Dallas Comicon (Fan Expo Dallas) -- May 16-18, 2014

[mysterio]

Comic Guests announced:

 

-Stan Lee

-Mark Bagley

-Amanda Conner

-Jimmy Palmiotti

-Stephen Platt

-Tony Harris

-Greg Land

-Len Wein

-Yanick Paquette

-Todd Nauck

-Arthur Suydam

-Bernie Wrightson

-Art Thibert

-Frank Tieri

-Greg Horn

-Luke McDonnell

-Bob McLeod

-Ron Marz

 

David Finch is on the website too. Handy link to the guest page.

 

Some really good gets on that list, it's nice to see some old school names that haven't come to one of these. Also great to have Wrightson and Wein at the same show for SS. I imagine that there will be plenty of business for facilitators for those two guys alone.

[Monster's Lair Comics]

-Stan Lee -here last may

-Mark Bagley -at wizard world austin in November

-Amanda Conner - here last may

-Jimmy Palmiotti -here last may

-Stephen Platt

-Tony Harris

-Greg Land -at wizard world austin in November

-Len Wein

-Yanick Paquette -here last may or the year before

-Todd Nauck - here last may or the year before

-Arthur Suydam - here last may or October, plus WW Austin

-Bernie Wrightson - here last may or October

-Art Thibert - WW Austin last year

-Frank Tieri

-Greg Horn - WW Austin in November?

-Luke McDonnel

-Bob McLeod

-Ron Marz

 

 

Rinse and repeat...... For people that go to the local shows, not too many new names. How many pros work in comics, and 60% of the list has been in the area, or to the same show in the last year? And this was supposed to be fan expo's awesome list?

[JorgeRR96]

To be honest, Fan Expo and Ben Stevens care way more about media guests than comic guests, since they are the ones that bring the crowds. Mark is the only one that tries to get cool comic names to Dallas.

[Jimmy Linguini]

-Stan Lee -here last may

-Mark Bagley -at wizard world austin in November

-Amanda Conner - here last may

-Jimmy Palmiotti -here last may

-Stephen Platt

-Tony Harris

-Greg Land -at wizard world austin in November

-Len Wein

-Yanick Paquette -here last may or the year before

-Todd Nauck - here last may or the year before

-Arthur Suydam - here last may or October, plus WW Austin

-Bernie Wrightson - here last may or October

-Art Thibert - WW Austin last year

-Frank Tieri

-Greg Horn - WW Austin in November?

-Luke McDonnel

-Bob McLeod

-Ron Marz

 

 

Rinse and repeat...... For people that go to the local shows, not too many new names. How many pros work in comics, and 60% of the list has been in the area, or to the same show in the last year? And this was supposed to be fan expo's awesome list?

 

Bernie Wrightson hasn't been to Canada in a while.

 

That guest list is pretty stellar, just not sure what made Fan Expo buy a convention in the most southern state when they are based in T Dot O Dot One spot.

[JorgeRR96]

Also, three shows the same weekend its hard to get comic book names to attend the show

[mysterio]

Rinse and repeat...... For people that go to the local shows, not too many new names. How many pros work in comics, and 60% of the list has been in the area, or to the same show in the last year? And this was supposed to be fan expo's awesome list?

 

That guest list is pretty stellar, just not sure what made Fan Expo buy a convention in the most southern state when they are based in T Dot O Dot One spot.

 

I can't disagree with either opinion. The guest list is pretty solid comic-wise and sure to generate some excitement. But yes, much of that guest list are semi-regular at other shows by these promotors and several also recently appeared at other shows in the state. I don't know what the attendance overlap between WW Austin and this show would be, so even though someone like Bagley was just at Austin not everyone may have seen him there. As a fan of his work, I'm glad to see him back either way. I'm also happy that Wein and Wrightson are finally at the same show for double SS opportunities.

 

Is the list perfect? No, but it is an improvement over some of the past Dallas shows. I like the mix of older and newer talent, and do see it as a positive sign that this show is serious about bringing in good comic talent. They're hurt this year by the late start (since the show just changed hands) and the fact that there are two other large shows the same weekend. But the move to the new venue will be big, and if they can get a weekend to themselves next year and bring a good approach into building their guest list it could really bode well for the growth of this show. I'm hopeful that we'll also see a stronger list for the October show than in years past.

[kaholo1256]

I have to say the big win for me is simply Finch, that couple with the fact that I can wrap Fathers day along with this one and its a win win for me. Only thing that could be better for me would be to see someone like Crain getting pulled into it. If I saw both of them I would simply call it a day.

[Monster's Lair Comics]

I just remember a rep from fan expo coming to my table at sci Fi expo telling me all that they were going to do to make DCC different...... Looks the same to me. This is a guest list I would expect from the old promoters.

[mysterio]

I just remember a rep from fan expo coming to my table at sci Fi expo telling me all that they were going to do to make DCC different...... Looks the same to me. This is a guest list I would expect from the old promoters.

 

Hopefully this is just the first release of names, and the list will keep growing.

[seanfingh]

That is a pretty great list, whether they have been there before or not.

[DvilleBookstore]

The guest list is solid. Much better than last year's comic show in May where they barely had any comic guests at all. Just because some of the names have been to other shows in state doesn't mean they aren't a good draw for Dallas. Bagley and Finch haven't been here in quite a while so they will bring in the crowd. After talking to Mark and Ben, this is just wave 1 for guests but I wouldn't get super excited about many more "big" comic book names. Big Wow in California and Motor City in Detroit already had their guest list signed and posted so the number of creators out there for this year's show was limited from the start. I always expected bigger things for next year. The promotion people that bought the show have a lot of pull and they should get a better than average guest list for all three of the shows. Having Stan Lee all three days will mean large crowds all three days instead of one. There will be 25,000 to 30,000 people show up over the three days and it could be more than that. Irving never had more than 20,000. The dealer room will be 3 times the size of Irving so, all the "national" dealers everyone wants to see will have the chance to be in the room. You have to remember though, a lot of the "national" dealers may have committed to Big Wow or Motor City already. I know I have a vested interest in this show because I am one of the bigger dealers in the room but I believe the show will be very good and it has the chance to be a great show. Texas now has 6 really good shows with the Dallas shows, Alamo City in San Antonio, Capital City in Austin and Comicpalooza in Houston. Throw in the 2 Wizard World shows and you have something for everyone. It's a good time to be going to shows in Texas.

[mysterio]

Good to hear from you as always Andy! I think we're on the same page. Solid guest list with some good draws, plenty of dealers bringing their A game, and a ton of potential for continued growth for the October show and all the 2015 offerings. It's amazing to think that there are 8 large shows in Texas this year, and if you would include the reasonably close Tulsa and New Orleans Wizard shows that number goes up even further. It is indeed a good time to be a comic fan in Texas. Sorry I'll miss seeing you at the May show too, but I'll be there in October!

[JorgeRR96]

Tix price:

Deluxe (Weekend pass with early entry): $79

Premium (Deluxe+more perks, limited): $109

VIP (deluxe+even more perks, very limited): $249

 

Looks live there will be a VIP lounge and to the front tix for autographs.

 

I'm loyal to DCC so I can't wait to buy VIP.

[mysterio]

A four day ticket to WW Chicago last year cost me $100, just to put those prices into perspective a bit. Are those the only options, or is there a more reasonably priced ticket?

[JorgeRR96]

A four day ticket to WW Chicago last year cost me $100, just to put those prices into perspective a bit. Are those the only options, or is there a more reasonably priced ticket?

 

General admission prices stay the same. $25 Friday, $40 Saturday, $35 sunday

 

 

[mysterio]

A four day ticket to WW Chicago last year cost me $100, just to put those prices into perspective a bit. Are those the only options, or is there a more reasonably priced ticket?

 

General admission prices stay the same. $25 Friday, $40 Saturday, $35 sunday

 

 

At what looks like $79 for a basic weekend pass for this show, versus $100 to get a FOUR day pass to one of the largest comic shows in the country, I'm not feeling like this is a tremendous deal so far. It would be helpful to see what extras you get for the $109 and $249 price points. I checked the FED (great acronym) website and they haven't posted any ticket info there yet.

[JorgeRR96]

I'm getting the $259 VIP because apparently it will let me skip lines for autographs and photo ops, and since there will be less VIP ticketholders so those lines will be shorter.

[Jimmy Linguini]

I'm getting the $259 VIP because apparently it will let me skip lines for autographs and photo ops, and since there will be less VIP ticketholders so those lines will be shorter.

 

At the last Fan Expo show I went to, that VIP line was non-existant.

 

Definitely worth the price.

[mysterio]

I'm getting the $259 VIP because apparently it will let me skip lines for autographs and photo ops, and since there will be less VIP ticketholders so those lines will be shorter.

 

You're spending $260 to "apparently" get to do those things?

[JorgeRR96]

I'm getting the $259 VIP because apparently it will let me skip lines for autographs and photo ops, and since there will be less VIP ticketholders so those lines will be shorter.

 

You're spending $260 to "apparently" get to do those things?

 

Trust me, the VIP for Dallas has been a life saver since last year for me. I love it. We usually get 4 line skips, and they work extremely fine, but we can't skip photo ops. I don't go to cons to get one autograph and one photo op. At Wizard Austin, I got 15 photo ops and 6 celeb autographs...but I didn't worry there because I'm friends with Celeb Photo Ops and WW Staff so I didn't worry about having to do lines there

 

The only thing I'm kinda pissed off is the early entrance for weekend ticketholders. One of the reason why I loved the VIP in Dallas was because only VIP could get in early, and the Irving CC was sooooooooo empty and smooth you could do a lot of stuff in one hour.