5 Most Disastrous Comic-Con Panels In Recent Memory

4. Almost Any Panel - DashCon, 2014

DashCon may not have strictly been a comics convention, but then it wasn't strictly much of anything. It appears to have been an abbreviation for "dashed hopes at the convention." The real trouble began when an alleged funding crisis led organizers to ask attendees and Tumblr fans for $17,000 in crowdfunding as the convention began, a goal that DashCon fandom met on Friday. By Sunday, DashCon "fandom" had effectively ceased to exist. Today, the convention has abandoned plans to return in 2015, liquidated its remaining assets and sold its URL. Some attendees continue to suspect that the funding crisis was a scam or else proof of mismanagement. These claims wouldn't have nearly as much traction if everything else about the con had gone well, but events and panels were poorly planned and sparsely attended. Panels labeled "18+" also reportedly accepted minors. Noelle Stevenson, the biggest comics guest, soldiered through her panel, although DashCon never provided her a moderator or paid for her hotel room, despite previously promising both. Similar broken promises obliged the cast of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, the show's single biggest draw, to cancel its appearance. The organizers promised disappointed attendees "an extra hour in the ball pit"-- once they finally announced the cancellation, more than an hour after the Vale panel was to begin. You won't find a better summary of the DashCon experience than this footage from the WTNV panel floor. Or just stare at that lonely, empty ball pit for another few minutes. That'll give you the same general idea.