Tickets are officially sold out for Emerald City Comicon, which starts on April 7, but, whether you didn’t get tickets and are feeling left out of all the geekiness that’s going to be happening in town this weekend or you do have tickets and are looking to maximize your involvement in said geekiness, you’re in luck. There are lots of nerdy, Comicon-related events happening that you can still go to, from a Board Game Extravaganza fundraiser to a Jonathan Coulton concert to The Pine Box’s opening party featuring the official beer of Comicon. See them all below, or on our Comicon calendar.
WEDNESDAY
Arcane Comics All Star Party
Arcane Comics hosts this “casual affair for comic creators and the nerds who love them to hang out and mingle.” There will be a food truck and refreshments available.
Comic Book Creator Signings
Before Comicon kicks off, head to a meet and greet (and signing) at Phoenix Comics & Games, featuring Jody Hauser (Faith, Orphan Black, Womanthology Space & Heroic, and more) and editor Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes).
Image EXPO and Spring Formal
Held in partnership with ECCC, the Image EXPO is a chance to meet comic book celebrities and learn about upcoming projects for Image Comics. After the EXPO, starting at 8 pm, stick around for the Spring Formal, which “in the style and spirit of a traditional high school dance and in celebration of the industry’s diversity and camaraderie.” At the event, there will be a special screening of the pilot episode of Cinemax TV’s new show Outcast, which will premiere in June, a cocktail hour and live art session featuring Jim Mahfood and Jason Shawn Alexander, and the actual high school dance portion—plus signature cocktails.
THURSDAY
Fremont Brewing/Comicon Beer Night
Celebrate the beginning of Comicon at this party featuring Fremont Brewing Company’s Dark Heron IPA, the official beer of ECCC.
Geek Out Trivia Night
Nerdhole, Northwest Press, and A Podcast for All Intents and Purposes will host a geeky trivia night featuring prizes, costumes, and, apparently, lasers.
Pegboard Nerds
Danish/Norwegian electronic music group Pegboard Nerds comes to Seattle on their Nerds by Nature tour, just in time for Comicon. Their October release, Pink Cloud EP, reached No. 2 on the iTunes Dance Chart, and part of the proceeds go to breast cancer research.
Top of the World Board Game Extravaganza
If you’ve ever wanted to go to a fundraising dinner where you’re encouraged to dress up like comic book characters and play board games all night, now’s your chance. There will be thousands of dollars in gaming prizes to win, game designers in attendance along with copies of their games to play, a pop-up board game shop.
FRIDAY
Cosplay After Dark
The Seattle Cosplay Community and Gamma Ray Games present this unofficial post-Comicon party featuring music, food, cosplay, and prizes.
Hometown Heroes
Celebrate Seattle’s underground comic art community at this one night only event, promising comic books, posters, original art, clothing and more from a variety of locally and nationally recognized artists.
Jonathan Coulton with Paul and Storm
Just in time for Comicon, nerd music heroes JoCo (known for songs like “Still Alive,” which was featured on the soundtrack for the video game Portal) and Paul & Storm (known for songs with names like “Frogger! The Frogger Musical” and for co-founding the variety show w00tstock) will play two shows at the Triple Door.
Kracklefest 6
After Comicon is over for the day, the Hard Rock will play host to this “after-hours nerd-music variety show” featuring Texas band Married with Sea Monsters and hosted by Aaron Roden of the Air-Raid Podcast.
Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage
Maybe you don’t normally associate the symphony and Comicon, but now you can: A live symphony will perform the greatest Star Trek compositions from the last five decades of the sci-fi classic, as “iconic” film and TV footage from the history of the series is projected on a huge screen.
Superhero T-shirt Salsa Bachata Party
Want to go out after Comicon but don’t want to change out of your superhero T-shirt? Wear it to the Belltown Dance Studio for this salsa dance night and performance, which starts with an optional $5 intro lesson from 8:30, before the dance session starts at 9:30.
SATURDAY
Edmund Stone’s “The Score” in Concert
You have yet another chance to combine your interests in classical music with nerd pop culture at today’s Philharmonic Orchestra concert, featuring Edmund Stone, a classically trained Shakespearean actor and the host of a weekly show about classical music in film on Portland’s All Classical radio station. Expect a performance of music written for film—including Harry Potter and Star Trek—as well as film trivia.
SuperHard Comicon
Celebrate Emerald City Comicon with a totally unofficial, totally unsanctioned, totally hot superhero party at, where else, the Eagle. From the nerds who bring you Pink Party Prime and Pink Party Comicon comes SuperHard, featuring go-go lust objects Tyler Rush and Cass Bolton (of Watts the Safeword) and DJs Krot and Rob Winter. But wait, what’s that in the sky? It’s Zan Christensen of Northwest Press with guests Justin Hall and Dave Davenport, giving away copies their new gay porn anthology Hard to Swallow! Come however you like: in cosplay, in spandex, in undies, with rope to tie up your nemesis—you’d have to be history’s greatest villain to miss this one. MATT BAUME
Heroes of the Dorm
The finals of nerd March Madness (the collegiate tournament for Blizzard’s popular battle video game Heroes of the Storm), will be broadcast live on ESPN2, but, if you’re in Seattle for Comicon, you can Seattle fans can also watch the Heroic Four and the Grand Finals live in person, at the CenturyLink Field Events Center. Blizzard will also give away special prizes at this free event.
ONGOING
Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction
This exhibit at the Experience Music Project features over 150 artifacts from iconic science fiction films and TV shows both hard and soft, including Star Trek, War of the Worlds, Men in Black, Battlestar Galactica, and Blade Runner.
Puzzle Break
You and a group can take a crack at escaping from an imaginatively themed room (right now you can escape from “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” or a “Midnight Carnival”), each of which you’ll only be able to get out of if you can find the many different clues and solve their corresponding puzzles within an hour.
