Tag: Conventions

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:

Speaking of LA comic-cons, Wizard World has tweeted an update about its postponed LA show.

And to think I almost didn't go to the Baltimore Comic-Con. Like many I was feeling pretty conned out, but in the end the idea of a short road trip to an always relaxing show -- and covering the Harveys -- won out, so I was off on a road trip with Ed Catto of Bonfire Agency and Captain Action fame, and Josh Frankel, founder of new publisher Zip Comics. Beginning as it did at 7:30 am, the trip down was a coffee-driven affair, as we discussed our various endeavors and ideas for improvements and prognostications for the future. While all three of us are born optimists, the current uncertainties and question marks left any real attempts at planning akin to spitting into the wind. Future cloudy; ask again later.