Hollywood Goes to the Comics
By Mary Beth Gentle
Every summer without fail Hollywood gets their ‘geek on’ and goes to the Comics. The biggest movies of the summer are usually based on one comic book character or another. What was once considered light reading for children or a favorite pastime for the geek-at-heart has become a mega-million dollar business, a business which Hollywood has always been only too happy to capitalize upon. This summer alone we have Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and, of course, Batman.
And nowhere are these comics bigger or their fans more serious about their Comics, their Movies and their TV than at the San Diego International Comic-Con. This is an annual event held every July in the San Diego, California Convention Center. For those of you that have not heard of it, you might think, hmmm…a comic book convention and immediately picture a bunch of geeks reading, buying and trading comics.
Well, it may have started out that way back in the seventies when the attendance was around three hundred people, but today it is one of the largest conventions in America with last year’s attendance topping around 127,000 people. It is one of the biggest arenas for the large and small Hollywood Studios to not only pitch and promote their latest line-ups, but to search out known and unknown comic book artists and writers in hopes of finding the next big summer hit.
And it affects even those of us sitting in the Hollywood cubicles. In the months leading up to Comic-Con, Studio Publicity Departments and the Filmmakers are busy planning out their Booths, their Panels and their Clip Reels. And by booths, I don’t mean a small table with a pile of posters on it, the Hollywood majors go all out.
At last years Comic-Con, Walt Disney Studios built a replica of the front of the Pirate ship from Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End that the fans could walk through to see a display of costumes and props from the movie. NBC Studios brought an entire set from the TV Show Heroes to put up in the middle of the convention center. I can tell you right now, they don’t do that at Cannes.
The biggest events at Comic-Con are the Film and TV Cast Panels. This year they will have talent there from; Lost, Stargate, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Twilight, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar Galactica, Pushing Daisies and those are just to name a few. Not to mention that the official name of Friday at Comic-Con is ‘Star Wars Day’. There are four days of panels, screenings and events that are for the most part already sold out.
Over the years, the level of talent that has come to Comic-Con could compete with that of Cannes or Sundance. But, the focus here is comics, so it will never get the critical acclaim or media coverage of those other big events. But, who cares about critical acclaim, this is Comic-Con. This is where the ‘geek’ gets to be a king for a few days every year. And take it from one big Movie, TV and okay…Comic Book Geek…there is nothing like it. Sundance may be where the cool kids go, but I’m telling you right now, Comic-Con is where the party is.
The other big event at Comic-Con every year is a little thing called, “Trailer Park”. This is where the Studios, big and small, premiere all their new trailers for upcoming movies. They take one of the largest rooms at the Convention Center and hang rows of giant screens so that no matter what seat you end up with, you can still see all the action.
The Studios may act like they don’t care about anyone but themselves the rest of the year, but once a year at Comic-Con they do remember the most important thing; the Fans. And the Fans are the reason those people sitting in the big offices and those of us in the Hollywood Cubicles have jobs. And I for one am glad that Hollywood has gone to the Comics.
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