I was invited to MangaNEXT last weekend, which took place in Secaucus New Jersey. I knew it would be a small con, but I was quite interested to see what it would be like. After all, it claimed to be the first con dedicated to manga – which sounded good to my ears.

The first thing that I noticed about the con when I arrived was that the dealer room was fairly small and the Artists’ Alley was actually quite large with a lively gaming area in the back. I thought this was great because I always enjoy Artists’ Alleys and seeing what the fans are up to. I liked the way this convention focused on the fans and I’d love to see more anime cons in the future give more space to the artists and less to the dealers.

I, myself, had a table in Artists’ Alley where I showed off preview copies of Mangaka America. I was a little apprehensive about what the reaction would be to the book, since many hardcore manga and anime fans are purists and I feared I would receive a bit of backlash for that. But to my delight, everyone who stopped by the table seemed interested and intrigued by the book which was a good sign. And since I’m on the topic, I’ll plug the book again real quick as its release is only weeks away.

Mangaka America a 148 page full color art and tutorial book featuring work from 11 of North America’s most talented, emerging manga artists. Published by Collins Design, this book includes art by Svetlana Chmakova, Felipe Smith, Corey Lewis, Christy Lijewski, and more, with tutorials on everything from digital toning and inking to character and mech design. You can currently pre-order it online through sellers such as Amazon.com and it will be available in bookstores everywhere November 1st. (It’s also available through Diamond so your local comic store can order it as well.)

Okay, back to MangaNEXT. As I mentioned, I liked Artists’ Alley and it was great to see that it seemed quite full of people on Saturday. (Sunday was considerably more quiet). Cosplay was in full force at this convention – and I noticed that the average age of the attendees seemed to be younger than many other cons I have attended.

Their program book listed tons of panels – many of which sounded really interesting. Unfortunately, I think there may have been too many offerings as the panels I went to were poorly attended. I poked a bit of fun at this in my webcomic (www.mypoorlydrawnlife.com), but there really were no hard feelings.

I think a solution would have been to combine some panels with similar topics of interest. For instance, there was a Manga 4 Kids panel and a Manga for Parents panel. According to the description, the Manga for Parents seemed geared more towards explaining to parents what kids like about manga, (as opposed to talking about titles they might like), but what better way to do this than to have kids in the room who can explain it themselves?

But I have to admit that small panels can have their own appeal. I attended the Manga 4 Kids panel with Brigid Alverson (of mangablog.net) and her sound assistant Jack, and we ended up pulling some chairs in a circle so we could have a talk with 2 young girls about their favorite titles. It was less like a panel and more like an intimate conversation, but I enjoyed it!

Speaking of combining panels, I think it would have also been cool to have an overall guest panel with all of the guests at one table discussing various topics rather than give each guest their own, separate panel. I was unable to meet some of the guests who attended MangaNEXT and a panel like this would have been a good chance to not only meet them, but take part in a lively discussion with them. I think this may have drawn more fans as well.

There are no guarantees that MangaNEXT will continue, but despite its setbacks, I hope it does. The first con is always the hardest because it’s trying to figure out its place and its audience. But I feel a manga-oriented con such as this one could be a big success in the future once it finds the right balance. There are already so many anime cons out there, that a manga con is a welcome change and I sincerely hope they stick with it and continue to hold MangaNEXT every year, especially if more and more fans get into making Western doujinshi and other self-published works. I really look forward to what the future brings in that department.

Most of all, I hope it continues because small cons like this are always a unique experience. Seeing all the young cosplayers hanging out in the hallways with their friends and having such a great time is always an inspiring sight for me. Even if it’s starting to make me feel old…