Comments on: WOULD YOU ATTEND A COMIC STRIP CONVENTION?

By: Stephen Ray

Stephen Ray — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:10:18 +0000

A little late to this, but by all accounts the New England Webcomics Weekend held this past March was quite a success. They very quickly hit a capacity issue and many people wound up not being able to go.

By: Robert Walker-Smith

Robert Walker-Smith — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:09:54 +0000

My first reaction was ‘great! I’d love to go!’ and then I read the comments thread from the NCS people about your ‘gate-crashing’ strip. The odor of formaldehyde and mothballs coming from my monitor almost suffocated me. That Wiley Miller, he’s a pistol, ain’t he? It’ll be a while before I’ll be able to read ‘Non Sequitur’ without hearing ‘goldang kids, get off my lawn!’ in my head.
I’m starting to get the impression that, in some/many cases, a fan of a comic strip is better off knowing the artist through the strip, and not personally. That said, ‘mixed media’ a/k/a sequential art is easily my favorite artistic medium, and I’m delighted that my older son is now carrying around his sketchbook everywhere.

By: rob

rob — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:13:03 +0000

if it’s in my i’d go but travel is hard.
rob http://www.howcomics.com

By: Tom Racine

Tom Racine — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:39:48 +0000

Yer preachin’ to the choir! I’ve been harping on this on my podcast for over a year. Why AREN’T the syndicates more involved in the Cons? If you want to reach a wider audience, there’s your opportunity. Why the major syndicates aren’t pooling resources and getting a reasonably sized corner booth at the San Diego Comic Con, and inviting artists from all the various walks of cartooning to appear…and then advertise the heck out of it for a couple of months prior…is beyond me. Let’s put it this way…my podcast gets a few thousand downloads each week…very nice. Good for me. I had Stephan Pastis on…61,000 downloads. Gee…there’s nothing popular THERE, is there? I think it’s a misconception that comic con goers aren’t interested in strips. Get 10 of the best out there and people will line up. (Of course, the real problem lies with unchanging and unbending Newspaper Editors who won’t make changes to their line ups to bring in new blood like Keith and others….but that’s a rant for another post.)

I think a comic strip con would be great…but probably cost prohibitive for the syndicates. If we could start by getting them to pitch in for a booth at Comic Con and pay for a few of the bigger names in the industry to show up, and extend invitations to everyone else…that’d be a great start.

By: Michele from SF

Michele from SF — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:46:49 +0000

I would travel many many miles to attend something like that. I used to be a comic book collector who loved strips, but now when I go into Comic Relief in Berkeley (or any other comics shop) I find myself walking out with comic strip collections only. (Maakies, K Chronicles, Mutts, Little Nemo, etc.) At WonderCon I’m much more drawn to the comic strip, illustrator and zine tables. I can’t remember the last time I bought a comic book.

And I do follow the NCS Reuben awards- a friend, J.C. Duffy, attends and sends me the programs and such. The attendees sound like a fun bunch, and I’d love to know more about and meet some of the strip artists and writers.

I’m near San Francisco, but I’d fly to NYC or LA or Bunghole, Iowa to attend!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:29:56 +0000

Heck yeah I would! I would finally give the guy who does Ziggy a piece of my mind!

By: James Rose

James Rose — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:11:26 +0000

I would indeed attend if it was nearby, I live in NYC. I think that this is a fantastic idea. I’ve been following the funny pages (not only online) for the past 40 years. It would be a great way for the public to see some panels, meet our fav artists (Bill Waterson… ha, as if) and give the artists a little feedback and/or encouragement.

Thanks for all you’ve given.

Peace,
James