It’s hard to believe it’s been over a week since I ventured south to San Diego for this year’s Comic-Con (I and a few intrepid mates from the Brain Candy team headed down to market Runes of Gallidon – pics/vids/evidence can be found here).
The usual sights were seen (cosplay galore, Hollywood in all its – ahem – glamour, sneak peeks, lines, lines, and more lines), the usual acts were re-enacted (snapping cosplay pictures, checking out the merchandise, meeting artists, standing in line, standing in line, and more standing in line), and the usual bag-o-swag was hauled home.
The convention’s moniker is a stretch, given all of the non-comic activity swirling around on the floor. Even if you throw in comic-book inspired video games, card games, etc., the overall percentage of pure comic content is less than half. I won’t debate whether that’s a good thing or not (and I’m definitely not going anywhere near the issue of where the convention will be held in the future), but as a relative new-comer to the annual rite of sensory overload that is Comic-Con, I was mildly surprised at how off-center-stage comics were.
What I was totally shocked by, however, was how utterly, consistently, and mind-bogglingly <em>polite </em> everyone was. In over two days of walking the floor and upper halls, I only saw one instance of someone being rude (and that was from a group of young lads addled by testosterone who felt it necessary to improvise a stunt that involved bench pressing an unwilling young lady overhead in a concrete parking lot).
I even spoke to one of the San Diego police officers on Friday and asked him how crazy his week had been.
“Boring, actually,” was his response.
“Pretty tame crowd?” I asked.
“Yep.”
How is it possible to pack 125,000 fans of sci-fi and fantasy under one roof for four and a half days and not have any problems?
The only answer I can come up with is this: because the fans were all nice people. With good manners. Who just wanted to have great time without ruining anyone else’s fun.
Kind of makes me want to pick up a comic book…
Tags: Comic-Con, entertainment
