Lilac City Comicon hosts comedian Chris Kattan, wrestler ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan

On paper, it’s unlikely that the likes of actor/comedian Chris Kattan, Hall of Fame wrestler “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and cosplayer Alkali Layke have much in common, but Lilac City Comicon is the glue that binds.

Kattan, Duggan and Layke, plus dozens more, will headline the 13th annual Lilac City Comicon, Saturday and Sunday at the Spokane Convention Center.

Every year, founder and coordinator Nathan O’Brien, considering fan suggestions and his own wish list, reaches out to artists and creators from a variety of fields.

“We strive for a balance, to the best of our abilities, to try to have a mix that equally represents all the genres of pop culture,” he said. “It’s really important, because the show is founded on comic books and artists, that we want to have a good representation of professional artists there. We want to have a mix of celebrities that are going to bring people in for different demographics.”

This year’s con also features writer/artist/actor Falk Hentschel (“The Flash,” “Welcome to Marwen”), actor Christopher Khayman Lee (“Power Rangers in Space”) and actor Tracy Lynn Cruz (“Power Rangers Turbo,” “Power Rangers in Space”).

Special guest artists include artist Ben Templesmith (“30 Days of Night,” “Fell”), artist Bernard Chang (DC Comics), Seattle-based artist Jacen Burrows (“Moon Knight”), Seattle artist and writer Jen Vaughn (“Betty and Veronica: Vixens”), artist John Delaney (DC Comics, Bongo Comics), Seattle-based artist Blacky Shepherd (“Voltron: From the Ashes,” “Pumpkinhead”) and pumpkin carver Alex Wer aka the Pumpkin Geek.

Special guest cosplayers include Alkali Layke, from Boise, Zabracus, from Salt Lake City, Seattle’s Air Bubbles Cosplay, and Brad Hallock (BH Cosplay) and Kristy Podelnyk aka the Honest Cosplayer, both from Spokane.

Artist Alley will also highlight a number of area talent including artist Tom Cook (Hanna-Barbera Studios, Filmation Studios), artist Alli White aka Skirtzzz and Burr Martin aka Selfie Dad.

“I would love to satisfy everybody but that’s not always the case,” O’Brien said of fan suggestions. “We’re limited by our budget. We’re in it for the long haul and we want to be sustainable and get people that fit our budget and our needs and not run the risk of blowing everything up because we put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak.”

In 2017, increasing attendance pushed O’Brien to expand the show to two days.

Two years later, the convention’s footprint is getting even bigger with the addition of 50 new exhibitors, bringing the total to more than 250, all with comics, toys, games, prints, video games, action figures, original art, books, shirts, jewelry, accessories and collectibles for sale.

For a complete list of exhibitors, visit www.lilaccitycomicon.webs.com.

The convention program also includes several panels.

O’Brien said the mainstage panels are typically for special guests who will likely draw large crowds, while the conference room panels focus on instructional or informative topics.

On Saturday, attendees can sit in on guest spotlight panels with Kattan (2 p.m.) and Lee and Cruz (3 p.m.) and panels like “Understanding and Learning the Writing Process” with Carrie Merrill, “Indie Publishing” with Oneshi Press and “Jedi Philosophy” with Terrance MacMullan.

Musical guest Kyle Stevens aka Kirby Krackle will perform Saturday at noon, and Mountaineer West Productions will screen the short film “Lions” at 5 p.m. Saturday.

On Sunday, there will be guest spotlight panels with Hentschel (noon) and Duggan (1 p.m.).

At noon, artists Blacky Shepherd, Ali Koski, Bre Gotham and Alyse Baughan will take part in the “Artists Helping Artists” panel, and Paradox Studios will screen “Moon Knight” at 2 p.m.

On Sunday, attendees can also check out panels like “Life Lessons Learned from Nintendo” with Scott Campbell, “Monsters in Comics” with John Delaney and “Creating a Killer Plot” with Merrill.

There are also cosplay contests for children (Sunday at 3 p.m.) and adults (Saturday at 6 p.m.).

This year, Lilac City Comicon is hosting a silent art auction with 100% of the proceeds going toward starting an art scholarship fund at Spokane Falls Community College in honor of local artist Jesse Acosta, who died from cancer in 2016.

“We wanted to do something in his honor, and we got his widow’s blessing and his family is beyond happy we’re doing something like this,” O’Brien said. “They all know he would have loved that.”

Every year, Lilac City partners with a different charity to help give back to the community, and this year, attendees are invited to bring canned food, non-perishables and toiletries for Our Place Community Outreach.

As an extra incentive to donate, for every one item a person brings in, they will receive an entry to win a 60-in-1 tabletop arcade, featuring games like Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Space Invaders and Burger Time, custom-made by the Jedi Alliance.

“We really want to blow the doors off when it comes to people bringing in items for donation so if someone wants to bring in 20 items, that’s 20 entries, by all means because it’s a win-win,” O’Brien said. “It helps benefit people in the West Central neighborhood.”

Finally, though the convention ends Sunday at 4 p.m., Lilac City will keep the party going a little while longer with this year’s Saturday Morning Cartoon Pop-Up Dinner at the Ref Sports Bar, Sunday at 6 p.m.

The dinner, organized by Kris Kilduff of Rewind - Pop Culture Pop-Up Dinners, features five courses inspired by classic Saturday morning cartoons (Course Four: Lasagna al Garfield).

It’s a good option, O’Brien said, for those who aren’t quite ready for Lilac City Comicon to end.

“The weekend flies by,” he said. “It goes by so quick and people are always like ‘Aww, it’s over already?’ ”