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We saw a lot of interest in our upcoming Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen and Dusty Higgns, and the new collections of our Disney-licensed comics Wonderland, Tron, and Gargoyles were popular. People picked up promos for some new projects -- Winchester by Dan Vado and Drew Rausch, Weird Fishes by Jamaica Dyer, and Sisters Luck by Shari Chankhamma.
Alas, Ethan Nicolle's incredibly hilarious Chumble Spuzz didn't get the Best Humor Publication Eisner Award. It, and everything else nominated in that category, lost to the work of a man who died nearly 40 years ago. Congratulations, Ogden Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. Wait, no...
Vanguard Pictures announced members of the cast for the upcoming movie based on Emo Boy by Steve Emond -- Lucas Cruikshank will be Emo Boy and Jaime King the sympathetic teacher Ms. Hutcherson. Kyle Newman will direct. Steve Emond, who also wrote the screenplay, weighs in here.
Me, I'm still trying to figure out why Saturday was so slow while Wednesday Preview Night and Sunday were much busier. Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics notes this phenomena as well, so I know we weren't alone in experiencing it. He laments, as well, the seemingly reduced importance of, you know, comics at Comic-Con, and I'm with him on that. Here, he wonders about the future of the convention as booth prices go up and comics sales go down.
But enough of that gloominess! We have comics to get out, and I'm getting on that.... now. I'll try to get a few pictures from the convention up, too.
-JdG
SLG's booth is #1820, right near the DC booth and the CBLDF booth.
You might not be able to get replies to your emails to publishers right now, but you still can do some research on them and their submissions policies before you launch yourself into the shuffling crowd, portfolio under your arm.
-JdG
Oh, and of course there will be creators! Lots of them, signing, signing, signing away. Here is our signing schedule (cleeck to make it bigger). You can also download a printable PDF here.
This is all subject to change, of course.
So, here you go:
Part One
Preparation, arrival and building the booth.
Part Two
The "How Not to Break into Comics" panel with Randal "Randal Savage" "The Amazing Rand-O" Jarrell.
Part Three
Talking shit on the Omni terrace, Joe arrives, The Comic Book Heaven Panel, the SLG Panel, the end.
By the way, I apologize to everyone who appears in this video without credit or compensation. I don't have Sony Pictures' resources, so I couldn't put up a below-eye-level sign informing everyone of the relinquishment of their rights everywhere we might be recording video.
Landry Walker and Eric Jones talk about TRON at Comic-Con International. By my calculations, Tron #6 should be in stores in early September. (At last! We know.)
More videos to come!
At least one publisher is seriously considering leaving Comic-Con in the rearview mirror and never returning, and that's IDW. Ted Adams, the comapany's president, cited pretty much the reasons I gave above -- the show is a lot of work and takes the focus away from publishing books. There are responses to Adams's interview at Comics Reporter in a follow-up at the same website, with reactions from people in various parts of the comics industry, including myself.
I found this aspect of the analysis by the site's eponymous reporter Tom Spurgeon interesting:
One notion that's in the responses that seemed to loom larger than I would have guessed is the idea that IDW will by not exhibiting suffer in terms of its relationship to various fans that count on a favorite publisher's presence or will take their absence as a sign the company is doing poorly. That doesn't mean that notion is a correct one. I would personally reject the underlying logic, in that I think people tend get mad on behalf of fans more than fans get mad at this kind of thing.
To be fair to myself, I didn't say I thought readers would be "mad"; I said "disappointed." And I really do believe that -- based on the emails and responses to blog posts and the excited people at the booth, I know that it's a fun event for people who read our comics. And I don't think you guys would be pissed at us if we didn't go to Comic-Con, but I do believe some of you would be disappointed.
Adams also mentions that IDW does not think of Comic-Con as marketing rather than a retailing opportunity. Their booth was right across from ours, and they did not seem to be selling comics, though I could be wrong. I cannot imagine not selling comics at Comic-Con. This is both because we're one of those companies Adams mentions that doesn't enjoy as great a level of distribution as his company does, and, damn, Comic-Con is expensive, and we need to make sure we recoup at least the cost of our booth.
And I remember going to Comic-Con as a civvy, way back when I was an awkward girl of nineteen and Comic-Con attracted a mere 40,000 attendees. I encountered publishers' booths that had nothing for sale and found it frustrating and disappointing. My first year at Comic-Con, I discovered new artists at publishers' booths because they were selling comics -- that includes Brian Wood at the Image booth, where I bought the first few issues of Channel Zero, and Serena Valentino at the SLG booth, where I bought the first issue of GloomCookie. What if they hadn't thought of Comic-Con as a retailing-as-marketing venue? Where would I be? My god, I might be a college professor right now. Horrors!
So what do you think? Am I just imagining your theoretical disappointment? Or would you miss us if we didn't go to Comic-Con?
-JdG
Here is the list of our attending creators. Please note that Serena Valentino is no longer listed as attending. We'll miss her!
Aaron Alexovich (Serenity Rose)
Karine Charlebois (Gargoyles: Bad Guys)
Camilla d'Errico (Nightmares and Fairy Tales)
Roman Dirge (Lenore)
Jennifer Feinberg (Little Scrowlie)
Jenny Goldberg (Jellyfist)
Jon "Bean" Hastings (Haunted Mansion)
Faith Erin Hicks (Zombies Calling - Thursday, Saturday, Sunday ONLY)
Derek Hunter (Pirate Club)
Eric Jones (The Super-Scary Monster Show)
Kenny Keil (Tales to Suffice)
Neil Kleid (Ursa Minors)
Tommy Kovac (Wonderland)
Karl Christian Krumpholz (Byron)
Todd Meister (Little Scrowlie)
Ethan Nicolle (Chumble Spuzz)
Chris Reilly (Strange Eggs)
Andy Ristaino (The Babysitter)
Ian and Tyson Smith (Dream Maiden Megan)
Jhonen Vasquez (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac - Friday - Sunday ONLY)
Greg Weisman (Gargoyles)
Landry Walker (The Super-Scary Monster Show)
You are out of luck if you want to get a four-day pass for Comic-Con International in San Diego. In an interview at The Beat, Comic-Con Marketing and PR man David Glanzer reports that those are sold out. Don't fret; single-day passes are still available, though it looks like Saturday is well on its way to selling out, too. There will be no onsite registration, so if you want to go to Comic-Con you have to act now! Comic-Con is taking place between July 24-27, and if you have never attended, you should. It's astounding in its hugeness, really.
Comic-Con filled up really fast this year, despite the high cost of travel and hotels in a economically slumpy year. So much so that the SLG crew didn't get our regular hotel, the Gaslamp Hilton. We'll be at the Omni. It's going to be disorienting.
But, in any case, our booth will be our real home base. It's where we will spend 11 hours a day, relentlessly offering the public comics, graphic novels, T-shirts, posters, and toys. Many artists will also be there, to sign books and exchange pleasantries. Here they are, in no particular, other than alphabetical, order:
Aaron Alexovich
Karine Charlebois
Roman Dirge
Jennifer Feinberg
Jenny Goldberg
Jon "Bean" Hastings
Faith Erin Hicks
Derek Hunter
Eric Jones
Kenny Keil
Neil Kleid
Tommy Kovac
Karl Christian Krumpholz
Todd Meister
Ethan Nicolle
Chris Reilly
Andy Ristaino
Ian Smith
Tyson Smith
Serena Valentino
Jhonen Vasquez
Landry Walker
Gene Yang
2005 a Banner Year for SLG at Comic-Con
Comic-Con International 2005 will be the event of the year for readers of SLG Publishing's comics, as SLG pulls out all the stops to bring fans their favorite creators and comics, news about new projects, and portfolio reviews for aspiring artists. At the year's biggest comic book convention, which will take place in San Diego from July 14 through 17, nearly forty comic book creators will be appearing at SLG's always-hopping booth -- including the company's two top artists, Roman Dirge and Jhonen Vasquez -- who will be on hand to meet fans and sign books. There will also be three SLG-related panels this year, including the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Jhonen Vasquez's groundbreaking and perennially-popular comic book Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and one announcing details about SLG's new line of Disney-licensed comics.
SLG Publishing's booth is a 1000-square-foot comics extravaganza, with a large store stocked with SLG and AmazeInk Comics, T-shirts and Monkey Fun Toys. And that's not all! Along the perimeter of the booth will be 72 linear feet of tables where SLG's creators will showcase and sign their books. SLG President Dan Vado and Editor-in-Chief Jennifer de Guzman will also review portfolios by appointment. Located next to the DC booth and occupying a whole island, the SLG booth will be a must-see for Comic-Con attendees! Visit SLG's website, www.slavelabor.com, for a full list of attending creators and their signing schedules.
The first SLG panel of Comic-Con International 2005 will be the Spotlight on Jhonen Vasquez, on Friday, July 15 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in room 6CDEF. The creator of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee, I Feel Sick and of course the much-beloved Fillerbunny will take a look back on his work in comics and animation and answer fans' questions. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and the comic's seven issues and trade paperback are still selling strong. Find out what's behind this cult favorite in this conversation with its creator, moderated by SLG's President Dan Vado.
Also on Friday is a panel on SLG's new hit anthology Strange Eggs. Editor Chris Reilly and contributors Jennifer Feinberg (Little Scrowlie), Steve Ahlquist and the Eisner-nominated Ben Towle (Farewell, Georgia) will discuss the origins, stories, and future of Strange Eggs from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in room 7B. Are you interested in organizing your own comic book anthology? This panel will be the perfect opportunity to meet people who have successively conceived, put together and marketed a popular new anthology!
On Saturday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., room 7B will host an SLG Publishing panel, where the company's President Dan Vado and Editor-in-Chief Jennifer de Guzman will preview the new line of Disney-licensed comics that include The Haunted Mansion, Tron, Wonderland and Gargoyles. Landry Walker, one of Tron's writers, Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman, as well as other contributors will also be on hand to discuss their work on the individual comics. How did a publisher like Slave Labor Graphics, best known for publishing Lenore and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, become involved in publishing Disney comics? How will SLG's approach to comic-making influence new takes on Disney properties like The Haunted Mansion and Alice in Wonderland? Find out at this panel, where you will learn details about one of the most talked-about deals of the year.
It's a big year for SLG, leading up to the company's 20th anniversary in 2006. Come help SLG get the ball rolling by stopping by the SLG booth and coming to Comic-Con's SLG panels, which are sure to be the talk of the convention.
