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Thundertori — MTAC 2012 report Part II
Published: 2012-04-14 20:49:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 1558; Favourites: 18; Downloads: 0
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.HERE IS PART 1: [link]
Last Panel is WIP.
Just a doodle of my MTAC Omega Convention experience this month from April 6 - 8.
Not meant to offend, but I offer my apologies anyway, as contention is in many's impulsive nature.
Dunno when Part III will be done.
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Comments: 34
All I can think is that they wanted to put us there so we would have more traffic, what with being near the panel rooms and right upstairs from the horror con. I thought it kinda cute that they DBZ guys were staying character the whole time, but then they seemed not to take an interest in my table, nor the ones around us. If I had had to put up with them constantly.... not so cute then.
I'm sorry we didn't get to hang out more. One we were done hauling our entire table's work up and down the hill to our hotel, we were whipped. (And somewhere between Nashville and Richmond, my copics abandoned ship.) Perhaps at AWA? Where are you staying? I can recommend the residence inn. It has a kitchenette so its possible to have real food and save money. Hope to see more of you. How are you for horror art? There's a smallish horror con here in Richmond,VA called Ravencon. It would be tiny but you could save on hotel *hinthint*
I've been worried about you, what with the wild fires out there.
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I'm loving these comics & they are SO True - I was there! I never understood why kids with no money go to anime cons? It's like going to Willy Wonka's factory with diabetes and not eat any of the chocolate? The poor vendors and artists have to be entertainment for the bored and penniless...
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Even when they have money, the costumed people often have these large gloves or mittens on which makes it difficult to reach for a wallet... Maybe it's a self preservation tactic, who knows?
I think some of the costumed kids see these cons now as sort of an off season Halloween weekend where they can dress up and score a few freebies... I see some of them being dropped off by parents in their cars. That means limited cash.
When anything goes mainstream it usually devolves into suckiness... because you have to go down to the least common denominator.
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Since 1986 I've seen 20 years of the rise of anime and now unfortunately the slow & steady fall of it. Hipster kids are like "Oh anime, remember we liked that back in school" Just like Trekkers, I guess after 20 years it will be just the few thousand otakus who are die-hards that truly like it for the artistic animation and not for the cat-ears & glowsticks.
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That's a good observation. Well, in my experience a lot of mainstream people only absorb the outward and most obvious esthetics of something but almost always fail to recognize what really made anime or manga stand out. It's the stories. The large eyes are part of it, but without the stories, you got nothing, basically. Which is why artists like Thundertori are rare... they are able to absorb the visual as well as the storytelling techniques of manga to the fullest.
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I always enjoy the hotel rooms, though. Those small bars of soap are just awesome...
I am SO easily amused!
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The view from my room was nice, but the bed pillows were so wonderful! Big super cushy pillows! Mine at home are all hard, flat, and compacted, so it was nice to get to sleep on so many marshmallowy cushions >///<
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Also, I take a loooong hot soak... just because I can.
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I'd like to go on the other cons as well and check them all out.
It's hit or miss. A lot of misses, lately. But I have come to really learn how to make lemonade out of lemons... even if life hands you limes. My last few cons have been financial disasters, but I just look at the brighter side... At least I got to go on a trip to a place I never been to. Always at least get to know new friends, and eat at a new restaurant specifically those just specialize in that place.... Kind of takes the sting out of anything a con can throw your way.
Of course, nothing can really replace lost income.
Which is why I just choose to see a "bad con" as me going on a tour... and touring costs money for the tourist.
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HI Rod! It's been too many years since you drew me Terra & Teen Titans in the old AP days - good to see you are here too ( ^__^ ) -JOhn
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Good to hear from you, John! Yes, it has been years and years... time does fly, doesn't it?
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You know... that mirrors pretty much a lot of people's convention experience. And yeah. the costumed people seem to be getting really worse each year. It's this desire to be seen --a sort of evil stepchild of American Idol or something... All those shows like Big brother or celebrities on an island... just anything to get attention these days. It is sad, actually. I think so much energy could be put to better use helping the world instead of themselves. It's an empty and vain pursuit.
I once did a sketch on our worst convention experience... stuck between a guy twaaanging on an electric guitar (he wasn't so skilled) and a man selling plastic firearms who would cut loose with a barrage of automatic electronic gunfire sounds as he demonstrated his plastic AK-47 in the air.
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Maaan, you most likely were in worse situations than what I've had. I just hope Phoenix Comic Con goes better. I'd like to try Otakon and Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA), but if PCC is awful, like I said I'll most likely stay home rest of the year.
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I think all Cons are one form of hell for people XD so go ahead and complain. Just out of curiosity, did you see the bathrooms at the con? because trust me, at comic cons, those plases get NASTY, and you think "Did some one bring Jumanji in here? because it looks like a swarm of monkeys came and just threw feces EVERYWHERE"
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The only bathroom I went to was not far from my table, but I think because of its location not many people noticed it because I didn't see a mess in there and it was never crowded.
With my luck, most conventions I attended did suck, but only once or twice did I have an actual good time at a convention and did well in sales. One was MegaCon (when I got to meet Brent Spiner) and another one, uhhmm...hmm...I never really had a 'nice time' at Yaoi Con, but sales were better than usual there only a couple times...
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aww, I'm sorry you had such an awful time. It sounds like the people in charge of the con have some serious work to do. I hope you made enough sales that it wasn't a total waste of time to go! I also hope your poor feet get better.
I think I was lucky that my first con experience was Anime North; it seemed very well organized and everyone was polite
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Nope, Sales were awful. Only sold like, 3 Prometheus, 2 Holmes doujinshi, a few prints (like 5), 3 mini Count Enance comics, and maybe 7 INCUBUS sets. I gave away a few Prometheus and C.Enance as gifts to friends though.
The only thing that people picked up the most were the free Postcards. If I had known that beforehand, I should have just set those out on my table as the only things of mine and stayed in my hotel room. XD
I did sell an original drawing of Batman and Joker though, that was cool.
MTAC can be now be added to the list of one of the worst conventions for me--the others are Fanime ('o6 or '07) Ohio-Con (maybe the same years), A-Kon (in LA '08 or later), San Diego COmic Con ('05 or '06) and a couple of Yaoi-Cons. There are probably more but put out of my mind.
I really wish I could cancel my trip to Phoenix Comic Con, but I have already paid for my table (which was the last one available), and its a large convention that's local, so I might as well play the fool again and take a chance on it.
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I really love Ohayocon. But we drive to get there. We wrecked our car the first year, and then this year, I made 90.00 after expenses. But that was before we were stuck on the side of a hill with a GORGE off the passenger side of the car, no guard rails and ice to the point that some of the cars with chains on the tires are having trouble making it. And me wondering if falling off a mountain in a blizzard is a manly way to die, and really deciding that the whole quandry can be summed up that anything less than 3 large is not worth that terror.
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When I used to go to conventions (a long time ago in a galaxy far FAR away), the bathrooms were clean, the people were polite, the items were truly fantastic and the guards very effective. The latter usually dressed up as Klingons, complete with battle armor. I thought at the time that this was taking their Star Trek mania a little far. Later, I thought that it might have been for the intimidation factor...
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Boy, I miss the 90's cons too! It was so different when respectful people came there to shop - not freeload & cause annoyance
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Actually, I meant conventions that I attended in the 1980s. Before companies and franchises clamped down because copyright issues, there were tons of fanart, glorious paintings, full-sized posters (for free!), buttons being made on the spot, costumes authentic in detail but made by fans for sale and printed fanfiction in crude but lovely covers. It was crowded but fun and most people were there to BUY. You could expect to throw away a lot of money but it was all worth it.
Indeed, times have changed. I've stopped going to conventions in my home town. So I can't see myself shelling out money to travel across the country for a convention, especially when I'm in such desperate financial straits myself. But good luck to all the dealers who persevere.
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I was lucky enough to live through the early 80's cons too - just didn't think anyone else remembered
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Yeeahhh, I hear that alot from dealers who had been in the business for a long time, missing 'the good old days.' Back then, people came to conventions when they had money, they were true fans of the genre--these days its just 'Look At Me!" people with no money acting as if hanging out at a mall (they say they have no money, but then you see them covered in anime pins/charms, carrying plushies and icrap. Also much of the anime/manga distributed in the US is not at all good as the stuff back then.
For myself, I want to spend money at a convention on a manga or anime, a lot of the dealers carry the same crap and I can't find the anime or manga I'm looking for.
I think I liked anime/manga before it became a fad. In the early 90's I was influenced by the small amount of manga I could get my hands on, and was drawing in that style when anime was still an underground kind of thing. Now that 'style' is everywhere, and I have the ever growing fear my stuff looks amerime.
I do have a hope though that conventions will be good again in the future. Could be self deception though >_<;;
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Screeching madam was working for the Power Ranger guy. That was a pretty awful time to be there... because you know nobody in that line was interested in looking at the tables, and no one else could really get around to them...
But yeah, go ahead and complain. I kind of enjoy reading these 
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No no! Its good you had a nice time there (as I am sure it was great for others), but for some like ~narmolania (above) said, cons can be a form of hell. XD
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Well, "nice" might be stretching it a bit
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I say go ahead and complain! You have every right to.
Do you know how many times I wanted to take a shovel to the Nappa wanna be's head?
We dubbed him and his group the Douche bag DBZ Team.
The Con hotel was terrible, a friend offered to let me stay with her, but her room was so overcrowded.
I fell your pain
So go ahead and complain, you have every right to
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"Douche bag DBZ Team" XD
Maybe just "Douche bag Team" XD
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I even told them to shut up more than once, I even threatened to chase them around with a baseball bat if they didn't stop following me around. I think they were doing that just to grate on my nerves. I finally got rid of them by hiding in the girls restroom >.<
I was so relieved to go home that night.
To say I never want to see those cos-players again is an understatement.
But yes, I totally agree, Douche bag Team was very appropriate.
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Holy crap, that really sucks being harassed by them. If I had known or you told me, I would have done something about it to help you out (I dislike injustice very much). Do as they like, but targeting one person, that's very disturbing on their part.
Loud as they are, its like this (rough) proverb: "Dogs with no teeth bark the loudest."
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It's okay, I finally got rid of them. I was so relieved when I did.
My day got somewhat better when a friend of mine found me and asked to look at my art.
She really made my day. I even got to draw for her, which made me feel so much better.
I feel bad that you had such a bad time at MTAC, if I had known I would have made my way through the masses and kept you company.
This year was been the biggest mess I have ever seen of this convention.
I have my fingers crossed that next year, they have everything put together better than this year.
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I was okay too. I am doodling out how my freinds from Demon Fart Cabbage ([link] ) a little art group from Virgina, kept me company and helped me out alot. If it wasn't for them, the con would have been a nightmare.
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Well that's good
I'm glad to hear you had some company.
But if you decide to come next year, I will totally try and get a booth next to you so you'll have an even better time
Also I have my fingers crossed that they have next years convention better planned out.
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