By Ryan Riley, Contributor
The inaugural Long Beach Comic Con has come and gone, and overall it turned out to be a pretty solid show for a first outing. The Robot Chicken gang made an appearance, and Seth Green and the gang were hilarious as always. Marvel and DC had a presence, although the absence of Dan Didio on the DC side and nearly everyone except for Jeph Loeb on the Marvel side made their panels somewhat lackluster. Nintendo was there to show their wares, and they had a guy dressed as Mario playing the new Super Mario game. Sci-fi/Fantasy genre celebrities like Lou Ferrigno and Richard Hatch were propping up autograph alley. All in all, the LB Comic Con felt like a smaller, more intimate and a lot less crowded version of the San Diego Comic Con. That is a good thing, and I would love to see the show continue next year. I say this because SDCC being the only major comic convention in Southern California is not advantageous to us as comic book fans.
I don't know about you guys, but I've grown weary of the overcrowded, impersonal juggernaut that is the San Diego Comic Con. Whenever I think about SDCC nowadays I get to thinking about the movie "The Crow". The main villain, Top Dollar, gave a speech to his flunkies about 2/3 into the film. He bemoaned the fact that a great idea he once had evolved into something bearing little resemblance to the original concept. He was referring to setting arson blazes on the night before Halloween, but there were a couple of memorable lines from his rant that echo my feelings about SDCC.
"When I used to think about the idea itself it would bring a big old smile to my face!"
The first SDCC I attended was in 1998. I was utterly amazed at how large the show was, and marveled at how accessible all of the comic book creators were to their fans. It was a testament to how close-knit the comic book community was for creators and fans alike. The idea of making movies out of comic book properties as a business plan was in its infancy, so while the convention was well-attended it was by no means overcrowded. Kevin Smith's infamously packed Q & A sessions were also a new thing, so you could actually stand a good chance of getting in if you got in line as little as an hour in advance. It was a laid back atmosphere that enabled you to focus and have a good time. Sure, it got pretty crowded on Saturdays, but that was because the show planners typically saved the show's A-list programming for that day. It has been years since the show was like what I am describing, so it can officially be referred to as "The good old days".
"The idea has become the institution, boys..."
Now it seems like SDCC is to comics what MTV is to music. The change began when the show started to feature more in-depth discussion panels and sneak peeks for upcoming movies and TV shows. Production companies saw in comic conventions an enormous and untapped focus group audience, and used the feedback garnered from their panels to launch shows like "Battlestar Galactica", "Lost" and "Heroes". Big-time actors like Jessica Alba and Robert Downey Jr. that years ago would not have been caught dead at a comic convention were now going out of their way to promote their upcoming comic-inspired movies. This was undeniably good for the comic genre getting more mainstream exposure, but as word got out that people could get sneak peeks at existing and new shows & movies by going to SDCC, the attendance increased on a yearly basis.
The last time I attended the show was in 2007, and it was wall-to-wall people. Getting from one panel to the next was like walking through high surf, you couldn't attend an in-demand panel without staking out a line spot at least two hours in advance, and good luck finding a restaurant without at least an hour waiting time afterward. And from what I heard about the 2009 SDCC it was even more with people because of all the "Twilight" fangirls hoping to catch a glimpse of Robert Pattinson at that panel. For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with being a fan of "Twilight". It's not really my thing, but my daughter digs on it, and it seems inoffensive enough. I just included that little tidbit to illustrate my point.
"...time to move along."
My point is, if I want to wait in line for hours and navigate through an ocean of people only to spend copious amounts of money on souvenirs and overpriced food, I'll just hit up Disneyland or Magic Mountain during the peak of summer. Granted, the souvenirs are substantially cooler at SDCC, but the overall experience is about the same. I'm sure many of you have asked yourselves the same question that I have: "Is the San Diego Comic Con really worth all the hassle?"
Personally, I would have to say "no". I've felt this way for years, and if I hadn't been tapped to cover SDCC in 2007 by Wizard I likely wouldn't have even gone then. When Wizard World L.A. opened their show at the Long Beach Convention Center back in 2005, I was overjoyed. It had the best aspects of SDCC without the cattle herd conditions and the three hour commute. I was somewhat disappointed when the show moved to the L.A. Convention Center a couple of years later, but I still liked the show enough to put up with having to go to downtown L.A. and enduring its overpriced parking and lack of restaurants and night spots. When the show was put on indefinite hiatus by Wizard Entertainment earlier this year I was disheartened, because the only major alternative to SDCC was gone.
"Are we having fun, or what?"
Then they announced the LB Comic Con a few months ago. I was somewhat skeptical, because this was a new crew putting together a show on short notice. Despite my best wishes, it didn't seem like it would amount to much. But as the show date grew closer they managed to put together a pretty high-quality guest list and some decent programming. They even set up a wrestling ring and got an indie wrestling federation, Mach One Professional Wrestling, to put together a schedule of exhibition matches on the convention floor for live entertainment.
Could the LB Comic Con have been more organized? Of course, but considering the time frame that they were working with they did a hell of a job in putting on this show. I would love to see what kind of show the LB Comic Con brain trust can assemble when they're given a full year to plan, and it will be even better once Marvel and DC decide to treat the show like an actual event and not an afterthought. It has the potential to be a great show for fans that are actually passionate about comics but not willing to make their way through crowds of people just attending to see their favorite actor.
