We alluded a few weeks ago to KingCon, yet another new convention on the schedule, this one spotlighting BROOKLYN. The announced dates are November 7-8 and the venue is the Brooklyn Lyceum. According to a new press release, organizers hope to spotlight comics, animation, and so on. Held barely a month after the Big Apple Con, KingCon arrives in the midst of an already busy convention schedule! Full PR below:

KingConBrooklyn.com
227 4th Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY 11215 R train at Union St.
718.857.4816 BrooklynLyceum.com

Brooklyn, New York has long been home to some of the Comic medium’s greatest talent, yet the borough has never had a comic convention to call its own. That is all about to change. On November 7th and 8th, 2009, the Brooklyn Lyceum will host KingCon: A Brooklyn Comic and Animation Convention. Featuring dozens of the borough’s most talented independent artists, writers, animators and publishers, KingCon will include exhibitors, vendors, panelists and signers. Some featured guests will be Act-I-Vate’s Dean Haspiel, Northlanders’ Brian Wood, celebrated illustrator Molly Crabapple, Matt Manning, Bob Greenberger and many others. KingCon will also boast a host of contests and activities, and offer attendees the opportunity to interact with celebrities from the world of comics, film, television and sports.

Brooklyn has long lacked a forum for this wealth of talent to convene. After birthing the Lyceum’s ongoing series of groundbreaking events (the popular Craft Market series and NYC Zine Fest ’09), Lyceum festival organizer and programmer Deb Klein helped pave the way for future events like KingCon.

“It was the natural next step” says Lyceum owner Eric Richmond. “The Zine Fest brought in so many comic artists and writers, it was clear they needed a showcase of their own and that the Brooklyn Lyceum was an ideal location.” Local Talent. Subway access. History. Great food and drink. What more could you want?

Thus the idea for KingCon was born. Utilizing the building as a veritable museum of comic art and branching out into a number of adjacent Brooklyn businesses, the convention will encompass the pop culture element of its larger Manhattan cousins, while shining the spotlight on the dozens of independent artists who  often get lost among the costumed chaos of New York conventions.

“The lack of a Brooklyn based comic convention always surprised me,” says writer, artist, and convention co-organizer Mike Zagari. “Now with KING CON, Brooklyn’s flourishing and emerging writers and artists finally have an event to call their own!” With its close proximity to the subway, and its stunning, raw space, the building intends to do just that. Located in a century-old NYC Public Bath house turned event and performance space along a formerly rough and tumble industrial stretch of Fourth Avenue, the Lyceum has been, since 2000, a venue for emerging and well-established talent. Past showcases have included Jose Gonzalez, The Polyphonic Spree, The Dresden Dolls, Yo La Tengo, Fiona Apple and French folk singer Krystle Warren.

Says KingCon organizer and longtime comic lover Regan Jaye: “I had no idea when I presented the idea how overwhelming the response was going to be.” Indeed the response has been powerful, and the event promises to be a landmark event, not only in the history of the building but in Brooklyn as well.

You can find out more about the Con and the full schedule of events at http://kingconbrooklyn.com.

There is still Exhibitor space available! Please check http://www.kingconbrooklyn.com/exhibitor_info for more info and rates!

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2 COMMENTS

  1. The Zine Fest was fun and accessible since the tables were so cheap. In fact, I’d rather have paid more for more advertising. Half the people who came in were zinesters and cartoonists feeling a bit miffed at the lost opportunity to sell (but happy to trade). Still, charging three times as much for the same table space seems a bit much. Although, it might be worth it to wash out my menstrual cup in the shared bathrooms.

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