Boston ComicCon cancelled

[BobBretall]

It's certianly a tragedy that the bombings happened earlier this week, but I'm not sure cancelling the con a the VERY last minute was a good idea.

On Tuesday the 16th, they said the con would go on......

Boston Comic Con ‏@BostonComicCon 16 Apr
We're happy to announce #BostonCon will continue this weekend as planned! Tell your friends! #comicmarket http://bostoncomiccon.com

Then cancelled it yesterday, after exhibitors had started showing up....

Boston Comic Con ‏@BostonComicCon 19 Apr
EXHIBITORS: Load in at the Hynes is suspended till further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Boston Comic Con ‏@BostonComicCon 18h
ATTENTION: Boston Comic Con has been cancelled. We will try to reschedule for a later date. Thank you for your support & understanding.

This was the decision of the convention center, not the con itself, but this really sucks for exhibitors who traveled to Boston to attend the con.

I found out about this from the Twitter feed of a indy comic book that traveled from London to launch their new comic....

[JohnMayo]

That is just a bad situation all the way around. Presumably there was a legitimate concern for the safety of the attendees that happened after the announcement that the show would go on.

In this sort of situation, everybody loses.

I've seen this sort of thing happen before for different reason. I know people that have arrived at a convention only to find it wasn't going to happen officially but enough people showed that it sort of happened anyway. Again, it was a very different situation than this that caused it but the end result was similar.

There comes a point at which changing thing up after putting the word out isn't viable. Better to have things confirmed with all parties involved before making an announcement than to make an announcement and then change it which risks causing needless confusion.

[RadConsv]

This weekend was a rush of different things going through my mind. At one point I was pricing flights to California, because I was thinking about going to Bob's record attempt with the money i was going to spend at con.

To keep things short and sweet, while I have never meet any of you in person, but through the calls on skype and the previews spotlight podcasts, I do think of you as friends. I was on my way to Boston for a meeting that day, while it was not in the same area, it gets you thinking.

I really appreciate all of you guys and this little community Bob and John built. You guys have been nothing but awesome to me and for that, I thank you.

One of the cool things they con did for the artists who were in town were to divide them up amongst local shops in the area for signings. I travelled today to Larry's comics in Lowell (About 2 hour drive from my home) who hosted Tim Sale, Tim Seeley and Nick Bradshaw. Larry turned his warehouse into a mini-con floor and said anyone (even vendors) were welcome to come and set up a table for free.

It was a cool alternate con. My goal in attending was to meet Nick Bradshaw. He could not have been nicer. We talked while he was doing the following skecth for me. I asked for my favorite character (X-23) wearing a sox cap. He did an amazing job.



At his table was his girlfriend Danica Brine. I comissioned her to do an X-23 sketch as well. She never saw the character before, so this was her first time drawing her. I had to find my Emanuela Lupacchino sketch on my phone to show her. It was cool watching them darw at the same time.



I also bought some other artwork from Danica:



I really liked the print so i bought her original pencils / inks:



I also have an intern who loves Adventure Time so I got her:



I don't know if Ian or any of the other Boston area folks wanted to talk, but i am game.

Thansk again all for your awesomeness.

Cheers,

[BobBretall]

Very cool that the local community came together so fast to provide an alternative with the last minute cancellation of the con. All those folks were already in town, best to let that go to waste.....