While many of his colleagues are busy this weekend at New York Comic Con, Geoff Johns will be in East Lansing, Michigan, serving as grand marshal of Michigan State University's Homecoming.

In honor of Johns, chief creative officer of DC Entertainment and a 1995 graduate of MSU's College of Communication Arts and Sciences, this year's Homecoming theme is "Creating Spartan Super Heroes." That spills over into a limited-edition guide/comic book that includes such heroes as Sparty (the school's mascot), who has "the ability to uncover the extraordinary in everyone," Cognos, a former candle maker who possesses telepathy and superhuman intellect, and the Muse, a former art teacher who carries a "mirrored shield that provides inspiration to solve challenging problems."

The week of festivities kicked off Monday with hay rides and a flag find, but it looks like the grand marshal's role begins Wednesday with "An Evening With Geoff Johns," a $25-per-person presentation, Q&A and autograph-signing sponsored by the MSU Alumni Association and the College of Arts and Letters. He'll follow that on Thursday with a free "Media Sandbox Event and Storytelling Class with Geoff Johns" for students, staff and alumni of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

The Homecoming parade will be held Friday evening, ahead of Saturday's game against the Indiana Hoosiers. Johns will be part of the half-time activities

"MSU was a perfect fit for me," Johns, who was president of the MSU Film Club, told the MSU Alumni Magazine. "It was a well known school, the campus is beautiful, and there was a comics shop on Grand River. The library has the largest comics collection in the country. I had a great experience."