Conventions

According to the organizers themselves, the key factor in Comic Con’s 2010 decision to spurn suitors from  Anaheim and Los Angeles, and to stay in San Diego (at least through 2015) was the stated commitment of local hotels to not gouge future visiting Con-goers with jacked up rates during the Con.  It was, however, the promise by local politicians and hoteliers to pursue an ambitious expansion of the San Diego convention center (already bursting at the seams from the 125,000 capacity of the Con) that was expected to lock down Comic Con in San Diego long term.

Kids in India don't read comics either. Or so says this story on the just concluded second annual Comic Con India:

The major con season for 2012 kicked off with MegaCon in Orlando. And so did the con news tidbits season.

This year's Hoteloween—the day hotel reservations become available for the 2012 edition of the Comic-Con International: San Diego—is March 29th, but it's already running a little differently. Perhaps hoping to develop a better model than the recent all-or-nothing stampedes, Con organizers seem to be doling things out in timed-release fashion.

The first ever Image Expo is shaping up for the end of next month with the addition of Ed Brubaker, whose FATALE recently launched and has sold out. This is really looking like a zeitgeisty kind of show -- Image is scooping up formerly exclusive mainstream writers like a rescue boat in the North Sea, and the lineup of guests includes many with passionate followings.

Last week's Angoulême festival extravaganza wrapped up with the presentation of the Grand Prix to Jean-Claude Denis, whose career goes back to the '70s but is perhaps best known in France for Luc Leroi. The Grand Prix is presented for a lifetime body of work—Denis is perhaps less well-known than some other winners, at least in the US. He was presented with the award by last year's winner, Art Spiegelman, as shown in the above video.

Here's what I discovered at the recent American Library Association Mid-Winter conference in Dallas, Texas! Librarians are rocking the graphic novels!

Every January, librarians gather together to learn, network, discover, and, most important, RECOMMEND great books to read. Here are some of the award winning books which appeal to readers of graphic novels! Congrats to all!

The 2012 Toronto Comic Arts Festival has just unveiled it's first guests and it's as eclectic lineup of stellar creators from around the world, including Alison Bechdel, Jeff Smith Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon, Guy Delisle, Kate Beaton, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Jason, and others from around the world. The festival also unveiled its to die for poster, by Bá and Moon. Held May 5-6 in Toronto, this free comics festival is shaping up to be one of the shows of the year. Although considered part of the"indie" circuit, TCAF's guest line-up, as in past years, spotlights creators from all levels of the medium. Webcomics, kids comics and cartoonists from 15 nations will be mingling in what many creators consider the best show of the year.

As former Comic-Con attendees noted on Monday, a whole new system for getting badges is being implemented—even for people who are already in the system for having a badge. Affecting pros, press and volunteers, the new system requires you to create your own Member ID and password, type in a really tough captcha and confirm and then then....wait for the next step. The system is sufficiently difficult that they made a 2+ minute video showing you how to do it.

The Maine Comics and Art Festival -- which will be held Sunday, May 20th in Portland, ME -- has announced its first two guests: Kate Beaton and Kazu Kibuishi. This is a nice show in a nice venue that has a strongly family-oriented focus. We're not aware of too many shows that have so much kid-friendly material front and center and it's good to hear the show is still going strong with a marquee guest like Beaton.

Although we think San Diego is the biggest and the craziest comics event on earth, all dedicated conologists know that Japan's Comiket is actually the biggest. Held twice a year, the Winter edition just wrapped up and over 500,000 people attended the three-day festival. The incredible thing about Comiket is that it is an amateur press show: the fans are there to buy doujinshi -- fanzines based on popular manga by "amateur" creators. We know Japan is full of amazing wonders and enigmas, but the huge popularity of fanfic is definitely among them.