Forks has its own Comicon – the second year

March 7, 2019 1:30 am
Cosplayer Alyse Ryan demonstrates the skills that can be found at her leather costuming table, to make an impression at the 2018 RainCon cosplay contest. Photo: Kenneth Turner, 2018.
Cosplayer Alyse Ryan demonstrates the skills that can be found at her leather costuming table, to make an impression at the 2018 RainCon cosplay contest. Photo: Kenneth Turner, 2018.

By Donna Barr

The second annual Forks RainCon will take place June 14-16, in the Rain Forest Art Center, 35 N. Forks Ave.

RainCon is organized by Evan Sveum, who last year opened a comics shop alongside his own Jitterbugs Coffee Shop. Donna Barr, organizer of the Clallam Bay Comicon, originally provided back-up administration and assistance as needed. This year, Sveum has his own organizational team, and their planning meetings show promise for an even better show.

In 2019, RainCon will feature plenty of artists and vendors, as well as interesting workshops, speakers and panels. Game tables will be set up to include Roll-Playing-Games, card games, and board gaming. Admission will be free to the public, and like last year, table prices are being kept to as economical a level as possible.

RainCon Emcee Will Fleck makes inclusivity clear: “This year we have a local teen drag queen emceeing the event, Jenny Saint Quoi. Miss Quoi and her amazing dream team share the same goal of creating a safe space for LGBTQ+ kids and adults, since there are not really any in our little rainy town of Forks. So come on over and join in the geekery, goopery, and the tomfoolery of it all!”

For more information and participation, and to purchase vendor space, go to the Raincon Facebook page, Fans Of RainCon. This is where sign-ups will be posted for the cosplay costume contest, which promises to be even bigger and better than in 2018.

Bring your favorite fandom. Whether it’s art, writing, gaming, costuming, don’t miss out. Twilight vampires to PokemonGo, dragons to dinosaurs to Bigfoot, space ships to medieval gaming, superheroes to archeological documentaries – it adds to the fun.

Evan Sveum, RainCon organizer, says, there is no specific theme this year, but Bigfoot is always the convention mascot.

Adds Sveum, “There will be multiple movies this year as well as several guest artists from out of the area, including Jake Richmond of Modest Medusa and Chris McFann of RKDN studios, and a professional Spidey cosplayer, who does an amazing gender-bending Silk cosplay – Matt Hunter.”

RainCon is aware of today’s realities of public security for art events. Sveum said, “We have a gang of CERT professionals who I think will be working as emergency response folks including training with active shooter situations. We are planning to have a security presence in the form of red shirts from Star Trek.”

It doesn’t hurt that the Forks Chief of Police Mike Rowley is a fellow fan!

The Clallam Bay Comicon – RainCon’s sister event – will be held this year on Saturday, July 13, as an afterparty. The later date is to take advantage of the Clallam Bay/Sekiu Fun Days. Go to donnabarr.com for more information.