On July 19th, I was honored to be able to present during an academic panel within San Diego Comic-Con. Attending cons is always a really interesting experience; you are surrounded by nerds who exude their passion for comics, games, books, movies, shows and more, and even if you aren’t interested in the same things the shared love of geekery is really amazing. This was my first year going as a presenter and as a podcaster, both of which made the experience even more fun and enlightening.
I went to San Diego Comic-Con for 12 years, starting when I was in middle school, and in that time the convention changed a great deal. The first couple of years I attended, I was able to show up and buy my ticket the day of after waiting in line for about an hour. But over the years I, like many others, had to buy my tickets months in advance if I wanted any hope of attending. Coinciding with a general increase in the popularity of things traditionally seen as “nerdy” like fantasy, superheroes, and video games, Comic-Con became more and more crowded each year, and now it sells out within a couple of hours in October, a full 9 months before the event takes place.
It has been surreal experiencing the change in popularity and perception on geek culture from the front lines. I was never bullied for being a geek, but I imagine it had something to do with my general lack of popularity growing up. I’ve always loved the things I love loudly and passionately, which can be off-putting for many people even when it isn’t about convoluted super hero stories or Japanese video games. And so often my closest friends have been those who have also loved nerdy media, people who I could always be myself around.
But nowadays, its awesome and weird to see the things I used to feel isolated for becoming more mainstream. The huge success of comic book movies is the best example of this, with Tony Stark being a household name at this point. But I would point to Harry Potter as the first major crossover from the realm of nerds to the mainstream. The rise of those books and their intense popularity was the first step in normalizing passionate fandom on a wide scale. And so we saw more and more people attending cons across the country, wanting to share space and energy with like-minded, passionate fans.
San Diego Comic-Con felt this particularly acutely because of its physical closeness to Hollywood, and as the movie studios started investing in genre films, the con became overwhelmed with new attendees. The most intense example of this was with the Twilight series. I haven’t read the series myself, but the fact that the creators and cast of the films were going to be at Comic-Con brought a highly visible new group to attend the convention. And this didn’t always go over well; I remember seeing shirts and other products decrying how the Twilight fans were ruining the con for the “real nerds.” This surely also had something to do with the fact that most of the Twilight fans were female, and many weren’t fans of the other media at the convention.
But honestly, that’s one of the things I love about Comic-Con today: you can find so many different fandoms all in one place. I am an honest-to-goodness comic book nerd with all sorts of fandoms in other media, but I don’t need to have the event wholly centered around just the things I love. The beauty of a large-scale event like Comic-Con is in its diversity. Comic-Con is a home for any and all fans, where anyone who has a burning passion can find community, especially if that fandom is not traditionally mainstream. I may not cosplay in steampunk attire or play Magic the Gathering or watch every season of Supernatural, but I really enjoy seeing how the fans of those things show their love and passion, and Comic-Con serves as a place for all of us celebrate our passions together.
And this year was so amazing, because I really saw all that Comic-Con had to offer. In the first case, Brittany and I cosplayed in three different outfits each, which is such a fun way to physically engage with your fandoms. Walking around the con and seeing the amazing and clever costumes of the other guests is so much fun, and again is a great way to share your love of a piece of media with others even as you pass by. Having people come up and take pictures with you or even just say “Nice!” as you walk by is such a great feeling, and it’s a lot of fun to be in a panel hearing about a character you love when you are dressed as them!
Speaking of panels, actually sitting on a panel was such a surreal experience for me. It’s honestly been a dream of mine to be a special guest for a Comic-Con panel even since I first attended almost 20 years ago. When I was younger and working as an actor, I thought I might someday be there because I was in a comic book movie or something, but as I made the turn into academia the dream morphed into presenting at the Comics Arts Conference - the annual academic conference on comic books within the convention. Back when I attended the con every year, the CAC became one of my favorite programs to check out because it always had something different and unique to say. So when I finally applied and was accepted to present this year, I was so excited (and nervous).
The panel I was on was called Mutant Metaphors, and entailed myself and three other academics presenting our analyses of various topics within X-Men comics. I covered the New Mutants as a coming-of-age fiction, while the other panelists discussed otherness and dystopian fiction, punk and BDSM fashion as empowerment, and coded queerness in X-Men in extremely fascinating presentations; even if I wasn’t on the panel, it probably would have been my favorite program we attended this year, with such interesting academic analyses of my favorite comic book title. We got some great questions from the audience, and it was truly an honor to be a part of it. If you want to watch my 15-minute presentation on the New Mutants, it's right here:
The other more professional aspect to our con experience was the work we are doing on our podcast. In our effort to reach new listeners, we knew it would be a huge missed opportunity of our own not to take advantage of our time at a geeky pilgrimage site like Comic-Con. So, I did my best to get over my social anxiety and speak with other fans, who were all so gracious and interesting that it added so much to the event. Hearing from fans young and old, from near and far about why they love the things I love and what they get out of it was so great, and I had some of the best nerdy conversations of my life over the weekend. Luckily for you, you can find the fascinating conversations we recorded in this episode:
Comic-Con means so much to me – I used to call it my Christmas in July because it is really something I looked forward to all year. Not having been able to go for several years, this year’s experiences meant so much to me. Cosplaying made me feel like a part of my fandoms in whole new ways, while being a panelist made me feel like I was contributing to the con and the knowledge and analysis of these things that I love. And meeting all the other wonderful fans (and hopefully new listeners!) was just delightful, truly a highlight of all of my con experiences. And ultimately, being able to share the experience with my life and podcasting partner, Brittany, made the whole thing extraordinary, and her wit, insight, and support enriched the entire experience. I can’t wait for next year!
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