Commentary by Kendall Whitehouse
Shortly following the badge sale for next year's Comic-Con International: San Diego, the festival's organizers announced on Twitter the passing of John Rogers, Comic-Con International's president since 1986. I didn't know Rogers well, but each year Comic-Con would conclude for me with him leading the closing Talk Back session. I was impressed by Rogers' composure … Continue reading Remembering Comic-Con President John Rogers
New York Comic Con 2018 Recap and Photo Highlights This past weekend the RELX Group's ReedPop division hosted the 13th annual New York Comic Con. It was big (and crowded), although the exact scale of the event is difficult to determine. ReedPop projected an expected attendance of 250,000, spurring another round of reports claiming the … Continue reading New York Comic Con Spotlights Television and Comics
ReedPop Moves into Wizard World's Turf in Philadelphia ReedPop arrived in Philadelphia this past weekend to launch the inaugural Keystone Comic Con. While the market for pop culture events has expanded in recent years, it has also showed signs of stratifying. The non-profit Comic-Con International runs the country's most influential pop culture fest in San … Continue reading Keystone Comic Con 2018 Debuts in Philly
I was deeply saddened to hear this morning of the passing of comics writer Gary Friedrich. I met him only once, briefly, a long time ago. When I was a young lad, sometime in the mid-1960s, I visited New York City for the first time on vacation with my parents. What did I most want … Continue reading Gary Friedrich: A Small Remembrance
Comic-Con International: San Diego is a massive enterprise, and everyone's experience is unique, making an overall assessment difficult. Nevertheless, the consensus seemed to be that this year felt different from recent years -- that it was, in some sense, weird (but mostly in a good way). Several attendees described the vibe as a throwback to … Continue reading San Diego Comic-Con 2018: Recap and Photo Highlights
Every comic con is different. Events run by Comic-Con International (San Diego Comic-Con, WonderCon), ReedPop (New York Comic Con, C2E2, Emerald City Comic Con), Wizard World, or dozens of independent producers all have unique characteristics. While last month's independently-run East Coast Comic Con focused on comics creators and 1960s popular culture, this past weekend's Philadelphia … Continue reading Wizard World Philadelphia Spotlights Celebrities and Entertainment
"This company has to be a hyphenate live-event/media company" While Wizard World's return to Philadelphia was met with rain and drizzle for much of the weekend, there was a ray of sunshine in the company's financial outlook. After a number of rough years, including a $5.75 million loss for 2017, Wizard World showed a net … Continue reading Wizard World CEO John Maatta: Growth through Media Development
