Friday Venue

Venue cover story

• Heroes welcome Albuquerque Comic Con is back for a bigger, better second year. Appearances by “True Blood’s” Kristin Bauer Van Straten and Sam Trammel will take place. Original Hulk star Lou Ferrigno will be on hand to meet guests. There also will be some “Walking Dead” stars on hand for a panel, and for “Star Wars” enthusiasts, Nick Gillard will give a Jedi Master training class.

But there’s more music and entertainment inside:

• A legend’s son  Lukas Nelson — yes, the son of Willie — fell in love with music at an early age. He’s started a rock band — Promise of the Real — and it will perform in Taos Jan. 17 and Santa Fe at Sol at Santa Fe Brewing Jan. 18.

• No sunny songs Sean Healen has hardly ever written bright, cheerfully lyrics. But that adds to the Santa Fe-raised songwriter’s appea. Healen will open for Willy Porter at a Jan. 17 show at The Cooperage.
• In organic fashion Colorado-based singer/songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov’s music has been compared to Leonard Cohen and Iron & Wine — and that suits him just fine. Isakov has been holed up in the studio where he was working on his fifth album for the past month but will perform at Sol at Santa Fe Brewing on Jan. 14.
• Time for new music Electronic duo Gabriel and Dresden have remixed hits for a plethora of artists, but now is their time. The duo are gearing up to release their first set of original music in four years and taking those songs on tour. They will stop at Effex Nightclub on Jan. 19.
• Thrills get smuggled in Mark Wahlberg and Giovanni Ribisi star in “Contraband,” which is a paint-by-numbers formula that still colors outside the lines. Film critic Roger Moore weighs in on the action-packed movie.