A Deep Look into C2E2 and the Indie Comics Industry

Red and black paint the showroom floor of the McCormick Convention Center. Bright white lights shine on various gaming computers, comic vendors, and other booths strewn across the building with the cosplay stage being the pièce de resistance of the event that people like gamers.

From Friday Feb. 28 to Sunday March 1st, comics, costumes, camaraderie and creativity are a few of many essential values in forming one of Chicago’s biggest pop culture events of the year: The Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, or abbreviated as C2E2. 

 A high profile event such as C2E2 serves as a prime opportunity to showcase indie artist comic talent along with showcasing “the big two” that are also known as Marvel and DC comics. That opportunity starts from excellent public relations, and spreads by word of mouth.

 “Anytime you’re dealing with a big crowd, preparation is key,” Fred Paik, a public relations representative for indie comics company Impact Theory Comics said.

As a result of that preparation, more C2E2 goers are now having the chance to learn how Impact Theory is a young company aspiring to be a studio by many people as it is the brainchild of Quest Nutrition Protein Bar CEO Tom Bilyeu, and has a Chicago resident comic creator Michael Morecci on staff.

Impact Theory comics has also helped musicians such as DJs Steve Aoki and Don Diablo release their own comic books to help promote change and growth in the comics industry.

Aside from large comic and entertainment conventions, student organizations such as the DePaul Comics and Manga Club help grow and foster that hunger of knowledge for a wide variety of comics.

“I do my best to ensure our club has a wide array of activities. We focus on appreciation of storytelling in many forms, especially comics and manga, which can take many presentations as well (webcomics, animatics, etc.). We have a comic of the week, where we spotlight a specific work- I think that helps people to learn more about the vast variety there really is,” Elisa Stanis, President of the DePaul Comics and Manga Club said.

Much like the creation of indie comics, great ideas come from the spirit of collaboration, collectivism, and creativity. There is plenty of time in the club for people to share and work together, and encourage those values among members. Members can also learn to appreciate each other's personal inspirations and journeys, as well as personal growth from creating and reading both mainstream and indie comics.

It also helps that one can sit down and have an informative conversation with another comic consumer and learn about a Korean style of comics called Manhwa.

“Koreans value relationships, family, and other collectivistic values,” St. Louis graduate Kyle Luzano said.

Furthermore, the protagonists can have one of two roots: a normal person or have incredible powers from birth. Those characters in stories like Manwha have a character arc of the weak  becoming strong, yet remain kind and gentle hearted, or the strong become humble. There is also more layer and depth to a weak, yet smart antagonist who gets under the protagonist’s skin, and attempts to beat his or her mind games.

There are also wide spectrums of emotions of arrogance, fear, and charisma under calm demeanors of all those characters. Another branch of indie comics that can also be well more known is the Japanese Shonin, and a good place to start is at the manga Japanese manga series

My Hero Academia where fans can read and watch the manga for the action and motives of the heroes and villains, and  good vs bad. There is another anime called Ring Zero that can also be more well known with the story that the main character is constantly dying, ending up with good and bad outcomes. The bad outcomes can cause him to start to question morality and how good and trusting people can be. Religion can also be portrayed in interesting ways with the church being a blank canvas for DC and Manga. While Marvel and DC have renditions of God, it is also is intriguing to know that the  manga church is manipulative, they will take advantage and strike if they need to, even having  entire exorcisms.

Overall, it’s “cool to see indie is growing, but it’s changing a little with more digital consumption,” Luzano said, and that entails the implication that the comic library will always grow and evolve to help people do the same in their own lives.