New LGBTQ Comic-Con launching in NY

29 JANUARY 2015

 

 

If you're a rainbow nerd, you know that the LGBTQ presence has claimed a seat at the Con table in recent years. Panels, booths, parties and mixers: we're here, we're queer and we play Magic: The Gathering. (Well, this switch-hitter doesn't, but they did just announce a trans character so that's my shout-out.)

Recent queer-themed Cons have been springing up like BentCon in L.A., and now GeeksOUT has announced a new one in New York. It's called - wait for it - Flame Con - and its inaugural event will kick off Saturday, 13 June, in Brooklyn. So if you're traveling to NY for Pride, you'll be a bit too late to make this, but it still commemorates the spirit of the month. What did our Stonewall ancestors fight for if not the right to do Princess Leia drag?

From the formal press release description:

"People from all corners of the LGBTQ community will be given a unique opportunity to meet up and geek out over a range of artists, creators and vendors creating to all kinds of queer interests and tastes. Provocative and intelligent panels will explore ideas and questions not discussed at traditional cons. Other Flame Con attractions include an onsite art show, an anthology comic <of course - editorial note> and a cosplay parade leading the way to a nearby after party. <double of course.>"

So there it is. Since I'm in NY quite often, I may attend and I'll report back if I do. Regardless, it should definitely be of interest to the many Brooklyn and tri-state area nerds who'd like more queer-themed content in their Comic-Con life.

Tickets are available now for:

• $20 for basic admittance
• $25 for the Con and after party
• $10 for just the after party

Oh and you can do 2 other things:

• If you're an LGBTQ creator, they're accepting applications for table space.
• If you'd like to present or just have a certain panel you want to see, go on and tell them.

And whatever you do, don't miss that after party.

NYCC hives off a comics-only Con

25 FEBRUARY 2014


If you listen to all the speculation and forecasting that goes on over San Diego Comic-Con's future - some of it being done right here - you'll know that a favorite prediction is the rise of a new Con somewhere in California. For instance, a new Hollywood-focused Con in LA while SDCC shrinks back to its nerdier roots, or a future where SDCC surrenders entirely to the thundering bombast of movies and TV while the comic book collectors go quietly elsewhere.

But New York beat us to the punch. ReedPop, the masterminds behind New York Comic Con and Chicago C2E2, is creating a comics-only con called "Special Edition: NYC" on 14-15 June. Fans and collectors will be able to meet authors, find obscure back issues and generally congratulate themselves on not being like those philistine Hollywood fans.

It's worth noting that this has sort of happened on the West Coast. CCI didn't create it, but other people launched the October San Diego Comic Fest a few years back as a "friendly, intimate Comic Con experience." It seems to be a success so far. But it's not quite the same as CCI spawning a new Con, or acknowledging that the comic book faction of SDCC is increasingly drowned out each year.

As for whether juggernaut SDCC does split into two, we'll have to wait and see. Probably CCI would follow NYCC's lead and still include comics in the regular summer Con, while recognizing the potential business to be had in a smaller Con that was devoted just to comics, gaming and collectibles. Plenty of attendees would be happy to skip one of the two, opening up Con attendance to more people.

Just a thought. Although CCI did renew their trademark for Los Angeles Comic-Con last fall, they are a non-profit and may not have the financial motivation or resources to hive off a new Con. But the emergence of this new comics-only New York Con is another sign that people are desperate for a solution to overcrowded Cons.

And a new Comic Con is born - maybe

31 AUGUST 2012

Whether or not this news excites you will probably depend on your location. In a nutshell: CCI may be producing a new Con, still in California, in 2013.

Currently CCI puts on 3 cons annually: WonderCon in San Francisco, APE (Alternative Press Expo) in the Bay Area and our favorite, San Diego Comic Con. However, this year WonderCon had to relocate to Anaheim due to construction in their SF venue, the Moscone Center. For spring 2013, that construction will still be an issue, so WonderCon will once again be held in Anaheim.

BUT the Moscone Center may be able to accommodate a Con in the fall 2013 - which could mean that CCI will create a fourth Con. However - this is where it gets confusing - if this is the case, then that autumn Con in San Francisco will become WonderCon, and the spring Con in Anaheim will become the new, as yet unnamed one.

In other words, we'll either have WonderCon in Anaheim in March 2013, or we'll have a new Con in Anaheim in March 2013 and WonderCon in San Francisco in fall 2013. When will we know for sure? October.

Now you may well be thinking, why do I care about this, all I care about is San Diego, but this is exactly the kind of juncture that may become the long-anticipated day when San Diego Comic Con cracks in half. For years now, people have been fervently wishing that San Diego could split into two separate cons, with Hollywood on one side and comic books on the other.

Is it really that simple? No, the fans intersect in all kinds of ways, and any split would leave some people dissatisfied. But it's still a very possible outcome as the Con bulges at the seams -and creating a fourth Con (and a SoCal one, no less) might be seen as an experiment and possible relief valve over these next 3 years that we are contractually stuck in San Diego.

We'll just have to wait and see if this fourth Con materializes. If it does, it is brand new territory, unshaped by expectations, and could theoretically be tipped toward any sector - sci fi, comic books, cosplay, anything. It could become an attractive option for people sick of the crowds and hassle of San Diego, or it could be seen as small potatoes and not attract many fans at all. (Feelings about WonderCon at Anaheim this year were mixed.) In any case, CCI seems to think the call is there. I don't always have much confidence in their business vision, but I'll be watching to see if they're right.

Publishers Weekly

ETA: No new Con in 2013! WonderCon will be held in Anaheim March 29-31.