Comic Con Soapbox

So, I want to take a moment out of my busy week to get on a soap box and talk to you all about the potential future downfall of the comic industry. For quite a few years now, I have had table space at quite a few different comic conventions. And for many years prior, I have shelled out

the big bucks to travel to and attend these shows. If we go back in time, say 15 years and look at the biggest 3 comic conventions they would have been the following:

1. The San Diego Comic Con

2. The Chicago Comic Con

3. The Motor City Comic Con

San Diego was still huge, although movie stars like Arnold, Angelina, and Patterson paid the event little to no mind. The show was huge because of the quality and quantity of talent it brought in. If you were in comics, you were there. They even had an artist alley area, for indie and up and coming talent. You had to submit your work for review, but if you had a shred of talent and a book to show, chances are they would find a small spot for you and not charge you a thing for it to boot.

Chicago was a little convention that had exploded into something huge. Recently purchased by Wizard but still run by most of the original convention planners, they still had the same personal sensibilities that a small show would have. If you had money, you had a table. No need to submit a portfolio for a review, just send a check, and the space would be waiting for you. This allowed for many indie and up and coming talent to showcase their work to the big boys of DC and Marvel who also set up at the show.

Motor City was the smallest of the 3 shows, but still had quite a following. Run by a local comic shop, they built up quite a following in the 90s and when they were going full steam ahead they managed to get DC and Marvel to attend their show as well. Their tables were dirt cheap, so it didn’t take much money for all of the “up and comers” to get a table.

Today the convention scene has changed drastically, and not for the better.

Here is my list of faults with the way things are done today with many of the larger conventions.

1. Comics are taking a back seat to media guests. This was a kiss of death for Motor City Comic Con, every year more and more “celebrities” show up. This changes the kind of people who go to the conventions, attracting the kind of tourists who would go on a tour of Hollywood actor’s neighborhoods, just to get a glimpse of Bob Saget grilling burgers. Not to mention that instead of buying comics, more people are saving money to get an autograph from celebrities like the Stormtrooper who hit his head in A New Hope. This sort of Hollywood convention usually makes the big comic companies of Marvel and DC go away.

2. Event planning companies suck. Now with the number 2 and number 3 spots of big conventions being taken up by shows like New York Comic Con, C2E2, and Fan Expo Canada, the little man is out and big companies are in. They are in it to make money, and bring in what they feel are the big names. So instead of letting all the “up and comers” get tables, everyone’s work is juried and only those “worthy” of table space get in. Oh, and unlike the portfolio reviews of San Diego, if you do get in, you still have to pay a hefty table fee…which leads me to reason #3…

3. Price gouging. We all understand that rent needs to be paid for the convention space. In the past 10 years though table prices have doubled or more at nearly every convention…as has the ticket price to get in the door. For attendees, more money spent getting in, means less money spent at the convention. For the guests, more money spent getting the table, means more money that needs to be made in order to make a profit. Kind of a double edged sword; less money all around.

With the top 4 conventions now requiring a portfolio review to get a table, and limiting the number of tables they give out to indie comic artists/writers, who knows what talent these big event companies are turning away…so many big artists today got discovered at conventions like these like Art Baltazar, or David Petersen. Can DC or Marvel afford to let their new talent pool be regulated by Reed Exhibitions or Hobbystar Marketing?

So I have an idea that I hope can be spread around. DC and Marvel, and their parent companies of Time Warner and Disney have tons of money and resources at their disposal. It’s time for a convention that is run by the industry itself. Collaborate with each other….throw in Dark Horse and Image, and Oni and other companies…If the big 4 pubs ran the show, they could get all of their star talent to show up, and they could make an artist alley for up and coming talent that they haven’t tapped yet. It would be cutting out the middle man of comic conventions. Diamond Distributions could even get in on the deal…they do supply almost the entire product to the dealers that set up at the shows.

Just something to think about.