Comments on: Why I don’t go to cons.

By: Jev

Jev — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:08:11 +0000

Er… must have pasted the wrong link in my last comment, hope nobody got some unexpected Crue… or that they at least enjoyed it. ^_^

By: Jev

Jev — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:08:09 +0000

I don’t go to comic cons, or at least I’ve never been to one, but I do enjoy a good anime con every few years ago – mainly for the filmings and the chance to be exposed to new work I wouldn’t otherwise get. There isn’t really a corallary to that at a comic book convention, other than previews for comic related movies I guess (although I do love that sketchbook idea).

However I do wish I could go to Comic Con, soley to see the screening of Repo: The Genetic Opera (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiP4f_8BeOQ), which I strongly encourage anyone who is attending to go see. I cannot wait for this movie to be released!

By: itbox

itbox — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:52:07 +0000

“(Memo to all nerds: even when Jessica Alba was seventeen, she still wouldn’t have talked to you.)”

Oh I don’t know MGK, when I was a nerd in School, and even more socially awkward and ugly than I am now, most of the pretty girls got on quite well with me. They probably would have felt vaguely ill at the thought of any form of physical contact but they were always friendly.

By: Blog@Newsarama » Blog Archive » SDCC: Selling out in San Diego

Blog@Newsarama » Blog Archive » SDCC: Selling out in San Diego — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:11:20 +0000

[...] seems to have morphed into a PR-palooza, with the celebration of an art form giving way to corporate hype and [...]

By: zc

zc — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:09:11 +0000

Your first point sums up my main problem with cons pretty succinctly. I’ve only ever gone to one con–New York ComicCon 2007–and that was only because I got a free pass. I personally think it’s cool to have signed books… but I don’t care much either way. And to be honest the process of getting something signed is just so damn awkward that I feel like it isn’t worth the effort (not only is it a bad way to try and tlak to these artists who you respect and admire, as you detailed, but I also just feel like a total ass if I take more than like, one book to get signed by any given person. I see people bring longboxes to get signed by people and it blows my mind that they have no shame about this.

But, comic book fans.)

And panels do suck, yeah. The only time I’ve ever been interested in something like that was Warren Ellis’s thing at the recent Wizard World Chicago, where he talked on stage for an hour and a half. And that’s like a one-time-ever thing, too.

(and all this sucks because a birthday gift I’ve been meaning to get together for my Dad for years now is a copy of Demo #8 signed by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan… and in order to get the latter of the two signatures I have to pay to get into a con or be lucky enough to be around on one of those rare times when she’d be signing at a comic store for some thing. gah!)

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:43:54 +0000

Kyle…I almost didn’t get it because I saw Giarusso doing a big sketch featuring the major players from the book. But I didn’t have too many references with me, so I went ahead with it.

By: Brad Reed

Brad Reed — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:45:15 +0000

“It was mostly talking about the barn and about how much whiskey Sarah McLachlan could put away at the time. Apparently she used to be a total hardcore drinker, back in the day.”

Now I have yet another reason to love that woman to pieces.

The Small Press Expo in the Washington, DC area was fun and reasonably harmless. Fewer people in costumes and more moping art students than the big cons. Whether that’s an upgrade depends upon your worldview, I suspect.

By: Ken Lowery

Ken Lowery — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:34:06 +0000

Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly why I don’t go, either. I don’t like gadgets and gizmos, I don’t buy back issues, and anything of note on any panel will be repeated ad nauseum online. The only reasons to go are 1) sketches, 2) meeting up with folks, and 3) maybe getting that one comic that REALLY MEANS SOMETHING to you signed by the guy(s)/girl(s) who did it.

My only theme is I sometimes get writers to draw characters they write. The results can be hilarious.

By: Matt D

Matt D — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:53:00 +0000

I think the biggest trick in going to a Con is to find one close enough that you don’t have to be there too long. If you’re there for more than one afternoon, that’s probably too long. The Baltimore Comic-Con’s right near us. Take the light rail in the morning to get there. Hit the half-price TPB deals early. Talk to a few creators. Go to a panel or two (the big hype ones are fun for what they are; past that, try to hit a Greg Rucka one. He’s usually real good). And then get the hell out of there and go home while everyone else can go do whatever the heck it is they do after I get home.

By: Zenrage

Zenrage — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:05:13 +0000

“Not that I particularly want to SEE that image, what with being a SG fan and all, but…what’s stopping you from doing that now?”

Because i don’t want to spend any more time drawing that loathsome character than I have to.

and my plans for tippy-toe have nothing to do with Richard Gere. More like a small latino child lifting a blindfold, looking down at the entrails and saying “where’s the candy?”

By: Linkblogging for 24/07/08 « Thoughts on music, science, politics and comics. Mostly comics.

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:20:13 +0000

[...] Chris Bird sums up rather well why I won’t go to cons. [...]

By: Jim Smith

Jim Smith — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:06:43 +0000

The internet, and eBay in particular, have essentially turned us all into Jimmy Thudpucker.

Maybe Jimmy Thudpucker could find those last two issues of the full set of New Warriors I’ve been working on for four years, then…

But of course deep down I know the chase is better than the catch…which is why I do go to cons…

By: Kyle W.

Kyle W. — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:02:28 +0000

Jason, that sketch-book makes me want to see Chris Giarrusso do a Watchmen story.

Wish I had the money to try a con and be disappointed. I’d probably improve upon my Halloween 2003 Rorschach costume. I need to rock that shit before it gets played out by the movie.

By: Clayton

Clayton — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:01:33 +0000

“Not that I particularly want to SEE that image, what with being a SG fan and all, but…what’s stopping you from doing that now?”

After that post, it’s probably because everyone’s too scared to hand him a sketchbook. You DO NOT want to hear his plans for Tippy-Toe, but I’ll give you a hint: It involves crawling inside of Richard Gere’s colon.

By: Sage Freehaven

Sage Freehaven — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:14:07 +0000

“I hope I get to be an artist that gets to draw in a Squirrel Girl sketchbook someday… so I can draw Thanos raping her anally.”

Not that I particularly want to SEE that image, what with being a SG fan and all, but…what’s stopping you from doing that now?