Conventions

The date was December 9th, 2011 when cartoonist and Center for Cartoon Studies professor Alec Longstreth shaved off his beard and shaggy do. A promise to himself in 2008, he decided to chart his progress through pictures of his hair and beard growth that would undoubtedly remind him daily of his commitment. Living in a small town with a beard as his shadow, Longstreth went from industrious Fellow of the school to an instructor of both summer workshops and graduate classes to the Acting Director (while James Sturm takes a much-needed sabbatical) . Even after all the excitement, he is still growing and evolving, deciding to learn watercolor on the side. Venture on to read more about the amazing cartoonist Alec Longstreth.

This was my first trip to the city of Boston and their fantastic comic con and I have to say, I was impressed. Boston Comic Con had the staples: vendors offering collectibles, comics and original art. They had comedic performances and an art auction. Offering a very well balanced mix of artists from legends of the industry, to current big names, to a wealth of new & indy talent, this convention had something to suit every taste in artist's alley and its panel selection.

Read it and weep! Go have yourself a good cry (probably at a Disney movie). In the tradition of occasionally free newsprint tabloid comics like the one-shot Caboose and quarterly Smoke Signal, a collaborative comic will be available this weekend at MoCCA! Official press release below:

A few links on creators and a roundup of the weekend's comic-cons.

Remember your first time? Wish you had taken pictures? Well, special correspondent J. Parker Adair certainly remembers his first time, and he took lots of pictures!

[With the comics convention/show scene exploding all around us, we thought it would be interesting to get a behind the scenes on how a show is put together. Over the next few weeks, The Long Beach Comic & Horror Con's Show Manager Mike Scigliano will be explaining what goes into putting a con together, from floor plans to guest lists. Hopefully, it will give us all a little insight into the what is rapidly becoming most visible aspect of the comics world.] -- Welcome to the 2012 convention season. Great shows like Amazing Arizona Comic Con, MegaCon, WonderCon and Emerald City Comic Con and C2E2 have already come and gone and we have a full calendar of fantastic shows still to come. Heroes Con, SDCC, Fan Expo, Baltimore Comic Con, New York Comic Con and Long Beach Comic & Horror Con. I'm the Show Manager for Long Beach Comic & Horror Con and we're looking to close the season out with a bang.

This was, everyone agreed, the make or break year for the third year show. Champ or chump? Read on.

Oh man! We thought the epic Con Wars of the Aughts were settled? But it seems Canada's Hobby Star is not happy with how Wizard has used the phrase Toronto Comicon. Hobby Star throws the huge Fan Expo in Toronto every year, and, as CBR reports, had been engaged in a feud with the former Paradise Comic-Con...which was eventually acquired by Wizard and morphed into the Toronto Comicon...while things had been peaceful for many a moon, the fight is on again!

Via Omg Dj Judy and Agent M. Did she say yes? Unknown.

You've answered the call! You've crossed the thresholds! You've initiated, achieved, and booned! So now you're set to return triumphant! Gone is that stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder. You are now a brawny, heroic, stuck-up, half-witted nerf herder! But first, there is one more task, one more trial to complete... you must pack!

After several years of "e for effort" turnout at for C2E2, today's show seems to have actually broken the floodgates and sent a ton of cosplayers, media fans, comics readers, and general nerd army participants into the cavernous McCormick Place. It was easily the busiest day we've seen here.

We present the first-time experience of a long-time comics fan, as he experiences C2E2 in Chicago. (Be Gentle.)