The Emerald City Comic Con was held this past week in Seattle, and based on the social media posts I saw, it seems to have been another banger of a comic con, with many of the hottest names in comics attending and showing off their wares. (A second issue of Tiny Onion Presents!)  But it also reflects a new era for comics-themed events – and some common complaints are being raised. 

The ur-text for this is an interview with ECCC and NYCC showrunner Kristina Rogers, VP of  ReedPOP’s comics portfolio, conducted by Rob Salkowitz, the guy who wrote the book on comic cons as a business. And Rogers had some interesting things to say. 

“We’re competing with Coachella, we’re competing with spring break and with all kinds of other big events,” she told Salkowitz. “For us, that means expanding what pop culture means – everything from Renaissance Faires to comedy to music. Our idea is to take every cool festival you’ve gone to and bring it indoors. It’s a bit more of a ‘World’s Fair’ approach.”

Part of that means taking a tough look at programming: 

“Every year we cut 15% of what’s not working to make room for new kinds of programs,” she says. This year’s ECCC program leans heavily on workshops and participative events, including an expansion of space for gaming, crafting, tattoos and fan meetups.

That inevitably leads to programs with more niche appeal falling under the axe, leading exhibitors who cater to those more specialized fandoms realizing that this kind of show is no longer the best place to sell, given the high costs of setup and labor. Eventually the “comic con” (that’s what the CC stands for) becomes an “everything con,” with something for fans of all aspects of pop culture, plus the added bonus of celebrity photo ops, a slightly nerdy vibe, and lots of glorious costumes.

This 15% cut-off might be terrifying for some of us, accustomed to meagre audiences at our panels. Paper that show! 

I’ve interviewed Rogers many times, and she’s a very smart executive who knows a lot about putting on great events. She also works at ReedPOP which puts a lot of emphasis on data, surveys, and demographics, so she has a lot of information on hand to inform the way the shows go. You and I may want panels about nichey comics topics but….they don’t play well in the big room. In theory the 15% culling should lead to a banger after banger after banger line up of panels. And yet, just doing things that are popular result in an inevitable flattening and lack of surprise in the experience. 

Hearing that ECCC (and presumably other ReedPOP shows like C2E2 in Chicago and New York Comic Con) are moving to more of a “festival” approach is no surprise. I’d kind of argue that they have always been that way. People have been complaining about NYCC in particular forever that there are more insurance companies on the floor than comics publishers. 

Part of the reality, as Salkowitz and Rogers acknowledge in a longer version of the interview, is that comics publishers are not going to set up at any shows but SDCC and NYCC. And fewer publishers are showing up to these events. The cost of setting up a booth, paying for all the people to staff it, and all the materials that are needed to make a booth vibrant is just a lot of money. The cost at both SDCC and NYCC is exorbitant and doesn’t leave much for other shows. 

Thus Artist Alley has become the life blood of other comics shows….and that’s really as it should be. Fans/consumers are more conditioned to meeting artists in the Alley than at a publishers booth these days anyway. 

There was some discussion of ECCC and Rogers’ remarks on BSky, kicking off in this post, from cartoonist Kody Okamoto:

when I read their strategy is to cut 15% of what’s “not working” every year, I felt like it put into context why they moved the AA from the og building to the smaller one, where instead of running aisles A through Z and then again to double Z, it doesn’t even make it through the alphabet once now. 

In another post Okamoto compared past and present Artist Alley Layouts – preserved here for posterity:

 

right!! yeah, like, the AA used to be huge! I misremembered and it didn’t quite make it to double Z (looks like it got up to QQ, thanks Jim Zub’s blog for these now historical records aha), but that’s still ~364 booths for the first round of alphabetical aisles alone compared to today’s 450 booths.

 

And artist Jodie Troutman added

If we go back further to when I went in 2013, AA was split into two different areas because of its size.  But also almost every regular booth was ALSO comics.  (Ignore the scribbles, this is the best I could find).  The next year in 2014, a third AA bled into a different floor.  It was a COMIC show.

 

There is a lot more from attendees and even Jim Demonakos who founded ECCC weighs in. But for the purpose of this I’ll quote creator and PNW local Kel McDonald:

There used to be a local artist exhibitor aisle that unicorn empire used to be in. But it was up against the wall and kinda sucked location wise. I vague remember them talking about paying full price to try to get a better location
I also remembered that when artist alley moved to its own floor, print sales/commissions drop at the cfft table. Like mentally people switched what they were looking for on each floor.
So I started telling people who tabled with us that merch and books do better at our table
I think the thing they are doing now with publishers and artists with bigger setups on the same floor as artist alley could work. But they’d have to pay more attention of who is where and who sells what
There are a lot of things cons try to do that I think could work in theory, but it would require more attention to who is placed where than cons are willing to give.
Mostly because they are for profit shows.
Like having autographs in a separate build is a good idea to cut down on crowds elsewhere

I found this whole discussion fascinating, but then I’m a comic-con history wonk. 

One of the quirky/charming things about ECCC is that it’s been held in a very strange facility for most of its run. The original Seattle Convention Center has a freeway running through the middle of it, something I feel even Robert Moses would have frowned on. Finding all the exhibit halls made you feel like one of those figures in an M.C. Escher print, wandering up secret stairways and coming out in an unexpected kiosk selling açai bowls. 

In 2023, ECCC moved to the brand spanking new, wood-toned and lovely Seattle Convention Center, which unified most of the exhibits and panels in a building that has contiguous floors. But some programming was still held in the old building (at least in ‘23 when I went) so you still had the skyway trekking. 

ECCC has always been a very lively show when I went, with a huge nerd population in the Pacific Northwest, and lots of attention to TTRPGs, indie video games, webcomics, and other very contemporary fandoms. I’ve always said ECCC has the deepest cosplay cuts of any show I’ve ever been to. 

How this quirky and niche audience will adapt to – or drive – a “world’s fair” vibe is an interesting proposition. Although Salkowitz thought it would result in less niche programming, I took a look at the programming guide (still up on the website) and among those popular workshops the first one is Rotary Tool School: From Novice to Beginner in 60 minutes, which is pretty specialized. Chainmail lanyards and vinyl harnesses were also spotlighted. So I don’t think specialized fan crafting is being slighted in the least, nor should it be. 

That leaves the tiny question of “what about the comics?” The BlueSky conversation seemed to have a slight undertone of fretting about comics being squeezed out a bit. In 2023, several indie publishers were unhappy with their booth placement and traffic flow. In 2025, I wasn’t there and can’t speak to it, but there was a lot less comics programming than workshops, from my eyeballing the listings. All events – especially big expensive ones like ECCC – need to make money, and when comics publishers and other media companies stop buying big booths, we get more and more fudge and posters. 

Viewed from 3000 miles away, ECCC seems to have been a lively event with lots of room for comics folks to meet with their fans and other comics folk. As I’ve been preaching for 20 years, you just can’t take the comics out of a comic-con and expect it to be as good. People have tried and those events are no longer around. Even if ECCC does become a World’s Fair it needs to have a pretty big comics pavilion or something very important and vital will be missing.  

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11 COMMENTS

  1. I said to my friend as we were walking around ECCC this year that if I worked for Marvel or DC, I would be soiling my pants right now. From the cosplay to the merchandise, very little at ECCC had anything to do with traditional American comics. If you were to cut superhero products and culture from the show, I don’t think those gaps would be noticeable in anywhere but a few pockets of the show. Felt like a death knell for the dominance of the Big Two.

  2. When REEDPOP took over, they actively started pushing out Comic book dealers by raising prices on booths and putting them into areas that were more difficult to get to for consumers. With comic book dealers pushed to the show floor (basement level) and dwindling numbers it’s tough to even consider it a Comic Con. NYCC has a massive comic book section, as does C2E2. The count I heard from numerous people was fewer than 10 comic book shops were at the show. There used to be hundreds.

    Yes, artist Alley is good, and gaming and anime and voice actors etc . But the lack of comics is disconcerting. As an industry insider, I’ve talked to a few publishers that made it to ECCC the last few years, had their ONE experience and decided to not spend the money to come back.

  4. I went in 2017 and 2019 and I loved the Artist’s Alley. A whole floor dedicated to it! I was amazing. I spent four days wandering around and I still missed things. It was was easy to skip the main show floor because it felt like half the tables were just selling Funko.

    Before recent US political madness, I’d been considering a return over trying NYCC again. But I could tell from the maps they’ve shrunk the AA. So I’m not sure I would make the trip.

    Moot point anyway….no one from Canada is travelling to the US anymore if they can help it. There’s a story for you…talk to Canadian creators about travelling to US comic cons. I’m curious about how they justify it in the current environment.

  5. Heidi :
    I have to disagree with some of the opinions in this article. My experiences at Artists Alley at SDCC 2024 were unproductive and negative. We were assigned 4 foot tables to display our art and comics on and literally crammed into a corner of the floor like forgotten stepchildren. Emphasis at the event was placed on the Big Corporation Exhibitors selling merch and promoting TV shows and blockbusters. I couldn’t really call it a festival. It was more like a trade show. That would be a more accurate description for a trend in the larger cons. I attended SDCC back in 1994 and ’95. Back then Artists Alley tabling was gratis to qualified Exhibitors. There was more of an atmosphere of true fan appreciation for the artists and creators who worked in the media. Now it’s become a department store pushing merch and IP from large corporations.

  6. ReedPop and FanExpo destroyed all pop culture conventions. Everything from Star Wars Celebration to the various regional comic cons around the world have all been sucked up into this corporate culture that thrives on YoY growth. The prices are out of control for everyone and it’s just not worth it anymore. That’s not healthy for conventions, whatever “comics culture” is, “fandom,” or any other niche interest groups. This entire ecosystem is going to burst in the next 10 years. Meanwhile, small shows are thriving. In the past 2 years I’ve gone to way more VFW shows and indie cons than the big corporate events and have been so much happier.

  7. “given the high costs of setup and labor.”

    “The cost of setting up a booth, paying for all the people to staff it,”

    yeah they charged the bejeezus out of those small shops and none of the flavor they hoped for can afford to do that a second time. They charged them MORE than the gross profit of vending, people are digging into their savings in order to pay surprise union fees. They also did not allow tattoo artists to tattoo except one that bought exclusive rights.

    They need to figure out their shit and not be blood sucking vampires about it.

  8. First, comic cons evolved from science fiction conventions. San Diego is still very much a big tent SF convention, just like Dragon*Con (which is hotel-based) or your local con at the Holiday Inn. These big shows are pop culture conventions. They rent the space, and have to make it back by renting booths and tables. They do have to maximize attendance and activation, and Reed Pop should be commended for actively researching trends and welcoming new fandoms.

  9. Second, with the high visibility of San Diego, and the ease of finding your tribe, it is very easy to host a specialized fan-con. Gen Con has done that for decades. Creation Entertainment was one of the first convention corporations, advertising in Marvel back in the 1980s, and currently runs shows geared towards specific fandoms and IPs. (One Tree Hill! Cobra Kai!)

    Otaku cons are extremely popular now.

    Then there’s the grand daddy of all comic cons, pretty much nothing but an Artist Alley: Comiket. 35,000 EXHIBITORS, selling self-published comics. Each get ONE DAY to sell their doujinshi fanfic comics, usually based on specific properties. Many sell out, to some 750,000 attendees during the show.

  10. Finally, here’s hoping that there are more comics ARTS festivals and book fairs!

    Almost every genre of literature has a fan festival, and there are many comic cons which are comics-centric or exclusive. Many book fairs realize that comics are a great draw (har.), especially for kids and teens. Many libraries (Toronto, Ann Arbor) host comics festivals, as well as encourage the publication of zines.

    SPX should be larger, moving to one of the mega hotels in downtown DC, both to expand exhibition space, but also space for programming.

    I’d love to see the comics version of PAX Dev, where creators can attend workshops and network. Perhaps that’s during the week, and the weekend is the public Artist Alley? Or it’s a big Maker Space, focusing on paper arts.

  11. Hanna Strauss: I’m not saying Artist Alley at SDCC is awesome. It’s very small and shrinking, and yes, big events and media get the attention. NYCC has what is widely considered the best AA of any big show tho, and artists make bank there.

    I’m sorry you had a bad experience at SDCC.

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