I have to confess, in recent years, there appear to be fewer stalls devoted to comics.

I didn't actually get to attend a comic con until 1994. And it was 99% comics (and comic-related merchandise). Batman action figures. Old Thor comics. Superman lunchboxes. And lots of creators to sign things!

In recent years, comic cons have been too mainstream. I went to the London Comic Con recently - and major chains had their own stall. There was even a food stall for goodness' sake. No, I'm not referring to the food outlets that are invariably in a comic con venue, this was a food stall (not comic-related) next to stalls featuring comics and t-shirts.

I do miss the days where comic cons were solely about comics. Not saying a comic con should have sold only comics (action figures, T-shirts and lunchboxes are fine!), but the lines have been blurred in recent years. Now, a comic con features everyone from wrestlers and actors to reality TV stars. It's not the same.

For me, comic cons are about meeting creators/getting a book signed and perhaps finding that obscure issue of Thor - or picking up that Kenner version of Hawkman. Stalls featuring mainstream DVDs, which one can buy in Asda, just don't feel the same to me. Comic cons, in my humble opinion, should be esoteric as much as possible.

Thoughts?

Attendance tends to be bigger and draws in a more casual audience and vendors are adapting to that because they're in the business of making money.  It's not just dudes digging around for back issues (hell, I haven't bought a back issue at a con in years, that's what ebay or discount TPBs are for.)  It's people looking for toys or t-shirts or posters/prints or cosplay props or just about anything related to this massive surge in genre-related media.  

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Yes, but those TPBs don't have the original letters pages. ;-)

I went to Birmingham ICE about three weeks ago. It was a small venue, but it was solely comics. Yes, there was a guy selling T-shirts - but they were comic ones. There were small-press creators. There were back issue stalls. Pure, unadulterated comics.

Yes, research is fine but a little piece of me "died" when things changed. Comic cons became less special. I enjoyed going to events, and still do, where it's nothing but comics. There's the main stuff, but it's a good way of finding small, independent creators, too. And supporting up-and-coming artists/writers.

Now, very few comic stalls among the signing booths for Dave Prowse or Warwick Davis (all due respect to them). Too mainstream for me at times.

I grew up in San Diego and went to SDCC as a kid. At the time, my parents were all "Why are you wasting your money on that?" Several years later, SDCC became about Hollywood and how much money it brought to the local economy, and it became "respectable" in their eyes to the point that they'd bring up Comic-Con to me and ask me if I was going. 

I know an independent creator who set up at a con. He had comics for about $4 and prints of his cover for about $10. His characters. Nothing mainstream. He sold lots of prints. Even though it was cheaper, very few wanted to read the comics. This has even leeched into the small press events, though not as much as the big cons.

It seems anyone can make a bunch of lame Deadpool prints and turn a profit at a con. Most attendees don't know John Byrne from Steven Myers...