KCC Comic Con welcomes community for free nerdy fun
/
IF YOU GO:
WHAT:
KCC Comic Con
WHERE:
Klamath Community College, 7390 S. 6th St., Klamath Falls
WHEN:
3-8 p.m., Friday, May 13
COST:
Free
Article by Kurt Liedtke, public information officer, Klamath Community College
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Get out your mask and press your cape, the first Comic Con in the Klamath Basin in nearly three years is coming to Klamath Community College. Sparked by a desire to host a large-scale open house for the community, the college will host its first KCC Comic Con from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 13.
A free event filled with a games and crafts, and featuring numerous vendors and speakers, KCC Comic Con will provide something for everybody as a festive way to celebrate the close of spring term. Falling on the lone Friday the 13th of the year, the event will be family-friendly and horror-themed, with haunted house décor across campus. Coming in costume is highly encouraged.
Nearly 40 vendors will be on-site, offering everything from fan art to clothing and collectibles, games, and jewelry, as well as an assortment of food trucks. Each visitor will be given a program with a map of the campus highlighting the various activities stations. Collecting a stamp at each station and returning to the check-in booth will garner a prize.
At the stick
Also included will be the opportunity to try KCC’s full-motion flight, and commercial truck simulators. Or visit KCC’s fire engine, and a semi-truck from the commercial driver license program outside to see the real thing.
The KCC Business Center (Building 7) will be converted into an interactive videogame museum, housing over 80 videogame consoles set up chronologically from the early days of Pong in the 1970s to present-day virtual reality. In the KCC Learning Resource Center will be an assortment of tabletop board games, popular trading card games such as Yu-gi-oh, Pokémon, and Magic the Gathering, and guided Dungeons & Dragons adventures.
The Building 4 Commons will be the epicenter of Comic Con with vendors, a photo booth, main stage, and KCC admissions staff available for instant enrollment for summer and fall terms. Adjacent to the Commons in the KCC Wellness Center from 3 to 5 p.m. will be a puppetry workshop, where everyone can learn to build and manipulate their own puppets.
The puppetry workshop will be overseen by filmmaker and professional puppeteer Jesse Blanchard, whose all-puppet comedy/horror film “Frank and Zed” will be screened in collaboration with KCC and Klamath Film at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 14 in the Oregon Tech Auditorium. Tickets for the film screening are $10, available at www.klamathfilm.org.
Cos to win
The main stage will include a number of featured speakers throughout the day, as well as a cosplay costume contest with nearly $1,000 in prizes to be awarded based on age group. The costume contest will take place between 6 to 7 p.m., contestants may register for the competition beforehand at the photo booth. Prizes include a Sonic the Hedgehog Lego set, gaming equipment, gift cards, and an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality set.
Realistic weapons will not be permitted as part of costumes, and costumes must cover swimsuit areas. A designated area will be provided for cosplayers to change, store valuables, and check any prohibited weapons. For a complete list of costume rules visit www.klamathcc.edu.
At the mic
Slated to appear as featured speakers are Peter Tieryas, Taylor Morden, Blanchard, and the screenwriting duo of Patrick Casey and Josh Miller – writers of the hit “Sonic the Hedgehog” films.
Tieryas is an animator and author with numerous film and videogame projects to his credit, working with LucasArts and Pixar. He is the author of several books including “The United States of Japan,” “Mecha Samurai Empire,” and “Cyber Shogun Revolution.” Tieryas, who is currently writing an unannounced videogame, will speak from 3:30 to 4 p.m.
Morden is a filmmaker based in Eugene whose documentary films under his production company Popmotion Pictures have reached platforms such as Amazon Prime and Netflix. In 2021 his film about the last remaining Blockbuster video store in Bend, “The Last Blockbuster,” drew international acclaim, and was the featured film at the 2020 Klamath Independent Film Festival. Currently, he is working on a new documentary about the culture surrounding Build-a-Bear workshops. Morden will be on stage answering questions from the audience from 4 to 4:30 p.m.
Blanchard will discuss puppetry and filmmaking, with a showcase of several of his puppetry film projects and a snippet of “Frank and Zed,” during a Q&A from 5 to 6 p.m.
Casey and Miller have been working together in Hollywood as actors, directors, producers, and screenwriters for many years. Prior to their most recent hit films “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” the duo had collaborated on several horror films and an animated show on Fox, “Golan the Insatiable.” Casey and Miller will join KCC’s Comic Con virtually to answer audience questions starting at 7 p.m.
A DJ will provide music in the Commons when featured speakers are not on stage.