HCTC delivers Chuck Norris to Huntington

Jun. 2—The Huntington Comic & Toy Convention, West Virginia's Comic-Con, will host a meet and greet with TV and film icon Chuck Norris this Saturday, June 4.

Chuck Norris dominated the small screen with a 203-episode run of "Walker, Texas Ranger" from 1993 to 2001, making it the most successful Saturday night series on CBS since "Gunsmoke"

"Walker Texas Ranger" is also viewed in more than 80 countries around the world, with an average of 1 billion viewers daily. Norris' career couldn't be contained by the small screen, however, and spread over 24 iconic motion pictures as well — including "The Way of the Dragon," "Delta Force," "Code of Silence," "Missing in Action," "Lone Wolf McQuade" and his most recent role in "Expendables 2."

Norris first made his mark as a renowned teacher of martial arts and was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middle Weight Karate Champion. He is the first man from the Western Hemisphere in the over 4,500-year tradition of Tae Kwon Do to be awarded an eight-degree Black Belt Grand Master ranking. By the 1970s, he had revolutionized Martial Arts in the U.S. and created his own system called "The Chuck Norris System," and is the founder and chairman of the United Fighting Arts Federation.

Chuck Norris is also a New York Times bestselling author of several books. They include "Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America," and the 2004 autobiographical "Against All Odds."

Norris has also penned two works of fiction, "The Justice Riders" and "A Threat to Justice." In 2006, he added "columnist" to his list of credits with the launch of his popular internet column on the independent news site WorldNetDaily.com.

Modeling a life of health and fitness for more than five decades, Norris has promoted the importance of exercise by his endorsement of the Total Gym, a popular exercise machine that is sold internationally in more than 80 countries. In 2010, Norris launched a syndicated weekly health and fitness column called C-Force to help inspire and improve the health and fitness of his readers by taking a holistic view of health-that wellness is obtained and maintained by treating ourselves as an integrated whole — in mind, body and spirit.

A genuine internet phenomenon, Norris has become the subject of countless Paul Bunyan-type fictional "facts" of his exploits, submitted by fans. There are currently more than a million such "facts" floating around the internet. In November 2009, he came out with The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book, focusing on 101 of his favorite facts and stories. Norris, an Air Force veteran, was named an Honorary Member of the Marine Corps in 2007, which was an incredible honor demonstrating the appreciation the Corps felt for his two "handshake" tours of Iraq with-in a one-year period.

A man of deep religious convictions and a giving spirit, Norris will say that next to his family, his most rewarding accomplishment is the creation in 1992 of his KICKSTART KIDS Foundation. With the purpose of building strong moral character in our youth through martial arts training, the Foundation has become the most important mission of Norris and his wife Gena's lives, following the development and well-being of their family. KICKSTART KIDS now serves more than 9,000 at-risk youth on a daily basis as part of the daily school curriculum in middle schools and since its inception; the program has graduated almost 90,000 kids. Their goal is to expand the program all over Texas and eventually nationwide. Chuck Norris Autographs, Photo-Ops, and general admission tickets are available at Huntingtoncom-iccon.com.

The convention will also feature many other celebrity guests including the voice of Batman Kevin Conroy, Wrestling Hall of Famers The Rock N Roll Express, David Koechner from TVs "The Office" and "Anchorman," Pokemon Voice Actors Racheal Lillis and Megan Hollingshead, Anime Voice Actors J Michael Tatum and Luci Christian, former Power Rangers Nakia Burrise and Catherine Sutherland, former Marvel editor Jim Shooter, Jonathan Joss — the voice of John Redcorn on King of the Hill —and many more celebrities and comic creators.

The Huntington Comic and Toy Convention features hundreds of vendors of comics and collectible toys that range in price from $1 up to thousands of dollars. Many of these vendors will be selling items that you may not have seen since childhood and a walk through the convention floor is surely a walk down memory lane.

The show is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 5. General admissions are available online at huntinngtoncomiccon.com. Tickets will also be available at the door both days at a cost of $30 for Saturday, $25 for Sunday, or $45 for the entire weekend. For more information, and announcements of new guests, visit huntingtoncomiccon.com.