The Clallam Bay Comicon’s seventh year was a resounding success. The show ran July 14-15, during the Clallam Bay/Sekiu Fundays, in the Lion’s Club hall.

The Creatives Alley included Guest Creative Carla Speed McNeil, Larry Lewis Minicomics, Jake Richmond – Modest Medusa webcomics, Edd Vick’s Mu Press/Aeon Press, and Kalen Knowles, Seattle cartoonist.

The convention began with McNeil’s well-attended talk. McNeil traveled here from the East Coast, after a successful GoFundMe campaign to cover her costs. The widely-published sci-fi drawn-book artist and writer shared how she remained successful in an art that took so much hard work and persistence.

Jake Richmond, the creator of the webcomic Modest Medusa, showed how easy and fun it is to start making webcomics, as well as facing the challenges of finding time to create, build an audience, and make a living.

Saturday concluded with the costume and cosplay contest. The only participants were the Curtis family, but they put on a lively show. They impressed the judge, Carla Speed McNeil, who awarded them the prizes donated by the Clallam Bay Visitor’s Center, the Sunsets West Co-op, and all the tabling creatives.

Participants enjoyed dinner at the Clallam Bay Inn and watched the Sekiu fireworks from the beach.

On Sunday, Larry Lewis reprised and expanded on his original demonstrations of making and selling minicomics.

Clallam Bay’s Dennis Hondorp, who recently retired as the production coordinator/buyer for independent set building, shared his life in the film industry. His talk began as a historical overview, but with the input of the audience and other creatives, quickly became a discussion of making film today, especially with today’s expanding number of smaller studios, and in more isolated areas like Clallam Bay.

Mr. Hondorp, who is a volunteer at the Clallam Bay Visitor’s Center, very generously offered to share his film industry expertise with visitors to the center.

The convention drew three times as many guests, with the help of a grant from the Olympic Peninsula Visitor’s Bureau, which funded an ad campaign in Seattle’s arts magazine, The Stranger.

Clallam Bay Comicon organizer Donna Barr has been running the comicon until other more expandable shows – like Forks’ RainCon and Sequim’s Opttacon – were in place. She had intended this to be her last CBCC, but it became obvious that all parties wanted the tradition to continue. Beginning in the New Year, be on the lookout for unfolding plans.

For more information, go to www.donnabarr.com