All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Gearing up for Comic-Con fatigue? Sure, a swift drink will temporarily take the edge off, but events taking place in a bar around the corner will offer even greater relief. Better than convention-center craziness is Trickster, a DIY “creator convention” taking place at the Wine Steals / Proper restaurant and pub down the street.
The alterna-convention is founded by Pixar storyboard artist Scott Morse and story artist Ted Mathot, with Anita Coulter, who is married to Pixar artist Jeff Pidgeon. Their proposed Comic-Con oasis is a series of activities revolving around DIY storytelling with an intentionally limited group of enthusiasts.
Trickster got its start in 2011 after the trio aired a few comic convention frustrations on a message board. “Scott lamented the loss of intimacy and interactions that happen when people can come up to you and say, ‘I like your stuff,’ and you have a conversation about it,” says Coulter.
But instead of just complaining, they went off to create a convention that better suited them, hosting a small group of attendees in a bar. "We wanted to create a place where you could be inspired, and where your art could be showcased,” says Coulter. To avoid Comic-Con’s homogenization, Coulter says the event will stay intentionally small. They're aiming for a “broad reach without becoming a behemoth.”
The small venue and limited number of participants allowed the organizers to be flexible. On the first evening of the event last year, Trickster threw a life drawing event. It was such a success that when participants saw a band setting up the next night, they were disappointed. So Coulter polled the wine-infused audience: "You can have a band or life drawing. Which do you want?" People voted for their pencils.
Trickster 2012 ditched the bands and will bring extra drawing boards. This year they’re also planning an art show and a pop up shop for indie graphic novels. But the core experience is still a series of two-hour workshops that focus on process, theory, and storytelling techniques. The symposia are geared around self-publishing, not getting a job at a big studio. So far they’ve booked James Robinson, Matt Wagner, and Mike Allred. Morse and Mathot are hosting classes, too.
Although last year’s Trickster was self-funded, this year the team is trying to raise $35,000 to fund the event through an IndieGoGo campaign. They’re offering perks along with investment, like a master class in “Plot Construction and the Perils of Payoffs” for $40. For $300, you can book an hour coaching session with an industry leader. (They have prints and t-shirts for sale, too).
Coulter says the ultimate goal for Trickster is to create new venues where storytellers can share their work. There will soon be a permanent Trickster store in Berkley, California, and the organizers are planning a Trickster show in Paris as well.
Let’s raise a glass to the bigger conventions for providing fuel for the little ones.
Photos: Trickster
