The fears of the Coronavirus outbreak have started to have a major effect on countless events worldwide with EON Productions announcing earlier today that the new James Bond movie No Time to Die has been delayed until November. Despite fears of the spread worldwide, this year’s Emerald City Comic Con is still scheduled to take place next week in Seattle. Many comic companies have already pulled out of ECCC with DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and even comic grading company CGC all cancelling their appearances. Now they’ve been joined by another publisher with Oni Press announcing they will not be attending this year.
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“Due to the concerns surrounding COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to cancel our presence at #ECCC20,” they wrote on Twitter. “To all the fans attending the show, we’re working to ensure our creators have stock at their tables, so please support your favorites by visiting Artist Alley. For an up-to-date list of Oni creators attending the show, please visit https://onipress.com/blogs/news/oni-creators-at-eccc-2020….We hope to see you at another con later this year and ECCC 2021!”
Though many of Oni’s creators are still intending to attend the show, some of them including Jen Bartel, Jim Zub, Anges Garbowska, Justin Greenwood, Mat Heagerty, Brian Joines, and Justin Osterling have all cancelled.
Oni Press did announced all of the planned exclusives they had announced for Emerald City Comic Con with a pop-up shop that will live on their website, it will go live on Friday. You can access that by clicking here.
Earlier today, Reedpop, the organizers of ECCC, announced that they are offering refunds to anyone that has bought tickets to the event, even for staff and volunteers who made plans to attend the convention. The convention organizers have made it clear that they’re hoping to give artists and vendors an opportunity to make money in spite of concerns of public safety.
“We recognize that not everyone will agree with our decision: it is our feeling that this community values coming together and building connections, even in difficult times,” Reepop said in a statement. “Artists depend on fan relations to keep their work and careers growing; and that the very vibrancy of what makes our community special is just the type of energy and optimism that can buoy us as a broader community through these challenging and anxious time.”
Emerald City Comic Con is set to take place at the Washington State Convention Center in Downtown Seattle. Since the Coronavirus has begun to spread in the United States there have been 39 confirmed cases in Washington and ten total deaths attributed to the virus.
