Comic-Con: Still For You?

Comic-Con: Still For You?

Jul 10

Just in case ya missed it: here’s a great PW article by Laura Hudson, all about the monster that Comic-Con has become.

This week, I’ve had at least three people ask me what my plans are for the con. My plans are…to not go and read all the coverage on the internet. OMG! they say. How can this be?!

Truth be told, the last CC I attended was in 2006, and I’ve had mixed feelings ever since. I do think it can still be a whole shitload o’ fun — my favorite day was Sunday, when I spent a few delightful hours roaming Artist’s Alley, chatting up creators and purchasing an embarrassingly large pile of stuff from Raina Telgemeier. But the sheer…crush of the crowd is still seared in my memory, particularly the slightly frightening 20 minutes wherein I was squashed in the middle of a sprawling pseudo-line waiting for the Battlestar Galactica panel, the burbling of two guys arguing about “Light Sith” uncomfortably close to my left ear. And I know this has been addressed a ton, and is sort of a tiresome, indie rock kid-type argument, but something about the near-complete mainstreamification of the whole thing does bother me. I kind of hate myself for that, but it does. There are real Hollywood parties. There are panels for stuff that you can’t even really stretch to call genre, like Dexter (I know there’s Julie Benz, but I don’t think there will ever be a Dexter storyline where she dies and then shows up in a crate and then gets pregnant with a demon spawn who will grow up to become Vincent Kartheiser. Not until season six, at least). It’s a pop culture con, not a nerd con. The people who used to make fun of it think it’s cool now. It throws my poor little brain for a bit of a loop.

And yet…and yet. Every time July rolls around, I still get a little bit of the urge. I remember how much fun it is to run into people, the weird conversations that occur when you mix your fellow exhausted con-goers with alcohol, the limited edition Castewar Bill Murray shirts that you can’t find anywhere else (still gots mine!). I remember all the “Only at Comic-Con” things I’ve witnessed, like Steven Horn’s Amazing Shark Suit…but that’s a story for another time.

Maybe I’ll go back next year. But I know it will require the following things: months of preparation (just to find lodging…oof), a slight attitude adjustment (OK, there are Hollywood parties, but no swag suites just yet, right?!), and the ability to power my way through the crowd with Buffy-esque agility (probably all I need is some leather pants!). I can do this. Maybe.