The Covid pandemic of 2020 has impacted events and gatherings of all kinds, and comic book conventions have not been immune. In a normal year I try to make it to at least one comic convention, but aim for attending three or four! In the current environment many of these cons are attempting to engage with their fans more online, running virtual events, livestreams, and gatherings.
I’ve decided to approach my modified con-going experience of 2020 in a little different manner.
I am notorious for piling up reading materials that I don’t even get around to reading. The Japanese even have a word for that… Tsundoku! I just love books! So I went to my shelves and rounded up a stack of acquisitions from conventions over the last couple years, most of which I haven’t read!
In this convention-less summer, I’m going to take a breather and play some catchup… and finally work my way through this collection at least.
The books pictured came from the Great Philadelphia Comic Con, Keystone Comic Con, and Baltimore Comic Con. In a normal year I’m fortunate to have a large number of events within an easy drive of my home. In general there’s a few different “categories” I can kind of distinguish and sort these into.
The first grouping is simply the “good deals” pile! There’s always a few vendors that sell overstock graphic novels at solid discounts. So when I see something that I know I want to read or piques my interest in the moment, I’ll grab it! Each of the above graphic novels cost me $3-$5 each, which is a great deal and I was glad to add them to my shelf. Now I just gotta read ‘em!
Then we have what is for me the “meat and potatoes” of the comic conventions… the comics that I acquire in “Artist Alley.” This is an area at comic conventions where artists and creators offer their own stories and publications. When purchasing each of these I was able to meet and chat with the creators, and I love supporting them directly and having those interactions. I spend the lions share of my time in Artist Alley when I attend a convention as a fan… and pretty much all of it there when I’m an exhibitor myself and call it home!
These two photos, above and below, show a great mixture of work I picked up and am very excited to finally explore. There are a couple I’ve already read, such as Nook and Spencer & Locke, but I plan on revisiting them along with the group.
And finally Flesk Publications (https://www.fleskpublications.com/) gets a category all its own. They publish amazing artbooks and pretty much always occupy the same booth space at the Baltimore Comic Convention. I always have to visit their tables, but time my purchases appropriately as they produce the kind of volumes that are truly backbreaking to carry around all day!
I’m sad not to be getting the motivating experience of comic conventions and adding to these volumes this year… but as you can see I’ve got plenty to keep me busy and my wallet is a bit happier for the lull in activity!
So here’s the plan…
For the rest of the summer I’ll be delving into these stories and sharing a bit about them here on Hive! If anything strikes your fancy or looks particularly interesting, shout it out in the comments or ask any questions you’d like so I can cover it in better detail!
As a side goal and benefit of this fun little “project” I’m embarking on, I plan on using the #posh campaign for the first time and sharing these posts on my fairly anemic (so far) Twitter account. By tagging the independent creators featured in each post, hopefully I can begin bringing some of the comics industry more awareness of Hive and perhaps make them curious enough to explore it themselves. I would be elated to have any one of these talented creators adding to the growing #comics community here on Hive.
Time to go read! (I already started White Ash this afternoon… so good!) What are you reading right now, and how are you turning lemons into lemonade during the pandemic?
- Bryan “the Imp” Imhoff
