This coming weekend, Central Canada Comic Con kicks off here in Winnipeg, Manitoba. That’s three days of gaming, geeks dressed as their favorite superheroes and anime characters, and a wide variety of celebrity guests. This year is a particularly big deal, since it celebrates 45 years of ‘Star Trek’! Trekkie prayers everywhere seem to have been answered, as stars from four of the five series (all except ‘Enterprise’) will be on hand. And the main draw? The Shat!

Yep, headlining this once-in-a-lifetime event will be Captain Kirk himself, the legendary William Shatner! Shat’s first stop will be performing live at the Centennial Concert Hall on Tuesday October 25th as part of his ‘An Evening with William Shatner’ Tour. On the weekend, he will then be transported to Comic Con (on Sunday only) for a Q&A session, photo and autograph ops, and most likely covertly seeking new subjects for ‘William Shatner’s Weird or What?’ After all, there’s certainly no shortage of weird at Comic Con.

Joining Shatner will be a host of ‘Star Trek’ alums. Representing Bajor are Nana Visitor and the über-sexy Chase Masterson (Major Kira Nerys and Leeta from ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’). They’ll be followed by Ethan Phillips (the annoying Neelix from ‘Star Trek: Voyager’) and finally Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’)! Here’s hoping that I’ll get a chance to talk to Frakes about the upcoming ‘ST: TNG’ Blu-rays if I can catch him at a time when he isn’t too busy. Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data) was also originally scheduled to attend, but unfortunately it looks like he’s been deactivated until 2012.

Attendees will be able to meet a fair number of other celebs as well. On the ‘Star Wars’ front is Maria de Aragon (better known as Greedo). I think that if I decide to get her autograph, I’m going to specifically ask her to add the note: “Han shot first.” Kevin Sorbo (‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’ and ‘Andromeda’) and Adrienne Wilkinson (‘Xena: Warrior Princess’) will also be mingling with the public. Wrestling fans will surely want to meet the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be – Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Rounding out the group will be Canadian-born actress Kate Vernon, who starred as Ellen Tigh in the awesome re-imagining of ‘Battlestar Galactica‘. Her signature will be a must for my ‘BSG’ collection (joining Grace Park and Michael Trucco). So say we all!

Add the usual gamut of artists, vendors and special exhibits (the ‘Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1 and the Batmobile will be on display), and this year’s C4 is shaping up to be the best yet. I’ve already sprung for my VIP pass. If you’re also planning to go, maybe I’ll see you there!

Oh, and Shatner… If Priceline doesn’t give you any good deals, look me up Facebook. You can always crash at my place.