Con Report! Emerald City Comicon 2010

Oh.
My.
Gosh.

So, I could probably gush about this year's Emerald City Comicon for paragraphs. I will attempt to restrain myself.

Firstly, a little history.

Emerald City Comicon is a comics convention (technically, a "comics and pop culture" convention) located in beautiful Seattle, Washington. Though certainly much smaller than, say, the massive festivals that are San Diego Comicon or New York Comicon, it's still quite reasonably sized and it's notability has grown in past years within the larger convention circle. Unlike the former two 'cons mentioned, it also tends toward having a focus on smaller and more independent publishers, one of the reasons I'm so drawn to it (though don't fret, classics fans--Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse still have plenty of presence there). It originally was truly a small thing, covering about half the floor of Qwest Field Event Center, but has now grown to cover a vast chunk of the top floor of the much-larger Washington State Convention Center, and shows few signs of stopping that growth. This was my fifth year attending (would have been sixth but I missed last year).

There are usually also some particularly prominent guests of note each year--this year saw some of the biggest names yet as Stan Lee and Leonard Nimoy entered the scene. I wasn't able to spot either of them--they were in their own seperate rooms apart from the convention floor proper, and always surrounded by a huge cloud of people. The lines/crowds were such that really, it seemed if you were there to see Stan or Leonard, it would be your day's primary activity. But neat to have them there all the same, and definite proof, I would say, of Emerald City Con becoming more important/known in the larger comics-convention network.

A couple other large names there this year included Lou Ferrigno, most well-know for his role as The Incredible Hulk in the 1970s live-action TV show, and Jhonen Vasquez, a comics cult hero whose most famous works include the graphic novel Johnny The Homicidal Maniac and the short-lived cartoon Invader Zim. Ferrigno was happily shaking hands and autographing photo enlargements of himself in the old Hulk makeup; Jhonen had a steady stream of fans but seemed much more relaxed than I last remember him, having been basically mobbed his one other time appearing (when his work was at its height of popularity). Some of the actors in the popular web-TV series The Guild were also present.

This year also saw a big upswing in the number of webcomics artists present, which was a delight in its' own way--to see all this net content enter a room as something more tangible, and in that also give its' audiences and creators more distinct faces. Webcomics as a medium have become one of the most dynamic newer forces in the comics industry, and that vitality was shimmeringly evident here. I actually got to interview a couple of my favourite webcomickers--those will be in entries following.

I wish I could write more distinctly about all the convention had to offer past this point, but it just sort of runs together for me in a big happy nerdy blur. I had meant to attend a few panels, and had I, I would provide rundowns of them, but I never actually got to them--I was just having too much darn fun browsing through rows of comics, goggling at costumes, and chatting with the wonderful, quirky people who make this stuff. It also helps that I attended this year with one of my best friends (shout-out to Cranston!). This was one of my most happily-spent weekends in recent memory.

(www.emeraldcitycomicon.com)

A semi-obligatory list of scored swag, with relevant links!

- Concrete Vol. 6, by Paul Chadwick
- Girl Genius Volumes 4-8, by Phil and Kaja Foglio (www.girlgeniusonline.com)
- Wet Moon Volumes 3-5, by Ross Campbell (http://mooncalfe.deviantart.com)
- Widgey Q. Butterfluff by Steph Cherrywell (www.intragalacticcomic.com)
- Whistles And The Starlight Calliope by Andrew Hussie (www.mspaintadventures.com)
- Kaput And Zosky by Lewis Trondheim and Eric Cartier, translated by Edward Gauvin
- Space Raoul and Bear Vol. 2, both by Jamie Smart (www.bearfoo.com)
- Fat Chunk Vol. 2, also edited by Jamie Smart
- The annual giveaway comic from Doodle Inc., a local after-school art program designed for kids interested in comics
- A nifty packet of buttons from Danielle Corsetto, of Girls with Slingshots (www.gwscomic.com)
- A poster of Bob The Angry Flower's guide to using apostrophes (www.angryflower.com)
- A print of Problem Sleuth's final epic panel, by Andrew Hussie again
- And mini-prints of Lackey dressed as Batman and the ever-popular Pandorca, both from Here There Be Robots by Jeremy and Jonah Gregory (www.herethereberobots.com)

Whew! I've a lot of reading (and potential reviewing!) to do!

Holden Out (and starting his own read-a-thon)