This story originally appeared on RealTime/STL.
Cosplayers grabbed the photos, celebrities grabbed the headlines, but local artists hoped to grab a few dollars at this weekend’s Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con.
“It’s been a positive show,” said Wendy Buske of St. Louis, marketing director for Nerd for a Living. “Everyone is so excited to have this here — there’s a palpable energy.”
“It’s very family-friendly,” Buske said. “Some shows aren’t as accommodating to all-ages. This has had so many families coming through, all in costume. It’s so St. Louis.
“If you like geeky, fun things, you won’t find a better place.”
A couple running the booth next door agreed.
“How cool is it to be able to own a little piece of art for $1?” said Rori of Live Nude Comics in Overland, as she gestured to a display of $1 4×6 portraits of the characters from “Doctor Who.” (Like Madonna or the Doctor, she goes by only one name.) “That’s cool.”
Several artists mentioned, however, that the setup was less than ideal.
The 2014 show was bigger (and busier) than 2013′s inaugural show. “There are a lot more new vendors, and a lot of variety,” said Buske. In 2013, attendees walked through Artist Alley, where artists are typically grouped at comic con and similar shows, to get to the autograph booths for visiting celebrities. This year, Artist Alley was pushed to the far east side of the convention floor, away from the celebs.
“Last year was a pretty good,” said Yale Stewart of JL8, a webcomic that explores the adventures of the Justice League as 8-year-olds. “Everyone had to go through Artist Alley.”
This year, Stewart said, there was “no signage, no … nothing.” On Sunday morning, hours before the day’s most popular celebrity Q&A, the traffic through Artist Alley was sparce. An hour before the convention floor closed, foot traffic had picked up a bit.
“I met a lot of cool people and got to hang out with buddies,” Stewart said. “It’s not all bad.”
“It’s been nice,” artist and author Kate Sherron said of the convention Sunday morning, just a few feet from Stewart’s booth, as she greeted passers-by and straightened a small stack of prints of young Avengers. Sherron recently moved back to St. Louis. “It’s been nice to connect with local artists. There’s so much amazing work coming out of the St. Louis and Kansas City area.”
Andrew Heath of Lexington, Ky., frequently travels with Wizard World, and said the St. Louis event was “the best of them so far” — even better than the more established Chicago show — partly because this was Heath’s first time in St. Louis, which, for him, meant new customers.
As shoppers lingered at his booth Sunday afternoon, he said his biggest seller was a sold-out “Futurama”-inspired print. Among the hundreds of “Doctor Who” and “Firefly” fans and pieces of art, Heath said “the things you don’t normally see” often sell best.
Comic con will return to St. Louis May 15-17, 2015.