So, this was originally gonna be my Baltimore Comic-Con recap, but I didn’t take many pics, nor did I have any particularly crazy experiences at the show. It’s the same con it always is, so it was a well-run, good convention. I don’t even really have a haul to show you, and there’s a very important reason for that. In fact, I realized that was really the only thing worth discussing about the show, as I’m sure it’s a phenomenon happening everywhere: Now that most comic creators charge for signatures, that’s money being taken away from other convention experiences, like merch or even FOOD. I had purchased a 3-day weekend pass, but only attended on Friday and Saturday of the con. By the end of the day Friday, I had spent approximately $300 on signings alone – not including the signing experiences with Leinil Francis Yu and Jim Lee that I had purchased before the con. I had spent so much, in fact, that I didn’t want to return the next day. The only reason I went back was because one of those aforementioned prebought signings was Saturday evening. I feel like this experience, while the dollar amount spent may vary, might be a familiar situation to readers of this site. While paid autographs and photo ops are “old hat” with celebrity guests, this is a new phenomenon for comics, and I’m not sure it’s sustainable.
When I got into this hobby, there weren’t a ton of “conventions”. Instead, there were shows, which were smaller affairs, usually set up in hotel ballrooms. My very first comic show was at the Silver Spring Armory, which was almost a “town hall” kind of building. My fandom grew as the industry grew, and my first “convention” was, in fact, Baltimore Comic Con, back in the early 00s. In the show era, you might have one or two industry guests, as they were just happy to interact with fans. I’m not sure what the payment arrangement was between them and the show, but many of them weren’t even selling stuff at their table. They might be sketching, and maybe they brought some old comp copies to offload, simply to clean out their garage. I remember the first industry guests I ever met were writers Roger Stern, Tom Peyer, and Scott Beatty, at Ithacon when I was in college. I could just walk right up to their tables. I got their signatures and talked to them about the books they’d written. It was a smaller, more intimate situation, but really felt like they were listening and it was cool to actually interface with the folks behind the books.
Once I graduated to the convention level, it became more of a cattle call. Standing in lines for prolonged amounts of time, and not really feeling like you were having a “personalized” experience, but it was free (besides the cost of admission), so you didn’t complain too much. Now, however, it’s the same experience, but with a cost associated. And I have a problem with that.
Now, I’ve already discussed The Bendis Incident that soured me on con signings for the better part of a decade, but even that was free when it happened. Now, you have to stand in line for the opportunity to pay them to sign your stuff – stuff you had already purchased and brought from home! On top of that, the resellers ruined it for everyone, as they’re the ones lugging around wheeled suitcases and short boxes on luggage carts. We know what you’re doing. Nobody needs the complete run of Justice League International signed! That is not for your “personal collection”. Well, the creators got tired of seeing their stuff on eBay, and decided to get their piece of the pie. I get it. But I get it for a certain “tier” of creator.
Yes, I know there are costs associated with traveling to cons and setting up a booth, but those aren’t the creators I’m talking about. I understand the need for the small press entrepreneur to charge for signatures. No, I’m talking about the folks appearing on behalf of a major publishers, as something of a publicity tour. Their travel has probably been paid for, along with Lord knows what else. I’ve worked retail, so I know it can be grueling pretending to be nice to folks for extended periods of time. But even at the beginning of Baltimore, on Friday, you could tell many didn’t want to be there. We’re just getting started, Bob!
The con opened at 1 PM on Friday, and I got in line for a particular creator around 2:00. I stood there, chatting with the folks around, when roughly 30 min later we were informed that the creator was increasing his rate from $5 per signature to $10. Now, he was collecting for charity, so it was hard to push back, but the folks in front of me did call out the fact that we should be grandfathered in, since we’d been waiting for some time. And he obliged pretty quickly. But that was the beginning of the bad taste in my mouth. He was a pretty well-known figure, so even $10 wasn’t a terrible price. And it was for charity!
Once I left that booth, I thought I had just witnessed an isolated incident, only to quickly realize EVERYONE was charging for signatures. Some were doing it for charity, some not. Hey, we’ve all got bills to pay! But that starts to add up after awhile, especially without forewarning. I had done my planning. I knew who I wanted to meet, as well as where they were located. I had no more than 3 books to have each sign, because I feel anything more than that is a bit uncouth. For posted prices, I didn’t find anyone charging less than $5. So, right there that’s $15 per person. And I had a list of about 25 folks I wanted to get signatures from. Now, I expected it from some folks. If you read my Awesome Con recap, you know that writer Jeph Loeb was charging $20 per signature at that show. I honestly thought it would be more here, as Jim Lee was also signing, so it would be a rare chance to get Batman: Hush signed by the writer and artist at the same time. So, I guess I was “relieved” to find he was still “only” charging $20. And ya know what? I think he’s worth it. But this points out another problem: the model makes you compare folks’ “worth”, which I’m sort of uncomfortable doing.
You walk around, and you’re like “Do 4 issues of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers measure up to the first issue of Hush?” Like, you’re really comparing stats in your head, going “Well, he did that stint in the Ultimate Universe, while I guess she sorta designed that costume that one time.” Even someone as judgmental as I am finds that gross, but the new “con economics” force you to do some cost-benefit analysis.
People need to get paid. I get it. But at what cost? I left Friday having bought nothing from the dealers. And I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do so on Saturday. Luckily (?), I spent most of Saturday in lines, so there weren’t many shopping opportunities, even if I hadn’t blown my wad the day before. Folks aren’t gonna be able to meet their favorite creators, get signatures/photos, AND also buy big tittied anime girl scrolls! To quote Captain Jean-Luc Picard, “The line must be drawn HERE!” I’d love to know how vendors fared from the show, as this was the first time it had been like that. I was just there last year. Not like this. I don’t know where the con industry is headed, but it doesn’t seem like it’s anywhere good. Anyway, I leave you with a sampling of the Yu and Lee signature hauls that I had paid for prior to the rest of the coin I dropped…
Oh, and they didn’t allow photos or video in the room with Jim Lee, so here’s also a pic of him as he would look to the Predator.
