If it wasn’t getting late and I wasn’t feeling so brain-dead, perhaps I could’ve come up with something more descriptive than that.
But it’s still pretty accurate. King Con was definitely fun. I am very happy I went.
It’s a small, laid-back show. The Brooklyn Lyceum has a pleasantly rough industrial aesthetic and I think it lends itself well to DIY culture. The space for exhibitors wasn’t very big so there wasn’t that many of them, but I liked that it was small.
I’ve been to a bunch of comic-related shows this year so I’ve seen many of the same people multiple times, so I sought those I hadn’t. Among them were Alisa Harris and Allan Norico, a fun, artistic couple.
I also had a nice chat with Dave Roman, who I was surprised recognized me. Roman and Raina Telgemeier are always awesome and I think they’re really good for comics.
As fun as the exhibitors were, King Con’s strength is in the programming. On Saturday I caught most of the Kyle Baker presentation with Chris Irving and it was delightful. But honestly, it’s Kyle Baker. How could it not be? I am always impressed by Baker’s work and I need to read more of it.
Next up was the Bored to Death panel. I don’t have HBO because I have the cheap cable, so I’ve never seen Bored to Death (yes, I know about this thing called the “Internet” and these things called “DVDs” but nonetheless, I’ve never seen the show). This panel was packed — I think quite a number of people came to King Con just for it.
Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel have an easy chemistry with each other and it was fun to hear them talk about the show, even though I was only vaguely familiar with it. Moderator Jeff Newlett did a great job — directing the conversation when he needed to but mostly just letting it evolve organically. I really enjoyed it. Even the giant drawings of penises.
(My friend says she saw Jason Schwartzman in the audience. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been, but I didn’t see him so I can’t confirm.)
I stuck around afterward for the Daily Cross Hatch panel because I was interested in everyone on it (Robert Sikoryak, Julia Wertz and Lisa Hanawalt along with Alex Cox, hosted, of course, by Brian Heater) but I think most everyone can agree it kind of ended up being a mess.
I actually don’t think that was anyone’s fault in particular that it went badly — the room was cold, it was getting to a slumped part of the day (it started at 4:30 p.m.) and while there’s nothing wrong with comic book people not actually talking about comics, I think the creators were a little thrown off by being initially asked about sports and fast food. There was plenty of fun — Sikoryak is wonderfully sharp and Cox would randomly give people points for certain answers — but once it went off track, it never really recovered. I think everyone pretty much knew it (it will be interesting to see what the podcast version ends up being).
Today I did attend the Kid’s Stuff: Making Comics for All Ages panel, but that will get its own post, likely later tomorrow.
Other than a couple other small things (there’s a panel in town next week and maybe a couple of other events), King Con has capped off a very busy year. It did serve as a great finale.
