Tag: Conventions

Rather than flood your Twitter with a ton of postings, we've just dumped it all in one place—scan for your faves! Never a dull moment.

The programming slate for WonderCon, being held March 16-18, has been announced: Friday Saturday Sunday

Anonymous Image creator on the mood at the Image Expo. It was by all account a successful weekend if only as a pep rally, with hopes for the future and independence for creators. The crowds weren't immense, except on Saturday, but they liked what they saw.

Only days ago we were speculating with an industry pal on what had ever happened to Morgan Spurlock's documentary about the San Diego Comic-Con, which was filmed with some fanfare in 2010, had a splashy tie-in book last summer, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and then went silent.

They're the sites of the continental US's two biggest comics pop culture explosions. And neither one is nearly big enough.

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.

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.

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.