Five stories that have North Texas talking: Get ready for Comic Con; meet a traffic buddy named Conezilla; St. Vincent to appear on “Saturday Night Live;” and more.

• Dallas Comic Con has exploded in popularity in recent years – it’s gotten so big that it needed more space and it’s moved from Irving to downtown Dallas. William Shatner and LeVar Burton are among the stars who will be greeting the crowds at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The comic book convention runs Friday through Sunday.The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: “This year’s guest list includes Nightmare’s Robert Englund (aka Freddy Krueger) and Heather Langenkamp; more than a half-dozen TNG stars including Burton and Texas’ Brent Spiner (but no Patrick Stewart); a similar number of Firefly stars, including Nathan Fillion and Summer Glau; The Walking Dead’s David Morrissey, Michael Rooker and Emily Kinney; Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd; Fast Times at Ridgemont High’s Judge Reinhold; and Marvel comic-book legend Stan Lee. Oh, and Alice Cooper.” Read previews from The Dallas Morning News and The Dallas Observer.

• Meet Conezilla – a unique creature that’s been greeting motorists on Interstate 35E in Denton. “Construction workers quietly have built and placed ‘barrel monsters’ along the roadway south of the Lewisville Lake bridge to bring some smiles to motorists and attention to safety in work zones for Safety Week,” the Denton Record-Chronicle reports. Workers used orange traffic barrels and safety cones to make their creations. While Safety Week ended earlier this week, the barrel monsters are up through Friday. You can vote for your favorite no the 35Express Facebook page.

• The Fort Worth Music Festival is taking over Panther Island Pavilion Friday and Saturday. Our sister station, KXT 91.7 FM, has everything you need to know about the event: “This weekend marks the third straight in North Texas with a live music festival. If you missed the debut of Suburbia Fest in Plano or the 5th annual Homegrown Fest in Dallas, the Fort Worth Music Festival is your chance to redeem yourself and properly ring in the summer. Lucinda Williams, Jimmy Eat World and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top headline the fest.”

• The 2014 Spring Modern Home Tour takes place Saturday and features four modern homes. The Saturday self-guided driving tour runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A preview party will happen at 6 p.m. Friday. This year’s tour showcases homes in the Park Cities, North Dallas and the Design District. One house is the 1938 “Rose House” designed by Dallas architect Howard Meyer, who’s best-known for his work on Temple Emanu-El. The house is one of the oldest surviving examples of his modernist designs, organizers say. Click here for more details, including how to buy tickets to the reception and tour.

• Lake Highlands native St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, will be the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend. She’ll appear on Saturday’s show, the season finale, hosted by Andy Samberg. Catch up on her latest music here and here and here.