiger Con, scheduled for April 14-15.

Cub Con and Tiger Con are an effort by the Comics & Anime Club to bolster a community of pop culture enthusiasts within the Moody and Valdosta area.

“If you’re into comics and anime, if you’re in your late teens and early 20’s … Valdosta doesn’t have a lot for you, so we’re trying to change that,” said Master Sgt. Brian McAfee, 71st Rescue Squadron loadmaster. “We’re trying to improve the lives of the families, dependents, the Airmen who are in the area who are really into this (kind of pop culture), but have to go out of town to participate in their hobbies. So now they’ve got something right here that’s local.”

The Tiger Con will host a myriad of attractions ranging from panels featuring star voice actors, a costume contest, a plethora of vendors as well as refreshments from an anime themed cafe.

“I think we started off bigger than we expected, but once we put the word out that we were doing this, everyone had great ideas; everyone wanted to do something, and it just kept growing and growing,” McAfee said. “I want us to continue growing, to have people coming from all around. I’m hoping this can turn into that (convention) everyone looks forward to, and I want it to be associated with our club and the base in general.”

Emily Spruill, a Cub Con guest, explained how events like these are important for improving Airmen’s experience while at Moody.

“It shows how people can be themselves without being judged for what they are,” Spruill said. “This is where I most feel at home. I had grown up as a military dependent and we never had events like this on the base.

“In the military you’re working all the time. It’s going to get stressful, you’re going to get anxious, and so I would say these events can help (Airmen) de-stress with their daily lives, and have some fun.”

From the star voice actors attending the event, to being able to run the event, McAfee hopes to make this convention a memorable one.

“I’m really looking forward to hopefully a couple hundred people coming and having a great time,” McAfee said.