C2E2 2011 in the rearview mirror

Here’s how C2E2 ended for me on Saturday night; wandering through Chicago’s Union Station waiting for the train to chug me back home, I spotted a tired and bored looking Raven from the Teen Titans, presumably waiting for her train as well. I believe I had seen her once or twice during the day but it was still so odd to see her miles away from McCormick Place, just sitting there at one of the tables looking like she was ready to fall asleep still in her full costume. At the time, all I could think was it was a good looking costume and I’m surprised that she hadn’t tried to change clothes before catching her train. But she looked way too worn out to have even considered changing. Like me at that point, I think she just wanted to get home.
Wandering around the show floor early Saturday evening before they shut the show down for the night, I realized that this was the comic convention where everyone had a different story to tell about it. Some people were ready and raring for Sunday and one more day of the con, waiting for yet another day of signings, buying, panels and socializing. Others had already had their con experience and, like me and Raven, were ready to head home with only 2/3rds of the con under our belts and declare C2E2 2011 over. It was a convention where we all had our own different and varied responses to it.
Last year, we could judge C2E2 2010 against Wizard World Chicago. Naturally, anything that wasn’t in the cavernous domains of Rosemont, IL could only compare favorably to WWC. Last year, C2E2 could have dug up the remains of Jack Kirby and Will Eisner and plopped them in one of the storage closets of of McCormick Place and we would have raved about how C2E2 killed Wizard when it came to throwing a comic book party. Even with Wizard setting the standards fairly low, C2E2 2010 was a fun local show with dreams of being a big show. During C2E2 2011, Wizard was hardly mentioned. Instead this year’s convention was repeatedly compared to last years; C2E2 was now competing with itself.
Wandering around the show floor early Saturday evening before they shut the show down for the night, I realized that this was the comic convention where everyone had a different story to tell about it. Some people were ready and raring for Sunday and one more day of the con, waiting for yet another day of signings, buying, panels and socializing. Others had already had their con experience and, like me and Raven, were ready to head home with only 2/3rds of the con under our belts and declare C2E2 2011 over. It was a convention where we all had our own different and varied responses to it.
Last year, we could judge C2E2 2010 against Wizard World Chicago. Naturally, anything that wasn’t in the cavernous domains of Rosemont, IL could only compare favorably to WWC. Last year, C2E2 could have dug up the remains of Jack Kirby and Will Eisner and plopped them in one of the storage closets of of McCormick Place and we would have raved about how C2E2 killed Wizard when it came to throwing a comic book party. Even with Wizard setting the standards fairly low, C2E2 2010 was a fun local show with dreams of being a big show. During C2E2 2011, Wizard was hardly mentioned. Instead this year’s convention was repeatedly compared to last years; C2E2 was now competing with itself.
With this year, I think we saw a con that was trying to be everything it wasn’t last year. The inaugural show in 2010 had a lot going for it but it felt like it was a small secret. Attendance wasn’t that good, the aisles were wide and didn’t help the appearance, there was nothing going on during the show. The con organizers took those criticisms to heart, moved the show into a part of McCormick that no two people could agree whether it was bigger or not than last years, put the publishers right up front, creating a strong sense of excitement as you walked in, and centered a large part of the programing around the impending release of the movie Thor. If 2010’s show was a gathering of comic fans, 2011 was a party, larger and louder than the first show was.

But it was still a local show. One of the apparently longest lines on Saturday was for the Son of Svengoolie, a local Saturday afternoon/night old horror movie television host who most of us probably grew up on. His line was second only to Eliza Dushku it seems. A local celebrity, unknown outside of the greater Chicagoland area, was a huge draw. Everyone who saw it on Saturday remarked about how large his line was. And that’s great but it was the only piece that felt like ours, that felt like it was a piece of Chicago at the show.
Last year, while the actual con facilities were odd in their labyrinth-like configuration of panel rooms, once you stepped out of the main hall, you had a great view of one of Chicago’s best features, the lakefront. In the old building, where windows lined the entire space where the main con floor was, you were constantly reminded that you were in Chicago. The lakefront, the skyline and Soldier Field were all there. The old McCormick Place facilities aren’t the greatest but you can’t discount the amenities of Chicago. The west part of McCormick Place, where the con was moved to this year, was stunning but horribly anonymous. If you took the shuttle or parked in the garage, you could probably go the entire day without really paying attention that you were in Chicago. Hopefully Reed Exhibitions will find a way to build this identity into the show with more than just the passing nod to it in the name of the con. At the end of the day, I think it was a con where you got out of it what you put into it. For me this year, comics and their creators were practically secondary; I was there to see friends, even if it was only in passing to say “hi’ too. The show was two days of nonstop walking, watching and talking. It was the con where I got to meet a handful of creators that I’m friendly with online but it was more to catch up with local friends inbetween our semi-regular bowling or arcade night. That’s what I’ll remember about this show. It wasn’t about the Marvel panel which was SRO where Marvel announced its artistic architects (which seems to have been largely ignored online from what I can see) but it was about the group of us who were hanging out for a bit Saturday night, talking about the con and what it was for each of us.
By all reports from Reed, 2011 was a smashing success, drawing in sufficiently more attendees this year than last but no one has quite put their finger on what those attendees were doing or where they were spending their money. Try to get into any of the number of booths that had $6-$10 trades and you couldn’t squeeze into the space. Same for any of the odd knickknack dealers who were selling anything from art supplies to chewing gum or something. Artist alley was packed but anecdotal reports say that there wasn’t a lot of big-ticket items being exchanged on that day. And you could easily walk up and browse any dealer who had a large selection of silver-age comics. People were spending money but they were looking for any bargain they could find, such as the line-inducing free copies of American Vampire #1 that DC was giving away for the second year in a row.
In two years, we’ve seen practically two different conventions; other than the name and place, there’s little continuum between the 2010 show and the 2011 show. I think it’s still too early to say what C2E2 is or isn’t. This year, after a tepid introduction in 2010, the show felt like it was more modeled now on San Diego or NYCC, shows that are about the largess of comics and the entertainment industries. C2E2 was still mostly comic focused but in trying to make it bigger and better, I think it lost a bit of the character that the show had in 2010 or the character I think we’ve been waiting for in Chicago. San Diego is San Diego, there’s no denying that. NYCC seems like it has become its own thing. C2E2? Let’s see where the show goes in 2012. Speaking only for myself, I’d like to see this become a big show like those others but be able to retain some of the personality of the third coast.