Palouse Comic Con unites local fans
For the second annual PAC Con Palouse on Jan. 31, the SEL Event Center in Pullman was flooded with local comic book fans, artists and vendors.
The convention, mirrored off the larger scale San Diego Comic Con, drew a large crowd, many of whom dressed up as
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characters like Deadpool, Loki and Link from the “The Legend of Zelda” series. There were several panels, including game shows, advice on how to construct a costume on a budget, card game tournaments and a costume contest.
Special guests also arrived at the convention, including actress Clare Kramer from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” comic book artists James O’Barr and Chad Hardin and veteran animator Tom Cook, whose credits include classic cartoons like “Scooby-Doo,” “He-Man” and “The Flinstones.”
Cook has been animating since 1978. His favorite creation was “Thundar, the Barbarian,” co-created by comic book artist Jack Kirby, who worked alongside Stan Lee on several comics including “The Fantastic Four.”
“I live very close to here,” Cook said, “and Jake (Mackessy, PAC Con founder) is a good friend of mine and we do a lot of conventions together. It’s always fun to be here in the Palouse. Every convention has its own little life. Some conventions are more “Scooby-Doo” centric, other ones are really more “He-Man.” I did a really good panel last year. The place was just packed as I talked about how we made cartoons.”
Other artists like Ivan Rodriguez and Greg Scott Bailey appeared at the convention, selling artwork they created as well as doing custom drawings for guests.
“I love meeting new people,” Rodriguez said. “I like to come over and see their work and to me, that’s the best part.”
Even local filmmakers appeared at the convention, such as Ruth Gregory, creator of the upcoming series, “Music of the Spheres,” described as “an interactive sci-fi webseries” about a grad student who discovers a device that can alter space and time.
Gregory hopes to shoot the first two seasons for the series this summer.
“The inspiration came from a couple places,” Gregory said. “I worked at Pullman in the summer of 2014, when all the students were gone for UI and WSU, and it just felt otherworldly. At the same time, I was reading a lot of Stephen Hawking and watching a lot of ‘Cosmos’ and it all just came together.”
It wasn’t just long time comic fans that showed up either. Some were fresh faced, at least in terms of their comic con debut.
“I’ve actually never been to a comic con before,” said Francesca Fierce, dressed as Harley Quinn. “And when Aquasha (Delusty, host of the costume contest) gave me the opportunity to dress up and help make these costumes — she actually was the one who designed the whole thing — and I was not going to pass up that opportunity. I mean, are you kidding me?”
With the support of the artists and the guests, the convention came together as an exciting experience for the Palouse. Another pop culture and comic convention is already in the works for next year.
Bradley Burgess can be reached at [email protected]