Are Comicons Changing?
This column is about comic conventions. I don’t have an overarching thesis. All I have is a bunch of evidence in search of a theory.What I mean is, I’ve noticed a few things recently about comicons – but I don’t know if they add up to any kind of coherent conclusion.So if I give you the evidence I’ve observed, maybe you can tell me what’s going on. Exhibit A: Maybe you heard how Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page caused a stir late last month at Calgary Expo by slamming the Alberta government over its policies on transgender youth.Page, who is trans, spoke out during a moderated conversation against legislation passed in January that, among other things, bans gender reassignment surgery for those under the age of 17. Much of what he said came in response to questions from the audience.Exhibit B: For years now, the mother of all pop-culture fests, the San Diego Comic-Con, has been co-opted by Hollywood.As Marvel and DC have become bigger players in the film world over the last 20 years, it has become a tradition to use San Diego as the platform for launching the summer’s big superhero and genre movies (Free Comic Book Day, another annual fixture that arrives earlier in the geek calendar, usually sees an accompanying superhero release as well).It’s enough for some San Diego purists to lament the passing of the days when Comic-Con was all about the comics, man! Exhibit C: The organizers of Fan Expo last week announced that former Mandalorian star Gina Carano will be a guest this August at the massive Toronto show.Carano, who played a rebel shock trooper who becomes a New Republic marshal on The Mandalorian, was fired by Lucasfilm in 2021. You may remember she had opposed mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic and made online posts that were interpreted as comparing the lot of conservatives in Hollywood with the treatment of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.So what’s the larger picture here? Comicons, which were once one of the few places comic enthusiasts could pick up rare back issues and talk superheroes, have evolved into all-purpose pop-culture happenings. Are they now changing into something even more removed from their original purpose?If Tinseltown has peacefully hijacked Comic-Con to further its financial goals, then what’s wrong with someone like Page using the Calgary Expo to make a political point? Maybe I’m conspiracy-minded, but it occurs to me that for Page, who has never been shy about sharing his opinions, this might have been a major reason to appear in Calgary.The response on mainstream media websites, from what I could see, was typical. Many of the commenters pointed out sarcastically how appropriate it was for Page to prompt a mini-furor at a comic convention. And then there were the angry social-media responses I saw to the Gina Carano announcement. This time it was Fan Expo supporters who were complaining about the one-time Mandalorian ally being invited to appear. They tore her up.It would be a shame if these developments mean fan conventions are becoming less welcoming. Or that they are becoming just another venue for public figures to make a political statement.I’ve been to my share of Fan Expos, Star Wars Celebrations, Dungeons & Dragons cons, Forest City Comicons and the rest. Last month I was at the Chatham Kent Expo. One of the reasons I love going to this type of gathering is that the vibe is always so relaxed and accepting. I wish you could bottle that laidback feeling because, in my experience, it’s rare.I hope to hell that the festering intolerance I read so much about in the media isn’t inevitably seeping into the safe spaces that I and other geeks treasure.But you tell me. What changes do you see happening on the con scene?Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 31 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
