Privately, famed comic book industry personalities everywhere are discussing wit

h each other whether to stop exhibiting at comic book conventions. Theres a fine
line between being accessible to and pleasing the fans vs. LOSING MONEY at these
conventions. Take Wizard World 2014 in Chicago, for example. Those were three m
iserable days of our lives well never get back. Time we could be spending with ou
r family and friends. Time we could be actually earning money working from our s
tudio and offices at home.
The Saturday of Wizard World that I sat in for Dave, I sat in a 1.5-hour traffic
jam to get there (the convention center is a mere 30 minutes from our home), I
sold $20 in books, and I paid $13 for parking. (Good thing I packed my own lunch
!) You know, you start to get paranoid. You start to think, Is it only us? Is Dav
e no longer relevant? So I began covertly asking around. Asking artists equally i
n demand, equally famous. No one I interviewed made money at that show.
The same was true for San Diego Comic-Con. Normally, we at least cover our costs
. This year we spent $7,000 to exhibit at #SDCC, between the booth space rental,
hotel, car rental and food expenses. This year, we came home $1k in the hole. S
o I started asking around again, I asked equally famous, equally in-demand artist
s, writers, and creators. The post-mortem was that everyone either lost money on
this show or barely covered expenses, and some very famous artistshousehold name
s you would knoware questioning whether they will bother returning next year. Eve
n the biggest comics exhibitor with several booths, Mile High Comics, announced
they were pulling out next year, in a much-publicized story in the New York Time
sadmitting they suffered a $10,000 loss at the show this year. (Their status on e
xhibiting next year may have since changed I havent followed the story that close
ly, but it drives home my point.)
I have slowly come realize that in this selfie-obsessed, Instagram Era, cosplay
is the new focus of these conventionsseeing and being seen, like some giant masqu
erade party. Conventions are no longer shows about commerce, product launches, a
nd celebrating the people who created this genre in the first place. Ive seen it
first-hand the uber-famous artist who traveled all of the way from Japan, sittin
g at Comic-Con, drawing as no one even paid attention to him, while the cosplaye
rs held up floor traffic and fans surround the cosplayersrather than the famed in
dustry household name to pose for selfies.
The hard-working artists and creators who are the very foundation of this indust
rythe reason there even is an industry. those creatives who have busted their asse
s and spent money they perhaps didnt have to spare in order to be there exhibitin
g forand accessible tothe fanshave been reduced to being the background wallpaper a
gainst which the cosplayers pose in their selfies. At what point do you start to
wonder ifother than your faithful, loyal regulars who are like family and who fi
nd you every timethe general fandom population even gives a shit about the creato
rs more than they care about their Instagram profiles?
Ill be the first to admit I revel in the amazing, visually arresting costumes. I
snap photos. I have cosplay friends who dedicate their lives to it. I admire the
creativity, the expense, the time investment, and the sacrifice especially the
imaginative Steampunk cosplay. I just float the idea that maybe weve reached a ti
pping point. Have the expenses of dressing up, rising ticket prices, price gouge
d hotels, and parking costs to attend these costly conventions made it financial
ly unfeasible for people to actually spend money on exhibitors anymore?
Sothis morning I checked in with Dave, exhibiting since yesterday at GrandCon. Ye
sterday, he earned $40. TodaySaturdayby 12:30 p.m. Michigan time, which should be
the busiest day of the show,hes earned $20 thus far. Luckily, hes a featured guest
, so his hotel expenses are covered, but this is time away from the studio. Time
he could be earning money. Time he could be spending with our son. And since I a
m the primary bread winner and self-employed, this creates the burden for me of
extra time away from the office managing his errands while Dave is out of town.
So I ask youat what point would YOU cut bait and stop attending these shows? How
do we satisfy the fans in a way that makes sound financial $ense ? ? ?