Well, it's been a few weeks since I took my first trip to the San Diego ComicCon.
My impressions are lasting and varied. There were so many great people there. We made temporary friends in almost every line and panel; we bonded with Jack Kirby's daughter at the DC Stamp unveiling - who was mystified by how folks revere comic book icons like her father, and even admired some of the costumes and had chats with their proud creators!
On the flip side, Most of the cattle herd filing down the rows of vendors in the main hall were rude and seemed to love being jerks. I was having a difficult time, so we decided to "rent" out a wheelchair. Even though I have a very slight disability, I have never done that before, and I've been to many comic shows. People STILL ran me over and giggled at their asshattery.
Our purchasing "deals" were really only had at the booths where we had an existing relationship with the dealers, with a few exceptions. Most vendors had come out to play and play big. The price tags were high and there was little bargaining to be done. Our time was better used at the panels, chatting with friends; dealers; creators; or all of the above.
The one thing I REALLY wanted to mention is a topic that seemed to be on many comic book dealer's lips. They were all asking themselves, where was SDCC headed? Most notably, I stopped by the Superworld Comics booth (I give them a plug because they were GREAT guys and had gorgeous stuff, even though I didn't buy anything from them) and heard them wondering if they could swing the booth rent at SDCC for another year.
You see, they'd gotten their applications for SDCC '07, and the booth rent had gone up drastically. I don't know exactly how much, I didn't want to pry, but I inferred from the conversation I had with them that it was an increase of about 25%. That would mean if it cost them $2500 in '06, the price of booth rent would be $3150 or so for '07. I said, "Well, that's just INSANE!".
No kidding. While a movie studio or print house might be able to afford that without blinking, a comic dealer would have to sell a lot of extra books to eat that cost without it hurting them. They felt like they were being squeezed out on both sides. One side was Hollywood, Large Print Studios, and Production Companies. The other was T-Shirts, Posters, Game Manufacturers, and General Manga type merchandise (I only mention the Manga because it took up a significant portion of the commercial area this year). I'm not saying there's no room for any of that, but edge out the dealers with price increases and they should take the "Comic" out of "ComicCon". Perhaps they've started that already.
I really did enjoy my time there in sunny San Diego, but I'm guessing that was my last visit to SDCC. However, I hope the guys at Superworld will be back for years to come, that's what a Comic Show is all about.
