Whenever a friend who doesn’t go to comic cons asks me what goes on at a comic con, I’m kinda struck by the difficulty in answering. I want to say: everything goes on at cons. How do you condense the con experience into a simple answer? The rise of cosplay’s popularity or at least its visibility has helped and hurt the description of a comic con. After WonderCon last year, I wrote about how I had to corral my dad and friend Ernesto (both con newbs) from wandering off to gawk at cosplayers. They’re entertaining to see and they’re everywhere and everyone focuses on them. But as anyone who goes to comic cons knows, the cosplayers are the suds on top of the delicious brew below. They’re attendees just like us. They’re not the show itself.

So at Emerald City Comic Con this past weekend, I thought I’d try to show off other sides to cons that don’t get a lot of attention.

In this post, the creators. Every con has an “Artists Alley” in some form where independent creators of comic books, art, toys, collectibles and all sorts of pop culture effluvia. It’s a chance for lovers of comic art to meet the artists and buy original pieces and prints from them. It establishes a really personal connection from fan to the artist. At Emerald City, I ran into Jamie Rich and Joelle Jones who collaborated on You Have Killed Me which I bought from Jamie at San Diego Comic Con in 2011. I was also surprised to run into Joey Comeau who writes A Softer World with pictures by Emily Horne. I have been a fan of that webcomic for years and I didn’t even know to look for Joey or Emily at a con. He was very sweet and I bought a print edition of A Softer World. Likewise I didn’t expect to meet Dean Trippe whose work I’d admired before.

Here are those creators and a few more I met. One thing I love to see at cons is all of the artists drawing. They draw constantly whether for commissions or just doodling. They are constantly making their art. I tried to get several pictures of the artists just drawing.

Pictured above and others I met are: Grace Allison, The Devastator, Sometime After, Shane White, Kayte from dorklandia, Andy Suriano, Amano Jyaku, Tormented Artifacts, Tyrell Cannon, Fish Tank Books, Catbeard the Pirate, 01 Publishing, Artful Dodger Tattoo, PJ Perez, Philip Moy, Dean Trippe, Ryan Odagawa, Trixie of Meen Comics, WP Morse.