Comic-Con: The Last Stand Day

If you've been following my Con reports, you may have noticed I take a different approach to the hard-hitting news and fact blogging done—and done well, I'll add—by a lot of other bloggers at the Con. I'm not in the thick of things and haven't been privy to the (relatively few) big news announcements at the show; I haven't been to panels or parties or even much beyond the confines of the 1700 aisle.

What I have done is had a lot of fun.

Sure, go ahead: make fun of me for being all wide-eyed and happy about it. (Go ahead! Go ahead!) I'm sure not the whole con hasn't been sunshine and lollipops. From my vantage point, however, it looks like most everybody had a humdinger of a time, because I'm seeing a lot of delighted and cheerful people strolling the aisles. The vast majority of Con attendees passing before my little stuffed eyed were friendly, outgoing, and obviously having fun. I've been comparing this show a lot to BEA and aside from being a big-ass show inside a big-ass convention center, there's an air of energy and excitement, even on this, the final day. The place was still packed. BEA dies on its last day. You can argue that's because BEA is a business show and Comic-Con is just a fan gathering...but I think the lines dividing them are slimmer than that. Lots of people came to Comic-Con to do business—I've made some great contact with industry book buyers, comic book stores, other publishers and even promising new authors.

Even that cliché of Comic-Con, the costumed attendees, is a heck of a lot of fun to watch. The more cynical of you might scoff or laugh, but I was impressed and a little jealous: I guess I have to get working on my tiny Bender costume for next year.

I filled in a few gaps in my collection...nothing too dramatic, but hey! There's that issue of Doctor Strange I wanted. And that West Coast Avengers that's the sequel to it. And wow, lookit those beautiful small-press comics! And who doesn't want a marshmallow gun?

It was my first Comic-Con, and I went into it not knowing what to expect. So forgive me if I'm being wide-eyed and bushy-tailed about the experience. Maybe next year I'll be cynical about it, but the roller-coaster atmosphere of it was a kick and an adrenaline rush and I've enjoyed myself a lot. Sure, there's things I wish. I wish more major new project announcements that would astonish the industry would be announced in San Diego. I wish the outside news media would understand they're looking at a large group of highly motivated consumers of pop culture and not simply a buncha weird fans who like to dress up in costume. I wish Marvel would take making contact with their fan base more seriously by making an outreach at these shows beyond videogame and movie tie-in appearances. I wish a method could be found to decrease the in-the-sun waiting lines and eliminate the fat that fans were turned away at the door. I wish I had a soothing, cooling tub to soak my sore little hooves in.

But in the end, it was a valuable learning experience. With Stormtroopers. You can take it seriously or you can do it because your company has to or you can even just come for poops and giggles but you can't deny it's good for the fans and good for the industry and the medium of comics on the whole. Those who read some of my more ranting blogs know that I frequently challenge the industry to nurture and build the next generation of fans. In other words, what is the comic book world doing to make certain there is a comic book world in twenty, thirty, forty years? I'll quibble at the big publishers about their commitment to that end. But take a look around you as you stand in a booth or an aisle at San Diego Comic-Con and do an informal mental poll. There were pre-teen kids. There were teenagers. There were college kids, people in their twenties and thirties and forties. There were grandfathers and grandmothers. There were people in wheelchairs and babies in strollers. There were more women than I expected. There were more parents than I expected, and not just being dragged by their kids. In other words, look around you: the passion and purpose comics, fantasy, gaming and toys brings to people runs across all generations.

Which brings me to, as I promised, the most heartening, encouraging sign for the power and strength of the comics industry that I overheard: As I stood in the Norton booth, I overheard a boy in his early teens...maybe thirteen or fourteen...excitedly pick up a copy of Norton's Up Front and eagerly explain to his forty-something father, with passion and accuracy, just who Bill Mauldin was. And why he was important. And that he drew great comics.

Kid, I salute you. You are others like you are the future of comics: carrying on the interest, passion, and genuine enthusiasm for the medium of comics, its history and great creators. It's for people like you that I'm happy to come to San Diego Comic-Con. It's for people like you that Comic-Con is created.

See you next year in San Diego!

Other Comic-Con entries: Tuesday • Wednesday • Thursday • Friday • Saturday • Extra #1 (Wolverine) • Extra #2 (Eisner)