SDCC doesn't love me anymore
July 12, 2013 6:30 PM Subscribe
Buying tickets to San Diego Comic-Con gets more difficult each year. This year, I couldn't get tickets, so I'll be stuck at home, jealously reading tweets from those who could go.
I'd like to find a different convention.
I'd be flying from Mexico, so it would be great if it's in a city with an international airport. Even better if it's an interesting city with other things to do. Bonus if I can get tickets to this year's event.
We like comics from independent artists or indie/small publishers, webcomics, some manga (mostly seinen, some josei), Adventure Time, videogames, art toys, fantasy and sci-fi books. We don't care much for superhero comics and we are too old for the otaku crowd.
We have been to WonderCon and NY Comic Con. WonderCon in San Francisco was a great option, but now that it moved to Anaheim it's not easily accessible. We might go to NYCC if we don't find a better option (nothing wrong with it except the cost of hotels).
Dragon Con sounds nice. We were interested in PAX, but after the transphobic stuff, I'm not sure I want to give them my money. Any other suggestions?
I'd be flying from Mexico, so it would be great if it's in a city with an international airport. Even better if it's an interesting city with other things to do. Bonus if I can get tickets to this year's event.
We like comics from independent artists or indie/small publishers, webcomics, some manga (mostly seinen, some josei), Adventure Time, videogames, art toys, fantasy and sci-fi books. We don't care much for superhero comics and we are too old for the otaku crowd.
We have been to WonderCon and NY Comic Con. WonderCon in San Francisco was a great option, but now that it moved to Anaheim it's not easily accessible. We might go to NYCC if we don't find a better option (nothing wrong with it except the cost of hotels).
Dragon Con sounds nice. We were interested in PAX, but after the transphobic stuff, I'm not sure I want to give them my money. Any other suggestions?
DragonCon was the first thing that sprang to mind, as well. The parade alone is worth it. (It's also just as massive as SDCC and NYCC at this point.)
posted by greenland at 7:34 PM on July 12, 2013
posted by greenland at 7:34 PM on July 12, 2013
Best answer: +1 for DragonCon, especially if you're into cosplay (or looking at cosplay). It's huge and fun, if a little overwhelming, though nowhere near SDCC scales of overwhelming. The panels seemed really niche-y and repetitive (I had never heard of filking until DragonCon and there were like a hundred filking panels) but there were a few gems--Doctor Who, feminism in comics, etc. There were a TON of cosplay panels about building/sewing costumes and prosthetics and stuff.
I've also heard really great things about Heroes Con from my cartoonist bf and his buddies, but I've never been myself. A lot of our friends are artists doing web comics and small press things, and it seems to be the one they ALL go to, which leads me to believe they'd have the kind of stuff you're into.
posted by a.steele at 7:58 PM on July 12, 2013
I've also heard really great things about Heroes Con from my cartoonist bf and his buddies, but I've never been myself. A lot of our friends are artists doing web comics and small press things, and it seems to be the one they ALL go to, which leads me to believe they'd have the kind of stuff you're into.
posted by a.steele at 7:58 PM on July 12, 2013
nthing Dragon*Con. It's in Atlanta which has an international airport. The convention is easy to get to (the trains basically go right to it if you don't want to stay in one of the hotels hosting it) and it's a lot more fun and I'll say laid-back than SDCC. And you can get tickets. And it's got plenty of big fannish stuff as well as all sorts of nichey things.
posted by bfootdav at 8:05 PM on July 12, 2013
posted by bfootdav at 8:05 PM on July 12, 2013
Best answer: Are you looking for a con that's coming up or just good ones in general? You could check out which cons some of the artists that you like go to. I got the impression that the ones in Seattle (Emeral City CC?) and Toronto (TCAF?) are popular among webcomics artists. I don't know how good they are for fantasy and SF.
posted by egg drop at 1:04 AM on July 13, 2013
posted by egg drop at 1:04 AM on July 13, 2013
Best answer: My impression is that TCAF - the Toronto Comic Arts Festival - is more like an arts festival than an SF convention. (I haven't been - know people who go). It certainly has a LOT of independent comic artists - also an indie video games thing this year.
Anime North is the major convention in Toronto now - it's obviously very manga & anime oriented and can have a younger crowd. But it increasingly has other comic, SF&F programming - probably because they've been gaining organisers and volunteers from the (increasingly small) SF&F cons in town.
Neither are anywhere near SDCC in size or significance, but TCAF in particular is a very interesting event for those interested in comics, especially independent comics.
posted by jb at 5:46 AM on July 13, 2013
Anime North is the major convention in Toronto now - it's obviously very manga & anime oriented and can have a younger crowd. But it increasingly has other comic, SF&F programming - probably because they've been gaining organisers and volunteers from the (increasingly small) SF&F cons in town.
Neither are anywhere near SDCC in size or significance, but TCAF in particular is a very interesting event for those interested in comics, especially independent comics.
posted by jb at 5:46 AM on July 13, 2013
Welcome to Atlanta! Dragon*Con is huge, and features many of the same or similar panels from Comic Con.
I wouldn't go near it, because it's so huge! We have friends who attend annually and they LOVE it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:04 AM on July 13, 2013
I wouldn't go near it, because it's so huge! We have friends who attend annually and they LOVE it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:04 AM on July 13, 2013
Best answer: Angoulême, Emerald City, Heroes Con, SPX, and TCAF are the ones that I'd like to get to eventually. Especially Angoulême!
posted by Bigfoot Mandala at 10:39 AM on July 13, 2013
posted by Bigfoot Mandala at 10:39 AM on July 13, 2013
Response by poster: DragonCon it is! Excellent answers all around, thank you!
Are you looking for a con that's coming up or just good ones in general?
Good ones in general, but if I can get tickets for this year, even better.
fingersandtoes, have you been to APE? How was it? I know of it, but I've never heard of an artist that I like attending it.
posted by clearlydemon at 11:14 AM on July 13, 2013
Are you looking for a con that's coming up or just good ones in general?
Good ones in general, but if I can get tickets for this year, even better.
fingersandtoes, have you been to APE? How was it? I know of it, but I've never heard of an artist that I like attending it.
posted by clearlydemon at 11:14 AM on July 13, 2013
I like Emerald City Comic Con but I'm biased - I live in Seattle, and exhibit there.
Seconding the "see what your favorite artists are planning" suggestion.
posted by egypturnash at 11:18 AM on July 13, 2013
Seconding the "see what your favorite artists are planning" suggestion.
posted by egypturnash at 11:18 AM on July 13, 2013
Nthing Emerald City ComicCon - big enough to attract people, not big enough to get swamped like SDCC. Though as it grows it's losing a lot of its intimacy.
posted by Artw at 8:14 AM on July 14, 2013
posted by Artw at 8:14 AM on July 14, 2013
Clearlydemon, I'm not really a comics person myself, I just went with my comic-lovin partner. He always enjoys the con. As Comic-Con has grown now to be more of a trade show for the movie industry and less about actual comics, he feels like he's getting back to his roots at APE.
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:44 AM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:44 AM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Worldcon this year is in Texas. Worldcons tend to be smaller than things like DragonCon -- maybe 5000 people, rather than 20,000. There are other important differences as well: they're not for profit, and you buy a membership rather than a ticket. The emphasis is on attendees being the focus of activity, rather than corporate publicity and the like. Also, they tend to include all sorts of fandom (prose literature, anime, gaming, movies, comics, costuming, etc. etc.) rather than emphasizing one type.
There are a lot of regional cons that are in the same vein as Worldcon. It looks like this is a pretty good listing of cons in the southeast US; here's a listing that's more local to me, as another example. (Minicon is my main local con; I'm on the con committee for it.) Westercon is another one that moves around year to year, but always in the western US; Bubonicon is in Albuquerque; and there are many more. Smaller cons will have a cozier feel: you get to know more people, you don't have to run around so much, and you get to see more of the con as a whole.
posted by jiawen at 4:19 PM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
There are a lot of regional cons that are in the same vein as Worldcon. It looks like this is a pretty good listing of cons in the southeast US; here's a listing that's more local to me, as another example. (Minicon is my main local con; I'm on the con committee for it.) Westercon is another one that moves around year to year, but always in the western US; Bubonicon is in Albuquerque; and there are many more. Smaller cons will have a cozier feel: you get to know more people, you don't have to run around so much, and you get to see more of the con as a whole.
posted by jiawen at 4:19 PM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
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ComicCon: The place to go to see the people who used to beat you up for going to ComicCon.
posted by Cosine at 6:43 PM on July 12, 2013 [3 favorites]