Catching up with ECCC

6 JANUARY 2019

Emerald City Comic Con is just 9 weeks away - which feels pretty crazy, since some of us are still recovering from New Year's Eve. And surprisingly, even though the 4-day tickets and Saturday sold out almost immediately, Thursday, Friday and Sunday are still available. Also, for the first time, ECCC is partnering with Lyte to offer up refunded tickets. So you might get a full ticket yet.

Let's review the reasons why you want to go - or what you can anticipate, if you already have your tickets.

• The best comic book creators will be there. I'm not just talking about the same faces you see at all the other Cons, but writers and artists you won't see anywhere else.

• The celebrities on deck so far include the Boy Meets World cast (yes, Cory and Topanga are coming to Comic Con), some of the Stranger Things kids, Brienne/Gwen Christie, George Takei, assorted actors from Battlestar Galactica, Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, Wynonna Earp, etc

• The extensive gaming area will include tournaments and free play, console gaming, board games, RPG and an indie games showcase.

• Not too many parties are listed so far - just the Guardians of the Sexy burlesque - but you can bet they're coming.

• Penguin Random House is holding exclusive "Book Club" sessions at the Con that sound like they're cross-genre.

• The cosplay is top notch. I won't get too political here, but anyone in Nerd World is aware of the resentments brewing over "real" cosplayers and the ones assumed to have more impure motives, such as launching their modeling careers or advertising various websites and products. I can promise you that ECCC will offer up some inventive and deep-nerd cosplay.

Also keep these deadlines in mind:

• Photo ops and autographs go live at noon PST on 17 January. 
• If you want your tickets mailed to you, buy before 18 January.

I know 2019 is just starting to crawl out of time's womb, but now really is the moment to think about which Con you're going to attend this year. You already know if you're not going to San Diego Comic-Con; as you consider all the other Cons filling spring, summer and fall, think about starting off your nerd calendar with ECCC, one of the best Comic Cons in the world. You'll get all of the fun of a bigger Con and hardly any of the stress. And right now it's completely within reach.