Wizard World Boldly Goes

Y'know, you can keep your Battlestar Galactica recycling and your regurgitated V do-overs. The original big bomb daddy sci fi reboot remains Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Wizard World Austin Comic Con is re-assembling the crew this October at the Austin Convention Center.

Yes, you can make excited "squee" noises right around now.

It's been 25 years since the crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D first set course for Farpoint Station, and it's rare to see such a gathering outside of a dedicated Star Trek convention. Of course, no re-union would be complete without the distinctive dome of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, better known as the inimitable Patrick Stewart – who, prior to telling everyone to make it so, was a stalwart of the British stage. LeVar Burton (Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge) is no stranger to Austin, having recently delivered one of the keynotes at SXSWedu. They''ll be joined by Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data) and Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher). And then there's the two actors that brought some old school Kirk-style burl to TNG: Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker) and Michael Dorn (Lieutenant Worf.) Seriously – and apologies to Will Wheaton – was there any finer moment of TV than that pair chasing Wesley through a Jefferies Tube in The Game?

And, don't worry, fans of revisionist TV SF: There's a healthy contingent from Dr. Who spin-off Torchwood, including Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), and last year's smash hit guest, James Marsters. Now, if only Marsters can bring his guitar, Frakes whips out his trombone, and notorious hoofer Spiner breaks into song, then that could result in the most retro-nerdgasm in history.

Of course, this is still the Austin Comic Con, so there's some serious heavy hitters on the graphic front. Eisner Award hall of famer Neal Adams pretty much turned the industry on its head with "Snowbirds Don't Fly", the groundbreaking anti-drugs two-parter in Green Lantern/Green Arrow: He's also been a real hero on the creators' rights front within the industry, and heads up a long list of Eisner winners (Wolverine: Origin co-writer Paul Jenkins and A Wrinkle in Time creator Hope Larson) and nominees (Kaare Andrews, Humberto Ramos, Eliza Fry, Jeremy Whitley, Alex Saviuk).

Yes, that sound you hear is comic collectors en masse preparing to empty their savings accounts on sketches.

Wizard World Austin Comic Con runs Oct. 26-28. More info at www.wizardworld.com.