PROS & CONS: THE NEW YORK COMIC-CON '09
BY JENNIFER HAYDENI've been to the last three
New York Comic Cons -- to learn as much as I can about comics. For me, that means three things: checking out the latest offerings from graphic novel publishers, listening to interesting discussion panels, and cruising
Artist's Alley for fabulous fellow artists. I don't have a lot of opportunity to meet people in the business, so this really is a blast.
But the Con can kill you if you're not prepared. [Editor's Note
read this to prepare for a convention] Enormous, crowded, noisy, and expensive (all food and drink a major rip-off, not to mention checking your coat), you can quickly become too exhausted to deal. Here's some advice: research the website ahead of time. Find out who you want to see and panels or screenings you want to attend and find out where they are. Print out the map of the exhibit hall. I'm not kidding. Circle your destinations. Write down the booth numbers. Then, if you're on a budget, bring a sandwich and buy your water from the vendor on the street outside (he'll only rip you off a little). Also bring a strong bag for all the books you're going to buy. And buy the heavy ones last (I got my collection of the
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers on the way out.)
I start with the
ICV2 conference on Thursday, which gives the past years' news on the graphic novel industry. This is of more interest to publishers, book buyers, and librarians than to artists, but you
can learn a lot. Flat is the new up in graphic novels as well as everything else since the American economy hit the fan. The keynote speech was given by
art spiegelman, and it was brilliant, funny, crammed with information about the history of comics. You need sunglasses to be around such greatness.
ICV2 added a morning session this year about webcomics--but I missed it. Smart, since I'm doing a webcomic (
http://activatecomix.com/64.comic target=_blank>UNDERWIRE, on
ACT-I-VATE.COMM).
What
EVER.
Friday morning the convention was open for professionals--not general public--and that's the best time to see publishers.
Fantagraphics wasn't there this year, but otherwise the hall seemed full. I visited my favorite publisher,
Top Shelf, and saw the great
Chris Staros, along with some of his artists, heroes of mine, including
Alex Robinson. The cool thing is, as PULSE readers found out last week,
Top Shelf will be publishing MY graphic novel, The Story of My Tits, when it's done. In the afternoon, I saw a panel given by
Zuda.com, a great webcomics site. And another panel, the "Rough Guide
to Graphic Novels" with
Danny Fingeroth, Dean Haspiel, Peter Kuper, J.M. DeMatteis, and
Alex Robinson. Fascinating to hear these guys chew over all the work they've done.
Starting Friday afternoon, the Con opens to the general public, which just makes it harder to get around. Half the time some chick has her boobs in your face because of her what-the-hell-is-that costume, or
some guy's light saber is sticking in your back (you better
hope it's a light saber). Saturday this element is in full swing, which is when you really need that little map you made with all the numbers and the circles on it, to keep you focused, or you're going to pass out, die, and never be heard from again.
Sunday seems to be geared to little kids, but I missed that, because that's the day I take the bus back to Jersey. With a bag full of books, a head fulla memories, and feet two sizes bigger than they were when I went into the city.
And nothing could keep me from going back next year.
PULSE readers can learn more about Jennifer Hayden at these links:
An interview about "The Story Of My Tits"
http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=535612#Post535612An interview showcasing Underwire
http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post372382You can read Underwire for free here:
http://activatecomix.com/64.comic
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