This isn’t the comic book world I thought it would be when entering Dallas Comic Con. I’ve known it was changing, but I hadn’t realized just how far behind the comic world was to the real world. The male dominated industry should pay closer attention to the conventions. There were almost equal parts of men and women at the Dallas Comic Con, and the women are coming alone more than not, as well as coming younger.
Dallas Comic Con 2013
Big Sellers at Dallas Comic Con
Big sellers in the comic department are Walking Dead, New 52 titles, Blackest Night, Spidey, and any number of the Gotham titles (mostly Nightwing and Batman). The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seem to be on the upswing still despite the controversy surrounding Micheal Bay vs. the fans. Classic title sales went to any of the older Marvels and Batman selections.
What Was the Top Attention-Getter at Dallas Comic Con?
The overall Dallas Comic Con winner for popularity in costume, fan paraphernalia, people’s choice, and vendor sales would have to be Deadpool.
Top WTF? Product at Dallas Comic-Con
The popular “WTF?” product was PopHeroes. These weird little figures are clearly the next “MiniMates”. MVP dolls were the Dallas Comic-Con exclusive Reverse Flash, the Black Flash, and Deadpool color swap version.
Biggest Letdown of Dallas Comic Con
Nathan Fillion had canceled at the last minute due to health issues. He made the announcement on his twitter, apologizing to his fans.
Biggest Crowd-Pleaser at Dallas Comic Con
Kevin Conroy was more than happy to pick up the slack of the missing writer/space pilot/pompous musical superhero. Batman saves the day once more.
The Ratings for Dallas Comic Con
The Location (4.5): I give the Irving Convention Center credit for being fresh, artistically appealing, and very accommodating for fantastical photos. The points deducted are for lack of sensible mobility upward. You can’t comfortably traverse floors without congestion unless you use the massive outside stairs… in Texas.
Dallas Comic-Con 2013
Access (2.5): The “merry-go-round” the ticket booth was a bad move. You stand outside and wait to get your wrist band, then go back out side and wait after you get your wrist band. Access to the main room on the first floor was also the same 10 feet of area that you needed to go on or come off the escalator. Five points of access to the main hall and they chose the access next to the escalator to be the only entrance.
Merchandise (4): With the number of people coming into this convention, I didn’t see much in the way of freebies for convention goers. BigFanBoy had a freebie room set up; but all they had was a few old movie posters, one or two new movie posters, and 3 different Tyler Perry movie posters. Do not bring Tyler Perry movie posters to a comic book convention. There was a Dallas Comic Con exclusive booth, but nothing free.
On the flip side, there was plenty to be sold and within reasonable prices. Nearly every comic was half off. T-shirts were $20 or less. Nearly every vender was motivated to empty out their backstock. VIP members had access to a small cache of loot for visit.
Dallas Comic Con 2013
Side Shows (3.5): There was a “Sunday Funny Paper” exhibit at Dallas Comic Con – neat historically, but falls flat with the modern crowd. Robotech Theater was also kind of cool but would have been a much bigger hit with all of the direct to video DC Animated movies.
The “Face-Off” workshop and booth at Dallas Comic Con with Heather Henry was an excellent idea with the constantly growing cosplay crowd. Comic book related or not, Darth Vader and Boba Fett from the 501st Troopers charity group went over well. Bigfanboy was bogus considering the extensive number of comic movies on the big and small screen alike recent and in the future yet nothing to feature. Again, whose bright idea was it to drag Tyler Perry posters into a comic book/sci-fi convention?
Fan Service (4): Shatner, Spiner, McFadden, and Burton were a nice turn-out for sci-fi lovers. John Romita Jr. owned the new generation of comic fans while nodding to the “old school” with reverence and legacy, while Jim Steranko commanded the respect of lovers of the “old school” of both heroes and horror in comics. The crowd demanded it, so Conroy managed to pick up 2 panels to address fans. Despite not being much of a Power Rangers fan, Jason David Frank was entertaining even for me. Adam Baldwin was a late add, and managed to prevent a full-scale riot for Firefly fans. The number of orange toboggans were insane.
Dallas Comic Con 2013 Cosplay
In the comic book alley at in the back of the Dallas Comic Con exhibition hall, Phil Noto stayed hard at work drawing fan requests, and could easily be named the hardest working fan server in the convention, second only to Romita jr. Amanda Conner couldn’t find much time for herself, even with her man – Jimmy Palmiotti – running assist along side her. The most approachable was John Lucas, making no bones about talking straight and frank to anyone opening their mouth his way. I even bought some Conan panels from him.
Also making a show, the infamous Delorean from “Back to the Future”, the Jeep from “Jurassic Park”, and the Dallas Ghostbuster’s Ecto PT Cruiser.
The down side it the lost their big hitter when Fillion bailed.
Bio Needs (3.5): This is an unspoken but highly important quality of a convention: bathrooms and food/drink. The bathrooms at Dallas Comic Con were regularly serviced, but occasionally I would find a facet that didn’t work. The concession stands had basic “ball game” food for slightly less than “ball game” prices, so I mark that as a slight plus. It was a rocky start on day one, but they picked it up and ran smoother on day two/three. Some food trucks showed up after opening, offering gourmet hot dogs and even a cupcakes. Great food, but also much more expensive.
Dallas Comic Con 2013
Final score: 4 (out of 5)
Dallas Comic Con isn’t the type of Con you travel out of state for without having an agenda. For us Texans, it is worth the time and travel. There are ways they can improve, such as the control of traffic and the method of dealing with tickets. There seems to be a need for more … not any particular “more”, but it seemed like the space wasn’t fully maximizes in some very slight ways. I was able to find unused rooms spread out here and there. Perhaps not banking the show on someone that has a history of bailing on events. Also, try booking in people that are more connected to the industry and happy to be there … not Andrew McCarthy.
