Well, if you haven’t got enough of this year’s SDCC yet or need to catch up, the LA Times is here to help you out with a huge wrap-up of the event that oddly begins by being a tad wistful.
This is the year they tried to take the comic out of Comic-Con.
The Comic-Con International in San Diego, which came to a close Sunday, has become a frenetic Super Bowl of pop culture, but the home team has mixed feelings when it looks at the scoreboard.
“I think Comic-Con is in danger of having Hollywood co-opt its soul,” said Michael Uslan, who attended the first comic-book convention in summer 1964 in New York. “It’s turning into something new, and you could really see it this year. There’s some worry about that.”
Didn’t this happen a few years ago?
Spread the word!
It’s not just SDCC. WizardWorld in Chicago is essentially just the biggest 3-day Star Wars mall in America.
I haven’t been in awhile but the last time I went, the actual comics dealers were few and far between. Pretty sad given that I actually was looking for comics (well, graphic novels). The highlight was and continues to be waiting several hours in line to get to hear Kevin Smith talk.
Comic creators are an even bigger rarity. My last trip, I got a hardback edition of Strangers in Paradise signed by Terry Moore with a sweet, personalized sketch. My biggest thrill at my first con was meeting the creators behind my favorite books but that’s becoming harder and harder.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some “back to basics” comic book shows started popping up here and there and gaining popularity for the very reasons you state above.
You know, it’s one thing to go to these gargantuan cons and have your mind blown by everything you can do (or buy) and see the neat-o new crap that’s unveiled. But it’s another — and better business sense I’m guessing, in some respects — to go to one that’s more focused and less mobbed and be able to browse, take your time, talk to people, etc.
I’d love to see a return to basics like you mention. My first con was in ‘87 in Chicago and it was great. There was a good crowd of people but it wasn’t the mob scene that WizardWorld and SDCC are. They also separated the creators from the dealers which was really nice.
I got to hang out and talk with guys like Bill Reinhold and Peter Laird who were relatively new artists at the time and you could actually have a conversation! You didn’t have to attend a panel or shout over some obnoxious music filling a huge hall. I miss that.
Dunc – sounds like a description of Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. It seems that every time I went, there were some great books and sketches to be had while talking up some rising creators like Jeff Parker, Tom Beland, Frank Cammuso, Frank Cho and even the late great Scott Kurtz (prior to his ego explosion).
Yeah, the Small Press Expo is great, as is the MOCCA one.
MoCCA is one con (outside fo SDCC) that I want to attend in the very near future.
I just read an interview with Jeff Smith in the Onion’s AV Club and he mentioned MOCCA too. Anybody know when that is?
MOCCA is usually over some weekend in June. This year it was 6/7-8, I think…? Either way, it’s a lot of fun. Very mellow and similar to the Small Press Expo in my opinion — albeit in a much, much nicer space.
Is that a slam on the faded brown and rust decor that is Holiday Inn of Bethesda or is that your so-obvious NY bias showing, sir?
Both.
I don’t care where it is as long as they have a bar.