And so, Comic-Con is here once again, which is time for those of us who are slightly jealous that were not there to pretend we didnt want to go anyway and wonder whether the event in San Diego really is as important as the movie blogging world would like us to believe. Or whether its a lot of smoke and mirrors for companies to basically get a lot of promotion and marketing done for them by people caught up in the heady excitement of the event.
The event started life as the Golden State Comic-Con in 1970, a three-day event that drew a whole 300 people. However it grew massively during the 1970s, and by the end of the decade was the largest comic event on the west coast. However, while a popular convention, it wasnt until the birth of the internet that it really took off.
Up to the end of the 80s, attendance was a respectable but not astonishing 11,000, however by 1999 42,000 people were packed into the San Diego Convention Center, and last year it was up to 126,000. While its often said that the growth of Comic-Con was done to clever organisation and networking by the organisers, that might have been true in its early years, but its more recent explosion is down to other factors.
First is that the organisers havent minded expanding the conventions focus. While initially it was all about the comic books, nowadays most of the excitement (and coverage) surrounds the films and TV shows that are in attendance, with the studios using the event as a showcase for their upcoming product. And its not only comic book inspired movies let in, as basically anything with a sci-fi, fantasy or horror bent is likely to be present in some form, whether its via something as simple as a poster, or with a full-on cast and crew panel in the massive capacity Hall H. So while some conventions have been stricter, keeping things heavily tied to whatever their core is, Comic-Con hasnt minded being a bit more inclusive, which has allowed its influence to spread massively.
The other two major factors are tied together. Whereas before the internet, it was difficult to get news out from an event, and what did emerge from something like a comic book convention would be likely to only reach a core audience, with the web its almost instantaneous, copious and can be picked up around the world and read by millions. Therefore using an event like Comic-Con to launch or promote something is a great idea, because youve basically got hundreds of bloggers and journalist there, ready to pick up whatever youve got to say and run with it. There basically no other place a studio can get as much coverage for their upcoming tentpole releases, from so many people in one place.
The other, less often mentioned but probably most important, factor in why Comic-Con has become so huge, is its location. Although it was always a fairly major comics event, the fact its only a few hours drive from Los Angeles ensures its far easier to get Hollywood to turn up than if it was in London. Indeed, while Comic-Con is contracted to stay in San Diego until at least 2012, it has had capacity issues, with much speculation that after this the event will move. While talk of it going to Anaheim has centred on the facilities and the inducements offered, theres little doubt that as big a factor is a desire by many to get it even closer to Los Angeles.
So what you now have is an event that may still be a comic book convention at heart, but is really about Hollywood showing up with all its upcoming fanboy product. From the industrys point of view, the importance of Comic-Con is not as much about the people there as it is about the fact there are hundreds of journos, all caught up in the excitement of the event, ready to gush on blogs and websites (and now its influence has spread to newspapers and magazines, with, for example, Entertainment Weekly doing a Comic-Con preview issue). Its this spreading of the buzz to the wider world that makes it important.
So basically, Hollywood shows up because it was always been a big event and its not too far for them to travel, and the journalists show up because Hollywood does, which is perfect for the studios, who can showcase all their goodies at once, with the bloggers and writers already there, rather than them having to do it all separately in a piecemeal, and probably more expensive manner.
Theyre also aware of something else the fanboys. Its normally here that the debate rage over the importance of Comic-Con. A few films, such as Superman Returns, have got raves after footage was shown in San Diego, with the studio going away thinking the buzz was enormous and that they had a sure-fire hit on their hands. However when the movie came out, it didnt do particularly well.
This has led some to wonder whether all the attention of Comic-Con is worth it, and whether it might actually be dangerous due to it giving people a false impression of how the movies being perceived in the wider world. The fact is, geek fanboys cant make a movie a hit all by themselves, and if you dont grab a lot of other people too, you wont have the massive box office you were hoping for. Even with Comic-Con reaching out to millions through the web, youre still only talking about a relatively small section of the populace who are really paying attention, and whose interest and excitement will be held in a particular movie until its released, which may be months away.
Others though look at it slightly differently. The theory is that getting the fanboys on your side wont guarantee a hit youll need to do a lot more marketing for that but either ignoring or alienating them can destroy your movie. Fanboys are extremely vocal, and if they think youre trashing something they love, they will scream until they are horse, and whether its warranted or not, that sort of bad buzz does tend to follow a movie around in the way positive reports dont.
Comic-Con is therefore about wooing these people. For those in the halls, its about making them feel special and showing them exclusive previews and generally trying to create a sense thats it not some giant corporation making a movie, but that were all in this together. The studios know that fanboys tend to be possessive, so they want to make sure no one feels like theyre having something taken from then, and that theyre being included.
Outside the actual conventions, its about making sure fanboys around the world are being fed cool sounding titbits, and that the groundswell emanating from Comic-Con is that the film is a must-see.
Its difficult not to notice when youre reporting on whats emerging from Comic-Con but youre not physically there and caught up in the bubble that it often feels theres a lot of gushing about things that dont actually matter that much, or which are being hyped in a way that seems slightly OTT. Dutiful reports from panels will often cover in detail the sort of thing that the same journalist wouldnt even consider mentioning if it werent happening at Comic-Con. Or course, this isnt always true. Filmmakers often use the event to announce new cast members or show off the first footage from a movie, but its sometimes difficult to sort these from stories that basically amount to little more than that a film exists and someone said something irrelevant about it at Comic-Con.
Theres two reasons for this. Firstly a lot of film sites now seem to be in competition with each other over their Comic-Con coverage, which often seems to be less about quality and more about quantity (although to be fair, there is definitely an audience out there wanting to read all about the panels, even if they turned out to be deathly dull and nothing interesting was revealed). Secondly, theres the Comic-Con bubble. This is often talked about at Film Festivals as well, where people get so caught up in rushing around and trying to see as much of everything as possible, that they lose track of the outside world. The buzz and excitement of being on the inside looking out is infectious, causing people to get far more excited about something than they should do.
Indeed there are some journalists who look down on things like Comic-Con, seeing them as blatant attempts to curry favour with journalists (and it shouldnt be forgotten that outside the actual convention, most of the big film companies hold swanky, invitation-only soirees, where journos can get schmoozed even more). Theres a feeling that if you can catch these people early and make them feel special, this will positively colour all their coverage of a particular film from then onwards. How far this is true is debatable, but its not a leap of the imagination to say that someone whos had special early access to something, with the cast and crew there to present and talk about it, all while theyre hooked up in the bubble of an insider-feeling event, might look more favourably upon it than if they were on the outside looking in. And if they have a blog with a wide audience, that buzz is likely to travel.
To be fair, there are always issues like this when it comes to film journalism. Even with film reviews, theres the question of whether youd think the same about a film if youve been invited to a special, industry only preview as if youve just forked out £10 for a ticket. Does this affect the reviews? Its tough to say, but its worth considering. With Comic-Con it seems to be more pronounced, creating a feedback loop of hype creating hype, where irrespective of what going on in the convention centre, the excitement escaping from the bubble makes it sound just about the best place on Earth. It gets to the point where its the fact its Comic-Con makes something interesting, which isnt really how it should be.
So is Comic-Con important? Well, the answer is undoubtedly yes. Whether it should be is more debatable. A lot of info comes out of the convention. Its a great place to showcase products and let both the audience and wider world get their first taste of new movies. Thats definitely worthwhile, and having a single place to do that saves everyone a lot of time and efforts (it should also be mentioned that a lot of filmmakers love it too, as after spending months slogging away making a movie, they get to actually talk to fans about it).
However, whether the buzz coming out of San Diego can be relied upon is another thing entirely. Theres undoubtedly a sense that the hype runs away with itself. So over the coming days, as you read about Comic-Con and Movie Muser will undoubtedly be covering a lot of it just be aware that that what people think from inside the bubble may not be the same as what the rest of the world would think.
But hey, Im not there, so perhaps Im just jealous.
TIM ISAAC