Updatin' [Emerald City Con Report!...Sorta]

It's been quieter than a mute tumbleweed here, and yet watchers showed up. ...Come to think of it, that seems to mostly happen when I go long periods without updating. Maybe I should do that more often.
...Nah.

Anyway, an event very near and dear to my heart occurred this past weekend...Emerald City Comicon 2011! As defined in previous reports for those unfamiliar, Emerald City Con is Seattle's own comics convention, and an event that would be difficult for me to miss, as it seems to just add fuel to my comics-love fire every year. I didn't get any interviews like last year, and I was only able to attend one day (Saturday) due to monetary reasons this year, but I still had a great time.

 Pictured: How I actually am at ECCC.

It's crazy to see how much ECCC has grown over the years. I say that to myself almost every year, but it was especially evident this year. When I first started going, the con took up about about half the floor space of the small Qwest Field Event Center. It's now a three-day event that's beginning to encroach onto a second floor of the gigantic Washington State Convention Center and draws an equally massive crowd. The difference was most stark when the areas for the costume contest are compared. My first year going, I remember a tiny stage area--not even an actual stage--up in an equally small balcony, with maybe fifteen participants. The costume contest area alone this year felt cathedralesque in its size, with a true stage, large display screens, a DJ, and over seventy contestants. That's quite a shift.

However, even in the midst of this expansion, Emerald City Con has very clearly remained all about the comics. There are plenty of things available related to other channels of geek culture--most of the special guests tend to be from television and movies (this year, for example, it was able to draw the presence of William Shatner among others), there's always a small but devoted gaming area, and a few websites unrelated to comics set up booths--but the focus remains squarely on comics. The comics are still the center of it all, and that's another one of the many reasons I really respect this convention. I've begun to hear reports from San Diego's mighty juggernaut of a convention that the comics themselves are being increasingly shunted to the side more each year in favor of other media. That begins to make me ponder whether or not I truly do want to go there someday. Rock on, Emerald Con.

I didn't attend any panels this year, so I can't really comment on those. As always, there was a wonderful bounty of comics to be had (traditional swag list to follow) and I think I felt a lot freer about communicating with creators this year, which is a plus. I hung out with some friends that happened to be there, another plus. There were some impressive costumes this year (a few photos to come in next post), but most of the ones I liked didn't bother entering this year's costume contest, which was...really disappointing. In fact, the costume contest was the only downside to this year. After starting much later than usual (the contest starting later than scheduled is a yearly thing, but this one was delayed by an entire hour--several people gave up and left before it even began), it was disappointing to see that, while I'm no costume expert, most of this year's entries weren't very impressive. I didn't even stick around to find out who won what. On top of it all, the emcee for it, which was the same one they've had in past years, found himself being incredibly annoying this year--spouting non-sequitur memes and movie references in a possible attempt to seem relevant and throwing in occasional creepy innuenndo about the racier female costumers for a bit of extra frown inspiration.

Still. The bottom line: FUN.

And since I now have several shiny new comics in my possession, expect to see Sunday Comics revving back up again, since my issue there was mostly running out of comics to review. I wasn't out, but I was getting there rapidly. As for Holden's Bookshelf entries...I have no such excuse. Those just need to get done.

And now, this year's Con loot.

- Five Very Good Reasons To Punch A Dolphin In The Mouth, Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal (technically obtained at his book signing a few days prior, but I'm counting it here)
- A heart-gear pin from Phil and Kaja Foglio, the fine minds behind Girl Genius, now proudly worn on the lapel of my beloved tailcoat
- A "Book Club" (Fight Club for literature enthusiasts) shirt, via Unshelved
- 2 sketches from the very kind and talented Spike, of Templar, Arizona, which I need to start reading again(scans of these to show up in the next post with the costume photos)
- A print of one of David Willis' (of Shortpacked!) hilarious Batman comics, to be given to a Bat-enthusiast friend of mine who has been going through a rough patch
- The first volume of Ross Campbell's Shadoweyes, his take on a superhero story
- I Cut My Hair issues 1 and 2, by Lisa Rosalie Eisenburg
- Wonton Soup Volume 2, by James Stokoe
- Do Anything: Thoughts on Comics and Things: Volume 1, Jack Kirby Ripped My Flesh, by Warren Ellis
- Wondermark: Beards of our Forefathers, by David Malki! (the exclamation point is mandatory)
- Chainsawsuit books 1 and 2, by Kris Straub
- Koko be Good, by Jen Wang
- The annual Doodle/Sketch Inc. giveaway comic (an after-school comics program done by a pair of local middle schools)
- Industriacide, by Sean Dietrich
- I also won a painting of Sean's in a raffle! (Photo to follow when I get it)
- Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake, by Steph Cherrywell (I was relieved to find this! Last I had heard there had been shipping difficulties)
- And Egg Story, by J. Marc Schmidt.

Look for my thoughts coming to a screen near you as I dig into these!

[Holden Out.]