Comic Con 2009

If this post about Comic Con skews a little less enthusiastic than normal, it isn’t because Comic Con was bad from a fan perspective, but rather more discouraging from a working professional’s. (My ten-year-old son will testify that Comic Con is the greatest thing on earth!) The current recession was the subject of discussion everywhere. It’s impact and consequences are on nearly every artist’s mind. I spent the bulk of my time attending professional panels about marketing and participating in portfolio reviews—as a result, I didn’t make it to H hall once. Having said that, I did have some fun as a working professional…

This year at Comic Con I was able to meet…

Daryl Cagle:

Peter Deseve:

and Kevin Eastman:

I learned plenty from other professionals “in the industry” including C. B. Cebulski, Ron Perazza, Joe Quesada, Dave Dorman, some Art Directors at Petrol Advertising studio and DK Publishing as well. The mood this year among working professionals at “The Con” seemed low-key to me. The recession combined with the death of the printed news has proven to be fatal to many—the remainder are endeavoring to find new avenues of revenue and as a result, the lines for any kind of opportunity are long and seldom bear fruit. Joe Quesada reminded everyone attending a “breaking into the industry” panel that getting a shot (even an opportunity—let alone a job) in the Comics Industry is something “like breaking out of prison—once someone finds a way, that avenue is immediately shut down.” Crowds at these professional panels and portfolio reviews were resolute but realistic. The mantra over and over was that talent wasn’t enough, but hard work and lots of luck are also crucial. So most hard working, talented artists seemed to be at Comic Con looking for a little luck. The discussion in panel lines kept coming back to the friendly exchange of contingency plans aimed at making it through the depressed times without resorting to giving up completely.

These frank and solemn discussions were in direct contrast to the fan driven mania that dominates everything else. (This year there were 126,000 people in attendance.) The energy and enthusiasm for pop culture (especially celebrities and movies) was palpable. Fans in clever costumes were out in force. Social networking via tweeting and blogging on smartphones was everywhere—it was a fascinating study of geek technology evolving in plain sight.

In the end, evidence of the demand for what Comic Con offers was abundant—The hope of many now is for a little bit of luck as well!

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