A much bigger crowd descended on C2E2 yesterday, Saturday, and more people seemed to be buying. With folks parading around in costume and announcements from Marvel and DC panels, there was definitely the feeling that we had achieved con. Also, folks seemed to know their way around some more, so there was less standing around looking confused. One big fail, however, is that panel rooms are just too big, even for popular panels like DC Nation and Cup O’ Joe — the smallest panel rooms are auditoriums at the vast facility. You could fit 8 or 9 Hall H’s into the food court at McCormick.

We’ll have to have a fairly brief report for now, as time has predictably crunched yet again. It should be noted that last night’s bar con was particularly lively, reminiscent of some of the great days at the Knuckles of yore, so that’s another point for Chicago.

News announcements of note from yesterday:

Casanova-400

§ CASANOVA is coming back at Icon: Matt Fraction, Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon’s stylish espionage tale (originally published at Image) will be Matt recollected, remastered, relettered and recolored. Dustin Harbin is doing the new lettering. Instead of the duotone of the first printings, the new editions will be full color:

“We wanted to sort of re-master the book as it stands and re-release and re-introduce it to the world, and Icon was a great platform for that as well,” remarks the writer. “There will [also] be some additional bonus material, different than [in the first volume]. But it’ll be in full dress, in full color, in full size. Done in two four-issue arcs to get everybody up to speed, because quite frankly retailers and readers alike ignored the book [due to] the format [as] it was 16 pages and one color. It had a lot of trouble finding its place in the world. I think anybody who looks at [the color art] will agree it looks phenomenal.”


Skull-Promo-Inks

§ Wildstorm announced Tony Harris’s new project, now that EX MACHINA is winding up: The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull which will be written by B. Clay Moore.

“The Further Adventures of The Whistling Skull is a pulpy 1940’s noir, wartime London story starring The Whistling Skull and Brickfist, who are like Sherlock Holmes and Watson on mescalin, with a healthy dose of Nazis, and Science Fiction! And I am drawing the pictures! And Clay is writing the words! And together they make a comic book!” – Tony Harris

“The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull is a thoroughly modern book with dark, twisted roots. Its pulp inspirations are buried in landfills with original copies of PHANTOM DETECTIVE and WEIRD MYSTERY, but the book digs a little deeper into its characters than your grandfather’s pulps ever did. And in our world, a guy who wears a skull for a face is the closest thing to normal you’ll find.” – B. Clay Moore


Sounds like something we’d like to see Tony Harris draw!

§ ComiXology is getting a lot of buzz at the show and announced a new
Comics4Kids app for the iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices.

7 COMMENTS

  1. I wonder if the copious amount of space for C2E2 is a visual signal to San Diego Con. If SDCC moved to a much larger venue would it be a good thing, or just more tired feet and harder to find panels / artists / events?

  2. I wonder how much overlap there is between the set of comics fans who go to big conventions, such as SDCC, NYCC, and C2E2, and the set of fans who might go to small local conventions, buy their comics on Wednesdays, and fret about the cover prices going up.

    Twenty-five dollars or $30 is quite a bit to pay if someone is primarily interested in shopping for comics. Perhaps a fan might consider the con a one-time treat, but if the cost of attendance is a consideration, he probably lives in the city where the con is being held. I don’t see the point in paying for transportation, a motel room, food, etc., if the major interest is in shopping for stuff.

    SRS

  3. I’m guessing that Dustin Harbin, who will be lettering the re-mastered collection of CASANOVA, is the same person who works in Charlotte’s premiere comic store, HEROES AREN’T HARD TO FIND (http://www.heroesonline.com), as well as a talented writer/artist in his own right!
    If so, congrats to him, and I’m looking forward to more of Matt Fraction’s book!

  4. I attend C2E2 and NYCC, as well as smaller cons like MoCCA and SPX. The latter two are where I do a lot of shopping… lots of stuff not available elsewhere.

    The big shows I go for networking and the publishers. The retailers are mostly selling discount merchandise, and that quickly adds up as poundage to lug around all day.

    My only complaint about C2E2… the amount of walking. Can’t really fix that…

    The panel rooms… better too big than too small. Great artist’s alley with amazing names, good selection of publishers, lots of art schools, a diverse assortment of retailers, lots of small press. The American Library Association even showed up! (Well, they are local…)

    I greatly appreciated the vending machines! $2.00 for a bottle of Mountain Dew, $1.25 for a cinnamon roll. (Could have walked across the bridge to McDonald’s.)

    The lake front park was a nice sanctuary from the hubbub. Transportation was easy. I’ll return next year.

  5. I wonder more about the people on the other side of the booth tables: with C2E2 added to the Comic Convention Tour Schedule, just how will comics Exhibitors handle the expectation for them to show up at these things 2/3/4? times a year…

    The MARVEL/DC majors with their conglomerate owners can easily eat up the costs of schlepping their Artists and Writers across the country along with the truckloads needed to fill up their traditional huge lots of Convention Center real estate— but what of the others who don’t have such conglomerate backing? Will DARK HORSE and FANTAGRAPHICS show up to those same 2/3/4 Cons? Are ARCHAIA, AVATAR, BONGO and IDW going to be there too–or will they be forced to pick and choose from the year’s schedule?

    Not to mention of course, the dilemma faced by Indie exhibitors. Already ‘ghettoised’ by the large Cons, will they be forced to
    SELF-ghetto into the smaller, more Indie-focused APE/SPX/MOCCA Conventions? $400 for a booth + tix/hotel travel costs just to be ignored by MARVEL Zombies, DC Diehards, and/or TWIfans don’t seem too appealing for those with such a slim profit margin…

    It’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out as C2E2 is heavily being pushed as a 3rd and equal Comic Convention partner to SDCC and NYCC— well at least by its owner/promoter.
    planted in Chicago taking root,

  6. Overall, I was VERY pleased with the inaugural C2E2 convention. Yes, the McCormick Center is downright cavernous and it was sometimes a slog getting from place to place (especially if you wanted to go to the education panels or AV rooms, which felt like they were about a mile from everything else), but I loved the vibe, loved the crowd, loved the spacious aisles on the show floor. I’ll definitely be back next year.

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