Festivals Extra: One Thing About SPACE In Columbus

SPACE, the comics convention that's seven minutes from my house, takes place this weekend. I spent about a dozen years living in a town where the nearest comic book shop was two hours and 20 minutes away, so I will never take for granted having a full-on small-press convention close enough that if necessary I can use the bathroom in my home.

If my wish for ECCC is that more comics professionals become attuned to and make use of that great city's downtown -- a downtown slightly unfamiliar to me these days -- my wish for SPACE is that people take at least one of their meals away from the lovely food trucks provided and hit one of the restaurants on nearby Morse road. It's easy to find a half-dozen worthy places to chow down where one can easily imagine comics people at every table, although only one -- the Vietnamese of those I'm about to list -- has ever found any traction with the post-SPACE crowd.

* African Paradise Restaurant -- although one review says they have gender-based seating? I've only had carry-out and I did not do the carrying out, so I could not say.
* Dabakh Resturant -- this site is really freaking loud, so turn off your sound.
* Huong Vietnamese Restaurant
* La Michoacana -- a restaurant within a grocery store, sporting a full bar.
* Little Dragons Chinese Restaurant
* Namaste Indo-Nepali Cuisine

One thing about which I occasionally talk with all my other old friends that work in comics is that the shows are really crowded now, with programming that stretches from early in the morning well into the night and intense pressure to do work-related dinners and see everyone you can possibly see in a hotel bar that looks like all the other cons' hotel bars. It's hard to think back to 20 years ago when San Diego con-goers might decide to go to Tijuana and see some wrestling -- and then go and do it. In 1996 a few of us went across town to a seaside comedy show recommended by our dinner waiter. It takes me 40 minutes to cross the street there these days, and I already know where I'll be each night in July.

I love all the camp-comics stuff, I really do, and when I was in my mid-twenties there was a genuine thrill to being in the same room as all the super-established pros and feeling like I was part of the village and maybe not even the idiot. Still, there's a joy to be had in striking out on your own, pulling a half-dozen people with you, and seeing something within the town you're visiting: a restaurant row, a brewery back-garden, a coffee-house owned by a guy who remembers brick streets and buying Jack Kirby Fantastic Fours from a spinner rack. It's one way to forge relationships with the human part of the artists you're meeting, as opposed to their public personalities and professional profiles. If you're going to be around for a while, it can help.
 
posted 11:55 pm PST | Permalink
 

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