In light of the one-day sellout of all admission tickets to this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego, two comic creators are talking openly about what could be done for SoCal comics fans who weren't able to make the mad-dash for this year's show.
It all started with Savage Dragon cartoonist & Image founder Erik Larsen tweeting "How nuts would it be if a bunch of the comic book big guns set aside an hour a day to sign comics for NON-SDCC attendees across the street?"
Comics writer Kurt Busiek chimed in saying "Since SDCC already spills out into the hotel area across the tracks, getting people to go there exposes them to SDCC vendors and still feels like part of the con, instead of competition."
Larsen went on to say that the convention is "just TOO big" with fans getting shut out of the convention. Although Larsen admitted that "ultimately it's not SDCC's fault folks want to attend", he feels an off-site event would give those "shut out a consolation prize".
Tom Spurgeon at the Comics Reporter spoke out on his site, saying " I've long wondered why someone savvy and local didn't do a small comics show in proximity to the bigger show, accepting CCI passes and targeting in some modest way the left-out locals, people who want to go somewhere other than the convention center for a few hours as well as the "I don't plan my July weekends six months in advance" crowd."
Although no official announcement has been made, a complimentary grassroots comic event held simultaneous to the yearly convention could an answer to the convention blustering size which has outgrown the capacity of the San Diego Convention Center.
While Comic-Con International is the biggest "comics" convention of its kind in the United States, other countries have dealt with bigger cons in different fashions. Europe's Angoulême International Comics Festival takes up an entire town in France, and Japan's Comiket is able to have a half million attendees twice a year by having a larger convention center. Although not comics, an American answer like this has sprung up at the yearly Sundance Film Festival where a group of independent film-makers started an unapproved spinoff event happening the same time as Sundance called Slamdance.
Perhaps an all-comics spin-off show going back to the conventions roots? Perhaps? In light of the show being named "Comic-Con International", maybe this would be "Comic-Con Local" or better yet — "Comic-Con LoCal"?
So what about you — would you leave the con floor of SDCC to try out other comic creator opportunities in a de facto SDCC sprawl of events?
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If only all those people bought comics…
I would welcome this in a heartbeat. This past NYCC was overcrowded as well, I’m hoping that if they don’t do this at SDCC then NYCC takes note.
Or rename SDCC, Pop-Culture Con … since that’s what it has become.
I wonder … how many of those tickets were purchased by scalpers and agents hoping to resell them for a higher price. Or does SDCC haepve mechanisms in place to orevent that?
I’d go to Tomic-Con International, hosted by Tom Jane.
@OnASunday – It doesn’t feel like there is any outreach to them. I mean, you have a totally captive audience, with all these non-comics folks standing in line for hours waiting to get in to a screening of sci-fi and fantasy shows and movies. Why don’t publishers have people hitting up these people, handing out freebies and samplers. I see these things sitting at the booths for the publishers. Be proactive and try to get them into the hands of non-readers.
Off-site parties are great.
I think this is a great idea! Comics are now the smallist part of the SDCC (sadly) so it would be nice to see something expand out for comic fans who can’t get a ticket/just want to hang with some of their favourite creators.
Nice idea — do I see the brewing of a comic/pop culture industry Sundance-type festival, rather than a con? At this point, it sounds more apt.
Sadly I could only score a Friday ticket, and my plane leaves on Sunday’s Morning, so I’m left with a free whole Saturday. I would definately go to a comics-creators off-site event. It’s an awesome idea, I would even pay a ticket to enter and have space to even walk!
Once upon a time, comics were unconventional.
I’d love it if some creators and fans of indie books and small pubs set up some meet-ups at public libraries, dive bars, comic book shops.
Personally I think it’s a great idea whether or not Comic-Con was sold out. I could picture something along the lines of SXSW where different venues aroundthe convention would have signings, panels, workshops, art gallery showings, screenings, etc. The events don’t, then, have to be limited to the space and time available in the convention hall. I really hope it does work out because this could be a good precedent for future cons.
Excatly as @hawaiianpunch said, and I mentioned in the other post. If the Comic convention model is no longer working look to some of the other succesful conventions, like music/media and make it a more SXSW style (which apparently France is already doing? That’s super interesting.) Seems like the only reasonable solution. Throw some of those big movie panels in a nearby theater and see how quickly the convention center gets some breathing ream. Know what I mean?
(that would be breathing ROOM. Not ream. Freudian slip.)
If you don’t have tickets would you want to fight through the mobs and traffic for a off site con? But if you’re talking people who want more but only got single day passes, it makes sense.
It’s weird. If a sporting event sells out do people demand bigger stadiums or off site games? Or maybe we’re looking for the comic equivalent of sports bars. Places to hang with fans with related entertainment.