By SEAN CW KORSGAARD

Special to The Farmville Herald

Thousands of people traveled to Richmond recently for Wizard World Comic Con, a comic book convention returning to Virginia’s capital for its second year. The crowds attended not only to shop but for the chance to meet and greet a list of celebrities that included William Shatner, Billie Piper from “Doctor Who”, Billy Boyd from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and many more — one of whom was Farmville resident Genesis Moss.

A resident of Prince Edward County for 23 years, most of Moss’ time is spent at Gemini Inc. where he works as a flat-cut technician or volunteering in youth ministry in the community. Genesis, however, has another side not many locals get to see — a nerdy side, as a self-described life-long fan of shows like “He-Man” and the “Masters of the Universe,” and movies like “Ghostbusters,” as well as comic books and video games. About four years ago, he began talking about those on YouTube.

“I started making videos just talking about ‘He-Man,’” said Moss. “From there, I moved on to covering conventions and reviewing action figures and video games.”

More than 150 videos later, Moss found himself at the center of a somewhat successful YouTube channel, being invited as a guest to many of the same conventions he’d once attended as just another fan. This year alone, he’s been a panelist at Ravencon and Mysticon, two science-fiction conventions based out of Richmond and Roanoke, respectively, as well as Anime Mid-Atlantic.

Wizard World Richmond was an entirely new experience for Moss. He pointed out that the room where he held his panel would later host Doug Jones, a famous character actor, and Jason David Frank, a martial artist better known as the Green Ranger on “The Power Rangers.”

“It’s an incredibly humbling, almost unreal experience,” Moss said. “I’ve watched movies or TV shows starring these guys, been a fan of some of them for years, and now I get to take the same stage they do? It’s unreal.”

Watching his panel, you’d never get the idea that Moss was ever out of his element. His discussion centered on the technique involved in reviewing video games, and was heavy on crowd involvement, inviting volunteers to take their turn playing Super Nintendo. Several people who watched the panel stayed afterward asking to take photos with him.
“I don’t ever get used to that, no matter how many times it has happened,” said Moss. “A lot of times it’s these young kids, and I don’t think anything can quite compare to a kid walking up to you and asking for your autograph.”

The crowd wasn’t the only group enthusiastic with Moss. He says there is already some talk that he’ll be invited back to Wizard World Richmond next year and potentially other conventions hosted by Wizard World.

“As long as they’ll have me, I’ll always be happy to attend,” he said. “There really is nothing better than sharing a room or convention hall with thousands of people who love the same things you do.”
For those who have never attended a convention, Moss has some advice.

“Conventions can be overwhelming at first, but grab a few friends and go with the intent to have fun,” he said. “There’s something for everyone in this wonderful, nerdy world we live in. Find it and embrace it.”