Batman of Zurr-enn-Arrh, originally uploaded by Kelson.
I did in fact make it to WonderCon on Saturday, and I’ve posted my photos to Flickr. (No, that’s not me! The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was just happy that he got his question answered at the DC Editorial panel.)
Last night the hotel wifi was horribly slow. Today it’s much faster. Probably because a lot of people are either just leaving the con or at dinner right now.
Update: My con report is online!
Tilting at Windmills’ column on periodicals at CBR got me thinking about my comic book buying habits. I’ve been making the weekly trip to the comic store for well over a decade, but that’s been changing lately. Since I’ve cut back to about 10 monthly books, it’s not uncommon for a week to go by with nothing on my list, or with only one or two items. It hardly feels worth it to go to the store for a single comic book unless it’s something I really want to read immediately, so I’ve found myself skipping those weeks and picking up several weeks’ worth of comics at once.
So how about you? Do you have to get your new comics “fix” every week, or do you save it up for one big monthly trip? Or something in between?
Update: The poll results are in. With 122 people responding, nearly half (43%) said they went to the comic store every week. The surprise was that the second-most popular response wasn’t every other week (7%) or even every month (12%), but those who only bought comics occasionally — a full quarter of those who replied!
In short, buying habits cluster around the Wednesday crowd and the bookstore crowd — and the bookstore crowd is a lot bigger than I expected. I don’t necessarily mean literally buying comics at book stores rather than comic stores, but people who buy their comics the way most people buy books: when they have the opportunity, or when something specific comes out.
Planning to go to Comic-Con International, but couldn’t get a hotel room during last week’s lottery? Over at K-Squared Ramblings, I’ve posted some tips on how you can still stay in San Diego.
Here are some more questions (and implied questions) pulled from search terms that have shown up in the site stats, all about conventions.
That depends on the convention. Some of the price variations I’ve seen include:
In most cases, you can go to the convention’s website and order a ticket online, or find a phone number to call. Regional cons will often sell tickets through nearby comic stores.
I’m guessing that this person meant Comic-Con International (San Diego), which has sold out of full-weekend, Saturday, and Friday passes for this year. You can still buy a Thursday or Sunday ticket. If you want to get a 4-day pass, or a pass for a day that’s sold out, don’t give up hope just yet.
But first: you can’t just buy a ticket second-hand because they’re linked to names, and you have to show ID when you pick up your badge. Maybe if your identical twin bought the ticket and is willing to lend you his or her driver’s license.
You can keep your eye open for promotions. Last year, as the con approached, there were companies that held contests or raffles where the prize was a ticket to the convention.
You can also wait until June. Last year, after the cancellation deadline, the con organizers counted up the number of tickets returned and started selling them online. To keep them from selling out all at once, they put them up in small lots in fixed-price sales on eBay. They’ve said that they plan to do something similar this year.
I’ve seen a lot of variations on this one, which is interesting because there hasn’t been a Wizard World Anaheim yet to review! The convention coming up in April is the first one.
It will probably be similar to the last few Wizard World Los Angeles cons, though the change in venue will almost certainly have an effect. WWLA itself changed drastically (I’m told) when it moved from the Long Beach Convention Center to the Los Angeles Convention Center, and the new con is going to be literally across the street from Disneyland. More importantly, Wizard World itself seems to be broadening its focus to general pop culture and celebrities even as it’s adding “Comic Con” to its name.
If you’re interested, here are my write-ups of some recent LA-area cons:
On a related note, I also saw this:
Sorry to break it to you, but he’s not going to be there. The same weekend, he’ll be at C2E2 in Chicago.
Update: I forgot to mention another weird one related to Anaheim: “WonderCon Anaheim.” I don’t know whether someone got the names mixed up (it does start with a W) or was looking for information on both conventions.
Some convention linkblogging…
This Saturday, February 20, Long Beach Comic-Con will host a one-day Comic Expo 2010. The full weekend-long convention is still on for October.
Comic Convention Memories has been posting old Comic-Con photos (via The Beat).
Con humor: Someone searched for “san diego donut weird” and landed on this photo round-up from San Diego 2008. I can’t imagine why… 😉 The first time I saw these costumes, I remember seeing a little boy of around 5 or so turn to his mother and say, “I don’t like him.” Smart kid.
More con humor: The Beat reveals Wizard World Mars, the latest of Gareb Shamus’ convention acquisitions. Wizard responds by “confirming” the news (with follow-up at the Beat).
Comic-Con’s David Glanzer talks to CBR about attendance sellouts and WonderCon. Full-weekend, Saturday and Friday tickets to this year’s Comic-Con International (San Diego, July 22-25) are sold out, but Thursday and Sunday are still available. Hotel rooms go on sale March 18.
Tickets to WonderCon (San Francisco, April 2-4) went on sale three weeks ago and are still available.
Well, I did attend three comic conventions in 2009…but not the three I was expecting! WizardWorld Los Angeles was canceled with just two months’ notice, but Long Beach Comic Con stepped in to fill the gap.
I’ll most likely be staying in California again next year, so here’s what next year’s convention season looks like for me:
April 2–4, 2010; San Francisco, California. Probably.
The last two years have been a lot of fun. It’s a lot like San Diego Comic-Con used to be before it exploded, actually. (It’s also a good excuse to travel and visit people in the Bay Area!) This one’s still up in the air for now, since they haven’t started selling tickets yet, but despite the distance, it still ends up being cheaper than San Diego.
» Wondercon 2009 report and photos.
» Update: WonderCon 2010 report and photos.
April 16–18, 2010; Anaheim, California. Maybe.
The show that officially replaces Wizard World Los Angeles is only 10 minutes away, so it would be a shame to skip it. And it’ll be close to the time that Flash and Kid Flash are launching. But it’s also only two weeks after WonderCon, and Wizard, or Gareb Shamus, or whoever is in charge keeps doing things that annoy me.
» Update: Anaheim Comic Con 2010 report and photos. After a lot of dithering, I went for it.
July 1–4, 2010; Pasadena, California. Maybe.
It’s been years since I’ve been to a general science-fiction/fantasy convention. The last one was the 2006 WorldCon in Anaheim, L.A.Con IV, which I experienced through the haze of a summer cold and Day-Quil. I’ve considered Westercon the last two years, but the last two have been Las Vegas and Tempe, Arizona in July. Admittedly Pasadena is a good 10 degrees hotter in summer than where I live, but it’s probably not as hot as Vegas or Tempe…plus I can commute to Pasadena.
» Update: Westercon 63 Report. I finally decided to go.
July 22-25, 2010; San Diego, California. Definitely.
I’ve been going every year since 1990, and I’d hate to break that streak. Even if it ends up being too expensive to stay in town next year, it’s just close enough to commute for a few days.
UPDATE: I’ve just learned via Twitter that one-day tickets go on sale tomorrow (Tuesday, December 15). Four-day tickets are already sold out, so if you plan to go, but don’t have tickets yet, now’s your chance!
» Comic-Con International 2009 report and photos.
» Update: Comic-Con International 2010 report and photos.
October 29-31, 2010; Long Beach, California. Definitely.
I had a good time at the first event this year, and just discovered that they’ve set a date for next year! The website also mentions some sort of one-day event on February 20, but doesn’t provide any detail.
» Long Beach Comic Con 2009 report and photos.
» Update: Long Beach Comic Con 2010 report and photos.