Mesa Public Library in Los Alamos is hosting Atomicon Saturday. Image Courtesy LAC
COUNTY NEWS
Los Alamos is a small town but has a mighty love for comic books, superheroes, gaming, anime, movies, and fandoms. Adult, youth, and family activities abound at this day-long event. Snacks will be available.
Scheduled Activities:
- 11am to 12:30 p.m. Character Creator Workshop by 7,000 BC (upstairs conference room)
- 12:45 to 1:15pm: Costume contest with prizes (downstairs rotunda)
- 12:45pm to 2:45pm: Live caricatures by Paul Ziomek (downstairs next to rotunda)
- 1:30 to 2:45pm: Censorship, Burnings, and Bannings in the World of Comics: Lecture by 7,000 BC (upstairs conference room)
- 2 to 3pm: Life Drawing with Costumed Models hosted by Los Alamos Life Drawing Group (downstairs rotunda)
- All Day: Game Room by White Rock Toys and Gaming (upstairs in Step Up Gallery space)
Booths and Ongoing Activities with More to Come (All Ages):
- Superhero science with Los Alamos STEAM Lab
- Create your own fandom button with library staff
- Artist table with Jacob Spill
- What’s a zine? with Jennifer Jordan
- Cosplay from your closet with library staff
- Outdoor superhero obstacle course
- Indoor/outdoor scavenger hunt
- Toddler activity area
- We love Disney! with library staff
- Craft corner with library staff
Atomicon’s Mysterious Origins:
Unbeknownst to most, a vast archival repository sits deep in the heart of the Pajarito Plateau directly beneath Mesa Public Library. It houses a mysterious collection of old books, sketches, and scrolls–the contents of which illustrate the imaginings of Dr. Lilli Hornig (a Manhattan Project scientist) that sprang to life after an inadvertent toxic exposure in her laboratory. For decades, these materials and their strange, ethereal contents have been entrusted to the librarians at Mesa Public Library for safekeeping where they have swirled and festered in the repository’s shadowy depths, slowly manifesting in physical form and growing more powerful over time.
A sliding bookcase in the library’s lower level conceals the entrance to this secret, sunken chamber where a winding, spiraling staircase plunges deep into the earth. At the bottom of these stairs looms a heavy, wooden door–barricaded to restrain the mysterious powers percolating within. Recently, a librarian ventured down this hidden stairway to investigate a sudden rumble that had risen up through the earth and rippled throughout the library causing the books to jitter and dance on their shelves. When she unlatched the lock to open the massive repository door, an airy, supernatural force exploded outward and roared up the staircase, into the library, and out onto the streets. Dr. Hornig’s creatures and characters–once existing only on paper–have not been seen since.
On July 30, we summon them back to Los Alamos. Come see what ensues when the power of imagination is unleashed on Mesa Public Library!