Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

I was trying to explain Comic Con to my six year old niece. I said it was Halloween but not during Halloween. And that it was mainly for adults. She wanted to know what people dressed up as. I told her I saw Batman, Wonder Woman, and Pikachu. She asked if Charlie Brown was there. I paused. There was more than a slight possibility. She asked why there were adults dressed up like Halloween when it wasn’t Halloween. I couldn’t give her an acceptable answer beyond, “Because it’s fun.”

Comic Con has entered mainstream sensibility. And acceptance. A while back, occasionally you’d catch a glimpse of news footage focusing on a dude in a Klingon costume spouting poetry in tlhIngan Hol. Then it’d cut to the news anchor who would make a derisive comment.

Nowadays Comic Con attracts major celebrities, film and TV studios, media, interactive gaming companies, and more. And I suppose this shift in perception prompted me to step out of my hypothetical polyethylene protective shield and be recognized as the comic book geek that I am.

Just so you know, being part of the press does not garner you much favor at Comic Con. There was a shorter line to get your badge, but the special treatment ends there. Thus began a weekend of rushing. And then waiting. Lots of waiting.

For many convention-goers, the exhibition hall is the center of the universe. And, of all things free. But timing is everything. Timing when you enter the line early in the morning to wait to get into the hall. Timing for which booth you go to. And timing when you join a particular line -- swag attainment being random and a sometimes ruthless endeavor. You push, you run, you hurl your arms in the air trying to get goodies. MAPID*member Russell Fung spent most of the weekend upset that he missed an exclusive Smallville bag by one person.

Standing in line the conversation sometimes takes the form of a different language. I was amazed at the extensive and intense fan base for anything worthy of having fans. And sometimes for things un-worthy. There is such attention to minutiae, and listening to attendees debate and expound on the virtues of Issue 215 in contrast to Issue 23 can be mind-blowing.

But the common language was that mostly everyone was there to have fun. We were all geeks and that went beyond any of the usual barriers in the non-Comic Con world. That spirit was quite evident in the friendliness and lack of judgment present at Comic Con. Except, of course, when it had to do with line-protection. And getting free stuff.

I threatened to take a photo and publish it of anyone who cut in line in front of me.

Hawai’ians from San Diego and Seattle introduced me to something called Tokidoki, which would become the bane of my convention existence since one of my MAPID artists asked me to wait in line for a ticket to wait in line to wait in line for an autograph from a TokiDoki artist.

Anime was a huge presence, but so were independent and mainstream Asian American artists showcasing their work. Ryan Suda’s Blacklava booth was amazing, and Giant Robot had a large pavilion in the center of the aisle. Jim Lee was cheered for the superstar he is.

Futurama’s Lauren Tom signed autographs alongside Katy Segal; Maggie Q, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park promoted their upcoming series Nikita and Hawaii Five-O;

Ellen Wong was on hand for her film, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, based on hapa Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series. And so many APIs in entertainment were there as fans: Steve Nguyen, Teresa Huang, Stefanie Quinn were all spotted. Producer Amy Cheong helped showcase The Hub, a partnership with Hasbro and Discovery Channel. I roomed with Mike and Dariane from Racebending.com. But perhaps the biggest news for APIs came in response to a question asked by MAPID writer Ryan Fung. He asked what the future holds for Mike Chang, aka The Other Asian in Glee. Show creator Ryan Murphy said that there will be a romance between Mike and Tina (played by Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Ushkowitz). Instantly the news became number one in Top Tweets.

Okay, there was a stabbing too -- over a chair. The weapon was a pen. I guess the attacker left his Light Saber on Tatooine.

There’re always going to be kids who can’t play nice in the sandbox. And that’s what Comic Con is -- a huge sandbox where adults can keep living their childhoods, if only temporarily.

Photo of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park by Russell Fung

Photo of Futurama’s Lauren Tom

Additional Photos courtesy of Brian Raimondi photography.

Photo of blogger Linda Le as Juri by Brian Raimondi photography.

**MAPID is an organization founded by the author.