This weekend's enormously popular 3-day Emerald City Comicon convention attracting fans, including proud self-described geeks and nerds the comics and characters they emulate has a West Seattle contingent.

While William Shatner and other comic and fantasy stars are on the third floor of the Washington State Convention Center this weekend signing autographs and having their pictures taken, for a price, aisles and booths on the fourth floor are abuzz with comic fans, some donning super hero outfits.

Booth 511 is operated by professional cartoonist and teacher Greg Hatcher and his current and past students of the West Seattle YMCA after-school cartooning program. While he is a West Seattle YMCA employee, the classes are held, as are other after-school YMCA programs, at Madison Middle School. Some of his students do attend that school. About a dozen kids have been in rotation running the booth over the weekend, some drawing and selling their cartoons and comic books created over the last nine or so years they have participated at Comicon.

Alumni of Hatcher's class have created a comic book called Doodle Inc., a collaboration for sale at the booth to raise money both for their program and other after-school programs in jeopardy due to budget cuts.

"Greg does an amazing job and gives of himself," said Marilyn Mears of Arbor Heights who is a Schmitz Park kindergarten teacher. Her son, Gus is in Hatcher's class, and another son, Abraham, is a Hatcher alumni graduating college this year. Both Marilyn and Gus were at the booth.

"We are raising money for (the West Seattle) YMCA's campaign 'Partners With Youth' to keep our programs free for kids," said Rashida Ballard, a White Center resident and full time Director of Education and Leadership for the West Seattle YMCA, which, again, is located at Madisonl. "We coordinate all the after-school programs at Madison and also advocate for students, including programing, snacks, and transportation home. It's a safe place to be engaged."

"I started in 6th grade in Mr. Hatcher's class in 2000," said Brianna Edwards, raised between Madison School and West Seattle High. She graduated Western Washington U. in Bellingham and returned for grad school.

"After three years at Madison and then a West Seattle High School graduate I would come back to volunteer and teach at the Alki Bath House Summer Program, and also chaperone these field trips to Comicon," she said. "I always kept in touch with Greg and the class. I feel the art program is really important to the city.

"It's not fair that the budget cuts are destroying the art, music, and P.E. programs, all things I am very involved with," Edwards said. "I got a degree in kinesiology, fitness health. I want to keep cartooning as my own personal hobby but don't turn down a commission when I get one. I network through Facebook, and Deviantart.com.

"As far as my influences, I obviously fell into the generation where anima and manga really kicked in," Edwards said.

"Anime" is cartoon animation stylistically Japanese. "Manga" is similar, but a non-animated comic genre which became popular in post WWII Japan with the Astro Boy comic character.

"Before that I was huge Archie fan, and was also into Batman and Spiderman from the 70's," said Edwards. "I'm not too keen on today's popularized version of them. I'm basically a 'Marvel Chick'. I like (cartoonist) Danielle Corsetto and her 'Girls With Slingshots' and Gisele Lagace's 'Penny & Aggie'."

"I hope to use drawing in my career," said Katrina Varney of Gatewood, a senior at Chief Sealth and Running Start at South Seattle Community College, who was sketching at the booth. "We need help with fundraising because our class got a big budget cut. This class has been such an influence, a huge impact on all the graduates' lives. We want other kids to have that."

"Studies show that when kids get into the most trouble, it's not at night in dark allies, it's in the gap between 2:30 and 5 or 6:00 p.m. after school and before mom and dad get home," said Hatcher, also concerned about budget cuts. "The 'Y' is committed to filling the gap."

Hatcher, 49, who lives in Burien and lived in West Seattle for many years, is a writer, cartoonist, and graphic artist, and works for www.comicbookresources.com. Regarding the after-school program, he humbly said, "Truthfully, I'm just a coach.

"Cartooning is a very solitary kind of a thing," he said. "But a show like this is a chance to actually do it with other people and hang out with people who do what you do. It is really a gathering of the tribe."

"Cartooning for me is my safe haven because some of the kids who are in it get picked on, bothered by other kids," revealed Eileen Flesher, 13, of Madison Middle School. She describes herself as "nerdy, not athletic or one of the 'popular kids'.

"It's really somewhere we can be sane and OK and happy," she added.

"When I was in school it was just a terrible thing to be nerdy," Hatcher recalled. "I used to get beaten up. Now I have this incredible job. And if you look at movies and TV and computers, we rule the world. But it took a while to get here."

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