Is this weekend the busiest fan weekend of the year? From The Boise Comic Arts Festival to D23, it just might be with major events all across North America. Some nerdlebrities will be plane hopping between shows, and everyone else will be having fomo.
• Undoubtedly the BEST comics show this weekend is the Boise Comic Arts Festival, in Boise Idaho, The event is thrown by the Boise Public Library and is by all accounts one of the up and coming CAFs on the circuit. Guests include Dana Simpson, Anders Nilson, Steve Lieber, Sara Ryan and many more. Damn this is a great show! And it has a poster by Maria Frantz. BCAF takes place at JUMP (Jack’s Urban Meeting Place. BCAF is FREE to attend. FREE.
• Fan Expo Canada, which started yesterday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Guests include Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, John Travolta, Jeff Goldblum, several Goonies, and many many more. With 140,000 attendees this is generally considered the third biggest show in North America, and a big deal for creators. DC Comics is attending and may just sneak in some news.
And apparently day 1 was bonkers.
Fan Expo Day 1 was bonkers. No time to tweet!
I did not stop signing/sketching for 6 hours…one short bathroom break and when I got back there was a line.
Thank you so much for the enthusiasm today. Overwhelming.#fanexpocanada2019 #FanExpo pic.twitter.com/3P5NEgJapK— Jim Zub (@JimZub) August 23, 2019
• Keystone Comic Con is launching its second edition in Philadelphia today with young Spidey Tom Holland headlining, along with a bunch of Harry Potter stars, John Carpenter and Jim Steranko. Make sure to ask Tom if he really unfollowed Sony on Insta! Last year’s launch event was a bit rocky, with a date three weeks before NYCC definitely not helping. Still, we’re all in favor of a fun show in Philly, so hopefully the sophomore year is a hit. The Beat’s Riccardo Serrano Denis will be on the scene, so treat him nicely!
• Wizard World Chicago is also underway, running for four days at the Donald E, Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. Their guests ALSO include John Travolta and Jeff Goldblum…have they cloned themselves? No, they are just jetsetters of the con world. They’ll be in CHicago on Saturday and Toronto on Sunday. Zach Levi is also doing a twofer, but he’ll be in Chicago Today, and Toronto over the weekend. I hope he wasn’t looking forward to hanging out with John Travolta. I gotta admit, WW Chicago has some nerdlebrity deep cuts like Richard Grieco and Chris Sarandon. Comics guests include Christopher Priest and Gerry Conway. I haven’t had a chance to dig in to Wizard World’s finances or prospects of late, but ICv2 has been on the ball, with a report on their latest SEC filings showing losses continuing. The convention circuit has definitely flattened out but I’ll dig into that in a future post.
• D23 is taking place in Anaheim, the biennial expo for all things Disney, including Marvel and Star Wars. And now with Avatar! And…the Simpsons. Wow. They does not sound like Disney at all. The Beat was denied any press access to D23, but they’re live streaming stuff anyway…oh but not the really good stuff. But it WILL include the Marvel Comics 80th anniversary panel! Doubtless they will answer many questions about Tom Holland. Exclusivity is right out of the Disney playbook, so enjoy. You can see the whole schedule here so check twitter or selected big media outlets during the panels you’re interested in, like the Tsum Tsum one.
ANyway it’s a big weekend. Where are YOU at? What did YOU see? What have you done? Let us know in the comments!
