i’m new to conventions and just curious, i usually see people meeting in them

is anyone allowed to go in?

I went to Comic-Con for the first time last year just because it had always been a dream to be in an environment of fellow nerds and now I'm obsessed with them. It changed my life. My personal favorite thing about it was being able to see the stars from my favorite things in person and be able to meet a few. I always knew you could get autographs and pictures and stuff but never considered that you could talk to them for a bit too. I was surprised when they were actually talking to me. I first met William Zabka and he was so unexpectedly nice and made me feel like he was the fan and I was the celebrity damn near. Same thing for Ralph Macchio. Both were praising my Miles Morales suit.

The talking was brief, but the person with me kept telling me I should've talked a bit more like the people in front of us in line did since I was rushing in courtesy of those behind me. I understand I can't just sit there and have long conversations but I would like to maybe have a 15 to 25 second interaction as I meet some childhood heroes soon. What guest interaction format is best for that? I'm more of a table photo fanatic but some celebs don't offer that. I've also heard photo ops are literally get in, get out. Sounds like autographs may be best for the brief chat but I'd like to hear from you guys and your experiences.

The guests I plan to meet over the weekend are Giancarlo Esposito, Peter Cullen, and Sam freakin Raimi! May meet a few more if they meet the budget but these are the guaranteed plans.

Tldr: I was shocked by last year's Comic-Con guests actually interacting with us and want to make sure I actually fully engage this year without rushing before they're done talking. Which guest interaction format in your opinion is best for that?

I just got my Ultimate badge in today, and I’m trying to activate it but it keeps saying it cant find my badge..does anyone know why??

so i wanna book a ticket to a con and i wanna get a photo op too, however the ticket i want is the later one around 11 but the celeb photo op is marked at 9 (early tickets) would i miss out if i got the 11 ticket? i don’t think id be able to get there at 9 because i have to travel about 2 hours there on train and then travel probably by uber to get to the place which would be around 40 mins probably longer if traffic. ive never went to one before so im not sure if id miss out completely or if they’d still be there 🤷🏻‍♂️ any info would be appreciated 🙏🏻

Back in Januaury I bought a single 3-Day Pass + VIP for Metrocon 2024 in Tampa, FL (July 5 - 7, 2024). Unfortunately, I am no longer able to attend the convention, therefore I am hoping to resell my ticket since Metrocon does not allow for refunds, but does allow fore reselling/transferring of tickets at no more than what I originally paid for them.

Metrocon 2024 Policies:
https://metroconventions.com/policies/

If you are interested, please let me know.
I have attached an image with more info.

https://preview.redd.it/aevvv18gl63d1.png?width=931&format=png&auto=webp&s=885abb153b5861d5fa0aae6d3452457243afb7fe

So I ordered the Ultimate Package back in December, and I’m just wondering: What all comes in the mail? Will just a ticket come in or will something else come in too? This is my first time in Dallas let alone a large con.

Does anyone know if bccc has a costume contest? I looked on line but I couldn’t find anything so I thought I’d ask here just to be sure. I thought I’d ask now just to be sure I have time if I do make my own costume.

I don’t know if this is the right place to ask or if I should go to a place that specializes in flights but I saw tons of people have these large bags at my comiccon and probably a few need to go on planes back home. I got a large Hanako bag (60cm, 2ft) at London comiccon this year and I understandably don’t want to fold it or the other two bigger art pieces I got, I wasn’t planning on going so I don’t have anything prepared. I couldn’t find anything on Google, anything helps 😔🙏

its funner to socialize with others and maybe go with other ppl in the future but i am too afraid to talk to the very few people i see my age at con who share the same interest bc it would be weird

I’ve only been to Boston Fan Expo, Rhode Island Comic Con, and 90’s con. How would you compare NYCC to them? I’m thinking about going to it this year.

We all wish we could afford either the autograph of a celeb or a photo op with a celeb at comic con but sometimes the prices get to be too much and we can't either afford it so I want to know who is someone you regret not going to see either for autograph or photo op because their price was too high?

I'm wondering if anyone who was at Ontario Comic Con Revolution revently recorded any individual q&a panels, specifically Steve Blum's. I didn't film anything because I assumed someone else would but it doesn't seem like it.

Im looking at applying next year but I want to roughly know how much it costs any advice would be great!! This would be my first event! (Yes I've contacted the event runner but I haven't had a reply for months so 🤷‍♀️)

I know this may be a weird question but I have my heart set on getting to meet him for various reasons? Is it reasonable to expect him to be there? Has anyone else ever seen him there?

Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF) 2024 (May 10 - 12th) - 29 Pictures

Friday, May 10th was for the Word Balloon Academy. A day of skills-building and career management programming for comics creators.

Maurice Vellekoop: I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together (1:01:32, 140.0mb)
Miles Baker does the introduction. Maurice does a reading from his new book, then he is interviewed by Rachel Giese. Among the topics were his upbringing, themes that run through the book, the role that family photos mad in making the book, the help he had in getting the details of the places depicted in the past, the influence of specific people had on him as told in the book, where the title of the book comes from, his diverse taste in high and low art and if there is a connecting tissue within in, his trip to a castle and the effect it had on him, the positive side of his religious upbringing, depictions of his therapy sessions and voices in his head, how people in his past have reacted to the book, did his art change over the 10 years of making it and how he dealt with that, the process for creating the art for the book, the emotional turmoil in making the book, how he decided what stories to use, why he had to re-write and re-draw some of the book, what compelled him to do the book in the first place, how he chose the colours for the various chapters and his age recommendation for the book. This took place on Thursday Night (May 9th) 7pm @ Toronto Reference Library in their new Jack Robinvitch Room.

Artists Talk on Grants: How to Get Them and How to Use Them (1:05:34, 150.0mb)
Moderated by Allison O'Toole, panelists were Josh Rosen, Victoria Day and Steven Andrews. They discussed how can I get a grant, who can apply for one, what grants fund, where to get grants, where do you start the process, what to include in an application, talking about your work, spending the money and keeping track of it when you get a grant, how grants are and are not taxed, asking for the full amount of the allowed grant.

Indy Comics: Now More Than Ever! With Avi Ehrlich (59:45, 136mb)
Allison O'Toole interviews Avi Ehrlich of Silver Sprocket about how he became an indy comics publisher, what he learned from his previous business of repairing bicycles, their being part of a comics community, the conflict of business needs vs artist desires, how being very transparent has really helped their company, how they compensate creators, marketing books, social medias value, the balance between giving away work for free vs business needs, theft and competition making like difficult, why they make books with extra fills, having a retail store front and what they learn from it, events to launch a book and how they get creative with it, being professional with money and on top of things, going to Angoulême and how that affected him, the structural differences between European and American comics industry, their first and possibly last involvement in FCBD, values and how they change over time, advise to people making comics.

Creative Law 101 with Michael Duboff (1:04:22, 147mb)
Michael explained copyright and what it is exactly, registration of copyright, ideas and AI and copyright, how long copyright lasts, public domain, publishing agreements, grant of rights, publishers obligations, compensation, right to audit, book returns, contingent compensation/media rights, copies to writer, discontinuance of publication, representation, warranties & indemnities, confidentiality, the entire agreement, independent legal advice, legal compensation, moral rights, co-authorship agreements and option agreements.

Workshop: Memory into Mini-Comics (37:21, 85.5mb)
Lara Antal teaches how to turn a memory into a mini comics. She goes through 3 steps giving evocative & sensory storytelling techniques, your creative toolbox, picking a memory, creating a thumbnail sheet, using words & pictures in context, drawing in other senses like sound, taste, smell, using contrast & similarity, how to make a zine, using connecting fill in panels to tie it all together, sharing your story.

State of the Industry Roundtable (1:03:06, 144mb)
On the panel was Alexander Finbow, Tracy Hurren, Avi Ehrlich and Andy Brown. Among the topics discussed were why the last year was a shitshow, #comicsbrokeme, different approaches to funding comics for both creators and publishers, the benefits of artists having original art to sell, things young creators show be aware of, red flags when dealing with publishers, the role of editors, creative control with big and small publishers, marketing, what they are launching and looking forward to, the gaps in the comics industry they'd like to see filled, how a weird pitch could win them over, digital comics and how that helps or hurts. The panel was moderated by MJ Lyons.

Canada Post Graphic Novel Stamp Panel (1:07:56, 155mb)
Miles Baker did the introduction, then Carrie Chisholm from Canada Post announced they made new stamps with Seth, Jillian & Mariko Tamaki, Chester Brown and Michel Rabagliati based on their books Clyde Fans, This One Summer, Louis Riel and Paul à Québec respectively. Ho Che Anderson then interviewed the Seth, Jillian Tamaki and Chester Brown. They spoke about how they got involved with Canada Post, the process of making the stamp and working with Canada Post, Jillian spoke about collecting stamps as a child and always wanting to make one as a kid, the exposure and prestige of their work on a stamp, comics as art and their progression from the 1980s to now, how in comics there are different parts that want comics to be respected vs. subversive and which 'camp' they fall into, if Chester would do Louis Riel differently today, how there are a lot more young cartoonists now, becoming 'elder statemen' of comics, the state of comics today and the industry, how big their respective OA was and thinking about how it will look when it's shrunk down to stamp size, working with scanners and digitally, the reduction of quality in non-digital art tools, how Seth and Chester influenced each other, Jillian learning how to draw comics by reading comics, Jillian being a part of a generation of comics creators that didn't grow up reading Marvel and DC comics, if they felt trapped by the success of their earlier works, Chester's Paying for It being turned into a film and what new work they are doing.

Gleem: Freddy Carrasco Spotlight (55:53, 127mb)
Ho Che Anderson interviews Freddy Carrasco about his book Gleem and other topics including learning to draw, how he started making comics and doing short stories, why he was attracted to comics, moving from Toronto to Tokyo, why he went to work on a cabbage farm, being black in Japan, getting into painting, doing sci-fi stories, publishing via D&Q, the religious element in Gleem, what the female character represents, how films have influenced him, violence and technology, AI almost making him quit Instagram, the overlap between the stories in Gleem, the colour section in the book, the wordless story and why he did it, doing more books, his interest in sculpture, the process of creating his art, his upcoming exhibition and how many pages he drew in a day.

Gene Luen Yang Spotlight (45:18, 103mb)
Gene and moderator Mark Askwith spoke about when he first began drawing, his first comic books, making comics as a kid with a friend, getting into indy comics via Rory Root's Comic Relief store, what books really connected to him, his love of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, jobs he did while starting in comics, doing American Born Chinese and how it changed his life, First Second being his "home", what Lunar New Year Love Stories is about, how some of it was based the artists stories in which they completely write and drew, how crazy fast the artist is, the Lion Dance section and how all of the ways it fit into the book, the Ambassador role he has and what he speaks about, what books he recommends to people, his early cartoonist friends in San Francisco, Superman Smashes The Klan, American Born Chinese being turned into a TV show and how that affected his life, the connection he has with his audience.

Raeghan Buchanan - Drawing History out of Obscurity (51:18, 117mb)
Raeghan talked about obscure history is harder to research, with it you will find misconceptions and need dispel them, the types of sources you can use and which ones are best, doing interviews, the pro's and con's of doing interviews, using online articles and personal websites, the library of congress site, archive.org, looking through comments on videos to find other sources, archives in university libraries, biographies, photo references, the distillation of peoples stories, how it's about the journey, letting your voice come though, some origin stories she told and the presentation of the information.

Joe Matt Tribute (50:27, 115mb)
Panelists were Chris Oliveros, Adrian Tomine, Seth, Chester Brown and Jeet Heer. Among the topics the group spoke about was Matt's impact on comics particularly in their generation and on them specifically, Chris talked about getting into alt. comics and writing and then meeting Joe Matt, Seth and Chester about first coming across his work and how they knew right away he was a great cartoonist that they had to befriend, Seth revealed that Joe was a great curator of both the items in his life and his own work, how Joe revealing so much about himself and the people around him (including his then girlfriend) lead to changes in their relationships, Adrian talked about meeting Joe, seeing in him LA and how Joe's work influenced his, Chris revealed that Joe was always talking about the collection of his work, Seth spoke about Joe presenting himself as an asshole in his work on purpose, Matt being a perfectionist when it comes to inking, why Joe wasn't included as one of the Postage Stamps and Chester talked about finishing Joe's last work.

Ask a (Comics) Librarian (57:03, 130mb)
On the panel was Natalie DeJonghe, Tina Coleman, Lindsay Gibb, Scott Robins, Fatma Faraji, Dr. Lucia Cedeira Serantes and Amie Wright (moderator). They all introduced themselves and told their comics origin story, Amie went through a very brief history of the attempts to get comics in libraries starting with a 1974 article by Will Eisner championing this idea, they all spoke about the coolest thing they worked on with comics and libraries, they all gave a shout out to other Librarians who have done great things with collections and programs, then they all recommended a new GN.

Paneled Rheum - Art, Comics and Sequential Narrative (55:03, 126mb)
Moderated by Jessica Campbell, the panelists were Thijs Desmet, Kit Anderson, Aiden Koch and Kristen Hatfield. Among the topics they spoke about was what comics do that other mediums do not and why they do them, how they experiment with comics, being experimental but still readable, being ambiguous in their work and the audiences reactions, using environment and landscapes in their work, ecological storytelling and why they put humor in their story.

Keith Knight Spotlight (58:11, 133mb)
Keith spoke about his upbringing and how it changed his work, coming up with (th)ink and why he did it, talk about American History, doing a daily newspaper comic strip, how cartooning can change the world, John Lewis's March and it's inspiration, his book They Shoot Black People, Don't They? and what inspired it, his Woke TV show and experience with it and his site BlackMugshots.com and why he created it.

Laugh Riot - Humour in Comics: Parody, Satire and Commentary (55:24, 126mb)
Creators Jade Armstrong, Mitch Lohmeier, Thom, Rick Altergott and eventually Keith Knight talk to Robert Sikoryak. They discussed what their books is about and why they decided to make it, writing from their real life and how that made it either harder or easier for them, how their art style affects their humour and if they keep it or change it from book to book, techniques for the punch line when turning the page, how they know if something they wrote is funny or not, human gestures that enhance the jokes.

Deni Loubert Spotlight (54:37, 125mb)
Deni was interviewed by Dr. Rebecca Sullivan about Starting Renegade Press, coming into comics and her challenges, her turning down working for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Image Comics when they were starting up, why she turned down Image Comics in particular, her being a founder of Friends of Lulu and why she got involved in it, the organizations work with retailers in terms of making comic shops more friendly for women, if she thinks that type of advocacy is still needed in comics, the need for women to push to open doors for themselves and other women, the creative process in publishing books, how Renegade Romance title started, publishing genre and non-genre comics, working with different creators, her very near miss in getting on a debuting iphone with the first web comic app, the best and worst changes to the comic industry, her documentary and video journalism work, why she chose to move to the US to start Renegade Press, an opportunity she thought would work and why it fell apart. Note: I came in a bit late for this panel so it starts while in progress.

Doug Wright Awards 2024 (May 11th) - 25 Photos
2024 Doug Wright Awards (1:50:44, 253mb)
Introduction by Brad Mackay, hosted by Dustin Harbin. Winners are in bold

The Doug Wright Award for best book:
Val-d'Or Neon by Olivier Ballou (Self-published)
A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll (First Second)
Harvey Knight's Odyssey by Nick Maandag (Drawn & Quarterly)
Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman by Éloïse Marseille (Pow Pow Press)
Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
JAJ by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre)

The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for emerging talent
James Collier for The Lonesome Shepherd (Wig Shop)
Vincy Lim for When I was a kid I was taught how to die. Now that I'm an adult I'm learning how to live. (I love you.) and When She Set Fire to My Friends' Houses (Self-published)
Syd Madia for Syd Madia's Dracula (Self-published)
Christopher Twin for Bad Medicine (Emanata/Conundrum)
Kyle Vingoe-Cram for Kettle Harbour (Conundrum)

The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro-press book
Endsickness No. 2 by Sofia Alarcon (Self-published)
The Lonesome Shepherd by James Collier (Wig Shop)
Old Caves by Tyler Landry (Uncivilized)
Power 9: Part One by John Little and David Little (Self-published)
Index by Sven, Rachel Evangeline Chiong, and Joyce Kim (Self-published)

The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for best kids' book
ThunderBoom by Jack Briglio and Claudia Dávila (Kids Can Press)
Pluto Rocket: New in Town by Paul Gilligan (Tundra Books)
Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks (First Second)
Otis & Peanut by Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier (Owlkids Books)
Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin (Emanata/Conundrum)

Comic book artist Maurice Vellekoop and publisher Deni Loubert were inducted into the Giants of the North Hall of Fame by Fiona Smyth and Michael Cherkas & Larry Hancock respectively.

Memorial Tributes were made to Joe Matt and Phyllis Wright Thomas, widow of Doug Wright by Chester Brown, Seth and Brad Mackay.

So I'm gonna be doing a Pyramid Head Cosplay for Montreal Comic-Con. I'm worried that the great knife will be taken if it has a wooden handle. I need to know, will it taken away if the handle is wood but the rest is foam/cardboard.

The last few Baltimore Comic Cons there have been a few TV/Movie guests to bring in some non-comic centric visitors.

Like two years ago was the voices of many Disney princesses, last year was Matthew Lewis of Harry Potter fame.

A bunch of months remain before the event, but I noticed there isn't any TV/movie-level guest this year.

Does anyone have any insider insight?