Puppeteer Steve Whitmire speaking into a microphone while operating the Kermit the Frog puppet. They are positioned in front of a San Diego Comic-Con International backdrop with water bottles and name placards visible on the table
Steve Whitmire with Kermit the Frog At the San Diego Comic Con 2015 Muppets panel. Credit: Ewen Roberts from San Diego, CA, United States, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Central Florida Comic Con brings a heavy dose of 90s and 2000s nostalgia to Lakeland next weekend.

For its seventh year, the con features several voice actors from the original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” cartoon, as well as voices from shows like “Digimon,” “Naruto,” and “Bleach.”

Puppeteers Steve Whitmire (formerly Ernie in “Sesame Street,” Kermit the Frog and other Muppets) and Noel MacNeal (“Bear in the Big Blue House,” “Eureka’s Castle”) will be there at the RF Funding Center, though no word on their fuzzy former costars.

The lineup also includes comic creators, authors and actors, including Lucas Grabeel, aka the gay guy in “High School Musical” (he’s straight IRL though).

Serious cosplayers can shine in the two-day costume contest, which requires online pre-judging at least 75% of an entrant’s costume to be handmade or altered.

A “Streets of Thunder” wrestling show happens Saturday at 6:30.

Tickets start at $10 for Central Florida Comic Con hapening Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 17-18 in Lakeland.

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This article appears in Jan. 01 – 07, 2026.

Selene San Felice is managing editor of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Prior to joining CL in 2025, she started the Axios Tampa Bay newsletter and worked for her hometown paper, The Capital in Annapolis,...