Crowds Of Pros Hit Seattle As ECCC 2015 Launches Tomorrow



I mentioned early today that this weekend's Emerald City Comicon basically marks the beginning of the conventions/festivals season in North America. As I describe it in that post, I mean in a general way; everyone gets to name their own date for something goofy like that, and no reason to attempt to do so is a bad reason.

Seattle's one of our great comics cities. Fantagraphics is there, there is a whole new wave of young cartoonists and art-makers around the city for whom Fantagraphics was an old company the day they were born, and there is tremendous history of that being a good market for comics and related collectibles -- lot of smart people with a lot of creative habits making a lot of money. The city has taken to the show, at least based on the number of my non-comics friends in Seattle asking me about it each year. It's a well-run show and it combines a modern convention facility with actually being in a cool place. That sucker is right downtown, five blocks from people throwing fish around a marketplace.

I think it's going to be a good weekend, and a potentially great one, for a lot of the people on-hand. The weather is supposed to be nice as opposed to 2013's "Frost Giant Peeing On Everyone For 72 Hours" experience, and that's a lovelier city when it's allowed to show its face a bit. It's also been a crummy winter in terms of the mood of comics, with the worst thing of all being those murders in France.

In addition the usual safe trip and extravagant commercial outcomes, I wish a few things for all my friends and peers in attendance. Anything involving a business please double-check because I don't live there and they might have closed, but in general:



1. Try to leave the convention center and hotel bar a few times. Take advantage of that downtown Seattle location. There are any number of restaurants that aren't eating at the hotel or eating at a chain right in the area. Seattle does really well with little French places for breakfast and lunch, storefront Italian, seafood and divey breakfast-style joints. They also have coffee in the area that is not corporate coffee, even though that's a home-team thing, too. Most of the great coffee places run neighborhood to neighborhood, but there are a few within easier reach: the Pike Street Victrola Coffee is where I get coffee during ECCC. That's really close, but you have to walk away from the water rather than towards it, which might feel counter-intuitive in downtown at the convention center. Vovito Caffe is in the lobby of a nearby hotel. Street Bean Espresso is somewhere around there, too, I think.

Other things to do that don't involve some tourism research are just walking the city, which is beautiful, heading to a bar for a drink, or just kind of poke around and shop if that's your thing. It's a lovely place, very atmospheric. If there are any outside parties being offered, hit them. If you're in a circle that involves local or regional cartoonists, let them show you around.



2. Do enjoy the incredible closeness of the comics scene there, if that's your thing. It's a really nice bar convention in terms of the majority of pros hanging out in a designated area (could be two by now; it's been a couple of years) with liquor. I don't remember which hotel that is. You'll find it. And like I implied, it might be two. However that takes shape, it's nice to kind of hang out with your peers in the widest sense when you. New York and San Diego are a bit too big for this except on rare occasions so it's the super-regional efforts with a line into Indy Comics that seem to provide the best summary statement within four walls as to where we are and what we're up to. It's the kind of show where you meet people for the first time.

There's a lot of stuff to talk about, if this winter on Twitter and in various other outlets was any indication. Sometimes it's good to have those discussions in a different setting, one that forces you to deal with people personally rather than through a computer screen. Your mileage may vary. It's also nice to remember at comics shows that the people around you, many of them are doing That One Thing they've always been dying to do, the thing they hope will make their lives better and have an impression on readers worldwide. It doesn't always work out that way, but this weekend you're around way more people than usual making that attempt. That's always fun, and a little bit exciting. Spend some time in that bar. Invite some you only kind of know out for breakfast.



3. Take the chance to visit all the Northwestern comics pros in attendance. That's a good weekend and great con to meet a bunch of comics professionals. Seattle has a good crew -- everyone say hi to Moritat -- and there are significant communities from Vancouver and especially Portland that attend. It's probably a little more busy than in the past, and a lot of those professionals are now much bigger stars than they were when they started going to Emerald City. It's still a great show to walk right up and introduce yourself to someone whose work you enjoy, particularly if there's a chance you might be able to buy some of it directly from them. They also do a lot of spotlight panels there, and some of those in the past haven't been attended as heavily as the big-star, big-publisher and big-property events, so that's a nice way to hear someone whose work you enjoy hold forth and maybe ask them more than one question.



4. Visit Randys Readers. There will be a time when there is no more Randys Readers at Emerald City. We're all human, and lives go in different directions and eventually end. Hopefully, that year isn't this year. There's a lot of pretty good comics buying to be had at that show. The belle of the ball for my peer group has been Randys Readers, a booth that specializes in lower-grade (but still eminently readable) Silver Age and Bronze Age comics. This is a great thing as demand gets softer for comics that don't have an easy collectible tag, and thanks to that booth I own comics I never would have dreamed of having access to as a kid. I have the last 42 of Jack Kirby's initial amazing run on Fantastic Four, for example, and I didn't pay more than $3 for any single comic. I love it there, and all my Seattle friends go and dump a (mostly) reasonable amount of money. There are similar sections at some of the other booths as well. Bring your lists. Look around.

Everyone have fun! Everyone be safe! Everyone be nice to one another!


 
posted 12:05 am PST | Permalink
 

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