Reporting From Comic-Con: There Goes the Neighborhood
by Doug TenNapelSitting at home with another Comic-Con behind us I look over my box of comics and deposited business cards sprawled across the floor like a Trick or Treater dumping his hoard after a busy Halloween night. This convention represents the week that Hollywood took over the event.
Many comic creators dreaded the move-in of the film and video-game industry. The center of the convention center is year-by-year sprouting more and more fancy studio spaces as evidenced by towering signs and a hogging of square footage. Meanwhile, fledgling artists with books under arm can barely afford their tables though there’s still a four-year waiting list to get booth space. With maximum occupancy filled by both exhibitors and attendees only one thing can happen…prices will go up. It’s the law of supply and demand.
As I stood within my booth today a huge swarm of convention attendees mobbed a booth. There was a sea of people trying to see someone inside doing a signing. The group was so big that even my six-foot-eightness couldn’t see who it was at the table. I pulled an Elvis-wearing-a-kilt aside to ask who was signing. “Jennifer Love Hewitt.”
In the afternoon I was joined by Electric Playground’s Victor Lucas for my yearly interview. Their show provides top commentary on video games and movies long before mainstream Hollywood media got either of these mediums. They don’t understand their broadest audiences and think people want to hear more about Perez or Paris Hilton than what’s going on with “Halo.” They’re wrong.
Mainstream entertainment news vomits, then trains and audience to consume it, then complain that the audience only wants more vomit. Entertainment news is lazy, they don’t want to dig up real events and only found the Comic-Con after five straight years of the sold-out event. They probably didn’t trust their audience’s interest in comics, and it’s probably unfathomable to them that the convention would be interesting even without Hollywood’s presence.
Comics have been around since the pyramids but video games and movies are relatively new to the scene. The medium of comics will outlive them and the Comic-Con will survive Hollywood’s flavor-of-the-decade interest just fine. In the meanwhile, it’s nice to sell books with Jennifer Love Hewitt signing right next door.
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28 Comments
I hear that Comic-Con is no longer about comics.
What's the point, then?
Prices did go up. $100 for four days in '10.
I had to look up her imdb page to remind myself who she was, and reading through her credits, I was only half-surprised to find out I've seen none of her films. Aside from a pretty face, am I missing anything?
I don't know ,but as long as she keeps her mouth shut what more do you need?
I kid, I kid
I AM SOOOOOOO JEALOUS! I AM SOOOOOOOO JEALOUS! I AM SOOOOOO JEALOUS! By the way, how is the future Mrs. Snyder? Yeah, I've been in love with her since Party Of Five. Once again: I AM SOOOOOOOO JEALOUS!!! LOL
get a good rest Doug! I love the con as well, but know it can be a draining experience.
You did yoeman's work giving readers a booth-level view of the Con. Thanks for that, Doug.
It seems that you're rather critical of the Hollywood, mostly, and video game industry, to a lesser extent, presence at the Con. Let's be honest, however, without them it would be a fraction of its sized. A perfect example of what SDICC would be without these industries is Seattle's Emerald City Con. I cannot recall any film industry presence at the ECC I attended last year. I bought a one day pass to ECC, arrived early, and covered the entire exhibition floor in less than a couple of hours.
For comic artists and writers smaller, regional shows like ECC are the way to go. The crowds are smaller. An artist could probably get a table or booth at a fraction of the cost. And fans can spend a lot of time with their favorite writers & artists.
I wonder how many of those comic creators, who "dreaded the move-in of the film and video-game industry," dreaded the opportunity to go to a meet & greet, with free food and alcohol with reps from Paramount, Disney, WB, or Fox and pitch stories and ideas. How many of those comic creators would say, "No thanks, I like the fact that my work only sells to a fraction of a fraction of the reading public. I'd rather not see it become the next big movie franchise." No doubt there are some purists out there, who can generally be identified by the rust bucket junker of a car they drive around in which is covered in anti-capitalist, anarchist bumper stickers.
SDICC has grown far beyond the niche market of comic books. I like the analogy, which I read before this year's Con, that it is the Cannes or Sundance for science fiction, fantasy & horror fans & the alternative press crowd. SDICC is better than Cannes & Sundance because SDICC never forgot that it would not be were it not for the fans. While there is a lot of film & video game industry stuff going on behind the scenes – at the private meet & greets – the fans still are made a part of the show. Does any average movie fan feel like they are a part of Cannes or Sundance? Would the average movie fan even contemplate going to those industry events? I doubt it because these events seem to have become nothing more than an industry event.
SDICC is huge, but it is still a show for the fans.
"I don't know ,but as long as she keeps her mouth shut what more do you need?"
A cute bubble butt. I'm a butt man. LOL!
Every time I hear about or read anything about Hewitt all I can think of is the South Park episode with the carnies where the boys play the game of throwing balls into Hewitt's mouth.
the sinner,
Patrick
Big Hollywood’s ComiCon updates…
Update: TenNapel enters another post, and says that many comic creators dreaded the movie/game industry’s moving in on the convention…
No no. Haven't you learned anything from the news media? You are supposed to start this article off with "Biff Pow Bam!".
Pffft! What evs…
Joe S., Freelance Social Worker/Part Time Hero / Ex-Convict reporting in:
Ever notice how the marginal ideas conquer the mainstream if they survive long enough? Once upon a time indy film producers needed their own awards show- now they own both the Spirit Awards AND the Oscars . . .
Now it's you geeks at Comic Con that are next up for your turn with meth-addicted bisexual actresses with the HOPE/Obama stickers on the back of their Mercedes(they tell me you guys are the exact same as the Rock Stars they dated 20 years ago, except that you're intelligent like film directors they dated 10 years ago- and except that you don't bass guitar either).
I would like to see you explain what you mean by the medium of comics will outlive video games and movies. I figured it would be the other way around. Not that I want comics to go away, and I don't believe they will. I'm just curious because I see the video game industry as this massive juggernaut that cannot be denied it's cultural relevence. I'd say even above the comics industry. It certainly rivals the movie industry now. It's huge and it's fun. That being said I can agree that COMIC-CON should be about comics. Come on it's in the name.
She's mainly known for another part of her body. Her name is Jennifer Love Hewitt, but that sometimes gets changed to Jennifer Love Huge T–s. You can figure it out.
I'm not really a butt man, so I don't know, but she was criticized by the tabloids for letting hers get enormous. She has since really slimmed down, or so I've heard.
I watch Ghost Whisperer. It's an alright show. In interviews, she seems like a nice person.
The medium of comics will outlive them and the Comic-Con will survive Hollywood’s flavor-of-the-decade interest just fine.
The mainstream comics will survive, but the independents and small press are threatened by Diamond's new quotas on sales. If you check out the top "independents" on the Diamond industry statistics site, nearly all have some kind of media tie in, which means that independent comics, as a source of new and original ideas is basically dead.
I see the problem as not enough small comics shops. Right now there are something like 4000 Diamond accounts, but I would guess that only about 3000 would be pure comics outlets who might be interested in expanding their coverage to attract more adult buyers. If I recall this is about half of the number of shops during the comics boom in the early 90s.
One would think with Marvel and WB bringing in truckloads of cash that they would spend a few percent seeding future customers by subsidizing more comics outlets.
Doug, Jennifer Love Hewitt……. did you write a article??? LOL…..However it is great to hear that at the very least something is doing better then our economy…
Crandall, I definitely appreciate Hollywood and gaming presence at COmicon. It really does bring stability with the money and hype. I only fear the crowding out of the small guy. That was me ten years ago and I hope we can always protect that table space for other up and comers that need this unique venue.
If in 1,000 years you dropped a bomb and all electricity left the earth you couldn't play games or make movies but you could still do wood cuts or hyroglyphics of sequential events. Comics are the cockroach of the media world.
I can definitely sympathize with the small guy who wants table space in San Diego in order to market his wares and talents. Obviously, however, San Diego is not the only place where that can happen. Not every filmmaker can be shown at Cannes or Sundance, but the inability to be at the premiere events should not discourage the small guy from perfecting and marketing his craft at other smaller events.
Could the growth of SDICC benefit the regional shows, like ECC, such that those are the places were the up-and-comer in comics breaks into and finds industry attention? It strikes me that the opportunity for intimate contact with someone in the comics industry is much greater at the shows that orbit the Comic Con, rather than at the Con itself.
I would be interesting to see how, it at all, the massive attendance at SDICC, correlates with increased attendance at other shows.
Jennifer Love Hewitt in on my top 10 list.
My top 10 list has like 15 ladies on it now, but whatever.
http://the2minshate.blogspot.com/
Your description of the crowd sums up my experience at the Con last year, and one reason why I'm on the fence about future attendance. The crowds that gathered for autographs from the cast of "Chuck" last year brought the aisles surrounding the NBC booth to a grinding halt. I was unfortunate enough to think I was taking a shortcut, and was caught flat-footed for a good fifteen minutes before I was even able to move. I started to get a bit claustrophobic, and the heat on the floor wasn't helping. I really don't want to repeat that experience, especially if it's going to be $100 a day now…
I never even watched "Chuck" to begin with.
Anyway, despite my complaints, if they'd open up the floor a bit more and stop shoving the comics people into the back corner of the convention hall, it'd make me a lot happier. And if they keep jacking the prices up, I just don't feel it's worth the headache. But short of just not going, what can I do about it?
Only 15? JLH seems to do ok for herself……
It's true, and I agree with you that it should be about comics first and foremost, but to be fair, they do advertise the convention with banners all over town that call it "Celebrating the Popular Arts"…which, technically, includes most everything geeky.
I don't think they'll ever spend a dime to prop up the dying outlet, esp. if you consider that kids who never opened up a comic could tell you who Batman or Spider-Man is; compound this with the fact that Marvel & WB make more money on licensing than on those funny books, they probably will soon reach a point where publishing isn't cost-effective.
Let's face facts — with the exception of that really large shop in town (I'm thinking Golden Apple in LA or Third Planet in Houston), the comic shop is going the way of the dodo. And, the Internet, with its online retailers and comic book piracy (if you can believe there are fanboys who will scan books and post it on BitTorrent for a brief moment of 1337 glory), will just exacerbate the retraction.
Concerning the pop culture gumbo that is Comic Con, I agree with Mr. Napel but I have hope in the fact that the industry is being influenced by fans. Fans that read Xmen, Superman, Batman, etc who are now influencing the industry of not only comics but videogames and movies. Things may progress in comics but at least there are people in all 3 industries that respect the genre. Should keep the genre true to form.
Comicon is bigger and more popular which brings alot of good to the industry as far as exposure and money. Comics stigma as a red-headed stepchild in entertainment has been completely stameped out. When you got guys like Denzell going to the Con, you know you've arrived in a sense.
This is also the bane of Comicon, becoming such a big part of pop culture I hope this yearly event never loses the fact that it is a comic book convention. If I ever get to take my son I want it to be for the comic books, artists and collectibles. Not to see celebs or here liberal/secularist points of view.
Thanks again for the coverage Mr. Napel.
Yuck! Jennifer Love Hewitt is gross!
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