Finding Community at the Comic-Con

By Karah Boodt

40: The number of years Comic-Con International in San Diego has operated.

4.5: Number of days in July that fans flood the San Diego convention center.

6,000: The amount of bodies that can be seated in the center’s largest room, Hall H, without the intervention of the fire martial.

34: Approximate number of hours spent waiting on the sidewalk to get into Hall H by the Twilighters heading the line.

“And then Buffy staked Edward…the end.” So read dozens of t-shirts worn throughout the San Diego convention center. Here and there one might also spot shirts sporting a caricature of Robert Pattinson’s face along with the brief line, “Edward is Gay.” Yet for every one of the anti-Twilighters, it seemed there were fifty pro, all wearing variations of team Edward or team Jacob paraphernalia. Nowhere could one go to avoid the debate.Twilight Spoofers from The Hillywood Show hanging out at Comic-Con

Filmmaker Kevin Smith—who garners a panel every year whether or not he has any projects on the way—presented what is perhaps the best take on the franchise bashing during his Friday panel in Hall H, stating, “That’s what I love about a comic book convention. People will come to a convention, stand there in a fuckin’ Spock costume, look at somebody in a Chewie costume and they’re like, ‘Look at that fuckin’ geek.’ How dare you pass judgment on those twelve-year-old girls who like vampires! They need to be encouraged, because in six years they’ll be eighteen-year-old girls who like vampires…. There’s a plan and it’s working.”

Smith’s defense of the franchise might be a bit testosterone driven, but his point concerning nerd aggression is valid. Like the franchise or not, there is no denying that at this time, the Twilighters are the only fan base enacting the most sacred of fan activities, namely the endless lines.

For years Star Wars fans have been notorious for waiting outside of theaters for days, and even weeks on end to get their hands on tickets for the latest installment of the saga. More recently Harry Potter fans have gained attention for bringing the sensation to bookstores. And every year across the world, fans in general go to various conventions to spend what seems like 75% of their time waiting in lines for panels, autographs, sneak peeks, exclusive memorabilia, and bathrooms. Thus, with no upcoming major releases from any of the older franchises such as Star Wars and Star Trek, and with Harry Potter only making a showing in the form of merchandise, the nearly all female Twilight fan base received the torch and ran with it. I didn’t see any Star Wars fans or Trekkers sleeping on the sidewalk a day before a panel, it was all Twilighters, and I have no problem in saying that at this moment they deserve respect for being the only fans to prove their mettle.

To avoid sounding like the stereotyped, oblivious female con attendee described by the L.A. Times a few weeks ago, I’ll get off the Twilight subject (and just to put it out there, I didn’t bother ogling Jake Gyllenhaal’s abs either).

Twilight Spoofers from The Hillywood Show hanging out at Comic-Con

The first lesson you learn at Comic-Con is unless you have a Time-Turner, there’s no way you can go see everything you want to. This is not just because of the sheer amount of panels going on throughout the weekend (which can easily overlap if your interests expand past one franchise), but because of all the other things you have to spend hours in line for. If you want Hasbro merchandise, better dedicate a day to the line. If you want an autograph from anyone known to more than ten people, better dedicate a day to the line. If you want to see the last panel of the day in Hall H, better get in line the night before just to be sure you even get a seat.

This means that the second lesson you learn is how to be flexible. In my case this worked out better than I could have hoped. For example, in wanting to see the Twilight Saga: New Moon panel in Hall H Thursday afternoon, I had to get a seat in there first thing in the morning. Prior to the New Moon panel, Disney was slated to present a series of panels on their upcoming 3D releases, including Alice in Wonderland. Not only was the audience treated to Tim Burton’s first ever panel and a kick-ass 3D trailer for the film exclusive to Comic-Con, but Burton’s “imaginary friend” Johnny Depp made a brief appearance which resulted in Tom Cruise-like behavior by the majority of the room. Let me stress that I personally cannot decide which of the three parts of that panel (Burton, the trailer or Depp) was the best.

Also, in having nabbed a seat early in the day it was a no-brainer to stay past the New Moon panel for James Cameron’s Avatar panel. Up until now Cameron has allowed only a few set images to be released and the only image of one of the alien Na’vi to be seen was a close-up of half a face on the official Comic-Con banners lining the streets of San Diego. Choosing to wait for that panel was one of my smartest choices of the con (the least intelligent one being to eat at the famous Kansas City Barbeque—where a scene from Top Gun was filmed—I almost asked if it was overpriced and without taste before the movie, but I thought better of it). Not only did Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, and Zoe Saldana sit for audience questions but they kicked off the panel with a whopping twenty-five minutes of footage from the movie, all in 3D! But don’t worry, you too can get a sneak peek on August 21^st, when Cameron hijacks as many digital theaters around the states as possible to show fifteen minutes of footage, for free.

As I was attending the con under the pretense of working on my senior thesis, I was only able to attend a few more panels. In particular my favorite was one celebrating the tenth anniversary of the show Farscape, where it was announced that a new run of DVDs would be made available this fall at a quarter of the price of the original DVDs (which were running at $100 a season). Two of the lead actors, Ben Browder and Claudia Black, were in attendance and kind enough to do a few quick autographs at the end of the panel.

To someone on the outside, an event like Comic-Con might seem bizarre and some might even wonder just what the purpose of it is. While much of it is about the chance to indulge one’s inner nerd, there is much more going on beneath the surface.

First, in our society which is so atomized by the combination of intense individualism and the anonymity of social networking websites, cons are a chance to see just how new communities are created. Wednesday night as I stalked about bemoaning my lack of a four day pass which would allow me to enter preview night, I came across a group of women ranging in age from their early twenties to mid-thirties all wearing the same shirt, which read “The Vamp Pack.” For the purposes of my thesis I sat down to interview them. As it turned out they were all either a part of or listeners of the Twilighters Anonymous Podcast. They had come together from all across the U.S., many of them meeting face-to-face for the first time that very afternoon. Yet here they were, all together camped on the lawn outside the convention center chatting away like long lost sisters.

Second, with my involvement in protesting the upcoming film The Last Airbender, I made it a point to meet up with some of the other protesters attending the con. I knew they planned to hand out flyers and pins as well as attempt to get signatures for the latest petition to boycott the film. I met up with the couple who were heading the attempt a few of times over the weekend, and by Sunday afternoon they had run out of their entire stock of flyers and buttons (7,000 and 1,500 respectively) as well as garnered over 200 signatures.

They had spent much of their time near the Nickelodeon pavilion where there was a large advertisement for the film. Originally the plan had been to stake out spots near the Paramount pavilion to make it clear that while the film is under boycott the original series is still well-loved and supported. However, with the advertisements posted only at Nickelodeon, the protest adapted. I spent several minutes getting footage of them handing out flyers and talking with parents and children who passed through the pavilion about the movie. While some passed by without giving them much notice, many people were curious about what they were saying, even nodding and adding their own take on the mistake being made.

Seeing how the con could bring people together both socially and intellectually made the trip all the more worthwhile. Even having been to several Star Wars conventions in the past, nothing could have prepared me for the sheer size of Comic-Con and it truly is something you have to see to believe. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to go back again, but until I can, I’ll just have to suppress the urge to ask anyone in odd attire for a picture, and keep from joining random lines in hopes of snatching some schwag.