Well, here we are fans: Approaching month-two of a mostly closed country and world. While there’s hope for some services to resume with necessary new restrictions in a few weeks, Let’s look back at the first full month and some of the changes to not only retail, education, travel, and sporting events, but also at what yours truly of Carter Comics was up to last month.
WONDERCON ONLINE: With the first of several conventions shutting down in early March due to the rapidly spreading virus, which included Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con and Anaheim’s Wondercon, the concept of “virtual conventions” started to get tossed around between both displaced indy creator vendors and convention promoters. The first of these “virtual conventions” to be put together by a major physical convention was “Wondercon Online.” Following the cancellation of the 33-year-old comic and related media extravaganza, the show’s parent company Comic Con International (the same folks behind the goliath San Diego Comic Con) contacted all vendors to request their website, online stores, and social media links to be placed on the convention’s website. This would allow attendees who were originally set to flood the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center, to instead search for their favorite Artist Alley and Small Press vendors online while they self-quarantine in their homes. This was a great first step in increasing the online presence and experience to continue the comic convention experience, even when you can’t physically be there.
COMIC CREATOR FORUMS: Much like all gatherings in the Co-vid 19 era, this discussion between artists, writers, publishers, promoters, and other creative folk began taking place every Saturday morning on Zoom video conferencing back on March 28th. It has quickly become a welcome virtual event for many of us who mostly work alone in our homes with the exception of comic conventions, art festivals, comic book shops, and so forth. Created by Barbra and Bryant Dillon of Fanbase Press, this imaginative group discusses the cancellation of physical comic events, the pivot to virtual events and sales, financial assistance for full-time creators, and the occasional venting regarding of other comic and non-comic related topics. Regardless of the good or bad emotions involved, this weekly meeting fills the void of comic and art events as a way to keep in touch with old art friends, and to connect with new art friends.
And that wraps up the month of April for Carter Comics. This is probably the first time in awhile that I wasn’t able to finish as much as I would have liked to, with “Doom and Gloom” still in art production last month. I still have my Audio Agendas to vocally communicate with you all though. Tune in back here in June for what should be many more May happenings, and we’ll just see how the rest of this national purgatory changes, if at all. See you then!
Regards,
Allen Carter
Carter Comics