I don't think it's so much that RCCC "gobbled up a local rival" in this Stumptown merger. I think it's more that STCF realized that it can't stand up to Wizard World by itself. Since WWPDX inserted itself at the beginning if the year, it dampens interest in any other local show that soon after it.
Yeah, maybe that was a poor choice of words - I didn't mean to make Rose City sound like an evil invading force. I haven't been, but everyone seems to like it.