The 2007 San Diego Comic-Con has officially ended and again this year it could boast of record breaking attendees from all over the world. Billed as North America’s most important popular culture festival, the convention may be in competition for the world title.
The real question is whether the convention, in its current format is beneficial for the comic books as an art form? The comic book is at the cornerstone of this yearly event. In a sense, it’s easy to make comic books more acceptable by colluding them with related media and activities, like games, action figures and films. In the greater scheme of things, it’s all the same some would say.
I can’t help but feel sorry for the artists sitting in Artist Alley. They are like old dinosaurs that cannot be ignored. But in order to do so, they are pushed to the sidelines. How different would the Comic-con be had Artist Alley been in the middle of the large exposition hall, with all other venues, like the merchants, selling their wares, and the media conglomerate pushing their latest projects, orbiting around?
Attendees can’t run through Artist Alley. They can’t crowd as well either. It would have been a quiet oasis at the middle of the convention floor. Something put in value, because it is valued.
This brings in the question, that’s been debated in the last few years about which one is the most important. Are comic book creators more important than the properties themselves? It often seems that way, but looking at the layout of the convention, it is the other way around.
Another question is whether San Diego is the best place for something like the Comic-Con? The city of San Diego and its population seem to love hosting the Comic-Con, but I’m not sure about how they feel about the attendees debarking on them. San Diego is a Latin city with charm and party life. Every year, overweight and geeky fanatics, lacking proper tanning take over the city.
Most don’t savour the best San Diego has to offer, preferring to stay as close as possible to the convention center. Stores and restaurants benefit, but they don’t put much effort. They advertise Superman-like lunches and deals that don’t exist to attract popular culture tourists. If the local ice cream shop runs out of spoon, it won’t go into panic mode trying to find some. It will expect customers to use forks.
To be fair, there are two San Diego. There is an old charm in this city. Older citizens are polite and helpful. Younger San Diegans, try but not hard enough. For example, the youthful concierge at a hotel could not tell where the tourist center was…
I can’t help but feel that the San Diego Comic-Con has been grafted upon a city that has no passion for what this convention is about. But somewhere both the city and its most successful convention meet in the middle. They are both about exploiting the commercial side of what was once an original art form and is now billed as popular culture.
Editor’s note: Although the festival has ended, we have several more articles about what happened at the festival to share with those who might have overlooked some hidden treasures and those who could not make it. Stay tuned.
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