Conventions

A letter has gone out to those who sought a badge for this year's show...basically, very few have been returned, and those that were will be sold as one-days. And if you want to participate in the sale, make sure you have a Member ID—registration for that closes Friday. Hurry, children, hurry!

Lokis, Storm Dogs, Hepzibahs, Mark Millar, Publishers and Fans. Kapow Comic Convention 2012: what did we learn?

As Torsten pointed out this was National Comics Weekend. Here's some of what folks saw and wrote:

Torsten gave a fantastic review of things to do this weekend but I'll focus on two fun events for the Maine and Washington people, who desperately should enjoy themselves while the sun is still out!

Sweet Kirby Crackle! It's a busy weekend, with comics shows in: New York, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, Pennsylvania [sic], South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania (again), and the United Kingdom! They're taking place at colleges, schools, convention centers, hotels, and community centers!

There's a point in every comicon production process where things get real. The utter insanity of what you have undertaken becomes concrete. Booking your first exhibitor is a great high. Each subsequent booking continues that awesome feeling of things going well. That is until you get your first email or phone call from an attendee. Once that happens there is NO going back. The cat's out of the bag so to speak. It's at that point that you come to the realization that what you've been working so hard on for the last few months is now out there for public consumption. It was a very surreal moment for Martha, Phil and I for sure.

Can I get a guest badge for my pro pass? Are there any hotels? Will there be a Wootstock this year? Read on for the best answers we can provide to all your questions about this year's Comic-Con International: San Diego.

by Jimmy Aquino --

The Bristol Comic Expo was held in Bristol, UK this weekend on May 12-13 at The Passenger Shed in Brunel's Old Station. I was over to cover for my podcast COMIC NEWS INSIDER and The Beat as well as see friends. I've attended Bristol Expo 2 previous times. First in 2008 when it was the train station like this year. And again in 2010 when it was split between the Ramada and Mercure hotels. I was happy to see it back in the station as it kept everything (except for panels) in one place. When I first came back in 2008, it was the biggest comics show in the UK. Now, with the massive proliferation of other shows, some feel it has been hurt by this trend especially since there are literally 2 more in a row in London. I still found it quite a vibrant show with lots of great UK talent exhibiting. From small press unknowns trying to make a name to the big names in UK comics, it was a great array of comic folks. 

The sun was shining down on Long Beach on this particular Saturday in May. The cool breeze from the Pacific Ocean created a picture perfect day that reminds one of another particular week in July down in San Diego. Though somewhat unfortunate, we were all deep inside the Long Beach Convention center to enjoy the Long Beach Comic Expo. For several years now, Long Beach has been invaded by Geeks twice a year – once in May for the one-day Expo and in October for the two-day Convention. The setting for this year’s Expo was more than intimate with a smaller room and somewhat smaller walk ways. That intimacy was a nice change from the craziness of the much larger conventions as were the opportunities to stop and chit-chat with Comic creators without being pushed and shoved.

Comics and the Jersey Shore? Where else but Asbury Park? Read on for one fan's experience at the first ever comics convention held in a bowling alley!

As we've been noting of late, the local comics scene has been blowing up—pretty much around the globe, from Dubai to Denver. And tomorrow Asbury Park gets its first comic-con, courtesy of organizer Cliff Galbriath, (left) aka frequent Beat commenter Citizen Cliff. Cliff sent along a fact sheet on the Asbury Park Comic Con and some photos of the venue, which is a cool retro bowling alley/club a few blocks from the Asbury Park Boardwalk and a bunch of fine restaurants and bars. Admission is a mere $5, with $1 going to the Hero Initiative. You can read all the deets in the PR below, but everyone we've spoken with has been psyched about going to this show; if we weren't so conned out, we might be tempted by a birthright journey back to Jersey. We're always especially charmed by seaside conventions like San Diego, MeCaf, Long Beach and now....Asbury Park.

By now you've gone through all the hard work involved with the pre-production of your comicon. You have a venue and dates for your show. You've got a floor plan design that you feel happy about AND was approved by the fire marshal. The next step in the process is to begin to promote and pitch your show to potential exhibitors. By "exhibitors," I mean publishers, small press publishers, retailers, artist alley creators (artists, writers, inkers, colorists, painters, etc) and whoever else you feel might be a fit or want to exhibit at your comicon. For Long Beach Comic & Horror Con we place a specific emphasis on comics and their creators in our Artist Alley. That emphasis varies from comicon to comicon, of course, but for us it was a must.