The Indianapolis convention season is starting earlier than ever this year, thanks to our first invasion from the forces of Wizard World. As previously reported for MCC readers a while back, this weekend will be the inaugural Wizard World Indianapolis, downtown at the same Indiana Convention Center that’s hosted several successful Gen Cons and three 2014 comics/entertainment conventions of varying degrees of achievement.

Tonight is the night my brain has chosen to shut out all headlines and focus on pre-planning, which is just as well because I have no worthwhile thoughts at the moment on Spider-Man, Brian Williams, or Jon Stewart, except to say if they all joined forces to costar in Ghostbusters 4, I’d totally add that to my Netflix queue and then forget to watch it.

Here’s the sum of my planning and knowledge at this point:

* Guests my wife and I intend to meet: Doctor Who‘s Karen Gillan; Anthony Montgomery from Enterprise; Carroll Spinney, a.k.a. the sensational Big Bird; maybe former Marvel editor Jim Salicrup if he’s selling anything nifty; and some other comics artists, I should hope.

* Guests we’ve met at previous cons whom others might find interesting on different levels: William Shatner; Ray Park; Jake Lloyd; James and Oliver Phelps, a.k.a. Fred and George Weasley; influential artist Neal Adams (who’s also doing a signing at Downtown Comics North on Wednesday the 11th); and local comics writer Steve Horton, creator of Amala’s Blade.

* Guests you might also like: Abraham, Sasha, Merle Dixon, and cannibal boss Gareth from The Walking Dead; the second star of Starz’ Spartacus; Jason David Frank, America’s greatest Green Power Ranger; former Marvel hero Lou Ferrigno; two guys from Boondock Saints who aren’t on The Walking Dead; and some wrestling stars.

* There will be panels. I’m still working on that part. Before every con, I always tell myself I’ll attend multiple panels, and then I’m lucky if I make time for more than one. Will that change this time? Let’s see about that, shall we?

* Tickets are far from sold out. They’re not cheap, but they’re there for the taking. We just bought ours online this evening. Theirs will apparently not be a San Diego-sized crowd.

* If you’re a dealer, seller, comics publisher, shop owner, or other entrepreneur, the show’s interactive map says as of this writing they still have 23 booths and four Artists Alley tables available. Any celebrities who happen to be in the area might also inquire into joining us as a surprise last-minute addition, because all that dead space on the map leads me to believe they’d be more than happy to add more autograph booths if you ask. For anyone else who’s ever dreamed of selling stuff to comics collectors or random passersby, now’s your golden opportunity to give convention-based capitalism a whirl. DO IT. DO IT NOW. You know you want to!

* The local media outlets have been covering it lightly, so some effort is being expended on promotion. Someone somewhere at Wizard World tried, and will hopefully keep it up and try even harder as opening day nears.

* Temperatures this weekend are expected to be in the teens. Hurray for Indiana winter. On the upside, there’s no snow in the extended forecast, and we’ve only had six inches total this entire season. We’ve not yet known Boston’s avalanche of pain. Regardless, I feel bad for those cosplayers who’ll have to manage unwieldy winter wear in addition to their costumes. I’m also concerned about the effect this may have on food truck turnout. If none of those show up, our lunch plans are shot. And I am not relying on convention center foodstuffs for survival.

* You may be aware Saturday is also Valentine’s Day. WWIndy is the perfect couples event for discerning couples exactly like us. Might I suggest capping off your long day with fine dining at one of the various establishments around downtown Indy? Upper-class attendees should check out Ruth’s Chris if your consigliere hasn’t already scheduled your reservations. Alternatively, there’s a Steak ‘n Shake down the street, but it’s always packed on convention weekends. Fair warning.

* Despite what I wrote in the afore-linked June 2014 entry, WWIndy still doesn’t have much Convention Center space reserved — just three exhibit halls, one ballroom, and a passel of meeting rooms. That’s half as much as Indy Pop Con had, pretty close to what Awesome Con and the Indiana Comic Con each had, and a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what Gen Con demands and needs. If there’s any kind of sizable fan turnout, any and all personal space will be eliminated by noon. If only fifty of us show up, I say we all head over to Circle Centre Mall later and grab some Cinnabon. Maybe we can talk Karen Gillan and Big Bird into tagging along if they’re not busy and if we don’t come off as too weird. So everybody please be cool, just in case, won’t you?

* WWIndy will be sharing the Convention Center with the Indiana Home & Garden Show, a Black & Decker sales conference, and some kind of dental networking meet-up. If WWIndy turns into an overcrowded disaster — or worse, if it’s sparsely attended and we complete our entire to-do list by 1 p.m. — the Home & Garden Show is next door in Hall H, is only five bucks a person, and is open till 8 p.m. So everyone’s Plan B is looking at pretty indoor flowers, though I’m disappointed that their site lists no celebrity guests. Maybe they’ll surprise us.

Expect photos and anecdotes this weekend on MCC, all part of the usual service. Updates as they occur!