Jul 29 2009
News Blurbs: AFO, Mini-MegaCon, SDCC, Twilight Protests, and More
As is to be expected, more news and articles have been coming out this week about San Diego Comic-Con. I’ve tried to provide a nice mixture of convention news today so that it isn’t one big SDCC recap. There’s drama brewing between MegaCon, AFO, and Anime Sushi for one thing! We have to talk about that at least! As always, if you have convention news to share, post a comment with a link.
1. MegaCon + Anime Sushi = EPIC FAIL
Well known con-goer Tom Croom managed to grab the attention of MegaCon’s “Powers That Be” this week when he wrote a controversial blog entry about MegaCon and Anime Sushi encroaching on the territory of upcoming con Anime Festival Orlando (AFO). A rep for MegaCon contacted him to straighten out the facts, but it seems some significant disagreements remain. Read the original post and the follow up post and decide for yourself!
2. Comic Books 101: Why You Should Care About Comic Book Conventions
Examiner writer Brendan Kachel has an article about Wichita conventions (or rather, the lack thereof). Unfortunately, he didn’t really answer the question he posed in his title. Brendan, I know why I care about comic book conventions, but what’s your reason?
Next is an article about San Diego Comic-Con, written by Bryan Young for In Utah This Week. He’s got a recap of the convention, along with some pictures from the con. One of my favorite parts: “But aside from its crass commercialism, Comic-Con is one of the highlights of every year I go.” Bryan, I think you may have convinced me to bite the bullet and attend some year soon. It’s good to know that despite the fact Hollywood appears to be attempting a take over, that you still had a lot of fun.
4. When Did The Rest Of You Start Paying Attention To Comic-Con?
This SDCC article comes from Ash Kalb over at mediaite.com. Ash’s hypothesis as to the incredible growth and prestige of SDCC is that the con has always been “pan-geek” - despite it’s comic book origins. Go check out the article and tell us what you think!
5. Comic-Con’s Twilight Protests: Is There a Gender War Brewing?
One of my favorite bloggers, Liz Ohanesian, has a great article about the “Twilight protests” that happened at San Diego Comic-Con this year. She examines the controversy surrounding Twilight fandom (it being that it attracts “screeching girls”), and how said controversy was manifesting at Comic-Con this year. It’s a great article. I leave you with one of my favorite paragraphs, and I’d encourage you to go read the rest:
Where fanboys are stereotyped as socially awkward chaps who sleep in convention screening rooms, spend most of the day detailing the Star Trek universe and follow Mark Hamill to the bathroom, fangirls most frequently portrayed as screamers (”shrill” was the word used most often) who write slash fiction and chase after any guy who remotely resembles Robert Pattinson. To the rest of the world, their intense interests makes both outsiders, but inside Comic-Con, geeks rule. Hence, a different hierarchy applies. Racing to the Lucasfilm booth in the Exhibit Hall to pick up some Darth Luke flash drives is cool. Camping out to ensure your entry into the Twilight panel, however, is not.
And last, but not least, I have another Examiner article to share. This one comes from Lydia Ianni of Los Angeles. She offers up an article on how to survive San Diego Comic-Con. In all honesty, her advice applies to any large convention, and includes a lot of what should be common sense. It’s a little frightening to think fans actually need to be reminded to figure out sleeping arrangements before traveling across the country for a convention.
