I love comic books.

That simple declarative statement begins the retelling of the single greatest day of my life. A day filled with capes, spandex and character defining moments for a young boy of twenty who daydreamed his childhood away under the fantasies of larger than life adventure stories. The chance to rub shoulders with heroes, both fictional and literal — as the dedicated and curious reader will soon discover — turned an ordinary Saturday into an extraordinary one.

The comic book industry is replete with its own superstars, legends and thousands of fans (self-titled “fanboys” like myself) willing to shell out obscene amounts of cash to get their grubby little paws on any piece of memorabilia arbitrarily assigned value.

That’s where WonderCon comes in. Every year, every geek, dork, nerd and fanboy (sometimes those labels overlap) convenes into one giant orgy of comics, nachos and B.O. in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the newest comic related movies or meeting their favorite comic book creators.

My story begins when my companion, Josh Smith, and I opened the doors to WonderCon and entered a strange and amazing place. As we bypassed the hundreds of eager fans waiting in line, many of them in elaborate costumes, we were led by a legion of Stormtroopers to our proper destination. Incidentally, the job of this elite squadron of soldiers (the 501st) is to shuffle people through lines and perform community service (generally only coming out of their mother’s basement for large gatherings of nerds).

While trying to clear up some troublesome paperwork issues (Remember that fact because it will be important for the life changing encounter later on), I looked to the doors and spotted a large mass of hair lumbering its way through the crowd. Could it be? Yes, it was Peter Mayhew, the man behind Chewbacca. I let out an approving “GGGRRAAAWWH!” and continued onto the main show.

In the main show, Kevin Smith’s observations of the homosexual undertones in “X-men” (“It should be called ‘Brokeback Mutant’. ‘I wish I could quit you, bub.’”) was the prefect segue into Director Bryan Singer. He began his discussion on his new film “Superman Returns” nervously, but quickly regained his composure when newcomer Brandon Routh stepped out onstage, surprising every one with an unannounced appearance. It’s rare for me to lose my stoic composure over just any ruggedly handsome man, but I feel I was justified in my adoration since he’s FLIPPIN’ SUPERMAN! I mean c’mon, people! Superman! The Man of Steel! The Last Son of Krypton! Standing onstage in a T-shirt! Awesome! (Aside: When Routh mentioned that he gets a little nervous speaking in front of ginormous audiences, the portly guy seated behind us cooed, “Just take your shirt off and you’ll be alright.)

So, you’re probably wondering who I could have met that topped seeing Kevin Smith, Bryan Singer AND Superman all on the same day. Normally, I would say nobody. But today the Comic Gods and the Literature Gods joined forces in the greatest inter-universe crossover since “Crisis on Infinite Earths” — by the way, if that reference made sense, you need to start getting out more.

Like I said before, we had some paperwork trouble upon entering WonderCon, but it was a blessing in disguise. Had we not been delayed by the “helpful” staff, I would have never spotted a man wearing glasses in the lobby with his three kids. My sidekick Josh and I debated whether or not disturbing his family was worth the honor of meeting our favorite author of all time, a man whose work we all but idolized. We mustered up the courage like soldiers jumping out of a foxhole and asked MICHAEL CHABON, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of “Wonderboys”, “A Model World” and “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” for an autograph. After all, it’s not every day you get to see the creator of one of your favorite books and superheroes.

Once my excitement subsided to only near-heart attack levels, I looked down at my hands at the freshly signed piece of paper that rested between them. I don’t quite recall asking for an autograph or telling him how he inspired me to pursue writing, but I walked away from that encounter with an even greater love for comics than I had had walking into WonderCon. My only regret, and I take this opportunity to apologize to Mr. Chabon for my selfishness, is asking for it when he was clearly in family time. If you’re reading this, sir, thank you for fueling my imagination and the imaginations of millions of readers and if you ever feel like shooting the breeze about The Fantastic Four, Spiderman or the Escapist, remember that I will always love comics, no matter the shape, color or dimension. Just send up the Intermission symbol and I’ll come running.