The Official Comic Con Thread

[Phaedrus45]

Before I get to some things about this year's Emerald City Comic Con, I have to say I'm SHOCKED by the webpage for Wondercon. Except in a few independant books, I didn't really see a lot of advertisements for the Emerald City Comic Con; but, I've seen it for Wondercon in San Francisco like CRAZY. I'll be driving near it when I'm away on vacation, and I debated seeing it for a day. The guests looked pretty amazing, as I'd love to see Kevin Smith, Paul Levitz, Jason Aaron, Robert Kirkman, and James Robinson. Problem is...that list on the advertisement is about all that Wondercon has as guests! I was shocked. I just came from a con that had about 200 artists and writers, and this one has a total of 26. Plus, it appears that Kevin Smith isn't going to be there, as his name isn't on their list any longer.

So...I'm not sure if I'll drop by it. It might be a good idea, because I guess it won't be that crowded, maybe. Small cons are nice in that way. Just, with the advertising, I expected more.

Has anyone gone to this? Is it a small con, and if I went, should I be able to get some books signed pretty quickly? (BTW, Francis Manapul is NOT a quick line. He draws as people come up, unless he's learned from the Jet City Comic Con.)

 

[Phaedrus45]

Emerald City Comic Con 2011!!!

What a fantastic Comic Con! Every year is more impressive than the last, and the guests lists get bigger and bigger. Some people might have liked last year more, simply because there were bigger DC names at it, like Geoff Johns; but, personally, I like the older writers and artists from the 70's, 80's, and 90's that make appearances.

The BIGGEST improvement the Con made was moving the media guests down to the third floor of the Seattle Convention Center. (The Con is always on the top, fourth floor.) Last year, Leonard Nimoy and Stan Lee just made things almost unbearable, as the lines within the convention were just too much. Having those big names (and, those media guest names just get more impressive, as we had William Shatner there on Saturday, and people from Buffy and Star Trek: TNG all three days) moved off the regular floor made getting around much easier.

Before, I never got to everyone I wanted a signature from. This year, I perfected my technique...and, the extra day on Friday sure helped a lot, too. I used to bring my comics already bagged; but, this year, I had the books unbagged, unless I wanted to get numerous signatures for a single issue. (As I think I've shown, I keep little tabs on my bags that say who I want signatures from....and, who I already have. It works well, because I know if the small tab is on the right, I have already gotten the signature. If it's on the left, I still need to get one.) Now, I promised myself I'd cut down on the amount of comics I would bring to the convention this year; but, I went OVERBOARD. Some of these people I might never see again (like Marv Wolfman); so, I went a bit crazy. Where the previous year I might have toted about 600 comics with me to have signed (of which I only got about 400 signed), this year I was bringing over 1200!!!

Why so many comics? Well, as some of you know, I spend about a good 2 months preparing to get my signatures, because I go through the entire guest list, searching for what they've done, and bringing some key issues for them to sign. For example, for Jim Cheung, I made the following entry:

"Jim Cheung - Avengers: The Children's Crusade, Black Knight: Exodus, Elektra: The Hand #1, Flash 115, Force Works 15-17, Hulk 100 Project, Iron Man 322-330, Justice League Task Force #26, Maverick #1-12, New Avengers #25, 40, New Avengers: Illuminati, Scion #1, Spider-Man Unlimited #6, Uncanny X-Men #371, X-Force #82-100, X-Men Unlimited #14(93), Young Avengers"

I'm not picking up all those issues, but I will get one of each of those titles. (With X-Force 82-100, I think I got issue #100 for him to sign, and I might have grabbed 82, also. And, I did have him sign the first two issues of Avengers: The Children's Crusade.) When you do that for over 200 different guests, the pull list gets very long, especially when it's an icon, like Marv Wolfman, who had over 40 comics I wanted signed.

....................................

Ok, it's the first day of the convention. I am so prepared, and I'm carting around three short boxes of comics on a luggage carrier, and each box is held on with a bungee cord. As I walk up to the line waiting to get into the show before the doors open, a lady tries to make me go in the Exhibitor Entrance. I explain I'm not an exhibitor. She looks at me like I'm nuts, and says, "Then why would you be carrying around all those boxes??!!??" I explain, "I'm getting them signed." She looks at me very confused, and just says "What??" I say, "I'm a signature ****e. I love to get my books signed by the writers and artists." She just said, "Ok," and walked away.

Now, I will say I didn't see anyone who was getting as many books as myself signed. Most people use different methods to carrying comics; but, I found this is the best way. Also, I think people just don't realize the amount of comics I have in my collection. Many must think I'm some comic shop wanting to sell these things on ebay or something, and getting multiple titles signed. And, if you are a writer and artists, and I have a comic that you've done, I'm going to take the time to visit you. A lot of people only go after the big names...but, that's also understandable, because that's where most of the focus is.

Getting these books signed goes by fairly quickly for me, especially if the writers and artists are sitting in their seats. I know the "lay of the land," and my comics aren't organized by name...but, my the location of where the people are suppose to be sitting in the convention. (There are big rows of tables, listed A - M, and each section has about 22 seats around them. Plus, you have the writers and artists mixed throughout the main convention area, where the various companies promote their products.)

Next, I'll talk about some of the writers and artists I met who made an impression on me. There is a lot I can't talk about, because since I spend so much time getting signatures, I never see any of the many panels that are going on. (I keep promising myself I'll do this one day; but, I haven't yet. Next year, maybe.) Plus, I never visited the Media Guests. But, I did hear from some of those who got a picture or signature from William Shatner. I guess he kept the line moving very fast, signing and sending them on their way. He did absolutely no chit-chat. It cost 70 bucks to get a signature...and, I think it was $75 for a picture. (I would sooner have gotten a picture, I think.)

 

[Phaedrus45]

I met the artist for Del Ray's "Stephen King's Talisman series," Tony Shasteen. It's been forever since the first part of that comic concluded, and I asked him, "So, I take it we won't be seeing any more comics from Del Ray or this book?" He let me know that's very unlikely. Things don't look good, and that's mainly because Del Ray went into the comic publishing business thinking they'd get Marvel numbers on this Stephen King adaptation. He knew that was ridiculous, and I mentioned, "Yeah. Also, Talisman doesn't have the devoted fans that Dark Tower does." He agreed. It's too bad, because I was excited to see Del Ray's version of "Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies." Maybe another company, like Dynamite, will pick it up.

The older writers and artists seemed very appreciative that I had them signing their comics. Many times in the past, I have gotten less-than-enthusiastic responses from them (Mike Grell comes to mind, and Len Wein, who charged me a dollar a signature after the first five); but, they really enjoyed that I brought them a look at their past. Karl Kesel and Ron Randall were FANTASTIC! I must have had about 20+ books for Ron to sign, and I would think over 40 for Karl. But, they would talk about those books they wrote, and they thanked me for being a fan. The only older writer who didn't seem that thrilled was Marv Wolfman. I brought him, I think, 44 books to sign, and the first thing he said to me was, "I hope there isn't any more than this." I told him, "No;" but, he cheered up when I bought one of this scripts to Vigilante #1. (They were just copied off on paper, and he charged $15.00 a script. I gave him a 20; but, he didn't think he had the change. I told him to keep it, which made him happier.)

Many times when I start to prepare for these events, I don't realize who many of the guests are until I research them on the Comic Book Data Base. Karl Kesel was one of those; but, I did know his name from two fantastic Captain America books he had written recently. That man is a LEGEND! Of course, I knew Marv Wolfman. Sadly, Larry Hama cancelled. That was one who I missed seeing. Other's who are legends that I met and who didn't mind signing a bunch of comics were Dan Jurgens (Death Of Superman, Booster Gold, and Zero Hour), Sergio Aragones (Groo and Mad Magazine), Bo Hampton (Batman: Castle Of The Bat and Moon Knight), Scott Lobdell (Generation X, Adventures Of Cyclops and Phoenix, and X-Men), and Ron Marz (DC/Marvel Amalgam and Green Lantern). They were all so nice, and didn't mind signing a bunch of comics.

Kurt Busiek is always so nice, and his family is always by his side. (It's the fourth year I've seen him, and I've watched his girls grow up before my eyes.) I was so happy that I found a comic that his wife helped him on, and I got both of their signatures. Also, when he signed my three copies of "Spider-Man and X-Factore: Shadow Games," he kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'll never do it again." (I guess he's embarrassed by that book.)

Ok, here is something I just don't understand. Again, the Bendis and Brubaker lines were LONG. (Of course, they only come to their tables are certain times in the day; so, that keeps things kind of long.) I'm SHOCKED that certain writers and artists don't have the same kinds of lines. Sure, Mignola's started out long at the beginning of the day; but, I went later on Friday when it really died down. I never had trouble getting a signature, even on Sunday when I missed a book that had multiple signatures needed. (Great guy, BTW. Another who didn't mind signing all the comics I brought, and he loved seeing some really old ones he did at the start of his career.) Now, another reason Bendis and Brubaker's lines are so long is becaue they do chat it up with their fans. And, some of those fans tend to bring a lot of books (like me). There was some stuff I didn't have from Bendis that I bought, like his new graphic novel, Takio. (The guests LOVE IT when you buy something from them; and, I don't mind doing that when it's something I don't have.)

Another shock...Hickman didn't have a long line. I was sure he was going to be hard to get a signature from, but there was only one person in front of me. Fraction also didn't have hardly any line. (No, I didn't mention how bad Thor is. I just let him know how good I thought the one-shots he had done previously were.)

Some people were hard to get a signature from, simply because they were never at their assigned seats. Matt Haley is NOTORIOUS for not staying where he's assigned, and I finally had to just drop my books off at his space and come back later to pick them up. (I lugged those issues around for two conventions, and was determined to get them signed this time.) Another guy, named Bob Schreck, didn't go to his seat once. I only had one series for him to sign, the recent Jurassic Park series; but, I guess he was an editor for DC or some company for a long time. All I knew was he was doing portfolio reviews at some place; but, nobody knew where. Thankfully, on Sunday morning I looked up his face; and, while I was getting signatures from Kurt Busiek, he walked up to say hello. I turned, looked at him, and said, "I've been trying to find you for three days!" I pulled out my five comics and had him sign right there, borrowing a pen from Kurt. He said, "Thanks for enjoying my book." I thought to myself, "Well, I never said I enjoyed it." (It was pretty bad. But, I'm a Jurassic Park fan; so, I kept with it.)

About the only person besides Bendis and Brubaker to have a line was Frank Quitely (from All-Star Superman fame). I stood in his line for a while with about 20 books, and when I got to the front, the guy next to him said he would only sign 5. (He was the only person who limited his signatures that day.) Well, I had two people with me, one being my daughter...and, the guy sitting next to him said, "Are they with you?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Well, I'll allow an additional five books." I thought that was nice. (Plus, Frank has a great signature. Some signatures are just AWFUL. Fraction's signature is terrible. It just looks like a very long squiggly line.)

Brian Stelfreeze was pretty funny. He sat there talking to people, and you'd think you walked into an improv. (He did the covers for Batman: Shadow Of The Bat #1-49.)

Oh...I almost forgot. I was getting some comics signed by an artist a DC person and, some guy came up talking about how DC is going to do away with the Vertigo name, and that it will just be DC. I hadn't heard that, and the guest signing my comics said, "I just met with my editor, and that was never mentioned." The guy insisted...but, I don't know if it has any truth to it. I know the Wildstorm books that still exist are now DC; I just don't see why DC would get rid of that name. I did talk to Rebekah Isaacs about the Wildstorm brand name. She told me how those Wildstorm books had just dropped so low in sales; and, that while there is a small, devoted group who still loves them, it wasn't enough to save the company. She did think eventually, some year, the company will probably be resurrected. (Personally, I think decimating that world was a huge mistake. The books became rather boring, and writers could do the stories they might have wanted to do.)

Derek Robertson was interesting. He told me how excited he was when his first Justice League books came out, Justice League Europe #29...which I was having him sign...and, they had someone elses name on the cover. (I did notice that, and was glad that he mentioned it.) I just said, "I guess it would have been much worse if you didn't have the amazing career you've had." He agreed. His name has appeared on many books after. Derek did remark on how he's not drawing The Boys any longer. (I notice he still is doing some covers.) He didn't seem exactly pleased with it; and, thinking about it, I believe he wasn't exactly sure why they took him off the title. It's too bad. I really associate his art with that book, and the new artist isn't as good as he was.

A few more things: Mike Mignola said he was quite surprised that Rocket Raccoon has been brought back. He mentioned he never saw that one coming. (Although, he said he has no idea what they've done with the character. He hasn't read any of the issues Rocket's appeared in.) Stephen Jones did not exactly enjoy my bringing him all those old comics he used to draw. He said it was almost torture looking through them again, because back in the 90's, he kind of rushed his drawings. He did look through every single issue I brought him to sign, talking about the pages within. He said that you can see how nicely the first three pages were, and then he'd be reaching a deadline and needed to rush out the rest of the pages. (Seriously, I didn't find them that bad; but, he has greatly improved.) Finally, Chris Samnee told me that trade sales would determine whether we'll see any more of Thor: The Mighty Avenger. I asked him, "I take it you can't tell me the identity of the mysterious man behind everything that's happened to Thor in that book.?" Guess what. He did! (I thought that was cool...and, when I didn't recognize the name, he took out his phone and googled a picture of the guy.)

What a fantastic comic con. I got over 1200 comics signed! (And, many more signatures, as various books had numerous signatures on them. I have a copy of an older volume of Captain America #50 that got signed by 4 people who worked on it.) I'm already looking forward to next year; but, I really, really have to check out some of the panels. Maybe since I went to overboard in getting signatures this year, I won't need to get so many the next.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Something I forgot to mention. Greg Rucka should be returning to comics, soon. He took a year off (he writes novels, and I believe I heard he was doing that); but, he said that something should be announced soon. (He wouldn't even give me a hint as too the company.) What's funny is I handed him a copy of "Spider-Man: Quality Of Life" #1 for him to sign, and he said, "I'll sign any comic you put in front of me; but, I REFUSE to sign this one." I was curious; so, I said, "Would you mind telling me why?" He went on a rant about the artist .... which I will highly edit for you, because it was a swear-filled tirade ... which basically said that even though Greg was the writer, this artist would tell him stipulations about which characters could be allowed in the book. (I wish I had recorded this; so, I could get it right...but, I guess this artist could only draw certain characters.) Needless to say, Greg isn't proud of this title. It might be called Quality of Life, but I guess it's not his Quality Of Work.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Some more things from the Emerald City Comic Con.

I watched the DC Panel online, and I have to say that if the panels are anything like that one, I'm not that impressed. Watching people line up and asking questions that a) aren't that interesting or b) never get answered, isn't very exciting. Most times, people were told "you'll just have to wait to see what comes down the line" or "keep reading, I think you'll like what you see" or "we're always open to new ideas, and who knows, a couple years down the line...."

The few things that did interest me:

1) DC is currently working on the follow-up to Wednesday Comics; but, Bob Harras wouldn't announce anyone who's working on it. (Why not?? Seriously, telling us some people you have lined up for this project wouldn't be giving too much away, I'd think.)

2) Lois Lane will have a big role in Flashpoint.

3) Marv Wolfman announced that he and George Perez have completed Teen Titans: Games, a project about 25 years in the making. He admitted that while they are using a lot of the original artwork, the story has changed. Him and George actually didn't remember a lot of what the story was about, I guess...just the basic idea behind it. They think this will be better, though; and, I'm excited about this graphic novel that will see release this fall.

4) Sergio Aragones announced he's doing a Groo/Conan crossover story. (It won't be for DC, though. I would guess it's for Dark Horse.) He admitted it's for a younger audience, but said that older fans should find it pretty funny.

5) Finally, Marv Wolfman said that while people have shown interest in a Teen Titans movie, that it's something that won't happen until at least 5 years down the line, when DC gets all their other main character's movies out. He did mention something about a Raven tv series that might be picked up.

EDIT: I forgot. Earth 1 projects are coming together, with artwork from the sequel to Superman: Earth One already coming in; and, Geoff Johns is slated to do Batman: Earth One, which will be released in late 2011 or early 2012.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Last weekend was the Emerald City Comic Con, a three day event that did not live up to it's "ten year anniversary."

What do you expect from a Con, especially one that is celebrating it's tenth year? That it (at least) compares to the previous years. Last year, they had big media names (Shatner), a lot of artists and writer, and a good flow to the whole event.

What did the Con deliver?

*Less artists and writers (a LOT less, from what I perceived). Many were just the same we get year after year; and, even some of the regulars, like Bendis and Marz, didn't show up this year. DC was hardly even represented. Out of the New 52, I only had 4 first issues that could get signed by an artist or writer. Now, there were a few big names that I hadn't seen before; but, it was nearly impossible to get your books signed by them. (I got lucky. VERY LUCKY, though.) Silvestri was there; but, you had to get at the Con early in the morning to get a ticket to his signing. He handed out 150 tickets; and, you had to come back at a specific time to see him. (It was a two hour time during that day. Even the media guests sign longer than that.) Thankfully, I got my books signed by him on Sunday. I was lucky, because he was so sick, he wasn't even suppose to show up the last day. Kirkman, the biggest person that was appearing, only handed out 75 tickets on the final day. If you weren't right in front at the start of the day, you wouldn't have a chance at a ticket. I was lucky on Sunday, again. It was a mad rush to the tickets, and I luckily stuck my hand out and got one. They were gone in less than a minute. Finally, Pendelton Ward was doing a lottery. If your lottery ticket didn't get called, you couldn't get a signature. (Only 50 or less people were lucky enough to get to see him.) Through luck and doing a lot of standing around, I was able to get to see him, too.

I did notice one thing that peeved me off. At each of the busy lines, Kirkman and Ward, the people in charge of that section let their buddies in lines; and, one of the guys handed someone in line their books to be signed. To me, that lacks professionalism. That said, one of the highlights of the event was how nice the "minions" were. They are the people who volunteer for free to be used and abused by the higher-ups...which were the guys giving their friends a free pass.

*Another problem was the media guests. Now, I was excited before the con began; because, they had three guests I wanted to see: Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Christopher Lloyd, and the dude that played Draco Malfoy. All three cancelled, and they were replaced by lesser people. (For Lloyd, we got Lea Thompson. For Draco, we got the Weasley twins. And, I think Katee's replacement was the guy who played in the last Conan movie.) The biggest name was George Takai. I did meet Lea Thompson, who was extremely friendly. But, her line was non-existent. I walked right up. My kid did get a picture with the Weasley twins; but, that was a fiasco. Walking Dead was such a hit, that she had to wait an extra hour, because they had such a big line-up for their photos.

*It wasn't the media guests that created the huge turn-out, though. For the first time, they added voice actors, which I (and, the comic con) never realized would be such a huge hit. From Friday to Sunday, the con was packed like never before. (I even heard they had to stop letting people in on Saturday for a time.) It was just packed, packed, packed. Last year on Friday, I had no problem getting around and meeting people I wanted to meet. This time, it was like last year's Saturday. It was a mess. I heard on Saturday, the fire marshall wasn't that happy, either.

*Comics are becoming less and less in the Con. Four years ago, half the Con seemed filled with comic dealers; but, this year, only the biggest shops seemed to be represented. That makes for less deals for me to get. And, this year, I only bought about 10 comics from dealer tables. I guess I need to go to the smaller cons to get those deals I used to get. Now, the Con is filled with booths that represent every single small, independant comic company; and, the ones that sell clothes and trinkets.


That's it for now. I might report a few other things that happened during the three days. While I was a bit disappointed by things, I'm still so happy I went. Meeting Kirkman, Silvestri and Pen Ward made for a great way to end the Con for me. I just didn't get a chance to do all the things I wanted.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Anyway, I didn't get to chat it up with too many of the writers or artists. I never really know what to say to them; and, more often than naught, they always say something to the effect of, "I've got a new project coming up; but, you'll have to wait until ____ to find out about it. I can't say a thing about it until it's announced."

I did hear Brubaker saying how he took his Criminal-type book projects to Image; because, that way he owns his own creations, and he gets more from it than at Marvel. He was saying something about a company making big bucks off something he did, and he didn't get a cent back. For that reason, it made me doubt that he'll be using Icon for much of his non-superhero stuff anymore. Can't say I blame him. Marvel is foolish to not try and get their writers to stick with them, and offer them competing deals with their Icon brand.

Ron Randall really wants people to give his new Trekker series a try when it comes out from Image again. I have some old Trekker books, when Dark Horse and Image put it out; and, he wants word of mouth to travel over the internet. (He just doesn't understand this medium, he says. He can promote at the Cons, but not online. He also feels like people will get a negative image of him, if he only comes on a place like this to try and sell his product.) Anyway, he's a super nice guy; so, if you have some extra bucks in your pocket, please try and give his relaunch a look-see.

Bill Sienkiewicz, meanwhile, let me down. Unlike the previous year, I kept my comics to a pretty low level to get signed. For Bill, I think I had 8 books I wanted signed. His line was always pretty big; and, I'm a bit shocked. It's not that a lot of people wouldn't be interested in him; but, it was when you got to the front of the line, you were told he'd only sign two comics, and the following three would cost a five dollar donation to the Hero Initiative. (They signed five of my extras for the five dollar donation.) I don't mind donating to the cause; as, I buy every Hero Initiative comic that comes out. What I didn't like was him having such a low total of free comics he'd sign. I'm not surprised, though. I have found that the only writers or artists who charge for signatures are to older ones who've been around a while. Every year I've been to the con, there is some classic writer I'm thrilled to finally meet; and, they want to make an extra buck off their fans. (And, that's the thing. I'm never too sure if the money really goes to the Hero Initiative.)

As usual, there are just some writers and artists who are hardly ever at their tables. Manapul is very popular, but I doubt he was in his seat three hours of a day. The artist on his book, The Flash, was never around, either.

Kurt Busiek, though, is awesome. He comes every year, will sign anything you want, and always talks it up. Him and I talk about our kids; and, his had to miss this year's Con. (They were in DisneyWorld, which Kurt was very happy to miss.) I haven't been a big fan of his recent book at Dynamite; but, when someone is this nice, I'll support him regardless.

Greg Capulo's line was always hard to get in to. That was mainly because he insisted on standing up, shaking your hand, and talking to you while he signed your books. He just appreciated the fans who showed up and waited almost an hour in his line. (And, it was nice to have one of DC's artists at the show.)

Like I said, tickets were popular this year. Image was all about having a ticket for their top names; and, besides Silvestri and Kirkman, I had to get a ticket for Spencer this year. (It's not that they are so friggin popular, it's more that they only show up for an hour or two a day. It's a real pain in the butt, and not a trend I liked at this year's con.)

Another trend I hated: Artists who wouldn't sign your comics until the very last hour of the Con. For the first time, Tim Sale did this. Tony Moore did this. During the rest of the time, they are drawing for people, so they can get the big bucks, I guess. Heck, why are they even at their booth?? They could just sit in their damn hotel room and do that. I guess it's so they can sell their prints.

Oh, and Bryan Lee O'Malley showed up this year. He was a last week announcement, and he said he'd only sign six items. (Not too surprisingly, that's the number of Scott Pilgrim books he's put out.) So, the day before the Con, I bought the six pack of Scott Pilgrim books. I guess one of these days, I'll finally read it. His line was long, but it went rather quickly. It took me an hour, though, to get his autographs.

 

[sideburnking]

I'm planning on going to the Florida Supercon in Miami next month.
Comic guests: There are a few that stick out. Shawn Crystal will be there, I can get him to sign the 'Deadpool Team- Up' issues I have. Also, Howard Chaykin will be there (I don't really like his art, but I'll still take his autographs for his stuff that I have if for no other reason than to increase the comics' monetary value). Plus, Marvel editor Lauren Sankovitch will be in attendance (Valued both so I can get her autograph on certain comics, and because she'll be doing a Q & A session, and the last one of those she held that I was present for was funny as hell). Another attendee I look forward to meeting is Karl Moline (My older brother a few months ago sent me a bunch of comics when he moved, including the first 2 issues of the 'Buffy' comic Moline did, so I can get him to sign them). However, the #1 most exciting addition for me so far HAS to be Steve Epting. I loved his work on 'Captain America,' and I have not one but two ultra- rare "Hero Death" issues he worked on that I can get him to sign (A first- edition copy of 'Captain America' #25, and also a first- edition copy of the 'Fantastic 4' issue in which Human Torch died). He's always been at the top of my list of guests I'd have if I could host a dream comic convention.
For media guests, while not as cool of a lineup as when I went to Supercon 3 years ago (When Bruce Campbell was the Guest of Honor, and I got him to sign my copy of 'If Chins Could Kill'), there are a few interesting ones: Voice actor extraordinaire Billy West will be there (Just seeing what his face looks like will be worth it for me). Another notable voice actor in attendance will be Alan Oppenheimer (Voices of Falkor, Rockbiter, and Gmmork in 'The Neverending Story,' as well as a ton of voices for the original 'He- Man'). They've also been adding a lot of kids from 'The Hunger Games' as guests. Nobody big so far, they're mainly just the nameless tribute kids who didn't last long in the Games (i.e. the little curly haired boy killed by Cato in the opening massacre, the girl killed after lighting a fire that led everyone to her, etc.), but it'd be cool if they could at least get someone like Thresh or Foxface to come too.

Also, they'll be doing Florida Super Championship Wrestling, which is a kind of wrestling tournament show in which the competitors represent certain pop culture characters (i.e. Cobra Commander, Zangief, Carl from 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force,' etc.). That was a lot of fun when I saw it at the 2009 Supercon, and this year's one should be pretty good, too.
I can't wait!

 

[venom892]

Supercon is a lot of fun. This year will be my fourth year and I'm really looking forward to meeting Roy Thomas and Neal Adams.

 

[xDumpweed182x]

So I'm going to SDCC this year. It'll be my second time. Anybody have predictions as to what movies will show up?

 

[Hawkingbird]

Is anybody going to LSCC?

 

[BillPardy]

At the last minute I've decided to maybe go to Toronto Comic Con. But, I'm not to interested in the guest or events, I'm just hunting for a few trade paper backs. Is it worth the 20 bucks to go and check out the selection?
Has anyone been to TCC?

 

[Snikt8]

Anyone going to the Philadelphia Comic Con?

 

[JewishHobbit]

I'm concidering going to the Cincinnati Comic Con because just about every friend I have wants to go (despite that none of them are into comics). I'm not sure I really want to go, as it's not like any big information will be released and I don't really care to meet any guests, but it'd be fun to just hang out with my friends. And I hear comics are good prices at comic cons.

 

[BillPardy]

I'm concidering going to the Cincinnati Comic Con because just about every friend I have wants to go (despite that none of them are into comics). I'm not sure I really want to go, as it's not like any big information will be released and I don't really care to meet any guests, but it'd be fun to just hang out with my friends. And I hear comics are good prices at comic cons.

I heard a lot of the people at the Toronto con complaining that there were to many comic booths... But as someone who only went, so I could buy comics... it was great. I could flip through a long box for fifteen minutes and not be in the way of anyone else.

 

[Phaedrus45]

How great to see this thread up; because, I didn't have to hunt it down.

Last weekend was the Emerald City Comic Con; and, I have to say it has officially jumped the shark. For the first time, I came away sorely disappointed. They greatly expanded the show floor, filled a bunch of extra levels with panels and celebrity guests; but, it was far too crowded. All three days sold out (and, Saturday and Sunday and 3 Day passes sold out a week before the show started). For the first time, they didn't offer any discount passes for pre-orders. But, seriously, I don't have a problem with any of that; because, the list of guests were simply impressive.

Again, it was far too crowded. They increased the amount of vendors at the Con; but, it wasn't really anything I wanted more of. A bunch of t-shirts and crap. The writers and artists were mixed throughout the whole space, and you could hardly get to them. (I talked to one of them, and they agreed it was far to crowded to do proper selling.) The vendors did great business. Usually Sunday is heavy discount day; but, the crowd never let up. They sure weren't dropping prices, like in the past.

My biggest complaint? The artists and writers you wanted to see were hardly at their tables ... or, they refused to sign any books until an appointed time. (So many of them only had a 1 hour time to sign each day. Image is doing this a LOT.) Why would I want to cart a bunch of books around, just having to run from one spot to the next. Heck, much of the time there was a "minion" who had the line cut off, and they told you to come back later. When you did come back later, the line had been cut off again.

Now my big complaint. I didn't get a lot of signatures; but, I did want to get four books signed by Neil Adams. How cool to walk up and not see a single person in his line! OH, but why wasn't he busy? Because, he charge 10 bucks for each ... YES EACH ... signature he gave out. What a tool! His current work hardly sells (First X-Men and the god-awful Batman Odessey); and, unless it's a Marvel book, I'm not buying another thing he puts out.

There were a few good things about the Con, like how many panels they had and how well they handled the Media celebrities and Voice Talents. For the first time, I sat on some panels, and enjoyed that aspect of the Con. I refused to get more than 20 signatures, though. It was simply that awful.

 

[SpideyForPrez]

Yeah, I was at the Emerald City Comic Con this year as well and agree with most of what you're saying, Phaedrus45. It was, way, way, too crowded this year. But it was nice to see them expand the show floor, even if it was poorly spaced out and mostly more t-shirt booths. Hopefully, they'll get a better layout next year. And yeah, tickets sold out way too fast. I was only able to go Sunday.

I still had a good time though. Like you, I was shocked to see no line at the Neal Adams booth. And while he was charging a lot, I decided to get a "Quickie" commission sketch from him and I love it. I got to talk to him for a little while too since he wasn't busy, and he seemed like a nice guy. I also got my photo taken with Adam West which was great (even if he looked A LOT older than I expected him to, lol).

There was an ENORMOUS line to pick up celebrity photos which I really didn't understand. I was able to walk by the table several times to check for my photo, and when it was ready I just walked right up and took it. Why were people waiting in line for photos that weren't even ready??? They really need to change how they handle that.

The placement of the writers and artists was really terrible. I only cared to get signatures from three people: Brian Poshen, Humberto Ramos, and Mark Waid. In previous years, all the Marvel artists and writers were regulated to one area but they were all in totally different rooms this time. It was really hard to find them, and despite showing up to Mark Waid's booth at the beginning of his signing times on Sunday, I never even saw him. He was never at his booth when I checked!

But like I said, I still had fun and I'm glad that the convention itself is getting bigger with better guests and panels each year. They just need to handle the ticket sales and floor planning better.