Tag Archives: comic book conventions

Comic cons: What I miss (and don’t miss)

Leave a reply

So I’m sitting here and watching G4’s coverage of San Diego Comic Con – and also checking out some of the best comments on Twitter – and once again thinking, “Wow, I wish I was there.”

Followed quickly by another thought: “Wow, I’m glad I’m not there.”

I’ve never been to Comic Con but I’ve had a lot of experience at lesser cons from Chicago to Cleveland to Indianapolis to Denver. I’ve stood in line for speakers and autographs and snaked through the dealers room.

Some of my most vivid memories are attending “Star Wars” Celebrations when they were every-three-years events timed to coincide with the release of the prequels. The first was in Denver in 1999 at a decommissioned military base. Outside at a military base. In rain and sleet. At some point when we were standing in line in the cold mud to get into an event, my friend Andy said he was glad it was me who was with him and not his wife. “I’d already be divorced by this point,” he said.

Anyway, here’s some of the best – and worst – about convention-going.

The best:

The sense of community. During a comic convention – and the same goes for science fiction conventions – take a look around. There’s anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand people around you and they all love the same thing. Okay, maybe they’re not all fanatics about Famous Monsters of Filmland or Flash Gordon serials or vintage issues of The Flash. But they’re like-minded enough about some fannish thing to turn out in numbers and geek out.

The sense of excitement. It’s hard to be blase about that comic, movie or TV show when you sit through a convention hall presentation about it, hearing not only the words of the creative team but also the energy and expectation of other fans.

The costumes. A lot of fans get frustrated that much of the news media coverage of conventions focuses on geeks in costumes. While I’m writing this, G4 is interviewing Damon Lindlof as he stands in front of a bunch of guys in “Predator” costumes. No reason, why? But costumes add a lot of visual appeal to conventions, and I’m not talking about just the several dozen Slave Leias at every con. One of my favorites of all time? An Elvis stormtrooper.

The dealers room. Oh man, I’ve spent a lot of money in convention dealers rooms over the decades. Movie posters, magazines, comic books, DVDs. You can find almost anything in some dealers rooms. I bought the original script for the Tim Burton “Batman” movie at a convention. Dealers rooms are an opportunity to find things you never expected and never knew existed. One tip: Bring a lot of cash.

Briefly, a few things I don’t miss about convention-going:

The overwhelming crowds. I’m not inclined to freak out in big crowds. A few years of attending Mardi Gras in New Orleans will cure almost anybody of crowd phobia. But really big conventions will test your tolerance for elbow-to-elbow people.

The obliviousness of people. This is the extension of the overwhelming crowds scenario. I can’t count the number of times I was stopped cold in a convention hall or dealers room aisle by some oblivious guy who didn’t realize there were, I don’t know, a thousand people lined up behind him, also trying to get through the crowd.

The … shall we say … hygiene issues of some fans. ‘Nuff said.

 

Hitting the convention floor

Leave a reply

Tickets for San Diego Comic-Con International went on sale this morning and, as blogger supreme Mark Evanier tells us, were mostly gone within 90 minutes. When you consider that upwards of 120,000 people attend Comic-Con — which has become a geek mecca as well as the symbol of Hollywood’s newfound interest in geek culture — the pace of ticket sales is pretty remarkable.

I’ve never been to Comic-Con, which is held in San Diego, and I’m not sure that I ever will. As much as experiencing the unimaginable appeals to me, I’m not sure I’m up for that particular experience anymore.

The photo above is of (left to right) my friend Andy, Chewbacca and me and was taken in the spring of 1999 at the first Star Wars Celebration, held in Denver. Andy was a Denver resident then and invited me out to experience the convention, which was in later years staged closer to home (for me) in Indianapolis.

Star Wars Celebration — particularly the later versions, held in the mammoth Indiana Convention Center — is as close as I’ve ever come to attending something of the size of Comic-Con.

If you’ve never attended a convention and you’re even a casual fan of science fiction books and movies, comic books and the like, you should try one, even if only for a day.

During my most active period of fandom, the late 1970s and the 1980s, my friends and I attended conventions all over the Midwest. Chicago, Indy, Cleveland, Columbus … we spent a lot of time on convention floors.

Much of that time included visits to the dealers room, where we bought movie posters, lobby cards, books, magazines, comic books and original art. As our bags got heavier, our wallets got lighter. But we didn’t mind.

Conventions can be overwhelming experiences — the growth of Comic-Con has prompted complaints in recent years — but they’re also fun and self-affirming. If you’ve ever thought you were the only person who truly appreciated “Doctor Who,” “Star Trek” or something much more obscure, conventions will open your eyes. Right in front of you, all around you, you’ll find thousands — sometimes tens of thousands — of other people who share your interest.

Sure, most of them will be standing in the autograph line in front of you, but hey, that’s just demonstrating shared interests, right?

After a decade of con attendance, I grew a little weary of the experience. There’s only so many times I’m willing to go elbow-to-elbow with some unwashed geek in a too-small T-shirt for the chance to get an autograph from Kenny Baker (R2D2 of “Star Wars,” of course).

But conventions remain the source of some of my favorite fandom memories.

I’ll never forget standing in line with Andy at the first Star Wars Celebration, which was held outdoors on a former military base. That spring, Denver was seeing some uncharacteristically nasty weather. It was raining and sleeting and, much to our surprise, Anthony Daniels (C3PO of “Star Wars”), a guest at the convention, walked up and down the line, making chit-chat with soggy fans.

Only at a convention.