2013 San Gabriel Valley Comic Book Expo
That Was Held Sunday June 23rd in Baldwin Park, California
TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3891 - This past weekend was a busy comic book filled two days for me!
First, on Saturday, I attended the latest planning meeting for the upcoming San Diego Comic Fest, (to be blogged tomorrow), and then on Sunday, I attended the 2013 San Gabriel Valley Comic Book Expo.
There hadn't been a SGV Comic Book Expo since 2010, when it was held in the Cuban Hall in El Monte, (see my review blogs at #3239A & #3239B.
The 2010 show had been the 3rd SGV Expo, and the last two years the expo had not been held due to the death of a major Nuvein Foundation member. (Nuvein Foundation is the backer for this comic book expo.)
Plus, the 4th SGV Comic Book Expo had moved once again. This time to the City of Baldwin Park, at the Arts & Recreation Center.
I arrived early to this show, (after a hour & a half drive from Carlsbad), so immediately started taking photos.
Since the artists were starting to set up their tables, I went upstairs to check out the Art Gallery. I had missed the Friday Night Opening Reception that was held from 5-8 PM.
The videos I took will be uploaded at my YouTube Channel in the near future.
Anyways, I checked out the Art Gallery, and then came back down and started shooting photos of the attending comic book artists & writers. There were several of them, most of whom I already knew. So it was a friendly atmosphere for me.
There were also panels held at this comic book expo. I took in all three that were held in the Baldwin Park City Council Chambers, in the building next door to Arts & Recreation Center.
The three programs that were held upstairs were the ones I missed. Those three were mainly for the youngest generation with arts & crafts.
Between the two buildings, there were three small tents set up. One for refreshments, (as the Food Truck was cancelled), the other a comic book shop selling back issue comics and toys, and the third was the tent for the Nuvein Foundation, which had the SGV Comic Book Expo program pamphlet.
I found this renewed Comic Book Expo to once again to be fun. The nicest thing for me was that there was air conditioning here, unlike at the Cuban Hall in El Monte in 2010. However, there no mojitos at this event, unlike the 2010 show!
I talked with Javier Hernandez, who was the chairman of this year's SGV Comic Book Expo, on whether or not the 2014 event would be held here. He mentioned that it was not large enough to hold a large crowd of attendees. I pointed out to him that there was room on the first floor for additional artists tables, and that he could actually add tables upstairs where the Art Gallery was held. So there was enough room for at least the 2014 setup.
The main exhibit floor was filled with artists & writers, with their indie publications. Enough tables to warrant the visit by those interested in comic books to the show. Plus the cost of admittance was FREE!
The panels I attended were fun and / or informative. The choice of panelists were wide ranging in background.
There was only one comic book vendor at this event, so the choice of back issues was a little slim. Possibly more vendors could be added to the 2014 event?
All in all, I had a good time at this comic book expo. And from the looks of the faces of the other attendees, they had fun also!
I look forward to attending the 2014 San Gabriel Valley Comic Book Expo. And I thank those that organized the 2013 event!
~Michael