Conventions

by Mile Scigliano -- There's been so much made of locations and dates for shows in the last few years. For 2012 it's been so crazy the fine folks at CCI had to move WonderCon to Anaheim from San Francisco -- 400 PLUS miles away. Let's look at what it takes to lock in a date for your show.

Okay, one more SDCC story for the day: The long dreamed of convention center expansion got a little closer to reality when hotel owners agreed to a tax hike that will pay for the expansion over the next 30 years.

We're looking for a few good people to help cover this year's San Diego experience. What you get: a press badge. What you do: write.

So yesterday, Press reg finally opened for the San Diego Comic-Con. Member ID registration is now open. And you can apply. Emails were sent out to people who had previously been on the list. Emails told you whether you were "Verification not due" or...."Verification due."

A 27-year-old comic con virgin describes his second day of pleasure!

This past weekend (April 20-21) I took part in the first-ever Middle East Film and Comic-Con (MEFCC), held in Dubai. I attended mainly to promote my IDW Publishing series Kill Shakespeare (along with my co-creator Conor McCreery) but I also went in a quest to answer a question I’ve been wondering: how big is the comic book culture in the Middle East? The answer is: quite big. And it’s growing.

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.