From Publishers Weekly

Set at a comic convention, this story shouldn't be as entertaining and fun as it is. But it's a little gem: the plot trips along, and though the art is good, not breathtaking, the Russian-born Canadian artist/author has clearly mastered the now international visual language of manga. The heroine is Chris, a self-willed girl who is taken for granted by her boyfriend, Derek. Chris meets the dark and mysterious Matt, who seems to understand her completely, and hijinks ensue. Sounds corny as hell, but the narrative is smart, witty and moving. The characters tap into the manga archetypes, which makes them breathe and have moments of being larger-than-life. Chris goes through self-doubt to self-knowledge and learns a bit of bravery along the way. It's astonishing to reflect that all the action takes place in the hotel rooms and convention floors where kids sell their homemade comics. Under the noses of adults, these "cons" have slipped into popular culture as a new land of rebels, mentors and wisdom—what road trips and the Haight once were. They're a perfect place for a growing-up story. Using every visual manga convention to its fullest, this ripping little tale is strong and expressive enough to reveal real emotional depth.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Variety's Bags and Boards

So? You know manga is sweeping the world when a 25-year-old woman born in Russia and now living in Canada writes and draws a popular English-language manga about romance at a Japanese anime convention. There may be ways that die-hard manga fans can tell from the art and writing alone that Chmakova's not Japanese, but she's obviously so thoroughly absorbed the style of writing and drawing shojo manga as to completely fool the rest of us. This is an unabashedly girly book that's sweetly romantic, full of authentic teenage angst and at times very funny. Story follows a young girl who writes a manga that her boyfriend draws. At her first con, her boyfriend flirts with every girl he can find and she's overwhelmed by the crowds and strangeness of it all until she meets a mysterious and handsome cosplayer. I have to admit that as a 36-year-old married man, I'm not the target audience for this book and that "dirty old man" feeling crops up a bit while reading this sort of thing. But Chmakova stays firmly in PG-13 territory and there's nothing in here that crosses any kind of line. It's just good, frilly, girly fun.

~Tom McLean

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From IGN Comics

An anime convention turns into drama central in this new manga series from TOKYOPOP.
"Dramacon is kept dynamic the whole way through thanks to vivid artwork, top-notch facial expressions and an excellent use of tones. You can't avoid falling under its charm."

~Geneviève Belanger

Copyright © IGN Entertainment, Inc.

From Calling Manga Island

"Dramacon is a fan favorite, and rightly so. Dramacon takes the craziness of the anime convention and puts a shoujo comedy spin on the preceding. Anyone who has been to a con and dealt with all that they involve should check out this book."

~Tony Salvaggio

Copyright © 1995-2005 Boiling Point Productions DBA Comic Book Resources. All Rights Reserved.

From PopImage

The premiere book in the series focuses on amateur writer Christie on her first ever trip to an anime convention. Christie is young and cute though a little introverted, or at least, she hasn't quite come out of her shell just yet. That changes over the course of the story as her relationship with her boyfriend wanes as she realizes he's a flirt and a dick, and she meets a mysterious stranger all decked out in a stylish cosplay outfit with action film shades on all the time. In an uncomfortable setting the stranger becomes the most comforting aspect of her life which in turn allows her to ease into the engrossing convention scene, breaking away from her table to get her fill of merchandise and get her ego stroked.

In Dramacon, the setting of the convention sets you up with a clear view of the characters' surroundings, a whirlwind of adolescence and geekdom, but the depth of the drama that Svet portrays lifts the story from its surroundings while at the same time pulling you in to take a vested interest in the fates of the characters.

But things get worse before they get better.

The "White Knight" syndrome is a scenario involving a damsel in distress rescued by a valiant man, which usually involves some immediate attraction between the two. When the drama escalates between Christie and boyfriend Derek, Matt feels the need to react, and he does—in the very predictable yet exact same manner every man would—because...there are just some things you DON'T DO. This is handled very well and may be one of my favourite scenes [aside from the taunts of tentacle porn], but it also serves to show how well Svet has integrated her anime and manga influences, allowing her to be able to go from hyper-expressive and light-hearted to deeply profound and solemn without breaking the flow of the story and giving even more meaningful substance to the in-between moments where it's OK to smile and hold hands, no matter what is going on around you....

As the story progresses, obstacles are conquered and fun is had by all but new obstacles arise as new friends have to part ways leaving what happens next completely to chance. All they know is that they'll be coming back next year.

The artwork perfectly matches the story; Svet has a keen understanding of the expressive nature of her characters—she knows how to perfectly portray them without giving too much or too little. In a way, she has an ability to make everything cute and thus invokes the readers to take a vested interest in the lives of her fun, melodramatic, heart-on-their sleeve-wearing characters.

When it comes to toning, I'm still attuned to the mindset of pens and brushes as great tools than to that of Wacoms and Photoshop, but Svet uses the tones to further convey the emotional elements of the scenes. Hard inks and lightning cracks for one extreme and light and soft snowflake effects for the sweeter moments—much like the way colourists use striking colours to convey emotion. So future artists take note, toning: for more then just filler.

Dramacon will appeal to all you comics readers who, deep down, are giddy romantics at heart, and as a part of the comic buying industry, you may even see yourself reflected in one of the characters featured therein.

Pick up a copy of Dramacon; you'll like it, trust me.

It's sweet.

~Jonathan Ellis

Copyright © Scott Grunewald and Aorta Press. All rights reserved.