PORT ANGELES — Last weekend, Port Angeles transformed.
Instead of tourists strolling on the waterfront, Thursday to Sunday saw the downtown and nearby areas of the city filled with superheroes, Sasquatches, cartoon characters, anime and more — all in celebration of the Olympic Peninsula’s fourth annual Squatchcon.
Squatchcon is the Peninsula’s only comic con, and it’s one that takes a local twist, celebrating “what makes our corner of the Pacific Northwest so wild, weird and wonderful,” according to its website.
The best part of the event is that “people are able to be themselves,” said Blake McCabe, one of the panelists and a judge for the costume contest.
“We want Squatchcon to be a place where you belong,” organizer Jess Grello said.
For $25 or less, comic con attendees got access to a slew of activities, including a market, a costume contest, almost 25 breakout panels, games, a movie screening and a family-friendly black light dance party.
For some people, Squatchcon was their first comic con — a way to dip their toes into that world without being overwhelmed by the size of it. That was the experience of Vicky Piston, 55, who moved to the area from Seattle about a year ago.
Piston walked around the Vern Burton Community Center dressed up in a Princess Peach-inspired dress.
“This [comic con] is more my speed,” Piston said, as she browsed the art, games, comics and more that were being offered by more than 60 artists and vendors.
Although this was Piston’s first comic con, she said she’s used to the world of costuming. As an avid celebrator of Halloween, she usually spends all year making costumes for that holiday.
Piston and others got the opportunity to show off their outfits in a cosplay contest, with awards given out during Saturday night’s costume and dance party at Field Arts & Events Hall, featuring live music provided by Abracadabra Trip.
Fifteen awards and honorable mentions were handed out, recognizing costumes across a variety of age groups. In the adult category, the “Best Workmanship” award was given to Matt McCarthy of Sequim for his leather knight costume.
His armor was handcrafted, a skill he said he picked up not too long ago. Now, he turns leather into costumes for comic cons and sells some creations through his business, Salazar’s Leather Creations.
The highest award, “Best Overall Winner,” was given to Alex Jones of Port Angeles for his cosplay of Hela, the Goddess of Death.
The Hela cosplay was only one of five costumes that Jones donned throughout the weekend, he said. The other four were Harley Quinn, a black and white outfit, Bo-Katan and an original character.
For Jones, one of the best parts of this comic con is that it was close enough to home to change costumes. And, even though it dwarfs some of the other comic cons Jones has been to, it has “the same energy,” he said.
He also said he enjoyed attending breakout sessions, which educated on topics ranging from how to do drag makeup to a sci-fi readers and writers meetup.
One Saturday afternoon panel featured animators Mike and Patty Peraza, who worked animating films, TV series and attractions for Disney for more than 45 years.
The panel went over the couple’s history with the world-famous company, showcasing art they’d worked on together or separately. Projects included Duck Tales, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, the Fox and the Hound, TRON (the original), The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tom and Jerry, The Jungle Book, the Muppet Movie and more.
For many of their sketches, the animators said they would take inspiration from the everyday world around them. In one story, Patty said one day she went home and found Mike crawling around under the house.
When she asked him what he was doing, he explained he needed to get an idea of what it looked like for a film he was animating.
“So, when you see The Great Mouse Detective — that’s our plumbing,” Patty joked.
The paranormal side of Squatchcon also was represented, primarily through the screening of the recently released Lady of the Lake documentary. The film examines the lore surrounding the death of Hallie Illingworth, whose body surfaced in Lake Crescent in 1940.
Local graphic designer Cammry Lapka also held a release party for her comic book, George Smith, which she described as “a love letter to the Olympic Peninsula.”
This fictional work follows George Smith and his friend, Hank, who team up with local mythical creatures such as Bigfoot, the thunderbird and the Lady of the Lake, all in hopes of finding Smith’s lost daughter.
In addition to an investigation of local legends, Lapka said the book includes iconic views found on the Peninsula.
Interested individuals can access the first issue of George Smith in WebToons, Lapka said. If all goes well, she hopes to release issue two in time for Squatchcon next year.
After a full weekend, the event wound down on Sunday with a writers’ focused day and a final chance to network with fellow comic con enthusiasts.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
