Comic-Con: The Dissent

I'm always a big fan of the annual San Diego Comic-Con, the largest such event in the world. The comics industry taught Hollywood about giving fans access to the creators and talent. There is still an Artists Alley on the main floor, which is several football fields long. And the coverage is everywhere, particularly where the entertainment industry at large is driving the economy.

However, the Hollywood-ization of Comic-Con has brought it's dissenters, and none more eloquent than Keith Boesky in his always insightful, funny, pointed A Tree Falling in the Forest blog, where he takes aim and makes another one of his all-too-likely predictions. The set-up:

Every year I start to get calls around this time asking whether I am going to attend comic con. As you may have read in last year's post about the rise and fall of the con, I've been going for over twenty five years and have seen some change. This year I am noticing the change in the people who are calling and I am starting to wonder whether it is a good thing. I used to get calls from artists or comic fans who could not afford to pay the fee. Then I got calls from writers and directors who did not know where to look to get a badge. Now I get calls from game folks, agents, executives, all thinking I can get them a badge to the sold out show. Sure, hold on a second, I'll just lift Shakespeare's head, push the button, and pull one out of my ass, just give me a second to clean it up for you. Let's just stop right here for a second. Sold Out. For years, Pre-Hollywood Takeover, tickets were always unspokenly voluntary. By that I mean you never really had to buy them. We would buy tickets because it supported the Con, but if you didn't and just kept walking, the security guards never stopped you. Because in the PHT days, the Con was inclusive. The concept of fans being turned away from a convention where sales in the tens of thousands of units are celebrated is somewhat wacky.

I say read it all.

Be seeing you.