While the coronavirus pandemic is causing event cancellations across many — heck, every — industry, one of the first events in the comics sphere to face the tough decision about whether to cancel or postpone was the Emerald City Comic Con, which was scheduled for this coming weekend in Seattle. ECCC was official postponed last week, with plans to pick a new date this summer.
But if the comic industry is anything, it’s resilient, made up of creative minds that can adapt to a changing landscape. This article in the Seattle Times spotlights several creators impacted by the cancellation and efforts to support the comics community this weekend — which includes many “pop up” online events.
Here’s a round-up of both live and virtual events that have popped up in the wake of the ECCC news. If we’ve missed any, please email me at jkparkin@yahoo.com.
PDX Popup Con (cancelled)
If you live in the Portland, Oregon area, don’t forget about PDX Popup Con, which we spotlighted earlier this week. It’s being put on by PDXComicsArts.com and several area comics retailers. They’ve announced their guest line-up for both Saturday and Sunday, and where you can find creators like Kel McDonald, Brett Weldele, Christian Sager, Dustin Weaver, Farel Dalrymple, Shannon Lentz and many more. They’re also holding a social gathering on Friday night.
Update, 4;25 p.m. Pacific: PDX Popup Con has been cancelled. You can find more details here.
Pajama Con 2020
Iron Circus Comics is putting on a virtual con this weekend called Pajama Con 2020, where they plan to host panels and creators on their Twitch stream Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They’ll be featuring creators like Blue Delliquanti, Kate Leth, Steve Lieber, Chris Roberson, Kel McDonald, Jose Pimienta and more. You can find more details and their complete schedule here.
The Very Very Shopping Network
The Very Very Shopping Network, brought to you by comics creator Jen Vaughn, Very Very Spaceship and a host of others, starts today. It’s “a QVC-style shopping network featuring artists, writers, and publishers who had to cancel their ECCC appearances.” You can find all the details here and their schedule of participants here, which includes Oni Press, Dark Horse and many creators. It starts at 2 p.m. Pacific today.
Wanna Con
Small press publisher Wannabe Press is hosting Wanna Con Friday through Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., and will feature virtual panels on Twitch with David Pepose, David Avaollone, Carolyn Carter and more.
David Petersen’s OnlineCon
Mouse Guard creator David Petersen began streaming yesterday and will be on Twitch “6-8 hours per day” through Sunday, in what he’s calling OnlineCon. “In addition to streaming 6-8 hours per-day Wed-Sunday (when I’d have been in Seattle otherwise), I’ll have all my brand new prints that were set to debut at ECCC as well as my existing items like tee-shirts, tote bags, enamel pins, and more,” he wrote on his blog. You can find a whole bunch of Mouse Guard merch and prints in his online shop.
other resources
There are a few other resources you can access for post-ECCC information:
- The hashtag #ECCCOnline on Twitter has many creators detailing their plans post ECCC, whether that’s Twitch streams or sale sin their online shops.
- The 2020 ECCC Artists Alley Tumblr site also has information on creators holding sales this weekend. They’ve tagged content based on what folks are selling; here’s the comic book tag.
- The Creator Resource site, which provides, has a page up dedicated to creators who were supposed to attend ECCC. It includes everything from getting travel refunds to help being provided in the Seattle area for creators who had packages sent to the con.