Spokane Comicon 2009 recap

Wow, I am still on cloud 9 after an amazing 3rd show. Each year the Spokane Comicon continues to grow in all areas such as attendance, tables, costume contest, new things to do and flat out hype! There was an electricity in the air early on. Maybe it was the line that started forming at 8am and grew and grew and grew. It was so cool seeing all the people lined up around the corner and coming back down the hall. We had 200 people through the doors in just the first hour we opened and the main show floor was absolutely packed.

Special guest artist Art Thibert is a true professional and a gentleman. He was so nice to fly in from California and do anything we wanted really. My personal favorite part of the day was when Mike Watson, Art Thibert and I conducted a Superman Panel. We discussed many things related to Superman including past and present comics, Smallville tv series, what direction should a new Superman movie go towards and what's next for Art Thibert to name a few things. The crowd erupted in applause when Art announced he would be working with writer Kevin Smith on a new Batman title.

The day was full of things to do. New this year were three exclusive prints created just for the show from local artists Daniel M. Davis, Levi Skeen and Bellingham artist, Ben Hansen. Also new this year was a full day of programming such as free hourly raffle prizes, hourly panels were held in the Senate Chambers (Battlestar Galatica, Superman, "Shadows in the Garden" short film screening, Web Comics Panel and Ghost Hunting How and Why), Gaming tournaments were held in the cafe dining area and of course our second go around for our costume contest. We had way more participants this year and it made it much harder to decide. Ultimately it came down to two: Rorschach and Captain America. Captain America won best adult costume based on audience applause and a gift certificate to the Comic Book shop on Division for $50!

Everything ran smoothly and the reason why is because I had the best group of student volunteers from both SFCC and SCC. Their willingness to do "whatever it takes" to make the con the absolute best made all the difference. They were on hand all day attending to the special guests needs, dealers, attendees questions and setting up and taking down of the rooms. Every single one of them showed maturity beyond their years. Special thanks to Oscar, Sheena, Mike Watson for their leadership and dedication from the start.
Nearly 600 fans came out for the 3rd annual Spokane Comicon. No matter their reason for attending, gift bags, special guests, costume contest everyone left having fun. With over 50 tables, and 5 special guests this was our biggest show yet. I can't wait for next year!

All photo's copyright Rachel O'Brien 2009

Countdown to Spokane Comicon

It's time for fans of comics and pop culture to unite this Saturday May 30th, 2009 at Spokane Falls Community College. We are in the home stretch of the 3rd annual Spokane Comicon and I can't wait. After many months of planning and preparation I am really excited to unveil to you all our best show yet! There is so much more to see and do this year it's scary. In this final email update I wanted to cover some basics along with a few more announcments.

When: Saturday May 30th, 2009 from 10am-5pm

Where: Spokane Falls Community College in Student Union Building 17 (SUB)
3410 W Fort George Wright Dr. Spokane, WA 99224

Parking: Parking is free for the event! Parking lot P9 (First parking lot turn on the right after the digital reader board) is the closest to Bld 17. If you miss it you can turn into the second turn on the right too. Please see link for map http://www.spokanefalls.edu/College/_images/SFCCmap.gif

Set up/Take down: All dealers, artists and guests can set up starting at 7:00am until showtime at 10:00am. Please plan accordingly. All dealers, artists and guests are required to remain set up until the end of the show at 5:00pm unless first discussed with event coordinator.

Admission and gift bags: General Admission is only $5 which gives you access to the main show floor, all panels and free gaming. Children 10 and under are free with paying adult. Gift bags are free for the first 100 paid attendees. Attendees must pay full price per one gift bag. Children 10 and under will not receive a gift bag without purchase.

Gaming update: This year Spokane Comicon will feature both tournament gaming and free gaming across the hall in the cafe dining area.

The first will be a Magic card Type 2 Constructed tournament. Registration is will be happening from 10am-11am and costs $5 to enter. Tournament will begin at 11am.

The second type of gaming will be a Super Smash Bros tournament which begins play at 11am. $5 tournament fee.

Free gaming is included in the price of general admission. Make sure to get your hand stamped to you can freely go between the main show floor, panels and gaming area. Either type of gaming tournament will cost and additional $5 to enter.

Costume Contest: Craig from the Comic Book Shop is the man. Craig donated a $50 gift certificate and a $35 gift certificate for the costume contest. The $50 will go towards the best adult costume and the $35 will go for the best child costume!

Finally, a few other updates to report. Be on the lookout for our ad in the Spokesman Review in this Sunday's paper in the "Today Section" by the movie theater show times and in the Spokane "7" section this Friday 29th. There will also be a write up about the con in this Thursdays Spokesman Review too. I will post it on the web page once it is published.

The Hero Initiative will be raffling an exclusive print by local artist Levi Skeen which is really sweet. http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/81/l_b203051714704d219f87e083ea635c63.jpg

Also newly added to the con is WACOM Technology. WACOM is the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions. They will be doing live deomo's at their table and offering up a great raffle prize of their own. Please take a look at our "What's New" section of our webpage for more details and watch a cool video of their product. http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Last thing fans. DC Comics sent me their care package this past week. I was blown away how much they stepped up from last year. I won't ruin the surprise but I hope you all like buttons. There will be plenty of goodies in the gift bags and on the freebie table for everyone!

I can't wait to see you all there! Got con?

Nathan
____________________________
Nathan O'Brien
Spokane Comicon Founder & Coordinator
http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Spokane Comicon Update

Hello fans, we are only 17 days away until show time. With a few days left everything is coming along smoothly. Special thanks to all of the students from both SFCC and SCC who have been a part of our comic con committee meetings from the start. Their enthusiasm and ideas have been refreshing. Here are some updates from the front line.

First off we are sold out of tables! This is a first for our show in only our third year.There are both new and returning artists and dealers to our show. Make sure you plan on spending some time here as we have over 50 tables to check out!!

This year we doubled our free gift bags for the first 100 paid attendees. These gift bags will come loaded with lots of goodies from DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics to name a few. This year's exclusive item is an unmounted 35mm film cells from the Warner Bros movie Watchmen. Each film cell strip is from a key scene in the movie. You can view some scene examples on our web page by clicking on our Gift Bag tab.

I am really excited to announce some additions to our program of events. First off our Special Guest of Honor: Art Thibert will be joining Neal Bailey at noon for the Superman Panel. Art is the current inker/finisher on DC comics weekly title "Trinity" featuring Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Neal is a writer from Supermanhomepage.com and Smallville the magazine. Come for some answers, stay for the stories.

Another addition to the program of events are the Barony of Wealdsmere. They will be outside of the Student Union Building 17 (SUB) all day. At 12pm they will be holding a full combat tournament for your viewing pleasure. Then at 3pm they will be going at it 3 on 3 style.

Finally, all three exclusive prints are now posted on our site to be viewed. These prints where created just for this years show. The three prints are done by artists Daniel M. Davis, Ben Hansen and Levi Skeen. These prints won't last long so plan on getting there early and picking one up. All three artists will be there selling the prints and signing them at their respected tables. Please visit our website and click on the Con Exclusive tab for futher details.

Keep checking our site for updates as we still have more announcments planned including details about our gaming tournament.

Best,
Nathan
____________________________
Nathan O'Brien
Spokane Comicon Founder & Coordinator
http://www.spokanecomicon.com/