Report on LBCC 2026

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth at Long Beach Comic Con! I was delighted to see long-running fans and friends (some of whom I’d just recently seen at San Diego Comic-Con!), as well as make some new ones. Someone even stopped by to pick up some recent issues, who said he’s read and loved my stuff since the 1990s—picking up my original OG Adventure Strip Digest series at his local comic book store—and called them “pure comics joy” lol.

Truth be told, attendance was a bit low—but that said, I did cover the costs of the show, and as I said in my post about the first day, I was happy to see that many attendees were interested in buying and discovering new comics. So had attendance and foot traffic been stronger, I’m confident I would have done even better! Hopefully, the new organizers of LBCC will use this experience to improve the show.

The one advantage of a smaller show is the opportunity to chat and catch up with people. In fact, because of the smaller crowds, I purchased a selfie with actor Diedrich Bader, the first time I’ve done something like that! I’ve always enjoyed his work, but when I saw there wasn't anyone at his table, I decided to go for it. He was very down to earth and easy to talk with, and I had the chance him how much I particularly liked his voice work on the Brave and the Bold animated series, which he appreciated. (I wished I had mentioned Office Space too!) After I told him I was exhibiting, I asked if I could shared some of my comics with him, to which he was very gracious. I came back a bit later and handed him a couple of issues that he appreciated.

My table was near the back which actually wasn't an issue the first day, but on the second day, people didn't seem to be making their way to our end (and this was a consensus with my neighbor exhibitors). Even the celebrity autograph area was pretty dead. That said, sales for me the second day were slow but steady enough to make me happy when I saw my final tally after I got home, but had their been more attendees and better foot traffic, I could have done even better since, as I said, people were buying. On both days, by mid-afternoon, the floor was really empty, as if people went home early.

Hopefully, the organizers will learn to adjust to keep people engaged and excited for the whole day—I thought they should have taken advantage of some of the celebrities there by creating some kind of mainstage Q&A panels in the middle of the floor like they do at LA Comic-Con. And making periodic announcements and reminders about being sure to visit artist's alley and other vendors, and to raise the fun, excitement and energy level of the show (they did use the PA system periodically, so it's there.) Based on how I did and my relatively low overhead, I'm willing to exhibit there next year.

Anyway, I’d be up for doing the show again next year and hope this experience will help the new organizers/management of LBCC grow the show. 

See the entire photo gallery.