DC Retailer Survey results: older, male, middle-class, avid
How many statistics can one news day handle? DC has just released results from their Retailer Survey which they launched in conjunction with the New 52. As we noted at the time, the survey was aimed at gauging interest in each and every New 52 title, as well as general readership demographics. As such, it represents the most comprehensive reader survey a comics company has made in some time. While it's very New 52-centric, it does reveal a lot. While DC has released their own bullet points, which we've shown below, ICv2 has more info and an interview with John Rood. You'll want to head over there and digest the whole thing. But here's the broad picture:
Continue ReadingHoliday Explorations: What kind of otaku are the craziest? Answer
Via Crunchyroll, a translation of a 2chan chart which shows which kinds of otaku are the craziest and cause the most trouble. In case you're wondering about the "train" part that occupies the Michele Bachmann spot on the chart, it does not refer to various colloquial meanings of the word "train." It means fans who like...trains. You know, toot toots. Just what is it that makes them so crazy? Known as tetsudo otaku, train fans have long been looked on with suspicion by the Ahakibara crowd -- Irvine Welsh is universal, it seems -- but a band of younger, more energetic trainspotters has revitalized the subculture:
Continue ReadingWeekend con report: Comikaze in LA
Will LA ever get a good comics show? It seems as elusive as a football team. This weekend saw first time show Comikaze unfold at the LA Convention Center, scene of much heartache over the years. Held just one week after the Long Beach Comic Con, Comikaze still was a sell-out, according to IGN, but first hand reports were very mixed.
Continue ReadingNYCC 11: Far in the madding crowd
Was it worth braving the crowds? Are comics the center of attention at NYCC? How good was a $5 hot dog taste? And what does I.M. Pei have to do with it anyway? This is it -- the one you've been waiting for!
Continue ReadingKibbles ‘n’ Bits: NYCC 11 Edition
It's going to take a while to get the images and sounds — and smells — of New York Comic Con out of our head, and images such as the above — a bevy of gender-swapped Doctor Whos composed of cosplay superstars — will show you why. There were SO many costumed people at the the show this year. The ratio of costumes to lookieloos was incredibly high. So yeah, if it was spectacle you wanted, you got it, including the topless woman with the fake mustache who was hanging outside the Javits on Sunday. "Yeah, they were talking about her all the way back to Macy's," a photographer told me. Since Macy's is five blocks crosstown from the Javits, this is the equivalent of light speed communication in New York terms.
Continue ReadingGeekGirl Con was a sellout
This weekend's GeekGirl Con in Seattle sounds like it was a big success; both Saturday and Sunday sold out, and while the above news report doesn't make it look like it was sardine-land, maybe selling out before you get to that point is not a bad idea. Gail Simone has a lengthy write-up that deserves to be read in full; the idea of a female-run and female-centric convention seems to be fairly emblematic of the time and place we find ourselves in, and it sounds like the programming, in particular, was noteworthy:
Continue ReadingBaltimore Comic-Con Photo Parade
It's been a long time since I posted an arty Hipstamatic photo dump -- and I know you missed it!
Continue ReadingFun times in Baltimore, 2011 edition
And to think I almost didn't go to the Baltimore Comic-Con. Like many I was feeling pretty conned out, but in the end the idea of a short road trip to an always relaxing show -- and covering the Harveys -- won out, so I was off on a road trip with Ed Catto of Bonfire Agency and Captain Action fame, and Josh Frankel, founder of new publisher Zip Comics. Beginning as it did at 7:30 am, the trip down was a coffee-driven affair, as we discussed our various endeavors and ideas for improvements and prognostications for the future. While all three of us are born optimists, the current uncertainties and question marks left any real attempts at planning akin to spitting into the wind. Future cloudy; ask again later.
Continue ReadingTony Lee on being professional at conventions
Mr. Tony Lee, author of many Doctor Who and soon MacGyver stories, has posted some thoughts on guest behavior at cons, basically saying that if you are a paid-for guest, you should stay a guest after hours, and not just on the show floor.
Continue ReadingSpurlock’s Comic-Con documentary to premiere at Toronto Film Festival
Morgan Spurlock's documentary recapping the 2010 Comic-Con will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, it's being reported. The film -- backed by a nerd pantheon of people like Stan Lee, Joss Whedon and Thomas Tull -- was show at last year's con and was expected to perhaps debut at this year's, but Spurlock is going for a bigger film venue in TIFF.
Continue ReadingSDCC11 Videos: 50 Years of Comic Book Fandom Panel
The Comics Journal is posting video tapes of several Comic-Con panels -- so avoiding those crowds was the right way to go after all! Here's one that we much desired to see 50 Years of Comic Book Fandom with Mark Evanier, Jean Bails, Paul Levitz, Dick and Pat Lupoff, Richard Kyle, Bill Schelly, Roy Thomas, and Maggie Thompson. This is where it all began, people.
Continue ReadingTime Machine: San Diego Comic Con 1988
This year's show with its lines, security, street teams and skywriting to much for you? Return to the simpler days of San Diego Comic Con 1988 via Ironic Sans and their scans of the program book:
Continue ReadingSDCC11: What if you have to pee?
Meanwhile, over at the Unofficial Comic-Con live journal, Twi-Hards are worried they will have to hold it for days while camping out. Where do you go to the bathroom if you're camping out?
Continue ReadingThe Comic-Con Virgin Diaries: Lauren A. Day 1
Hi, I’m Lauren, and I’m a Comic-Con virgin. I’m also a graduate student in Fine Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where I’m currently preparing for advancement to MFA candidacy in the form of my first solo exhibition. I’m attending Comic-Con this year mostly to do research for said solo exhibition. Most of my work in the past year has been concerned with the idea of romantic love— Is it real? If so, how’s it work? How are our perceptions of love influenced by pop culture, or are they even, perhaps, entirely resulting from it?
Continue ReadingThe Comic-Con Virgin Diaries: Nate C. Day 1
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