Zorphbert & Fred by Dawn Griffin

[poll id=”12″]

This was an interesting poll. I mean, they all are, sure, but in going to 3 cons this year and getting a handle on who is my audience at a comic con, this poll tells me that I should actually do decently well at comic cons. If you told me that 2 years ago, I would have laughed. I mean, c’mon.. Z&F is a silly comic strip… not an action-packed superhero comic filled with well-endowed women. Why would I fit in at a comic con? Well, I do it seems. There’s more and more parents bringing their kids to cons… and my table attracts those in that Z&F is family friendly (and looks it). If you do not have well-endowed women to sell your work, cute sells as well…. at least to some crowds. My audience for Z&F is a strange brew of 20-30 year old women, kids between the ages of 8-14, and men over the age of 40. Yeah, I don’t get it either.

As you see above, I tried to break down the average con-goer into several groups:

The Hardcore Fan

The hardcore fan goes to all 2 or 3 days of a convention, and they probably dress up for  those days.. maybe even enter the costume contests. You may see them at every big con, in their signature costumes. I find these fans, although fun, do not tend to check out too much in artists alley.. they are probably too busy having pictures taken or waiting in line for the big names. But they’re there for me to take pictures for my blog post.

The Artists Alley Fan

These are my favorites. These people bring sketchbooks, complete with references and even sketchbook “themes” (like “DC Villains”). They spend a great deal of time in artist alley conversing with the creators and buying commissions. They also love discovering something new and save up their money to bring home new exciting comics, be they traditional superhero stuff, or fun comic strip collections. I would lump the parents introducing their kids to comic cons into this bunch, as they just love to get their kid to talk to a creator and check out new comics too.

The Pop Culture Fan

These peeps might have been dragged to a con by a HARDCORE fan or an ARTIST’S ALLEY fan and then got hooked. They may adore a celebrity who’s signing that day. They may just be bored and have money to spend on cool Tshirts and plushes. A Pop Culture Fan’s motive is fun- getting pictures in the Bat Mobile, or with the staple Storm Troopers. Entering contests and raffles, trying that weird energy drink. They may wander down artist’s alley and look at your buttons or take a freebie bookmark, but rarely want to spend their money on new “untested” material. After all, there’s that Pikachu clock and Simpsons collector’s figurines calling for their wallet…

The Casual Fan

The Casual Fan is basically the Pop Culture Fan, but is not as eager to go to a con “just because”. Sure, if friends are going, they’ll tag along. But they rarely spend money. It’s all “meh”.

The Con-o-Phob

Ah, the geeks in waiting. The jock or cool kid with an inner geek dying to get out.. but will not stoop to the stigma that is “comic con geek”. They imagine everyone at comic cons as the 80’s geek- pocket protector, glasses, snorty laugh, and absolutely no women to be seen. These folks would probably die of shock to see a hip cool chick like me BEHIND a table. Needless to say, I have a better chance of selling my books to these people online, where they can enjoy their anonymity.

The Deprived

Those who have no idea what a comic con is. How they stumbled on my comic to vote is beyond me. Let’s send a postcard from the next con we attend to their mailbox, next to the big rock they live under.