Has Comic-Con sold its soul? And if it has, does anyone care? That’s the question hardcore fans are asking as this year’s 125,000 attendance San Diego Comic-Con comes to a close.
If you listen to comic book dealers, they no longer feel loved at the event they effectively created back in 1970. Says Chuck Rozanski, President of Mile High Comics (pictured below): “Things aren’t working anymore, and I feel like I’m being abandoned.” However most visitors are just happy to leave the show with bags brimming full off Comic-Con freebies..
The problem is that the event itself has become way too successful, and that has caught the attention of the Hollywood marketing machine, which currently views comic book creations as their best bet for box-office success.
With US studios and the major TV networks now using the show to promote genre movies and shows, genuine comic book dealers are feeling the squeeze. Many of the larger dealers say that they won’t be returning next year. “If we’re that important,” says Chicago retailer Jamie Graham “why aren’t we in the middle of the room, where more people can see us?”
Chuck Rozanski says there’s now a movement to start a new back-to-basics comic show.
“Comic-Con, at least in terms of the comic-book collecting aspect, is disintegrating,” he concludes.
To read more on Chuck Rozanski’s views about the 2008 comic-Con, click here and here. But not here.
