Annie and I are back after spending an exhausting day at Baltimore Comic-Con. We both enjoyed the expedition and had great fun spending the day with our friend, Rob.
I'm sorry to report, though, that the con let us down somewhat this year. I suppose our expectations might have been set too high after we had such fantastic experiences in 2006 and 2007 -- and perhaps my spirit was dampened some by the rain that fell throughout the day -- but some of my strongest lingering impressions tonight are of things that went wrong.
1. Far too much con was crammed into far too little space. Due to scheduling problems
beyond their control, organizers were forced this year to move the con to the cramped end of the Baltimore Convention Center. And cramped it was. Aisles were too small, unruly lines for popular creators were too long, and attitudes among attendants were testy as a result. If this had been my first trip to Baltimore Comic-Con, I doubt I would return based on my experience today.
2. Greedy fans nearly ruined the show. I wrote about the con's main problem
two years ago and it's only gotten worse. Popular writers such as Geoff Johns and Brian Michael Bendis were swamped by fans who wanted them to sign 50 or more comic books. And organizers inexplicably continued to let this happen. This must stop. Next year, all top-tier creators should sign no more than three items per person, just as artist Jim Lee did this year. Anything more than that is simply greedy -- or fodder for eBay.
3. Baltimore Comic-Con has become too impersonal. The show I once considered the biggest small show is now the smallest big show. And in making that leap, the priorities have shifted. It's less about fans and more about
headline creators. It's less about accessibility and more about profitability. The friendly, intimate environment I enjoyed in years past has been replaced by something I do not welcome. I'm not sure how this can be addressed, but for the sake of the con, it must be.
Of course, this year's event wasn't a bust. I had some truly enjoyable and memorable moments at Baltimore Comic-Con.
1. I met
Ron Marz, creator of one of the most interesting heroes to come along in the last two decades,
Kyle Rayner the Green Lantern that succeeded Hal Jordan. I learned that Ron originally wanted the character to be a woman, but that was disallowed by DC Comics. Instead, he created an engaging and flawed hero that captured my imagination. It was a joy to finally meet Ron and get him to sign my miniature
HeroClix figure of the character he created.
2. My power shopping yielded some great finds, including several more HeroClix for
an old set I'm trying to complete, a hard-to-find HeroClix figure of the
Dr. Doom seen in Marvel's classic "Secret Wars," and a new version of the old G.I. Joe character
Rock n Roll. And why, you ask, do I care so much about that particular G.I. Joe character? Because that was the first one my Dad bought me. Nobody messes with Rock n Roll.
3. I said hello again to Jim Calafiore and Mark McKenna, the artists of the "Exiles" pages I bought
last year, and briefly met
Rags Morales, artist behind the blockbuster DC Comics tale Identity Crisis, and writer Brian Michael Bendis, who was thanked for acknowledging my 30th birthday last year.
So make no mistake. The good outweighed the bad. And I'll doubtless return next year to Baltimore Comic-Con, which is slated to include legend-in-his-own-time artist
George Perez. But I found this year much more of a mixed bag than in years past. Here's hoping for a better experience next year.
e open my little Internet store and show you my wares - the latest cool things I've found in the Series of Tubes.
