Soldout in San Diego: Another Booming Comic-Con
By Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 7/27/2009 7:23:00 AM
The 40th annual San Diego Comic-Con International will likely have attracted a record number of attendees and most exhibitors said they were happy and pleased with the show’s traffic and sales. Although tickets for the annual pop culture extravaganza sold out more than 2 months ago, some exhibitors were concerned that the economic slowdown might affect book sales and other purchases, but once again the popular power of comics, movies, TV, and videogames seems to triumph over frugality and the San Diego Convention center was jampacked with fans looking to buy the stuff they love and pack halls to see the people who create it.David Glanzer, spokesperson for the San Diego Comic-Con, said the unofficial attendance figure for the soldout show is about 125,000—capped at that number by fire marshals—although the show organizers will provide an official tally in a few weeks. Glanzer said the organizers were “pleased” with the show this year and with some of the changes instituted in the wake of the sellout. Indeed, while Glanzer said it was great that the show sold out, he also called it “frustrating when fans can’t attend.” Some changes include moving some events to venues outside the convention center, including the Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards, which was held at the newly constructed Hilton Hotel just across the street.
While previews of movies like Twilight: New Moon, the blockbuster sequel and James Cameron’s Avatar —not to mention a rare appearance by legendary Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki— attracted huge numbers of fans, comics continue to have juice at the show. Scholastic announced a new publishing deal with cartoonist Jeff Smith to produce new books and stories based on his bestselling epic fantasy adventure series Bone; and Del Rey announced plans to publish a graphic novel version of Quirk Books’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Much like the traditional book industry, digital distribution is a central issue and there were a number of announcements around delivering comics on iPhone.
While it was hard to find any real complaints about this year’s show, the biggest challenge facing the San Diego Comic-Con is its own success. With attendance capped and exhibition space sold out long ago, how do you grow a show that can’t really grow anymore? A task force has been appointed by the mayor of San Diego to examine the feasibility of a billion dollar expansion of the convention center and Glanzer said their report is due in September. “Our income is now flat but our costs are increasing,” Glanzer said. “The mayor has said he will abide with whatever they decide. We hope the city votes to expand. No one wants to see us move.”
Look for a complete report on the San Diego Comic-Con Internatioanl in tomorrow’s PW Comics Week.
