The worlds of heroes, villains and fantasies collided Oct. 15 at the Ferndale Events Center for the 12th annual Bellingham Comicon — the first time the event has been held since 2019.
The conference room was packed with rows and rows of vendors showing off their wares, ranging from jewelry, sketches and prints, needlepoint, cards, board games and, of course, comic books.
Spider-Man fist-bumped Deadpool; R2-D2 and The Mandalorian transformed a nondescript corner into a Star Wars photo booth; Groot and Rocket posed with Wonder Woman; and Mario and Luigi lapped circles around eager conference-goers, while Aang the famous Airbender and Avatar made an appearance.
This year’s conference drew a record number of attendees, said Eric Burris, who has organized the event all 12 years. Pre-sale ticket orders were triple what previous years had seen, he said, and hundreds of people packed into the events center to meander the rows of vendors, get autographs from their favorite artists and purchase limited-edition comic books.
David Wolf operates an R2-D2 robot while his son, Noah Wolf, carries a worker robot named Bob around the Bellingham Comicon at the Ferndale Events Center on Saturday. The event was last held in 2019. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
The pandemic forced Bellingham Comicon to go on hold, and people were anxious to return, Burris said.
“Retailers were telling me that they were just hungry for an event,” said Burris, who began vending at comicons in 1985. “It’s always been me.”
The Ferndale Events Center is a large, open space, big enough to hold plenty vendors and attendees, he said. There is no conference center in Bellingham, and arranging space reservations with Whatcom Community College or Western Washington University has never quite worked. The Ferndale Events Center was able to hold the record number of attendees this year, he said.
Featured comic book artists at the event included Randy Emberlin, a Spider-Man artist; Chris Warner, one of the original Predator artists; Matthew Clark, a DC artist for the past 20 years; and Dustin Weaver, an artist for Marvel and Dark Horse Comics who also works on his own comic series, Paklis.
Weaver, who lives in Portland and created a Patreon campaign for his original series, works on covers and short stories for Marvel when he’s not creating on his own projects.
Alex Farias and Hayley James wander the Bellingham Comicon as Anakin Skywalker and Padme on Oct. 15. The event was last held in 2019. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
“While I’m plugging away on Paklis, I take whatever jobs Marvel will throw my way,” Weaver said.
Clark, another comic book artist from Portland, had a contract with DC for many years before he decided to focus on freelancing work. He has worked professionally since 1999, drawing characters ranging from Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Harley Quinn and Green Arrow, just to name a few.
The Bellingham Comicon drew an impressive crowd, said Clark, who has attended Comicons across the country. His last conference, the Metropolis Super Con in Illinois, was about a third the size of Bellingham’s, he said.
Clark’s goal for this conference was to admire and support other artists’ work and “to just have fun,” he said.
For some, the event marked their first Bellingham Comicon. Taylor Morales, who came in a homemade dandelion fairy costume, was happy to see the crowd of people in costumes.
“I like that there’s a lot of people with good costumes that they put a lot of time into,” Morales said.
From left, Titus, Perrin and Selah Weston look over a table of free comics, dressed up for the Bellingham Comicon, held at the Ferndale Events Center on Oct. 15. The event was last held in 2019. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Other attendees, like Hayley James from Seattle, have attended comicons for years. James and her friend, Alex Farias, came as Star Wars characters Padme and Anakin, and were looking forward to the costume contest. For James, the Bellingham Comicon was “very chill, very mellow [and] not as overwhelming” as other conferences.
David and Noah Wolf, a father-son duo from Blaine, brought some other friends along. Over the past two years, the pair have 3D-printed and programmed the famous Star Wars droid R2-D2 and a companion droid, Bob.
With the press of a button, R2-D2 could blast the infamous Imperial March or Oppa Gangnam Style, all while rolling across the carpeted floor and chirping curiously.
“I’m an electrical contractor by trade, but this was more of just to keep me sane during the pandemic,” David Wolf said. “So, I learned how to do all of this stuff.”
Taking advantage of a lack of hair, Joe Fraser dresses up Finley, 9 months old, as Aang the Airbender while attending the Bellingham Comicon at the Ferndale Events Center on Oct. 15. The event was last held in 2019. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Other vendors transformed their pandemic quarantine time into crafts they were able to display, like Victoria Shaffer’s needlepoint or Lilac Gonzalez’s homemade hats.
Vendors and attendees alike were excited to be back, see old friends and make new ones. David King, a comic book collector since the 1960s, was hoping to share his longtime love of comic books with new fans.
King’s table was covered in boxes and boxes of comic books, proudly on display for new collectors to rummage through.
“Normally, I just collect them,” King said. “Now, I’m getting rid of them.”
