With people wondering what the WGA strike is going to do to the Oscars now that it’s scuttled the Golden Globes, geeks like me have a far more pressing concern: If the strike lasts through July, what’ll happen to the San Diego Comic-Con?
Peter Sanderson, who writes comic-related books like The Marvel Travel Guide to New York and a critical column called Comics in Context, thinks aloud to The Beat:
- What effect does [the writers, actors and, potentially, directors guild strikes] have on the San Diego Con, which has increasingly become a showcase for movies and TV shows? Sure, producers and PR people will still hold panels in Hall H to preview new product. But don’t the fans go to these panels to see the actors and the “star” directors and writers? [snip] In other words, just how many of the 100,000 plus attendees at Comic-Con come for the media other than comics? We may find out this year.
And Sanderson’s right. Comic-Con is gonna get slammed this year, one way or the other. Even if the strike is over by the third week of July, the TV season’s shot to hell and if production doesn’t start toot sweet, next season will follow suit. And TV is a big part of what pushes the media stuff at Comic-Con: Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Lost—even perennials like Babylon 5 and Buck Rogers still draw modest crowds.
But what would Comic-Con look like without the casts and crews of flicks like Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, Watchmen, Star Trek, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Spirit, The Wolfman, Land of the Lost, and G.I. Joe—all of which could be expected to strut their stuff in San Diego?
How will Hollywood court the viral-geek demographic without this monster of an event, which has eclipsed everything else in the landscape? My gods, could there actually be a San Diego Comic-Con where the big draw is…comics?
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Even more important, perhaps there will be hotel rooms!
“My gods, could there actually be a San Diego Comic-Con where the big draw is…comics?” – God I hope so.
No kidding, Heidi. Though, I’m sure, they’ll still cost a king’s ransom.
Wow – I hadn’t thought this far ahead. Let’s see:
Well, maybe i’ll get a hotel room closer than 20 miles away. And be able to walk between Hall H and the dealers room in less than an hour. And actually go to some comics panels! Hmmm…might not be too bad.
It was a comic book show before Hollywood and it will be when Hollywood moves on.
My gods, could there actually be a San Diego Comic-Con where the big draw is…comics?
…and what a wonderful world that would be!
But the thing is- unlike the Academy Awards and The Golden Globes, which would have WGA picket lines outside that actors and directors would likely not cross- there is no reason why those same movie and TV stars couldn’t appear at ComicCon to promote already-scripted-and-in-production products like Watchmen or Star Trek. So outside of what would be the media push for Fall 2008 TV, I don’t think there would be that much of a difference at the next ComicCon. I would expect the really big change in Hollywood attendance would come in 2009, when the production stoppage starts to catch up with the release schedule.
If Comic-Con was put on by NBC Universal, I could see the strike having a heavy affect. But since it’s not, I agree with David B. — they’ll still probably promote those projects in production, but the TV panels would probably suffer. At least, there’s still the Paley Television Festival in LA in March, which is still a go.
Hear, Hear! I, for one, miss the old days when you could actually walk the convention floor at ease.
Well anyone who has been to Comic-Con knows that comics is still the focus of that show. Yes, Hollywood has the dollars to promote their appearance, but Hall H only seats 6,500 people. So my guess is that there is still at least 100,000 people who come to the show for things other than what goes on in Hall H.
I have to agree with David, since when did the show become all about Hollywood. I have been going for the past 13 years and its called Comic Con for a reason. There is a hell of a lot more comic related things then movies and TV, and Hollywood just enhanced the experience. And to be honest where would Marvel be if Spider-Man the movie never came out. Hollywood serves its purpose to promote awareness to at one time was a dying art form. To get back to the strike, this isn’t a studio run event; this is a fan run one. That would be biting the hand that feeds you. Cause no one makes money, studios or writers if you piss off the people that pay to see it.
God, I hope so. Last year’s crowds were so bad that I’m considering not going again, and I’ve been going for 10 of the last 11 years. Y’know, when it was just about the comics.
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Fortunately, Comic-Con is still on and I am so pumped that Yoshitaka Amano is going to be there signing copies of his latest book Mateki: The Magic Flute. I have been such an Amano fan ever since his work on Final Fantasy and The Sandman, and his newest book does not fail to disappoint.
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