A word about the media coverage of Comic Con

The New York Times has a writeup of a comic convention in San Diego this weekend. I thought I was at the only one here in San Diego this weekend, but apparently not, since the NYT piece clearly depicts a different convention than the one I'm at. Take, for example, their depiction of the scene at the entrance:

On the promenade outside, sweaty waves of nerds, kimono girls and Obi-Wan Kenobis walked alongside thousands of Kevin Smith look-alikes.

First off, we're not nerds. We're geeks, and it's San Diego in July--everyone is sweaty. Secondly, the kimono girls are up on the third floor in the anime pavilion. Third, and perhaps most important, there were maybe a dozen Kevin Smith look-alikes among 100,000+ con-goers. Most of the Stormtroopers are part of the Fighting 501st, a group that makes a hobby of going not just to cons, but to children's hospitals and other places where folks could use a smile. The costumed folks who dominate the news coverage of Comic Con, and any comic and sci-fi convention for that matter, make up maybe 10% of the attendees, 15% tops. Most of us are dressed in shorts, t-shirts and comfy shoes. Add in the backpack to hold necessities like program books, breath spray, bottled water and snacks, and we look more like a mass of tall 5th graders than the Halloween party shown on TV. I was borderline weird in my attire today when I started attaching freebie pins into my braid when my badge lanyard got full.

The New York Times piece makes it sound like Comic Con is a giant movie preview. The movie studios and TV channels have a chunk of the middle of the exhibit hall, amounting to less than half the floor space. That chunk is an absolute circus, but it is a small part of the overall convention. Most of the panels aren't about the movies. Most of the floor space is small booths with artists, writers, illustrators, small press, large book publishers, fan groups, comic retailers, toy vendors...there was even an insurance agent. If media covered sports events like they cover comic cons, you'd think everyone with a favorite sports team showed up to a game with messages painted on their bellies.