We’ve all had about 24 hours to sleep and recover and go back to our normal lives and possibly read things about New York Comic Con on the Internet.
Edward Champion writes that he felt the fans came last at NYCC — that it was too commercial and didn’t provide enough social opportunities for geeks to get together. He says that’s because geeks are just a demographic now, a group to be marketed to. And I can honestly see his point, because it was loud and obnoxious (in a not terrible way) and I did feel like I was being sold to at every moment.
But I think it was plenty social. When I first got there, I remarked to my friend that this was like “prom for geeks.” And I meant that out of love, honestly. There were all these kids (and by that, I mean anyone between the ages of 14 and 23) in lovingly-made costumes or just in fun anime-inspired hats. It was definitely a place to show off, to see and be seen, in a supportive place. These kids, I imagine, aren’t the “cool” ones in their everyday lives, no matter how “cool” being a geek is now. This was a place for them to fit in with everyone. And that was awesome.
There were great costumes — certainly, we had plenty of people dressed as Batman and Superman. And there were packs of Jokers (old style and The Dark Knight style) and several Harley Quinns. There were anime characters I didn’t recognize. I saw a great She-Ra and two dressed as Aang and Katara from their days inside the Fire Nation from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I also saw another great Katara in her more classic blue outfit. Everyone I saw looked like they were having fun (or were resting from the aftermath of having fun). It may have been too loud and crowded to make new friends or connections, but I still got a sense of community from being there.
And while I can’t ignore the commercial aspects of it, I didn’t really expect anything else — this isn’t a small con held in a hotel. This is, more or less, a retail show. But I do think it’s the sort of event that it is what you make of it.
I’m still not convinced I’ll go back, but honestly, after recharging, I do realize what a thrill it was being there. It’s not something I need to do all the time, but well … maybe.
(But it’s basically convinced me I probably don’t need to go to San Diego Comic-Con ever.)
