May 25, 2011
After last year’s five-con blowout, I’ve backed off a bit from Comic-Cons this year. In 2010 I attended at least one day at WonderCon, Anaheim Comic Con, Long Beach Comic Con, the general sci-fi/fantasy convention Westercon, and a full week of Comic-Con International in San Diego. (Those links go to my writeups and photos.)
This year I missed WonderCon (we weren’t sure about traveling with a baby), Anaheim (I’d rather catch Long Beach), and the one-day Long Beach Comic Expo (a busy month after moving, the new place desperately needed a no-plans weekend for some unpacking).
The second half of the year looks better.
Comic-Con International (July). I’m only going one day this year — new job, new baby and plans to move all conspired to keep things uncertain back at the time that tickets went on sale. So I’ll be a lot more focused on experiencing the day that I have than trying to report from the floor, but I’ll post my usual photos and writeups afterward.
Long Beach Comic Con (October). I’m still kicking myself for missing their April event, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. During its first two years, Long Beach has been a fun regional con focused on the actual comic part of Comic Con, and while I couldn’t make it to WonderCon this year, I really have no excuse to miss this one.
(Wizard World) Los Angeles Comic Con (September). Just announced a month ago. I sort of figure this is a second chance to catch Anaheim in case I change my mind, since Wizard has been really big on standardizing their shows lately. Also, I suspect they’re trying to crowd Long Beach out of the market, which is a big reason for me not to go.
Comikaze Expo (November). I only just heard about this one today, through the press release on Newsarama. It looks like they’re trying to out-Wizard the Wizard cons, judging by the heavy emphasis on TV/movie celebrities in the guest list, and maybe throw in elements of Anime Expo and GenCon to boot. It bothers me that they’re trying to hype it as the first con of its type in LA, ignoring the history of the Wizard cons and nearby conventions that aren’t within the Los Angeles city limits, but are close enough to be considered LA. I might drop in out of curiosity, assuming I’m not conventioned-out from Long Beach the week before.
So, current plans: San Diego and Long Beach. Maybe one of the two LA cons.
March 9, 2011
Hotel reservations go on sale in just half an hour for Comic-Con International, and fans across the world are gearing up for a grueling session of reloads and busy signals. I’m sitting it out this year — which actually feels kind of weird, since I’ve dealt with it every year since 2006 (and possibly 2005, but I think that may have been the last year it went smoothly) — but with the baby, we figured it would be better to make it a one-day trip this year.
To those of you planning to wade into the fray, I wish you the best of luck. And if you don’t manage to score a room through the convention block, I hope these tips for staying in San Diego that I wrote last year will help you find an alternative.
December 27, 2010
I ended up going to four comic book conventions in 2010, mostly in Southern California (plus one in San Francisco). Based on this year’s experience and past experiences, here are my thoughts on each show.
1. Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International in San Diego is the ultimate pop culture fan experience. They have everything you could possibly want to see, including comics, movies, video games and more. The downside: they have everything everyone else could possibly want to see, too. So it’s crowded, hectic, and requires planning months ahead in order to make sure you have a ticket and (if you need one) a hotel room. Comics publishers have a major presence, as do movie and video game studios, collectibles manufacturers, etc. and there are so many events on the schedule that you’d need a group of 20 people to see everything. If you can, try to go more than one day. This is the con I’m most familiar with, having attended every year since 1990.
CCI 2010 report.
2. WonderCon
Comic-Con International’s little sibling, WonderCon in San Francisco, is a nice balance of everything San Diego has to offer, but less crowded and less, well, insane. Comics take up a bigger part of the show, with the major publishers always well-represented, but movies and TV have a presence here as well. I’ve been to the last 3 cons.
Wondercon 2010 report.
3. Long Beach Comic Con
Only in its second year, Long Beach Comic Con makes a great impression as a convention that’s actually focused on comics and the people who make them. The artists and writers area is the central feature of the main floor. Programming is light, but the mid-level comics publishers have a strong presence. The emphasis on authors and the light crowds (this was only its second year) make it a good place to meet artists and writers without standing in incredibly long lines.
LBCC 2010 report.
4. Anaheim Comic Con
Wizard World’s return to the LA/OC area, despite the name change, is more focused on pop culture than comics. There’s little publisher presence, minimal programming, and a major emphasis on celebrities and dealers. Good for costume spotting. It’s fun, but if I had to pick one or the other, I’d definitely go with Long Beach. Technically this was its first year, but I understand Wizard World is trying to make all of their shows the same type of experience.
Anaheim 2010 report.
And Beyond
There are a lot of smaller cons that I either haven’t been to at all or haven’t been to recently. The roughly-bimonthly Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine comes to mind, for instance, and the California Comic Con in Yorba Linda. And aside from WonderCon and APE, I’m not really familiar with the Northern California scene — or, for that matter, the Inland Empire here in Socal.
Are there any other California-based fans here? What cons do you like to attend?
August 13, 2010
It’s been three weeks since Comic-Con International, but costume photos are always in season. Here are some of the people who came to the con dressed as the Flash. I’ve posted a few of these before, but not all of them. Some of the photos are mine, but most of them are from other photographers on Flickr. In each case, clicking on the photo will open the original page with larger images.
Authentic Custom Costumes
These are the costumes that were clearly home– or professionally-made, but that stuck to the standard designs.
First up is Mike Rollerson’s photo of a really impressive female Flash. I’ve seen her in a number of other costumes at various conventions, including Catwoman and Psylocke. Keep reading – there’s another picture of her later on.
The Superman/Wonder Woman/Flash trio on the right made a huge impression, judging by the number of photographers who snapped pictures of them at the con. The Flash is a very exact copy of the costume from the game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, down to the boots and the armbands, though he’s thrown back the hood and put on sunglasses instead. I’ve seen at least one picture of the group where he’s tossed on a red sweatshirt over the costume that looks like Bart’s from Smallville.
This group includes a more traditional Flash. As with many large groups, I’m not sure how many knew each other and how many were just invited to join in for having a costume with the same theme.
Read the rest of this entry »
August 9, 2010
Yeah, I know it’s been two weeks, but coverage is still trickling out.
High Five Comics has posted their con report.
I write about the Gaslamp Crush — the bottleneck in Downtown San Diego just outside the convention center which has become a sort of geeky version of the Las Vegas Strip.
The Source posts highlights of DC Comics’ photos from Comic-Con
CBR TV talks to Geoff Johns.
Gamer Live has a video interview with Marv Wolfman talking about DCU Online.
Mark Evanier considers the role of other media at Comic-Con.
August 2, 2010
The Flash wasn’t the only speedster super-hero at Comic-Con this year. Meagan VanBurkleo dressed up as Velocity from Top Cow’s Cyberforce.
Check out her site for more photos and a write-up of the costume. If you have time, read her article at Game Informer on SDCC: A Cosplayer’s Perspective.
» Full index of Comic-Con coverage
August 1, 2010
Some links related to the Flash and Comic-Con International.
Francis Manapul writes about SDCC, Beast Legends, and Flash #4.
Titans Tower Monitor Room has been posting convention sketches from Comic-Con International, including Kid Flash by Sean Philips [Update] and another Kid Flash by Francis Manapul.
DC Comics has teamed up with Converse for super-hero shoes, starting with Batman, Superman and Green Lantern. Somehow they managed to skip the hero who’s famous for running.
I’m still working on my overall convention report. Here are Thursday and Friday. Half-done, half to go!
» Full index of Comic-Con coverage
July 29, 2010
I’m still working on my review of The Flash #4, and hope to have it ready by tonight. In the meantime, you may want to check out this Flickr gallery of Flash costumes at Comic-Con (photos taken by other people), or my Thursday Con Report.
July 27, 2010
It’s been a crazy week here at Speed Force. To help you keep track of it, here’s an index to all of our Comic-Con coverage, between me covering the show onsite and Devin covering the online news.
Events
- DC Nation Kickoff (Thursday) live blog. (Dan Didio, Jim Lee, James Robinson, JT Krul, Nicola Scott, Jeff Lamire, Bill Willingham, Bob Wayne)
- DC Focus: Geoff Johns (Thursday) live blog.
- DC Nation Special Edition (Friday) live blog. (Geoff Johns, JMS, Grant Morisson, Jim Lee, Dan Didio)
- No Ordinary Family (Saturday) features some cool speed effects for Julie Benz’ character.
News
Sightings
More than Speedsters
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I’m going through my Comic-Con photos looking for Flash-related pictures I may have missed, and found this pair from the DC display including Blue Lantern Flash and Black Lantern Reverse-Flash…
…along with Orange Lantern Lex Luthor, Indigo Lantern Atom, Black Lanterns Batman, Hawk, Hawkman & Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan. And I think that might be Star Sapphire Wonder Woman behind Hal.
» Full index of Comic-Con coverage
» More Comic-Con photos
