A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels, or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels, with a larger number of attendees participating with cosplay than for most other types of fan conventions. Comic book conventions are also used as a method by which publishers, distributors, and retailers represent their comic-related releases. Comic book conventions may be considered derivatives of science-fiction conventions, which began during the late 1930s. Comic-cons were traditionally organized by fans on a not-for-profit basis,[1] though nowadays most events catering to fans are managed by commercial interests for profit. Many conventions have award presentations relating to comics (such as the Eisner Awards, which have been presented at San Diego Comic-Con since 1988; or the Harvey Awards, which have been presented at a variety of venues also since 1988).
At commercial events, comic book creators often sign autographs for the fans, sometimes in exchange for a fixed appearance fee, and may sometimes draw illustrations for a per-item fee. Commercial conventions are usually quite expensive and are hosted in hotels. This represents a change for comic book conventions, which were traditionally more oriented toward comic books as a mode of literature, and maintained less differentiation between professional and fan.
The first official comic book convention was held in 1964 in New York City and was named New York Comicon.[2][3] Early conventions were small affairs, usually organized by local enthusiasts (such as Jerry Bails, known later as the "Father of Comic Fandom", and Dave Kaler of the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors), and featuring a few industry guests. The first recurring conventions were the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, which ran from 1965 to 1978, and Academy Con, which ran from 1965 to 1967. Many recurring conventions begin as single-day events in small venues, which as they grow more popular expand to two days, or even three or more every year. Many comic-cons which had their start in church basements or union halls now fill convention centers in major cities.[4]
Nowadays, comic conventions are big business, with recurring shows in every major American city. Comic book conventions in name only, the biggest shows include a large range of popular culture and entertainment elements of virtually all genres, including horror, animation, anime, manga, toys, collectible card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels.
San Diego Comic-Con, a multigenre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego since 1970, is the best known of American comic-cons. According to Forbes, the convention is the "largest convention of its kind in the world";[5] and is also the largest convention held in San Diego.[6] According to the San Diego Convention and Visitor's Bureau, the convention has an annual regional economic effect of $162.8 million,[7][8] with a $180 million economic impact in 2011.[9] However, in 2017, SDCC lost its record of the largest annual multigenre convention to São Paulo's Comic Con Experience (first held in 2014).[10]
Internationally, the world's largest comic book convention, in terms of attendees, is Japan's Comiket (first held in 1975), which boasts an annual attendance of more than half a million people.[11] Italy's Lucca Comics & Games (first held in 1965) and France's Angoulême International Comics Festival (first staged in 1974) are the world's second and third largest comic festivals, respectively.
