Spiderbite

I thought the same thing until I watched the video. Looks like it turned out pretty good. Did you have to worry about the ink smearing at all?

matrixrok9

A small part of the ink smudged a bit. I just put a "screen protector" on the back where he drew it after it was dry. It looks a bit faded now (not as dark). I thought it'd be pointless if I didn't use it cus of Finch's awesome sketch. If it disappears, I'll just get another artist to draw another Batman or some other character.

Patman

I wouldn't spend too much time on comics at SDCC. I spent my time on film/TV/cosplay/exhibit hall for most of the 4 days there last year. Just sneaked in one panel on cover artists (won a quickie Adam Hughes sketch for answering a trivia question), and another one to watch AH! do a copic marker sketch of Snow White.

TomOpus

So, I am wondering if anyone else is thinking ComicCon International choose Anaheim for this year's WonderCon as a dry run for a possible future move of Comic-Con to Anaheim? I know the venue has been mentioned and with WonderCon having to move for 1 year, this would be a great way to see how things run there.

kodave

That's obviously what it was, especially since I'm sure they could have just held WC across the bay somewhere in Oakland or San Jose if the SF venue was under renovation this year.

I'm sure Anaheim would love the money Comic Con would bring in to the city, especially with the lure of Mickey Mouse across the street. Anaheim is very pro-business and I'm sure Orange County in general would love to lure the event away from San Diego. But I think that might hurt the con Wizard runs in Anaheim (they run one there, right? I think they skipped this year because of WC), and it'll probably hurt the Long Beach Comic Con. San Diego County is really hurting economically right now, and San Diego is a great city with great attractions, so I'm sure the city and county will play hardball to keep Comic Con there.

But if something as huge as Comic Con itself is going to come to Anaheim, they need to clear out the convention center for it. Today they had WC, volleyball, and cheerleading events all going on at the same time. It was a mad house on top of the rain (yes, rain in SoCal), and especially since most everyone had to park off site and be bussed in.

I've never been to CC in SD and have no idea what the size of that venue is or what the size of their rooms are for panels, but I think the Anaheim convention center might find itself limited in terms of rooms and room size when it comes to panels, especially since the focus is all on Hollywood TV and movies and thats what a whole ton of people are coming to see. And hotels might be a problem if its during the summer when families are vacationing at Disneyland and have booked up the surrounding area - CC would only make that worse.

Friday was relatively quiet at WC, Saturday was a mad house, and we'll see what Sunday brings, but I'm guessing it'll be quiet again.

matrixrok9

Sunday was fairly busy throughout the whole day. People were buying merchandise left and right. The vendors and artists seemed really happy at the end of the day. I know people were spending like crazy because 2 atm's inside the convention center ran out of cash. I had to use the atm at the hilton because one vendor gave me a great deal on Batman figures and if I used my credit card, he would've charged me tax.

DC booth was the best as they were giving comics all day long. Writers and artists were also on hand to sign autographs. They also had a photo setup and gave away free pics.

My budget for the con was $200 but ended up spending $300. For the first time in my life, I cared more about the artists alley than the vendors. Bought $35 worth of prints...now I have to re decorate my room.

Patman

At San Diego Comicon, their largest venue, Hall H, holds about 6500 people. Their 2nd largest room, Ballroom 20, holds about 3500-4000 (I think). There are also other large-sized rooms in the convention center that hold smaller crowds for other media guests (TV/film/comics). There's also the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton, while probably holds 2000 (I think).

Bronkster

I ended up not going. I was iffy on it anyway, and the weather killed it for me. No way am I going to buy golden age comics and then try to hike back to my truck in the rain. Turns out it didn't rain past morning, but I had already made my decision. Since Matrixrok9 reported it being busy, I'm glad I didn't bother.

kodave

Sunday definitely had more people than I expected, but in terms of getting into the panels and even the ballroom for the TV screening, I didn't see anyone turned away.

Seems like the SONY panel for RE, Looper, and Amazing Spider-Man on Saturday was the biggest draw of the weekend and thus the biggest disappointment for those not able to get in. Some security guards said some people came at 7 AM to camp out for the ballroom, which seems unnecessary unless you want to be front row. I know some people were in the ballroom for some of the movie panels earlier in the afternoon then left. It probably reached capacity a panel or two before the SONY stuff.

I noticed on Sunday a lot of artists and small press vendors packed it up early and split at least an hour before the con floor was supposed to close, if not earlier. AA seemed like it had a lot of talented people, but not a lot of "big names" so to speak compared to other cons. I know a lot of people were pissed that some big names had tables at AA but they weren't actually there signing or sketching. A lot of artists seemed too busy talking to each other than talking to people hovering over their tables. It gave off a vibe of they were giving up on sales or that they just didn't care about making even the smallest chit chat with the fans.

TheBang

Comic-con is committed to staying in San Diego through 2015.

But Anaheim and Los Angeles are the other two cities they were considering previously.

matrixrok9

That's crazy...lining up at 7am and spending the whole day in the ballroom. I already got restless just going to the Abe Lincoln/Prometheus panel and that was an hour long. I did get a cool poster 3D poster for Prometheus though.

Regarding AA, I noticed the big names like Mignola and Scott Snyder weren't there but the main reason was that they were doing a lot of panels and promoting at their own booths. WonderCon probbably gave them the tables for free since they were "special guests" The rest of the artists were there when I stopped by.

Did you buy any prints or commissions?

kodave

Not from artists directly. Bill Sienkiewicz signed some stuff for me, but he was mid-conversation with someone behind his table and barely looked up to acknowledge my presence. Don't get me wrong, it was nice he signed for free and whatnot, but it was like I was an inconvenience to his conversation (which I didn't interrupt, I waited until he acknowledged me). Should I have significant money in the future I'd still like to buy artwork from him, but it wasn't an awesome fan experience so to speak.

And yeah, the people I was talking to were pissed about Mignola and Snyder. Snyder did sign for an hour a day all three days at the DC booth, and I know both were busy with various panels and press interviews I'm sure. I guess its just a matter of how much fan service do you want to give considering these are people who buy your books and pay to come to these conventions?

I had trouble tracking down Bob Layton to ask him to sign something for me. He wasn't at his booth on previous days when I walked by, then on Sunday when I did come across his table he was on a break and his wife/GF/or just some woman sitting there seemed like she was really unhappy to be there and said he'd be back later. I chose to go to other panels and stuff and when I came back an hour before the floor was supposed to close, he had already split along with numerous other artists and small press vendors.

I'm sure some of these artists and small press vendors do maybe a convention or more a month between all of the Wizard and ComicCon regional ones, so I can see them tiring of the long days and probably inane fan chatter. On Friday they were begging people to come to their tables to try and draw them in for a sale. By Sunday they couldn't have cared less. But I mean, they're choosing to be there. We're the ones who buy their books and art. I'd like to think that if I was a creator and had a table I'd make an effort to be there as much as possible for the fans, but what do I know? Kevin Eastman was signing and sketching at the IDW booth on Saturday. With all of the traffic and craziness, he was at least 90 minutes late if not more. And he was doing one sketch for everyone, all for free, which was awesome. I was in the middle of the line and I waited just shy of 4 hours to get my autograph and sketch. Judging by the number of people in line behind me, there was probably another hour to go, so if you were at the end of the line, you might have waited 5 hours. But that was still cool of him to do all of that for free and I can understand that packing in that many sketches in that short of time would tire you out.

I did buy a print and a book from a small press vendor, but the creator wasn't actually there (and he wasn't advertised to be there or anything.) Also bought my book from Eastman to sketch in from the IDW booth since its a former con-exclusive, but they appear to have under 100 for sale on IDW's website. I might have bought some trades from TFAW's booth on Sunday had I known they were doing 50% off MSRP and Buy 3 Get The 4th Free.

TomOpus

Good, now you can fly out here for the Kansas City PlanetComicon this weekend

TomOpus

Yes, they announced last year they were staying until 2015. And Las Vegas is also considered a possible venue, mainly due to the sheer size of the convention center.

matrixrok9

Sorry to hear that you had a crappy experience with several artists, especially that Bill guy. I know how that feels when guys you look up to are indifferent/jerks. I had a bad experience with Samuel L. Jackson about 3 years ago and I thought he was a cool cat before then.

The artists did look tired by Sunday but they were still nice. I'm glad you got a sketch from Eastman. I don't know who he is but he must be really popular if the line was about 4 hours long. Can i see the sketch that he did?

If you can't find them at their booths, best way to track them down is through panels. Once they're done with the panel, go straight up to where they're sitting down and ask for their autographs. I've done this with Jim Lee, Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder (can you tell I'm a DC guy?) and they've never turned anybody down.

Anyways, here's my shopping/interaction with artists at Wondercon:
http://www.nerdsociety.com/close-300...ondercon-haul/

I'd copy and paste but it's a long read.

kodave

I wondered about rushing the stage so to speak. after a panel to get stuff signed and whether or not they'd put up with it. At the Mark Waid solo panel, some guy came and sat in front of me with a whole suitcase full of stuff to get signed from which he pulled out a giant stack of issues I assume he was going to have Waid sign after the panel. I feel like that was a bit greedy.

Eastman is one of the two co-creators of the TMNT. Again, some asshat at the front of the line for his signing had a suitcase full of books and so they had to go down the line and tell people he'd only do 1 sketch and a max of 10 things signed. I question whether some of these people are truly big fans or whether they're just getting everything and anything signed so they can turn around and sell it on eBay.

As for the sketch Eastman did, I'm still trying to figure out a way to get a high quality scan of it done because I'd like to get it reprinted so I can display it somewhere since I can't actually have the book open 24/7.

matrixrok9

From my experience, they cherish it when you go up to them after the panel. Geoff Johns didn't have a marker and felt bad he couldn't sign the comic, luckily one of the guys behind me let him use it.

I think that incident with Mark Waid is probably just a hardcore fan. I don't think any of there autographs go for a lot on eBay, not even Jim Lee's. But it's sad to hear that a fan would bring so much items for Waid to sign. Not sad because he's greedy but sad that he's so caught up with his work that he doesn't even know what's ethical.

Overall comic cons are great because fans that might be anti social have a chance to be themselves and meet their creators. But sometimes I see the greediness (one girl taking a bunch of copies of Batman #1 from DC booth, taking advantage of good deeds from the artists) from the fans as well and it just makes me shake my head.

If I knew who Eastman was, I would've been there early in the morning to try and get a sketch. 4 hours of wait is a bit long but TMNT was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid.

Please put up the sketch when you scan it..looking forward to it. Thanks!

Patman

I feel so old and jaded after reading some of these con reports in this thread. Heh.

Preterite

The thing to remember is that they are all still just people. Everyone has an off day. Everyone has left work early because things were really slow, and occasionally a customer/client who came by late is disappointed because of that.

Think of how tiring and/or stressful your job is. Picture a long day at work, and then add on top of that a long line of folks who all want some "special" time with you, who all want to talk about the exact same things over and over, and many of whom are not exactly up to normal standards of hygiene and sociability.

I waited in line once for Adam West's autograph. It wasn't a long line as these things go, and I was polite and efficient when my turn came up. I was kinda excited, of course, and instinctively held out my hand to shake when he handed over my photo. He reached out reflexively to shake it but caught himself and stopped short. I had forgotten that most celebs/creators have signs up about not shaking hands, as it can get pretty unhygienic when dealing with long lines of people. I held my hand up and apologized, my buddy behind me made a smart-ass quip at my expense, and West smiled and gave us each a fist bump instead. "You guys are all right," he said, and I left beaming.

Point is, he was kind of curt and maybe a little surly with everyone else in line. I think he has to be, to keep the line moving and forestall any discussions over who would win a fight between him and Michael Keaton, etc. But my friend and I engaged him person to person rather than awestruck fan to icon, and that got him to open up a little.

I think that is the key when dealing with celebs and creators at these events. Be civil, be brief, and if you do engage in conversation save the heavy-duty Comic Book Guy stuff for the internet. If you want to talk about the person's work, bring up something a little more obscure - I'd wanna talk to Richard Anderson about Scaramouche more than Osacar Goldman anyway.

Bronkster

Don't feel bad. My first trip to San Diego Comic Con was back when it was still just comic books ('72 or '73)!

drq2

I remember only paying $1 or $2 to get in. Just to buy books. You would have to pay for autos but it was not all that bad.

Neitzl

Anyone heading to C2E2?
Got my weekend pass, but will probably only hit Saturday.
In Chicago, at the McCormick Place convention center, April 13th-15th.

Patman

I'm going to C2E2!

davidh777

Emerald City CC starts today and I'm thinking about going for the first time. Have an open day today though it doesn't start till 2. No hugely attractive panels except for Robert Kirkman at 7, which I can't make anyway.

davidh777

First experience at Emerald City Comic Con:

Got a day pass for Friday and wandered around the dealer tables in the exhibition hall. Picked up a number of trades for 70% off, though knew I would regret getting a hardback early in the day. Couldn't resist a couple Brave and the Bold 100-Page Super Spectaculars for a couple bucks each after we'd talked about them on this board recently.

Outside of the main publisher/dealer area I found the creator tables. I had just finished Rotten vol. 1 so I got vol. 2 signed by one of the writers. Didn't realize that these were basically guys selling their own stock so I hadn't brought a ton of cash, nor had I brought anything to sign. Newb mistake.

Wandered more around the tables and found Don "Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" Rosa! I hadn't read anything about him in the con literature so it was a big surprise. He was wearing a T-shirt that said "Don Rosa: I'm big in Europe (especially Finland)!" and there was a sign posted that he wouldn't sign any of the Boom! reprints "other than their reproduction of Gemstone's EXCELLENT Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck series." I know he's had some trouble with publishers and that he's practically a god overseas, so this all seemed sad to me. But he was personable, and I got a couple of signed prints. He tried to sell me on a duck poster based on the Justice Society, which I actually really liked, but I had to get the Legion one instead.

I finally found where the media guests were so I went down to that level. I was too late for the Adam Baldwin photo ops, but after that was the signing period so I got an autograph. $30 for the signature, and they had a series of glossy photos available for no extra charge. Went back and forth between a Chuck pic and Firefly and went with the former, and mentioned that I'd seen him in My Bodyguard in theaters. He said "We're gettin' old." I agreed and mentioned that my mom had taken me because it was shot at her old high school, and he said "Lakeview in Chicago, I think. Tough school." I was pleased that he remembered and regretted that I hadn't had him sign something for my mom. He came across as a nice guy, and I wished him well on future projects.

The Wil Wheaton line was insane. Edward James Olmos arrived when I was in the Baldwin line and I thought about going over there, but I didn't have a ton of time and his was $50. I looked at the Lea Thompson line but she was due to arrive later. Summer Glau wasn't coming till Saturday and Sunday.

The panel rooms were lined up and there was nothing I had to see so I returned to the exhibition hall. Ryan Ottley and Jason Howard were signing prints reduced from $25 to $10 so I got one with Invincible and Atom Eve. There was hardly anyone at Bruce Timm's table, which I thought was kind of sad, but he wasn't offering anything to sign other than $100 commissions, so I had him sign my con program.

Slightly tempted to return Sunday to try to get George Takei (though I've met him before and had his book signed), and pics with Glau and Baldwin (they have their own panels today) but probably won't because of the time and money involved.