Fans converging for Emerald City Comic Con

The Emerald City Comic Con is Hulking out.

No ripped clothes or questionable purple cutoffs, no gamma radiation. This weekend's gathering of artists, writers, TV and film talent, fans and the dealers unloading untold volumes of memorabilia is steadily expanding to become the Northwest's biggest pop-culture event.

Now in its sixth year, it's outgrown the segment of the Qwest Field Event Center that formerly housed it and moved to the cavernous Washington State Convention & Trade Center.

Based on the previous years' metastasis, organizer Jim Demonakos expects about 9,000 attendees. And the guest list has blimped from last year's hundred to more than 160.

Fans of the classics can meet (as well as get signatures and paid sketches) from such guests as legendary Hulk artist Herb Trimpe (rhymes with "shrimpy," as the comics noted). "Heroes" TV addicts will find Tim Sale, who's responsible for the show's paintings that tell the future. Frakkin' "Battlestar Galactica" freaks will be lining up for Jamie "Apollo" Bamber.

Also look for panels that range from making Web comics to the legal angles of the biz, trailers for upcoming movies (June's "Incredible Hulk" seems like a shoo-in), portfolio reviews for the aspiring, and of course a masquerade/costume contest that should yield plenty of Spandex and a few Princess Leias in the slave bikini.

The attached PDF illustration is a "Sgt. Pepper" album cover for comic geeks, so look at it and the numbered key to find out who all the characters are and what creative people behind them will be at the convention.

1 The Hulk: former Marvel artist Herb Trimpe, also known for "Godzilla" and "G.I. Joe." His tale of getting squeezed out after Marvel's bankruptcy in the '90s, and subsequently getting teaching jobs, is a classic in itself.

2 Peter Petrelli from NBC's "Heroes": artist Tim Sale. (It's really not Isaac the junkie who paints the pictures of the future.)

3 Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer" (Image): writer Joshua Ortega of Seattle and artist Nat Jones.

4 Iron Man: Eric Canete, artist of "Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin" (Marvel). Now that the "Iron Man" film is a hit, expect anyone associated with it to be on the cover of "Yachting Pimp" magazine.

5 Wonder Woman (DC): writer Gail Simone.

6 The Hulk again, drawn specially for ECCC by Tim Sale. Note the Dick's shake he's holding. Blocking his bag of burgers is ...

7 Moon Knight (Marvel): artist David Finch.

8 Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man: writer J. Michael Straczynski of "The Amazing Spider-Man" (Marvel) and "Babylon 5."

9 Captain America (Marvel): Seattle's Ed Brubaker, also writer of "Daredevil," "The Uncanny X-Men" and "Criminal."

10 A character from The Stranger personals whose name we can't print: Seattle-based cartoonist Ellen Forney, "Lust" (Fantagraphics).

11 Adam Baldwin, the actor from "Firefly" and "Serenity." He just backed out of the show to be replaced by Daniel Logan, aka young Boba Fett from "Star Wars: Episode 2 — Attack of the Clones." Ignore this picture.

12 Concrete (Dark Horse): writer and artist Paul Chadwick of Friday Harbor.

13 Buddy Bradley: Seattle "Hate" (Fantagraphics) cartoonist Peter Bagge.

14 Jamie Bamber, aka "Apollo" on the Sci Fi Channel's hit, "Battlestar Galactica."

15 Kang the Conqueror from "Young Avengers" (Marvel): co-creator and penciler Jim Cheung.

16 A zombie from "The Walking Dead" (Image): creator/writer Robert Kirkman.

17 Yorick from Vertigo's "Y the Last Man" (DC): artist Pia Guerra.

18 The Punisher: no related talent at the show. It was just a cool picture. Move on.

19 Julie Benz, aka Rita, the serial killer's girlfriend on "Dexter" (Can she really be that dense?) and Darla on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel."

20 Retro Girl from "Powers" (Marvel) artist Mike Oeming.

21 Ms. Marvel: writer Brian Reed, also of "Captain Marvel" (Marvel).

22 Gryph, from "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" (Dark Horse): artist Dustin Weaver.

23 Batman from "Gotham Central": writer Greg Rucka and artist Stefano Guadiano of Issaquah.

24 The Flash (DC): writer Tom Peyer of Seattle.

25 Cyclops from The X-Men (Marvel): from artist Marko Djurdjevic's exclusive ECCC variant cover for "Uncanny X-Men" 497.

26 Moon Knight again. How did he get in here twice? He must be stopped.

27 "Mister D" as in Dumpty from "Jack of Fables": writer Bill Willingham, also writer of "Fables."