I was in Portland last weekend. So was Comic Con. I have never been to Comic Con, so the lure of entering a world completely unknown to me was irresistible.
It was kind of like SXSW, only replace the beer, hipsters and sunshine with collectibles, comic book/sci fi enthusiast and the dim glow of the convention center. Here are some thoughts:
Money
There is a lot of money here. Everyone is selling or buying something – comic books, costumes, artistic work, collectibles, t-shirts with random sayings .. it’s all there, and it’s all for sale. I found it amusing that the t-shirt sizes went from s,m,l,xl,xxl,xxxl,xxxxl,xxxxxl. But we are in America, so perhaps that’s the norm. I was thinking – why was there so much money here? Then it dawned on me that most of the people at comic-con probably have decent paying jobs, which is probably lot different then the people at say, a music festival.
The Celebrities
Comic Con always have a host of celebrities/has-beens that are more then willing to sell you their autograph for 40 dollars a pop. FORTY DOLLARS! The funny thing is that it is a flat rate for all celebrities, which is a bit of a riot since someone like Lou Ferrigno or Bruce Campbell is way more popular then say Sean Patrick Flanery (look him up). This might be where the word “con” from Comic Con comes from. We didn’t pay for any signatures, but noted that Henry Winkler and Lou Ferrigno appeared to be the nicest and the girl/wife from Homeland appeared the most miserable. Bruce Campbell clearly had the most fun at the photo op, judging by other people’s pictures we stole.
The Costumes
Gawd, the costumes were pretty great. Check out some of them below.
A bunch of super heroes as expected.
One of my favorites: Fat Vader
Bender and Hellgirl, together at last. As someone who once painted my face black for halloween (NOT A RACIST COSTUME..I was an ipod commercial). I truly give props to anyone who paints their whole body.
You get the idea, it’s like Halloween on steroids. So many people were dressed up and everyone put a lot of effort into it. There was also a lot of cleavage, but as Vik noted, no slave Leia’s. It seemed like Captain America/Avengers/Batman were the most popular this year, but maybe that’s the case every year. We also saw someone dressed as gandhi, and the guy dressed as gandhi claimed he did it because that was his hero. Definitely a hipster from Portland.
Conclusion
As I walked through the many hallways of Comic Con, I saw many happy people. I can feel social tensions free up among the many costumed fellows young and old who walked beside me. Let’s face it, most people here who dressed up here were probably picked on as kids and have since been searching for among other things, friendship and acceptance. It seemed like they have all found a place. In this magical place, you can be a 38 year old man who likes to dress up as Indiana Jones and talk about reruns of My Little Pony. Nobody gives a shit. But then again, why should anyone give a shit in the first place?
At Comic Con, no one is there to judge (except for the costume judging competition) and everyone is friendly and willing to engage in conversation (except for the celebs, in which case you have to pay 40 dollars). It makes you wonder, if the world was a bit more cool, and a lot less judgemental, would we all be walking around be in our super superhero costumes? Would I?
Deep thoughts indeed.
