Part 1: The ECCC Vibes
Another soggy weekend in Seattle, but inside the convention center I am warm and having fun! Emerald City Comic Con is a show I’ve been doing since 2021, and I hope to keep doing it forever and forever. This year, my vibes were serene and grateful and full of love.
We kicked off the weekend on Wednesday by taking the train out of Portland with Prince (aka: Adeline Kon). Prince was visiting Portland to do a talk at Powell’s with me the Sunday prior for their debut graphic novel Just Between Us, and I love our mutual brain-picking. The whole way up we just talked about comics and the state of publishing and goals we have. It was the fastest commute to Seattle I’ve ever had.
In the evening, after setting up at the con, Courtney, En and I found ourselves climbing Queen Anne to spend time with Jax and Emma and a collection of friends, most of whom I hope to see again at C2E2. Jax’s cats Poppy and Pickles were the stars of the evening, and we had so much good conversation. I got to meet Other Ren (aka: renattack) who is very sweet! It was an evening well worth the hike up the steepest hill in the world.
Thursday at Emerald City Comic Con this year was quite busy! Every day was equally busy, which isn’t typical but something I have experienced at other shows. Even with the unexpected traffic pattern, this year ended up being a record breaking ECCC for me, sales-wise. For real numbers, my gross was just over $2k.
I make niche lesbian stuff. I do not make much fan art or have very highly priced items, so my numbers tend to be lower than my peers, especially considering I share my table with my fiance, which means I’m working with half the table space. That said, I’m content with what En and I bring in together! It covers expenses and goes right back towards the next show and cost of printing. Maybe later this year, I’ll experiment with our table(s). I am interested in having En and I sit separately at a show soon to see if an increase in table space really does make an impact on our income.
I attribute this record breaking weekend to The Shepherd’s Sword Volume 1 and Invasive Species, my new comics at the show, which sold out on Sunday. It was very heart warming to see people come to the table for these comics! Shout out to the real ones who said, “I saw this on Tumblr.” It’s always the baddies on Tumblr who tell me they see me on Tumblr B)
This year at Emerald City was a very book/comic heavy year! When I asked my friends and colleagues, most agreed. Prints didn’t move, but books did. And I’m so grateful for that! It’s really encouraging to see books in high demand. I love making comics, but they are expensive and heavy and time consuming. Sometimes I think about being a print-only artist, but I know that’s not my path. Thank you to everyone who gave my comics a warm reception this year!
I am extremely grateful for the kindness of the Webtoon staff at the con, and I’m interested in seeing how their presence at shows develops in the future. More on the Webtoon stuff later. One thing a lot of the Webtoon crew were remarking about the show was how chill ECCC is. Compared to AX and NYCC?? Yeah! It’s chill as fuck!! I love ECCC the most. I love the Summit building. I love the private artist alley entrance. I love the natural light. I love the central location in downtown and how many things are in walking distance. I love Seattle’s public transit. I love the crowd’s energy. I love the amount of talent that descends on Seattle. I love the weather! I’m PNW til I DIE!!!
We went to St Johns Bar for socializing on Thursday night, followed by the Webtoon mixer on Friday night. That’s about all the after-hours socializing I had energy for this weekend. En got the sniffles on Friday (the same thing I had two weeks ago, a mild sinus cold), and it’s daylight savings, and I’m trying not to drink so much lately. With all that in mind, we did a little bit of hanging out, then mostly rested as much as we could to be fresh faced at the show every day.
On Friday, I was interviewed by Fake Girl Girls podcast about sex and comics and body appreciation and character writing through smut, pulp, camp. I loved talking with those two!! They asked amazing questions, and I’m so excited to hear the episode when it comes out.
Shoutout to Carmen, Emi, MK, Addie, Jax, Savannah, J, Carly, Eli, Misha, and everyone else who made this show feel like home. Shoutout to my cosplay crew, Phia, Jo, Cas, Cerb, and all your cohorts for bringing the party. Shoutout to all the new people or internet mutuals I got to meet IRL like Mitra, Steenz, Michi, Ngozi, Aya, Bowen, Vincent. I’ll be seeing many of you in Chicago! Maybe I’ll have more energy for hanging out then.
Part 2: Webtoon at ECCC
Webtoon Canvas sponsored the artist alley at ECCC this year, and they surprised some of us with big standing floor banners with our series. It was pretty cool to walk in and see my friends’ art like that. Especially for a series like mine, The Shepherd’s Sword, or like my fiance’s, Boon of the Beacon Maker, we do not have a huge readership numbers on Webtoon compared to some, but they still hooked us up. They also provided bookmarks, which was really nice to be able to hand out at the show.
The CANVAS staff worked really hard all weekend, coordinating with creators and running around to check in on people. They were kind and thoughtful and it was great to see them again. They provided water, bookmarks, checking in, mixer events, panels etc. and in exchange we filmed content for their socials and had their logo attached to our work.
In 2025, I missed the Webtoon mixers at both AX and NYCC, so I really tried hard to make it to this one! I’m very glad I did! I got to hang out with J, and I got to meet one half of the Blades of Furry team, along with Vincent, who is very awesome and fun to talk to. There were drinks and bites, and it was in walking distance of the con center. I had to call it early because I desperately needed to eat Chinese food in the hotel bed, but I definitely want to go again next time!
I feel like Webtoon is responding to a vacuum left by traditional publishers having less and less of a presence at shows. I’m pretty young, only 32, so I don’t have all the facts, but from what I hear and remember as an attendee pre-pandemic, publishers at comic cons used to support their artists present at the events, whether that was through marketing or logistics of shipping books or being a resource and hub for their creators.
In the years since I’ve started doing conventions, the publisher booths have shrunk or disappeared. It’s expensive, after all, for companies to staff the shows and send books and pay for the floorspace. Publishers don’t have crazy money to begin with, and many operate at a loss waiting for the next big hit. I’ve written about this in previous posts. I don’t blame publishers for not having the resources to show up to cons.
What results is Webtoon taking up the mantle. It doesn’t just stop at convention presence, either. Traditional publishers have also been turning to Webtoon itself to find comics that have pre-built audiences and proof of readership. Rather than chance it all on a wide net of perhaps never-been-published talent, it’s certainly less risky to just pick up some popular Webtoons for book deals. Even publishers who don’t necessarily pick up Webtoon comics are tied to the webcomic ecosystem right now. Indie pubs might not be able to offer a huge advance, but you can try to monetize your comic if they contractually let you retain digital publication rights.
It’s interesting! It’s different. I don’t say any of this with a positive or negative lens. I’m just observing the winds of change in comic cons and traditional publishing.
As for me, I publish my comic on Webtoon, but I also post it to my own website, alongside Tapas and Tumblr. I don’t make any money doing this! Not on any platform! Even the revenue I do earn from my website doesn’t break even on the cost of website yet. Most money comes from Patreon, my online shop, itchio, and cons, none of which are TSS-specific. My webcomic is not lucrative. I make it because I’m passionate about it, and it’s a way for me to explore comic making techniques. To that end, I don’t have any plans of letting a publisher have The Shepherd’s Sword unless and until it is completed. I earn more printing the volume and selling it myself. I maintain the rights. I let it be free without worrying about marketability. It will stay free to read online, and you get to watch me figure out what I’m doing.
Despite what I’ve just said about trad pub’s absence at conventions, Dark Horse was back at ECCC for the first time since the pandemic! It was so good to see them, and maybe it’s a sign nature is healing?
Until next time, thanks again to everyone who came out and said hi in Seattle. I hope you’re all enjoying your comics and art, and I hope I get to come again next year. Love you, ECCC.
Next stop: Chicago! See you at McCormick Place, baby <3
(This is the Patreon early access post for the blog that goes live on Wednesday next week!)