The 2011 Free State Freecon is scheduled for September 10th in Lawrence, Kansas.
Over the past six years, the Free State Comicon has become an annual tradition in Lawrence, Kansas. The 2011 show is only a week away on Saturday, September 10th.
Promoter Craig Klotz is expecting a great crowd for the event. “We’re focused on maximizing the value for the attendees’ entertainment dollar,†Klotz said. “The Free State show is an old-school style of comic book convention that’ss designed to be fun for the comic book fan and the non-comic book fan alike. And for a mere $3.00 admission, you won’t find this kind of entertainment anywhere else.â€
“We have a greatly expanded guest list, topped with many of the top creators from the state of Kansas, Missouri, and the KC area,†Klotz said. “Creative talent will be oozing from the walls at this show! And all of the guest creators are super-nice and very accessible.†Continue reading “Free State Comicon ramps up for next weekend in Lawrence”
Planet Comicon is Kansas City's largest comics and pop culture convention.
Planet Comicon 2012 will not be held April 14-15 of next year as originally announced. The new dates for the show have not been announced yet. Promoter Chris Jackson is scrambling to determine the best weekend for Kansas City’s largest comics and pop culture convention after Chicago’s huge C2E2 convention rescheduled its event on the original Planet Comicon dates.
“WonderCon announced on September 1, 2011 that they have selected March 16-18 as the dates for their 2012 show,” Jackson said. “C2E2 in Chicago, which was originally scheduled for March 16-18, has now moved their show to April 14-15, stepping directly on the announced dates for Planet Comicon.”
Jackson says that he will definitely reschedule the show, with the new dates to be announced by September 10th. “It is quite difficult to obtain dates and many factors have to be taken in to consideration,” he said. “We did a lot of research when selecting the original dates to make sure there was no major conflicts and, at this late date, options for dates are very limited. We will do the best we can and hopefully the fans, exhibitors and guests will support the new dates when selected.”
The dominoes began falling when WonderCon — a major San Francisco convention — shifted to Anaheim on March 16-18. “It’s traditionally held in San Francisco at the Moscone Center, but that venue is undergoing major renovations and dates were not available,” Mark Evanier wrote on his NewsFromME blog. “So things don’t get crowded [in Anaheim], Wizard World will postpone its April 2012 show and ReedPop’s C2E2, which had been planning a March show in Chicago, will have it some other time.”
The shuffle of so many major events has left some Kansas City creators in a bind. As the news of C2E2’s conflicting date broke, writer/artist Kevin Mellon tweeted, “You’re [bleeping] kidding me. C2E2 is now the weekend of Planet comicon here in KC. Thanks.” That brought a Twitter response from Iowa’s Phil Hester of “!!!! That is a nonstarter.” Hester has been a fixture at Kansas City conventions for more than 20 years.
Planet Comicon has been at the center of the Kansas City comics scene since the 1990s, growing larger each year. Guests already announced for the 2012 show include Stan Sakai (creator of Usagi Yojimbo), Dan Parent (artist for Archie Comics), and Skottie Young (artist of Marvel Comic’s acclaimed Wizard of Oz adaptations). It is not yet known if the date shuffle will affect these scheduled appearances.
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! is scheduled to bring dozens of celebrated fantasy artists to Kansas City in May 2012.
A major fantasy art show has been scheduled for May 2012 in Kansas City. According to the promoters, Arnie and Cathy Fenner, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! will be the Midwest’s first convention focusing solely on fantasy, science fiction, and all other forms of fantastic art, paintings and sculpture.
From physical to digital, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! will celebrate the creativity and talent of dozens of renowned artists. Special guests include fantasy art and comic luminaries Brom, Phil Hale, Andrew “Android†Jones, Iain McCaig, and Mike Mignola. Other confirmed exhibitors include, Michael Whelan, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell.
A natural extension of the art anthology, Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! will take place on May 18-20, 2012, in the Grand Ballroom of Kansas City’s Bartle Hall. It will feature more than 200 exhibitors and is expected to attract more than 5,000 attendees.
