Comic Book Resources

I've been a presenter at the Pittsburgh Comic Con for the past two years. I have to say that I like the smaller atmosphere. I have also gone to SDCC, Wizard World Chicago, and many other larger cons every year for the past few years and none give you the intimate feeling that the smaller ones I've gone to in Pittsburgh and Dallas have.

That said, I think that it's mostly local people just having a weekend. I think no one goes to one of the mid-sized cons unless they're already comic fans, and fairly hard core comic fans at that. Guest rosters are lackluster, there's never any major reveals like are had at WonderCon and SDCC, so I think impact on the comics industry as a whole would be negligible.

Attendance at panels is spotty and I often wonder if the publicity is worth the travel costs, etc. Other than artists making some work off of commissions and local area comics and collectibles dealers given a chance to bring in some dollars, I don't think these shows provide a lot of press for comics or make a lot of money for anyone involved.

All that said, it's a great time to gather with fellow fans and I'd hate to see them all go under...I'd rather see them grow larger and get more attention from the major companies.

That was my first reaction, Arnie. "It would be annoying, but I dunno how much of an actual IMPACT it would have."

Thanks for giving your input!!

I got back from Megacon yesterday, and adored it. I'd consider it a middle of the road, middle-sized convention since there are stars and there are creators, but absolutely no announcements to be found in any of the big two's panels. Still an awesome time though. I certainly hope that some mid-sized cons continue to grow, as opposed to floundering like the others.

Well, it's not like the Dallas area wasn't without the "largish" mid-size cons like these for a few years, after Bulldog Productions (and, by extension, their Dallas Fantasy Fair cons) went belly-up.

Truth be told, the couple times I've gone to WizardWorld Texas, I've been underwhelmed after having been to San Diego a couple of times. I choose whether or not to go to WizardWorld based on the guests who'll be there, and whether or not it's worth a near-one-hour drive and admission price to get there for the guests who interest me.

It'd be a disappointment to lose out on access to the level of guests that a WizardWorld can attract that the smaller local cons can't, but getting to meet those guests is just gravy to enjoying their work.

I've never been to a con and never seen one advertized here in St. Louis. I'd go if we had one. I would be much more interested in finding new books and creators at cons than meeting big names and getting books signed, etc. I feel like I'm missing out on a good chance to find new creators and ask, 'what do you do?'. I think it would be nice in order to generate comraderie amongst local comic fans, as well.

I went to the Read St. Louis fair last year and attended a discussion with Dan Zettwoch and Ted May, two local creators. It was a really fun time and I was exposed to two guys who do nice work. I got excited about the local scene. A small convention would probably have similar effects on a larger scale. I'd be all for it.

Dan... The feeling you had generated from the smaller show you attended are exactly what I'm talking about most... I feel that conventions as a whole serve to really energize a fans interest and excitement with the hobby... I used to believe that a convention would hurt the sales of a near by comic shop ( thinking that money that would have gone to that shop would otherwise have been spent at the convention)... Now I believe that the convention stimulates interest in the hobby so much that fans make more trips to their local store and actually pump much more time and money in to the hobby then they other wise would...

I missed the days a few years back, before NYCC, when Philadelphia actually mattered to the convention circuit -- especially since I live about fifteen-twenty minutes away by train.

New York is close enough to go and stay the weekend, but doesn't have that lovely feeling of going home each night and returning in the morning that Philly has for me.

Dan (other Dan):
http://www.epguides.com/comics/ Chesterfield MO
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/381230/ Shrewsbury
http://www.capecomiccon.com Cape Girardeau

Admittedly none of these are in St. Louis proper.

I've been to Cons in Dallas many times over the last 20+ years, and I'd really hate to see them go. Maybe the smaller Cons don't have the biggest names or the big reveals, but they're still good for the industry as a whole. It's a chance for comic fans to get together, buy some stuff, and be around other people who get us. Hell, it's worth the admission price just to be around people who get my jokes.

I had read elsewhere that Wizard might be dropping the Texas show.

A big problem with small-to-medium shows is that they have the same guest lists over and over (Motor City especially). They can't afford to pay to bring in too many people, so they use local people as often as possible.

Mid-Ohio-Con has been a pretty good convention for a long time. Their featured guests changed from year to year. I'm sorry Roger Price has decided to stop doing it. I hope somebody buys it.

Wizard Chicago is the only one of these three that Marvel and DC attend. Other than that, Wizard Chicago is of little attraction. Rooms are usually over $100 per night, you get charged to park your car at the hotels, and traffic on Sunday after the show is usually horrendous.

All that bitching aside, I still enjoy going to the cons. The huge shows in San Diego and New York will never have any appeal to me. If I want to stand in the midst of a huge crowd of rude, smelly strangers, I'll go to a rock concert.

maybe wizard and some of the bigger cons over saturated the market? if you look at the con circuit schedule there is one every month sometimes two. how are artist and publishers expected to attend 5 cons a summer and keep up a monthly schedule. maybe from a fan and a retailer stand point fewer cons mean no more late books.

Support your local cons! If you are looking for one, visit http://www.comicbookconventions.com

Lothor--cool! Thanks!

Stuart--The discussion I attended was the only hour of a full weekend that dealt with comics. The owner of a local shop participated along with Dan & Ted. I found out her shop, Star Clipper, was apparently the hub for the local indie scene, and I made my first visit to the store as a result of the panel. I was definitely energized!

To clarify, the panel was the only hour about comics in a full weekend of programs.

The last con I went to was back in the mid 90's. The highlight for me was meeting a wonderful man and his wife and spending a few hours just talking Golden Age comics with him. While most people were staning in line waiting for their Todd McFarlane autograph, I spent two hours with Mart Nodell, creator of the Green Lantern.

It saddened me that here was a man who had co-created the basis for one of the greatest characters ever and had worked on many of the big name books of the Golden Age being ignored by the "fans".

While we were talking, he started doing a sketch (at this point he was almost blind) and when we finished our conversation, he handed it to me. It was a drawing of the Invaders along with the GA Green Lantern.

When the con was over I was in the elevator of the hotel and his wife got on the floor below me. When she saw me, she threw her arms around me and thanked me for the time I spent with Martin. In her words, I had "made him feel like he was important and made an impact on someone's life". I explained to her that I was the one that should be thanking him, so before we left I bought dinner for the three of us and spent a little more time with them.

A few years later, I found out that both Martin and his wife had passed away. I looked at the drawing he had given me and noticed something I had never noticed before- instead of signing Martin Nodell at the bottom, he had signed it "Uncle Marty".

I know that this doesn't directly relate to the post, but I was glad that I had spent the time with him and had made him feel as important as McFarlane that day.

So please, when you go to a con and they have creators there that you admire and are part of the hobby we all love, thank them. You never know when your words will mean the world to them.

I wonder what percentage of fans actually attend cons, small, medium or large? I've never been to one devoted to comics, & for that matter haven't been to one of any sort since '89, when the city I was living in outside New Orleans happened to be the site of a one-off local sf con. I covered it for my newspaper (& got to interview Harry Harrison over beers in the motel bar) but undoubtedly would've gone anyway.

(Well, that's not strictly true. I *did* drop by the sf con in Little Rock sometime in the late '90s for a couple of hours after having assigned a reporter [by this time I was an editor] to write a feature story on it. I'd been a regular at that con from '79-'81, before moving to Phoenix.)

Of course, part of the equation is that my comics fandom falls into 2 distinct periods -- roughly '74-'78, during which I was too young &/or poor to drive anywhere (living in SW Arkansas, I was about 3 hours from a city of any size), & then I guess '04-now, during which I'm again about 3 hours from the nearest reliable site (Atlanta) for cons of any sort.

I guess I've gotten old enough that the idea of not only driving that far but also spending money on admission is just not very appealing. Being pretty much unsociable doesn't help, either.

I sometimes find industry coverage annoyingly con-centric, but if I went to the things I'm sure I would feel differently.

Chris --

That's a wonderful story.

Having worked in a comic shop during high school and college one question seemed to come up again and again regarding our customes, particularly the regulars... "how immerced in their hobby are they"... I think that most everyone who comes in to a comic shop with any sort of regularity would say that they are a comic collector... but there are different degrees of personal investment in the hobby...

This is going to sound crazy, but below is a list of things that I feel alot of collectors do as part of their hobby with many of the "more dedicated" activites at the bottom.... ( one of them being attending conventions).... it's easy to feel like someone is a die hard fan because they show up to buy new books every wednesday, until that person attends a convention and sees to what lengths certain people will go to to pursue their hobby...

as a fan do you...
go to the comic shop every week..?
go to the comic shop every wednesday..?
do you regularly buy back issues ( not just issues you missed off of the rack, but old comics before your time..?)
do you know how to grade comics/ do you buy the price guide each year..? do you care..?
do you post on the internet..?
do you drive to comic conventions..?
do you FLY to comic conventions..?
do you collect original comic art..?
would you spend 100.00 on a comic book..?
do you attend so many conventions that creators, dealers, or fans from out of state know your name..?

the list goes on and on... and im not saying that anyone should feel inclined to do any of these things that they are not interested in... Collecting comics is a hobby, and if it's your hobby you should collect the way that you want to collect .... But I make this quick list becuase alot of the things on it are things that many comic collectors do.. and at the same time, they are activities that most people who think of themselves as "serious comic collectors" do not....

the point that im trying to make here is that the comic book convention seems to be the place where only the most dedicated of the dedicated comic collectors are likely to go...But that a more casual fan should still have a good time... The fan that spends 30.00 a week on comics , week after week, most likely doens't attend conventions, and probably never ever has. But his interest in comics is high none the less..

where am I going with all of this....

well.. After working in a comic shop I seemed to get the feeling that alot of collectors had different degrees of COMFORT with in their COLLECTING... some were afraid of buying back issues for fear that they would over pay, or not know how to grade... As if either of those things mattered... ( You shold buy what you like at a price you are o.k with.. outside concerns shouldn't matter) Others might not attend a convention because they don't know anything about them, or feel that a convention is for "real collectors" and that they aren't that advanced in the hobby.... A convention should be for anyone who wants to go, but there is an intimmidation factor in attending cons... Lts face it, this hobby can be pretty elitist at times...

Personally I really like conventions and think that they are GREAT for the hobby, really energizing the collector.... The key to me is making sure to have a good time at your very first convention, feeling comfortable attending.... The best way to do that is to go with someone who has gone before.... seems simple enough right..? but is it..? As a casual collector considering going to a con how do you find someone to go with..? It's alot like joining a club, but you need to have a member reccommend you or else yo ucan't get it... Alot of people who collects comics do so because they made a friend who collected them first... that friend likely broght them to to a comics shop for the first time.. why should a covention be any different..?

god.. there are some good ideas in there.. but what a ramble... Thanks for reading...

I guess you could say I'm kind of an average reader. I spend between $20-$30 on average each week. I live in Seattle so we have a mid size con called the Emerald City Comicon. It's a pretty fun convention, but we also have three or four really small ones put on by a local guy every year as well. I've been to all of them within in the last few years and have found that while it was cool to pick up some free stuff and see some people for me I don't think it impacts me in anyway about why I buy and collect comics. We get some big names, (Bendis lives in Portland so he comes almost every year) as well as some cool locals (Fantagraphics). Also being in one of the major video game sections of the US we tend to get a lot of those types too.

While I enjoy the atmosphere and all the people I personally don't think that if they weren't around that people would stop buying comics. Hell it's gotten to the point now that I buy, but don't collect. I just package them up in funny package and leave them all over Seattle for people to find: http://funnelheadiscool.blogspot.com/. I should be dropping off another 25 comics around Seattle if anyone is around and wants them I'll let you know ahead of time where they will be.

For a long time I only went to San Diego, but it's been getting really crowded the last few years, to the point where the first day of the con is completely overwhelming.

I've gone to Wizard World Los Angeles the last two years, and WonderCon this year, and it's been a nice change of pace to be able to meet artists and writers without standing in a 1000-person line.