Yeah, it’s true.  Comic Con has grown up.  While Hollywood has definitely taken over, this past week it was a ridiculous mob scene… there is still a quaintness about the whole thing.  I have lots of friends who shake their heads and tsk-tsk over the commercialization of the whole industry… but really, isn’t that just how things evolve?  What was underground and ‘cool’ becomes mainstream…. and finally passe’.

Comic Con is right on that cusp.  While it once was a gathering for the hard core comic industry and their fans, it has grown into a machine that is commercial, feeds a monstrous Hollywood marketing machine, and yet is filled with fans who are thrilled to dress up and march around portraying their favorite character.

I have to say, I have never seen so many adults so gleefully embody their beloved characters in public.  It’s as if this is a venue where it’s finally okay to get down with your inner star vixen or the warrior you really are.  Not the obese middle class guy the world sees every day.  I kind of liked that no matter what shape a person was in (and the chubs definitely ruled!) there was no embarrassment about tooling around in skimpy costumes.  The Evil Cheerleaders were the exception, rather than the rule.

If nothing else, it is a fascinating slice of American culture.  The fact that it even exists is a tribute to the creativity we humans embody and put out into the world.  But yes, it has become a parody of itself.  And that’s okay by me.

Related posts:

1. Saturday is “Free Comic Book Day”
2. San Diego Comic-Con…
3. Comic Books, Real and Fake
4. One armed comic
5. Angeleno on the Road: San Diego Comic-Con!