By Donald Wittkowski
The last thing that the Rev. Mark Bruesehoff thought would happen to him when he walked into the OC-Con show on Sunday afternoon was to receive a shout-out from actor LeVar Burton.
Sitting on stage during a question-and-answer session with the audience, Burton looked out into the crowd and spotted Bruesehoff dressed in his white collar and clergy garb.
Burton joked that it appeared that Bruesehoff, the pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Ocean City, had come to the comics and sci-fi convention at the Music Pier to “check on me.”
The backstory is that Burton had enrolled in a Catholic seminary and was studying to become a priest before he changed his career plans to become an actor, gaining stardom with his first role when he was only 19 years old as Kunta Kinte in the groundbreaking 1977 ABC miniseries “Roots.”
Bruesehoff is a fan of Burton’s for his role later on in his career as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in the TV series and movie franchise “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
“I’m a Trekkie from way back,” the 67-year-old Bruesehoff said. “I have watched every cast and crew member since the show started.”
Bruesehoff seemed genuinely amused to have been acknowledged by Burton from the stage in the middle of the actor’s Q&A with his fans.
“The spotlight was on me. I’ll be happy with my 15 seconds of fame,” the pastor said, laughing.
Actually, OC-Con gave everyone in attendance a chance at gaining attention – if they were dressed in costume. In addition to the formidable Stormtroopers from the iconic “Star Wars” franchise, the Music Pier was filled with virtually every other villain and superhero from comics, movie and science fiction lore.
Aria Lindberg, 15, a freshman at Ocean City High School, was dressed as the purple-haired, scythe-wielding Shinoa Hiragi from the Japanese cartoon “Seraph of the End.”
Lindberg explained that playing Shinoa, a vampire-slaying heroine, allows her to have fun and express herself. To get into character for OC-Con, she even carried a scythe – though hers was fake – reminiscent of the one used by Shinoa to kill vampires.
“She’s very bad-ass, for lack of a better term,” Lindberg said of Shinoa.
While out on the Boardwalk in her Shinoa costume, Lindberg said she caught some adults who were staring at her and appeared “horrified.” But the children were eager to ask her questions about her character and wanted to have their picture taken with her, she noted.
Lindberg was among hundreds of OC-Con aficionados who browsed through the comic books, trading cards, movie posters, action figures and other collectibles sold by vendors.
The family-friendly show, which is organized by the city and the Ocean City Free Public Library, has become a spring entertainment staple after making a strong debut in 2016.
Amy Toomin, of North Cape May, brought her 7-year-old twins, Adele and Alex, and 3-year-old daughter, Austen, to OC-Con for the second year in a row.
“They like to see the superheroes all dressed up,” Toomin said of her children.
When asked to name her favorite characters, Adele exclaimed, “Wonder Woman and Poison Ivy.”
However, Adele’s twin brother, Alex, made it clear that he’s no fan of Poison Ivy, a villain who is one of Batman’s most enduring enemies.
“I don’t like Poison Ivy because the weird part is she has to kiss someone to poison them,” Alex said with a frown.
Burton, meanwhile, had fans of all ages come to see him and grab his autograph during his appearance as the OC-Con headliner. During his Q&A session with the audience, he spoke of his career as an actor, director, author and host of the long-running PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow.”
Trekkies in the audience were thrilled to hear about his role as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” In the “Star Trek” show and movies, he played a character who is blind, but uses a special visor and ocular prosthetic implants to help him see.
Burton confided that he actually could not see when he had to wear the visor for his role. He pointed out the irony of the blind character who sees when he wears the visor, but when the actor puts on the prop, he’s turned into a blind person.
Drawing applause from the audience, Burton said he felt Geordi La Forge was inspirational to people in real life because he helped show that those with physical disabilities can accomplish great things.
One audience member, Ingrid Hickman, 65 of Ocean City, told Burton that she had a personal connection with his character because she is visually impaired.
“I felt inspired, because although he was without vision, he could put his device on and all of his limitations were gone,” Hickman said later in an interview.
The 62-year-old Burton remains busy these days in the entertainment industry and also as a podcaster. In his podcast “LeVar Burton Reads,” he reads a short fiction story from authors around the globe. He urged the OC-Con audience members to tune into his podcast, especially if they share his love of short fiction.
During the Q&A, his fans seemed most eager to know whether a reprise of Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge is in the cards. Burton told the audience that he has not been approached to play the character again, but he would be interested in doing it.
