Conventions

A sign that the UK creative scene are eager both for conventions and the opportunity to queue, exhibitor tables for Leeds Thought Bubble Convention...

§ Graphic Classics is still turning out themed comics anthologies, and their new one is Native American Classics: Graphic Classics Volume 24, for which they hired as many actual Native American creators as possible:

If you're into writers of the past and present or cartoonists of the future, here's your chance to help honor someone in either category. Both the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing -- which recognizes comics writers past and present -- and the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award -- which recognizes a new artist who is, uh, promising -- are open for nominations. Both awards and finalists are chosen by juries, but they accept nominees.

As we noted the other day, Brian Michael Bendis is a newly announced guest at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, and it's a very rare convention appearance for him. On his Tumblr he was asked if he'd be doing any other cons and his answer was pretty blunt:

The technical causes of the heartache and frustration experienced by those hoping to register for this year's CCI: San Diego were enough for the CCI folks to issue the following statement:

Everyone hit go, complain, spinning wheel, white room, waiting list, unfair, people got in ahead of me, don't refresh!, crying, spinning wheel, oh god you hit refresh no why oh god no, why isn't there a lottery, Comic-Con sucks, hooray this is going to be the best week of my life, etc etc etc.

The UK's largest comics festival, Thought Bubble, has announced it's first wave of guests for this year. Declared rather unanimously to be the best...

It's all still a bit cloak and dagger (and very early days), but there's a new and upcoming  event in Minneapolis this August. Cooked...

This Saturday at February 16, 2013 at 9:00 AM Pacific Time (PT), badges for the 2013 Comic-Con International San Diego will go on sale. There will be joy, there will be despair, there will be tweets, there will be a video.

Con wars are back! Only not warlike. After a long absence from the crucicble of New York City's cramped and expensive venues, Wizard World is coming back to the city that started it all with the WIzard World New York City Experience, to be held June 28-30 at Basketball City Pier 36. The venue is known to us but does recall the cavernous Pier 94 where Wizard held its 2009 show. The date doesn't seem to conflict with anything too major, save for a few smallish cards and comics shows in the midwest.

A few years ago, longtime comics dealer and show runner Mike Carbo announced he was leaving the comics show business, after running first The Big Apple con and then the NY Comic Book Marketplace for over a decade.

Mouse Guard artist David Petersen has a very thorough post on a topic that we haven't seen explored too much, despite its ubiquity: how to exhibit at comics shows if you are a creator. The whole post is full of very solid advice, from where to get an affordable retractable banner to how to get going. Just some common sense real world advice. Two excerpts on vital matters: