Comic Conventions: For Geeks Of All Types
By: Nicole Caropolo
Rows of pop culture merchandise, hour-long lines waiting to meet the drool-worthy cast of the latest film, and 40 people dressed like Thor taking pictures with awe-inspired kids. No, you’re not in Times Square. This is a scene straight from a comic convention.
When you think of comic conventions, what do you think of? People running around in capes debating the relationship dynamic between Harley Quinn and the Joker? Maybe you picture lots of light saber fights and yoda talk from people bashing the “Star Wars” prequels. Well there is much more to comic book conventions than meets the eye. Pop culture from every topic, and from every medium, is embraced and celebrated by the attendants. Comic conventions are centered around “geek” culture, but expand to so much more.
Comic conventions are generally geared towards fans of comic books, superheroes, and science fiction. As years have passed since the first one in 1964, which took place in New York, the world of comic conventions has spread out to all masses of entertainment.
Merchandise, discussion boards, and celebrity meet-and-greets can be found in a place where things that may be considered “geeky” are honored. Comic conventions represent what it means to be proud of being a “geek” and showing off your interests.
Cosplay is a huge segment of comic conventions. The word cosplay refers to dressing up as a character from a movie, television show or video game. Most people cosplay for fun, but there are actually people that make a living off of it. At most conventions, you will find professional cosplayers that are often paid for appearances and photos.
Rae Allen, 23, doesn’t get paid for her cosplay (yet), but she takes it very seriously. Allen has been attending conventions for anime, Japanese cartoons, for the last 10 years, but recently began attending comic conventions like New York Comic Con and Wizard World Comic Con in Philadelphia.
Her recent cosplay costumes include Spider-Gwen from Marvel Comics, Maya from the Borderlands 2 video game, and Harley Quinn from DC’s Bombshells’ comics.
“What I personally enjoy most about it is showing what I can do, showing what I’ve made,” Allen said.
The cosplayer also loves how the costumes break her out of her shell.
“One of the most important things I enjoy about cosplaying is the confidence it gives you. In person, I’m a very shy person with social anxiety who also happens to be quite self-conscious,” Allen said. “But in cosplay, I’m outgoing. I make new friends. I don’t have an issue talking to new people. Most importantly, I feel confident in myself.”
Anime and manga, Japanese comic books, are huge communities in the world of “geek” culture. For example, Dragon Ball Z, an extremely popular anime cartoon, is a common topic at conventions, and the voice actors from the show often make appearances.
Alina Palubinskas, 20, attends conventions because anime is one of her greatest passions in life, often cosplaying as the characters.
Her first convention was called MegaCon in Orlando, and she was instantly taken by the amount of anime fans.
“It was hugely busy, with thousands of people in wigs in every color,” Palubinskas said. “I’d never seen anything so exciting as a little kid.”
Daisy Elise Feddoes, 19, is a manga lover who loves the international interest it brings to the conventions.
Feddoes said, “TV shows and comics are pretty regularly covered in the US, but comic con makes it a lot easier to get cool merchandise more common to Japan.”
These conventions are also seen as a think tank for people to debate and share ideas about topics that may not be seen as important or influential in common day-to-day conversations.
Sheraz Farooqi sees the deeper meaning in comic books and science fiction. He is so passionate about the ideas that stem from them that he created an educational course on it.
Farooqi is a 22-year-old finance major at Baruch College that created a Marvel and DC course for the Resource and Opportunity Center, referred to as the ROC, for homeschoolers. The course idea was sparked by a twitter page that Farooqi created, called ComicBook Debate, that quickly gained over 5,000 followers. His professor recommended him to the ROC, where his pitch for a class about superheroes and comic books was approved.
Farooqi said, “I think getting kids to think and get their imagination going is awesome, and the school director is very positive on programs like this that deviate from the normal curriculum.”
Topics at conventions can range from Doctor Who to Disney to science fiction literature, and everything in between. The expansion of interest in entertainment has translated into events that are attended by thousands of people every year.
The reason why so many people flock to comic conventions is because they find it has a sense of community and excitement in the air that just can’t be ignored.
Gabriel Nash, 21, has attended Tampa Bay Comic Con for the past three years, and plans on continuing the annual tradition because he enjoyed how it felt to walk in for the first time and see his favorite pieces of entertainment being celebrated by other people that he can relate to.
Nash said, “I thought it was my whole imaginative world come to life.”
He is not alone. Over 180,000 people attended the New York Comic Con in 2016, and 130,000 fans swarmed the San Diego Comic Con in 2015.
The New York and San Diego Comic Cons embody what it means to bring together different communities of pop culture.
The pop culture diversity really stems from the meet-and-greet aspect of the conventions. At the large city comic cons, such as New York, San Diego and Tampa Bay, hundreds of people line up for hours to meet well-known celebrities and voice actors. These are places where the term “fangirling” run rampant. The term refers to the excitement and nerves a fan faces when they meet one of their favorite stars.
Imagine being face-to-face with your celebrity crush that you’ve been daydreaming about for years, or your idol that inspires you. That is where the term “fangirling” comes into play at comic conventions.
And don’t be fooled by the word either. Men are just as prone to getting excited over celebrities as any other “fangirl.”
“My favorite memory would probably have to be meeting Jack Gleeson, also known as Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones!” Nash said.
Nash says he will never forget when he met “King Joffrey” at Tampa Bay Comic Con in 2016, known as one of the most hated characters on television, and was actually the nicest celebrity he met.
In 2016, New York Comic Con had guests like Christopher Meloni from “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”, Alano Miller from “Jane The Virgin”, and the “Impractical Jokers” from the popular TruTV show. These shows stand out from the typical “comic nerd” world, and bring people together with all different entertainment tastes. Your mom definitely watches at least one of those shows.
Pop culture fans also find comic conventions to be a spot for business opportunities. Hundreds of small town businesses, vendors, and artists set up shop at convention centers every year to get their name out there. Fans buy homemade fan art and merchandise faster than Avengers’ movie tickets. At every large convention, there is even a section of the venue dedicated to original artwork, called “Artists’ Alley.”
Don’t just think that comic conventions are a place to blow all your money on Big Bang Theory t-shirts and meeting the cast of “Sherlock.” At nearly every minute, there is an event, a competition or a live show happening.
Discussion panels are often the main event. For instance, San Diego Comic Con is known as the “mothership” of conventions due to the high-leveled stars that attend panels. For a majority of their airtime, hit shows like “Teen Wolf” and “Supernatural” have had the main stars hold panels where they discuss the past, present, and future of the show, as well as answer questions from their adoring fans. Events like these bring the television world to life for the viewers.
Caitlin MacDougall, 21, has attended Tampa Bay Comic Con due to her love of all things Doctor Who. She enjoyed how the parts of the British science-fiction fantasy world were brought to life at the conventions for her to admire with her fellow “Whovian” friends, the name that Doctor Who fans have dubbed themselves. They even posed with the phone-booth time machine that is featured in the show, the TARDIS, which stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space.
“When we came across a professional photo-op with a life sized TARDIS, I didn’t even think twice to shell out the money for the two of us to have our picture taken,” MacDougall said.
Television and movie sneak peaks are not uncommon at conventions, and what many attendants look forward to the most. Devoted fans are rewarded for their support with screenings of future episodes or movie trailers. This year’s New York Comic Con was choc-full of exclusive looks at movies like “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” and the FX shows “Legion” and “Archer.”
There can be many misconceptions about the reality of comic conventions that may make people feel wrongly excluded or like an outsider, but con-goers think the opposite.
“I think it’s generally a nice, judgement free space for adults who consume video game and cartoon media to fully embrace what they enjoy!” Feddoes said. “I think it’s very important to have that space as adults and teenagers who can often feel marginalized.”
Due to the ever-expanding content coverage, Allen thinks that conventions are finally being seen as a place for not only “geeks,” but for everyone who enjoys entertainment.
“I think the misconception is that the only people who go to these things are people who dress up are often socially inept people who live in their parents’ basements. I think that misconception has slowly started to fade as more and more casual fans or just people who are curious about conventions have started going.” Allen said. “Sure, you might see a person or two who fits the stereotype of the misconception, but honestly, it’s a lot of “normal” people who just want to enjoy their hobbies.”
At the end of the day though, the “geek” community is at the heart of these pop culture events.
“Sometimes people say that ‘Oh, only nerds go to cons’ is a misconception, but honestly it’s completely true,” Palubinskas said. “You have to be some degree of nerdy to have fun at a convention and to keep going back year after year.
So whether you are a proud nerd, or just an average pop culture admirer, comic conventions welcome you into a place to let your inner “fangirl” out.