Tag: Conventions

Thanks to some SEC filings, you can see how much a good-sized regional convention is worth -- in the case of Wizard World's 2010 acquisition of the Mid-Ohio Con, the amount was $77,500. $60,000 was to be paid in royalties on booth sales and sponsorships only over a period of several years, with a five-year consulting fee of $3,500 to be paid out after $60k in royalties was reached. The Wizard World page doesn't have booth costs for Mid-Ohio, but several people complained that they were raised this year, so everyone was getting their share of the till. Wizard World has just announced its first 2012 show, January 28-29 in New Orleans, and the current lineup for next year is a modest 4 scheduled shows -- with the Big Apple con and Austin still TBD.

WonderCon may have moved to Anaheim for 2012 due to Moscone Center construction, but the Bay Area will not be without a spring comics show....thanks to Image Comics and the Image Expo. The creator-owned company is planning its OWN convention, to be held February 24-26 at the Oakland COnvention Center (original home of WonderCon, btw). Image Expo is planned as a 20th anniversary celebration for Image, and will feature as guests of honor Image partners Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino. Other creators attending include Image founders Rob Liefeld, and Whilce Portacio, plus Joe Casey, Jay Faerber, Jonathan Hickman, Ryan Ottley, Richard Starkings, Fiona Staples, and Brian K. Vaughan. All will participate in panels, signings and other traditional convention activities.

Promoting a comic-con with a webcomic? Why didn't *we* think of that? Emerald City Comicon -- to be held March 30-April 1 in Seattle -- has broken the seal on this idea with "Tales from the Con", a weekly strip by Brad Guigar and Chris Giarrusso. You came for the vendor update and stayed for the laugh.

Will LA ever get a good comics show? It seems as elusive as a football team. This weekend saw first time show Comikaze unfold at the LA Convention Center, scene of much heartache over the years. Held just one week after the Long Beach Comic Con, Comikaze still was a sell-out, according to IGN, but first hand reports were very mixed.

The final Minneapolis Indie Xpo wrapped up this weekend, and it sounds like it was fun. The CBLDF's Charles Brownstein tweeted:

Imagine a cartoonist-centric comic convention, held in a city that is equal parts Kiki’s Delivery Service and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and you get a small taste of what it’s like to attend Quai des Bulles. You would have to consume many delicious butter-filled pastries to get the full taste!

Long Beach Comic and Horror Con is kicking off in Long Beach, CA today. This is a full service con with a great comics guest list including Darwyn Cooke, Amanda Conner and David Finch on the comics side, and Thomas Jane and John Carpenter on the media/horror side. Spotlights include Robot Chicken, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black, and the debut of Cooke's Parker: Martini Edition. A masquerade, lots of films and a full programming slate add to the festivities. Follow along at #lbcc on Twitter or watch live streaming here!

While many are still recovering from the Con Crud they picked up at the marathon New York Comic Con, the New York convention season is far from over. Two more shows were planned the the remainder of the year: King Con and the Brooklyn Comics and Graphic Festival. However, King Con, which was planned for November 3-6,has been postponed, according to a statement on their website.

The Mid-Ohio Con was held this weekend — the first one to be run by Wizard since taking over the show last year — and based on reports, it was very well attended. But, in an echo of long ago scars from Con Wars, it was not quite as well attended as its organizers seem to imagine in their own worldview.

Word out of San Diego is that the previously rumored “a nationally-televised parade that would kick off or end Comic-Con” will not happen after all.  San Diego City Council President Tony Young tweeted yesterday that the Con organizers were dead-set against it, likely fearing the logistical and bureaucratic challenges it would face.  Parades at comic book conventions are hardly unknown, though, with Atlanta’s DragonCon holding a justly famous parade each year on the Saturday morning of the show.

Was it worth braving the crowds? Are comics the center of attention at NYCC? How good was a $5 hot dog taste? And what does I.M. Pei have to do with it anyway? This is it -- the one you've been waiting for!

This weekend's GeekGirl Con in Seattle sounds like it was a big success; both Saturday and Sunday sold out, and while the above news report doesn't make it look like it was sardine-land, maybe selling out before you get to that point is not a bad idea. Gail Simone has a lengthy write-up that deserves to be read in full; the idea of a female-run and female-centric convention seems to be fairly emblematic of the time and place we find ourselves in, and it sounds like the programming, in particular, was noteworthy: