I have gone to the San Diego Comic-Con for the past 18 years and I loved every moment of it, except for the crowds! I am a true comic book nerd and have been collecting comics and graphic novels since I was 9 years old. You can try and do the math to see how old I am.
It’s still crazy here at the con and the con-goers are just as crazy and as my fellow offender Jerome has covered the part about cosplay just recently, you’ve seen how committed these con-goers are about being very involved in this world. Maybe one day I’ll do the same.
As each year passes from the very first time I started going there are more movie studios, gaming companies, fashion boutiques, weaponry and all sorts of… well, comic related stuff stepping into the Comic-Con territory. I’m not complaining, but ultimately it was more about comics back then. I remember the first time there and looking for artists like Arthur Adams, John Bryne, Adam Hughes and many more and having to stand in long lines to just meet them and hopefully get a sketch of my favorite superhero. These artists were my true inspiration on how they told dynamic stories with their fantastic drawing style and storytelling. I wanted to be one of them… badly.
I myself am an artist and I was determined back then to make it as a comic book artist. Each year the comic con would have a section to review artists for Marvel, DC and other publishers. I was in those lines waiting all day for the 4 days which was the duration of the con. By the end of the con I would only have seen 5 reviewers. Guess what… that year I went home unhappy. AWWWWWWW. Even after the con I would send samples of my work to many publishers big and small. All I got back were letters of rejection. DOUBLE AWWWWWWWW. I tried for the next 5 years and still no bite. Ego smashed and I gave up holding a number 2 pencil forever! It’s tough!
10 years of therapy later (just kidding)… Oh, I still love comic books and I will go to as many of these conventions as they come. I will never feel defeated by not being part of the production of the world of comics as long as I can be part of the great imagination of heroes fighting the forces of evil, I will be there with my head buried in the pages.
Love, love , love. One day I will go to comic con. The picture of The Man of Steel was touching. Thanks for sharing.
The first thing I thought was “FUUUUUUUU, Zombie Christopher Reeves!”
But seriously – that letter seems so cruel, having Spidey swing into your face to deliver the news.
Sorry to break any hearts about comic con but I have been there recently and it really is less about the comics now and more about the movies and mainstream media…so it realy is movie con =/. Oh and good cosplays are 1/100. The Ryu and Chun Li one is cool but Ryu needs to be more buff
.
really is a bummer how little the comic part of comic con is now. Always thought it was like meeting a rock star when you met the big illustrators and writers at that time.
Ryu’s arm position makes it look like he’s pulling down Chun Li’s blouse. :p
Those rejections letters may not have been a bad thing. Comic artists get paid dirt and are way over worked. Thats why much of the art sucks. All the good artists are in other industries. I know many ex comic artists who got the hell out and never looked back.
[...] fellow Offenders David and Jerome recently posted about their adventures at Comic Con (see here and here) so I figure I’ll jump on the geektastic bandwagon and post something appropriate. And [...]
I’ll say this as a comic book enthusiast… I will always love comics and what happens within comic con as these changes happen I know at the heart of it it is the comics.
I remember what Kevin Costner said when he was pitching in “For the Love of the Game”… “Remove the mechanism”. All the things that is nebulas on the outside of the con, which maybe in fact keeping the comic con alive, is just the mechanism… we need to always search in the crowds, through the massive flyers, the over priced food and revel in the fact that you can find X-Men 94 in mint condition. That comforts me.
Bud: I did find out later that they or overworked and underpaid when I was invited to Extreme Studios ran by Rob Liefeld (which I will say he was not a good story teller) my friends were working to the weee hours in the night. But you know what? They didn’t mind and they loved creating. They were 24 years old and single and drawing.
I may have given up on the industry, but I still draw out of love.