Next weekend, I am scheduled to appear on two panels at Emerald City Comic Con at the Washington State Convention Center. On Saturday, I'm supposed to discuss a new project on an AHOY Comics panel with artists Richard Pace and Soo Lee and writers Tyrone Finch and Stuart Moore. And on Sunday, I am slated to host a panel with Seattle writer Garth Stein and artist Matthew Southworth that would serve as the world premiere of their upcoming Fantagraphics comic Cloven. I've been looking forward to both those panels for months. ECCC has become a high point in my year for all its opportunities to check in with the comics community, buy way too many comics, and sit in on panels.

Over the past few days, a number of major publishers (including DC Comics, Penguin Random House, and Portland comics publisher Dark Horse) and a wide array of comics professionals (including writer Benjamin Percy and cartoonist Kate Leth) have canceled their Emerald City Comic Con appearances due to concern for public safety in the coronavirus outbreak. Their concern is legitimate, considering the fact that Washington state in general, and King County in particular, has been a focal point for COVID-19 infections in the United States.

I share their concern. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend Emerald City Comic Con this year. I have a person in my life with immunodeficiency issues, and I simply can't justify the risk that person would face if I were to attend a festival in downtown Seattle with 100,000 people from all over the world in the middle of a global outbreak. While ECCC organizers have promised increased sanitation during the convention, there's simply no way to ensure that the coronavirus will not be transmitted at the event.

I understand that my decision to not attend ECCC comes from a place of privilege; while I have a day job that pays the bills, many cartoonists and publishers rely on robust ECCC sales to stay above water. Hopefully they'll be able to capture those sales even as more and more attendees and professionals drop out. (That said, if you are exhibiting any of the symptoms of coronavirus — particularly a fever or deep cough — you absolutely should stay home and not attend the show.)

There are rumblings online about crowdsourcing a "virtual ECCC" in which cartoonists can sell their work to people who might want to support comics artists without having to put themselves or loved ones at risk for coronavirus infection. If someone compiles a list of ECCC vendors who will be financially endangered by the outbreak, I'll be happy to share that list here on the Seattle Review of Books.

And if you were looking forward to attending either or both of my two panels at the show, I'm sorry to let you down and I hope to see you soon. I'll share information about ECCC — including revised information about the panels I was supposed to participate in — as I hear about it. And whether you're attending the show or not, please stay safe. Wash your hands, stay informed, and take care of those who can't take care of themselves.