The metro Detroit area hosted its first large-scale comic / pop culture convention since Detroit Fanfare debuted last October. Motor City Comic Con enters its 22nd year as comic creators, media guests, and fans all converge in Novi, MI at the usual but now-renamed Suburban Collection Showplace.
The show contains its usual diverse array of media celebrities, highlighted by popular names such as Star Trek’s Brent Spiner, George Takei and Kate Mulgrew. SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica’s Dean Stockwell and Tricia Helfer are also appearing, and there is a reunion of sorts of the original BG’s cast which features Dirk Benedict, Richard Hatch, and Herbert Jefferson Jr. Old TV favorites like Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley), Marta Kristen (Lost in Space), and Mike Lookinland (The Brady Bunch) are also guests.
The lineup of comic creators included some big veteran names as well, among them Howard Chaykin, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Starman writer James Robinson. Other familiar and regularly appearing guests are also in attendance, including Shi creator & Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion’s Billy Tucci, Tiny Titans’ Art Baltazar, and Mouse Guard creator David Petersen. Buzz around the show on Friday speculated that the larger number of more prominent comic guests was in reaction to Detroit Fanfare’s more comic-centered theme. “We have much stronger comic book guests this year than we’ve had in the past few years,” admitted convention organizer Michael Goldman. “The comic people, you have to work hard to get them. It takes a lot of phone calls and emails and talking to them at other conventions. The media people are easy to get; their agents just call me, or I just call up the agents and say, ‘Who do you have?’”
Attendance-wise, Goldman reported that presales were stronger for this show than the prior year’s, even though pre-registration was capped earlier than last year. Goldman estimated that were no fewer than 1500 tickets sold in advance, similar to last year, adding that total attendance for 2010’s show was around 15,000 but that he expected a larger amount of attendees this year, citing the comic creator guest list. “We’ve been averaging anywhere from 13,000 – 15,000 for the past eight years or so. I think this year will be even better.”
There was chatter about the lengthy line to enter the show come its opening moments on Friday, but as is typical for the show’s opening day, the crowd size significantly dropped come the show’s later afternoon hours. Creators such as Aaron Lopresti and Geof Darrow and some extended spells with no traffic at their booths, which were set near the back of the exhibit hall. A random survey of retailers showed similar trends, with sales early on in the afternoon but later tapering off. The show featured its usual sizeable assortment of retailers carrying toys and action figures, and it was pretty clear that many of them believe Green Lantern to be the next hot thing, as witnessed by the preponderance of GL figures, rings, props, etc.
Saturday historically is the big day for attendance and announcements for any con, so stay tuned for any significant developments.
JJ
The Magazine
If parking difficulties; and a long line to enter show that persisted even into the show’s early afternoon; are any indication, Saturday appeared to be one of the show’s best attended days in recent memory. The crowds lingered well into the late afternoon, noticeably thinning out an hour or so before the show’s closing that day.
A common claim among many of the creators situated near the back of the hall is that, despite impressive attendance, most of the attendees do not make their way to that part of the hall. Even veteran creator Billy Tucci reported that sales were slow at his booth, which was set on the far back wall.
One artist who had a little better location in Artists Alley and drew consistent crowds, however, was Tiny Titans’ Art Baltazar, who appeared on Saturday only and appeared to be sketching nonstop throughout the day. Art delighted many a child by providing sketches of their favorite Tiny Titans character. Although, he seemed to delight many of his adult fans, too, especially the guy who presented a blank cover variant of Fear Itself, on which Art sketched a caricature of Stan Lee trying to lift Thor’s hammer.
Pics of the above and more can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/sirjimothy00/MotorCityComicCon2011#
JJ
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