My view of the West Coast Comic Con Future

[Senormac]

From the Chuck thread:

 

I'm of the mind that trying to hang onto what SDCC once was just isn't going to happen. Every seed grows into something much bigger and we shouldn't expect it to remain a seed forever. Thats just foolishness. Should we bemoan its success? Its growth? Its glory? Why not rejoice in its success instead? We got 40 something years out of it. 40 something fantastic years !! Yea, I know, people resist change. People get comfortable. Old people that is !! The young love this stuff...... and they love what SDCC has become.

 

Its the forward thinkers who are going to direct the course of SDCC and those with their sights on the future who are going to decide where to take this thing. We can't go back ....ever. The con isn't really the building or the city of SD....its a completely seperate entity. A gigantic multi branched tree. An octopus. If there is complaining that Hollywood is taking over the show, then we are refusing to grow. We are refusing to see who we are. We ARE Hollywood !! We are a part of every single superhero movie being made.

 

Some say, "But we love comic books only" and to that I say "Stan Lee has left the building" !! SDCC can never be reigned in. Its small time comic book focus is becoming part of the past. Didn't you get the memo? It was published by chronicle books in 2009.

 

I think what Mike Mignola has done is awesome. That guy is looking forward

 

This ....plus everything I've been reading about the Con situation from all of you.... has led me to this view.

 

1. Wonder Con is going to move to Anahiem for a year and find that it is so successful ... they will NOT go back to San Fransisco

 

2. 80 % of the Hollywood pop culture stuff will also move to Anahiem WonderCon Show and find that they are just as successful as they were in San Diego .... but will not have to travel as far.

 

3. WonderCon will become the biggest event in the pop culture world.... for many years to come.

 

4. San Diego Con will experience a couple years of downsizing as most of the Hollywood stuff move to Anahiems WonderCon Show ... but will soon balance itself and once again become the premier Comic Book, Comic Art, Annimation, and Cartoon Show on the planet.

 

5. Ape will take over as San Frans #1 Comic Con Show

 

6. Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle will continue to expand and rival San Diego as the West Coasts premier Comic Convention, drawing more pure comic book dealers, collectors, artists, writers and industry employees for no other reason than the freshness of its locale.

 

7. The cycle will begin to repeat..... as San Diego AND Seattle will see more and more of Hollywoods influence at their shows.

 

8. Comic books..... graphic novels.... sequential art......will survive

[PokerKid]

What, no love for Long Beach?

 

 

After two pretty crappy Wizard Anaheim years, it would really take a dynamic effort for WonderCon - but I would love it if they could pull it off.

[thehumantorch]

Interesting post Mike. Have you been to all of these shows?

[Senormac]

Interesting post Mike. Have you been to all of these shows?

 

I've been to all these cities

[The Troll King]

Hate to say but San Diego probably has 10 times the comic dealers that Emerald City does. Mind you, Emerald City gets a TON of artists, much like Heroes but I recall less than a dozen actual comic dealers.

 

I know that SDCC gets a lot of heat for not being comic focused but there aren't many conventions any more where you will see every major key in one building any more as I did.

 

One dealer had at least 5 AF 15s. I saw multiple copies of Batman 1, 31, etc. Tec 27's, etc.

 

There aren't many conventions that can say that. Will Wondercon grow to SDCC proportions? Who knows, but SDCC has many years on it.

 

One thing that everyone on these boards forgets too is that San Diego does not have the biggest convention center in the country. They advertise 1 million square feet of show which may be the case if you add up every room they use but they don't even rank in the top 10 in building size. Even with their expansion that they're going to do it will probably barely put them in the top ten.

 

Texas has 2 in the top ten with the Dallas Convention Center and the George Brown CC in Houston both sporting over 1 million sqft.

 

McCormick Place in Chicago is the largest in the country at 2.7 million sqft.

[markseifert]

What, no love for Long Beach?

 

The Long Beach show is well run but was by all accounts a little soft last year. I did not attend but we did set up. I was told by locals when we were looking into doing the show that it was a good show but that the location was a bit out of the way as far pulling people from the area. Would love to see them do well, however. Good people and a solid organization.

 

Honestly, the thing about the above scenario is of course that SDCC runs Wondercon. Wondercon has indeed been rocking the past couple years and I'm betting will have a huge year next year too, but I can't see them making moves that would cause their main brand to be eclipsed. Could be wrong, but I'd be surprised if they haven't already had to commit to returning to SF.

 

Emerald City is indeed an extremely well run, up and coming show. Bright future there for sure.

 

Phoenix was one of the breakout shows of the year. That show has a bright future as well.