If the Comic-Con International in San Diego is too big for you…or you just can't wait 'til next July…why not consider an outing to the WonderCon, which is being held in San Francisco the first three days of next April? It's a fine con, run by pretty much the same crew that brings you the San Diego gala each year but it's smaller and has more emphasis on comic books. "Smaller" in this case is still big enough that you'll have plenty to do and see and buy. It's just a more manageable con, especially for those who may be new to this world. It's also located in a great part of a great city and finding a hotel room is usually not a problem.
I'm a guest there each year. I'll be there for the '11 one, wandering around and hosting panels…and I don't go to a lot of conventions these days. Most folks who do comics will go to almost any one that will invite them and fly 'em in because they have stuff to sell. Artists especially make, if not a lot of money then at least enough to make it worth the time and travel. For my own reasons, which probably have as much to do with stupidity as anything else, I don't sell things at conventions. Never have. People are always asking me at cons, "Did you bring your Jack Kirby book to sell?" and I say, "No, that's kind of what I thought the dealers were for. Go buy a copy from one of them and I'll sign it."
Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that if you see me advertised as attending a convention, that probably means I think it'll be a pretty good convention. I have no other reason to go other than that I expect to enjoy myself. I always go to WonderCon. Make of that what you will.