The San Diego Comic Convention
As I write this, I’m sitting in my hotel room preparing to take a cab to the airport. The past three days have been a whirlwind of shopping, promoting, dining, and parties. (Well, not so much the parties, I guess…although I did attend one?)
This past weekend was the annual San Diego Comic Convention, the biggest extravaganza of comic books, movies, video games and a wide assortment of other imaginative and outrageous stuff. I don’t know the exact number, but I’ve been told the estimated attendance was somewhere around 170,000. Just to give you an idea of what that was like … the convention center itself was always packed shoulder-to-shoulder and the streets outside had a steady stream of foot traffic milling around downtown all day.
So what was my experience like? Was it a veritable geek-gasm that lasted three full days? Well, yes and no.
Optimus Prime says "Damn...this place is crowded!"
This marked my second visit to the convention, and, like last year, fandom played a big role in bringing me out here. However, one of my chief interests was networking and promotion. I published my first book, Elijah, earlier this year (hopefully the first of many). The story follows the journey of a young man with the ability to heal anyone he touches as he walks the earth, hoping to learn why he’s been granted this amazing power. I spent a day or two handing out promotional cards in the exhibition hall and telling whoever asked about my little story. (It’s available via Amazon and my website www.mattschorr.net…just saying!)
I also reconnected with some old friends who operate a comic book publishing house in Los Angeles, Asylum Press. They specialize in horror comics in the same vein as Tales From the Crypt and the like. This year, they unveiled a new miniseries called Chopper, which tells the story of a modern day Headless Horsemen taking vengeance on sinners in the form of a Hell’s Angel biker. Issues 0 and 1 are already out, and I highly recommend them if you like horror stories.
The gang at Asylum Press!
Additionally, my buddy Dwayne Harris, a comic book writer/illustrator, unleashed one of his first big graphic novels, Amnesia, through Arcana Comics. The book, which tells the story of an entire nation awaking with no memories of its past, sold out on its first day. Dwayne actually had one hell of a weekend. Amnesia was just the tip of the iceberg for him, and everyone can probably expect to see big things from him in the future.
Most of the panels I attended for informative. I don’t have anything against celebrity Q & As, but I wanted to learn something I could utilize. While I love The Big Bang Theory, how the cast and crew get along isn’t going to help me much as a professional writer and videographer. As such, I stuck to the production panels, learning the ins and outs of working with a cast and crew on film projects. It was a great experience. My only regret was that I couldn’t attend more.
This really would've come in handy last week...
As for the showcases…well, they were incredible as always. The floor was filled with replicas of the Delorian from Back to the Future, scale model Transformers, and (likely the highlight) a full scale entrance to Avengers Headquarters to promote the big movie next year. My biggest interest was seeking out smaller publishers and finding stories I’d never see elsewhere, but I still made a point of checking out Marvel and DC’s booths. Long lines prevented me from snagging any free issues (and I really wanted the preview of the New 52!), but it was still a great time.
Is it just me, or does the Avengers logo look kinda Nazi-ish?
Lastly, I also gained some insight into the current state of the comic book industry, and unfortunately, it isn’t so good. The days when artists and publishers made millions off their work are long gone. In fact, the notion of making a living strictly off of comics is a bit of a pipe dream right now. Sales, to put it bluntly, are in the toilet across the board.
As a result, all comic book publishers are currently hinging their bets on one thing: movies. Without a movie deal, most companies simply won’t be able to sustain themselves. Rumors circulated throughout the weekend that Radical Publishing was likely to burn itself out in the near future, because they’d pushed so hard and so fast but never got the movie deals they needed to remain in business. Anthology books are becoming a thing of the past, because they can’t be translated into film and thus can’t make enough money to be profitable.
"What do you mean the endorsement deal fell through!? Do you realize how much this suit costs???"
This is, of course, only going to contribute to a vicious circle. Movie studios are leery of new projects, because with all the money that’s involved, mitigating risk is a chief concern. Even the cheapest movies run at least a million dollars, and studios want—nay, need—to know they’ll make those dollars back. Complain all you want, but these studios are a business first and foremost. It’s easy to complain about a roomful of corporate suits and pampered celebrities making millions, but they don’t make up the majority of a major studio. Most of them, in fact, are blue collar workers just making a living to feed their families like all the rest of us. If the studio doesn’t make money, they’re out of a job.
It’s a bit of a turbulent time right now for the entertainment industry. Given its very nature, it’s never been exactly stable. Perhaps comics will one day see a resurgence in popularity as they did in the 80s and 90s. Perhaps the current wave of digital technology will bring about a new set of fans and boost sales once again. Or perhaps it will be something else entirely. In any case, let’s hope both comic book publishers and movie studios can weather the storm.
After all, I’d like to attend San Diego Comic Con again.
In closing, here's a picture of General Grievous standing in front of the ladies room.