San Diego Comic Convention 2009

The convention was a bit of a madhouse; lots of people, long lines to get into many panels, thousands of people in the exhibition area. Several things stood out, though:

1. Despite the crowded conditions, people were remarkably well behaved. I didn't see or hear any fights break out, any rowdy behavior, or pushing/shoving/cutting in lines. I think that's remarkable, and think it says something about the type of people who are drawn to comic conventions. Despite the violence in some of the games, comics, tv shows and films featured at Comicon, at heart this passionate group of fans are generally friendly and law-abiding folks—at least in this context.

2. People had been camping out overnight outside the convention center in order to get in to see a clip of the upcoming film New Moon, the second installment of the Twilight series. Most of the people in line were female (no surprise, I suppose since that the big fan base for the film). Here's a photo of what the line looks like in the morning to get in to see such previews:

I did think that it was ironic that the same day that this New Moon clip was airing, there was a panel on “Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop Culture,” with Sigourney Weaver and Eliza Dushku, among others. (As I've noted in an earlier blog entry, the protagonist of Twilight is anything but a strong female.) Yet here were hundreds of women camping out to get a glimpse of an extended trailer for the sequel—a story in which a young intelligent woman who has a lot going for her feels that her life is meaningless without her vampire boyfriend. Sigh….

3. My panel on "Is the Joker a Psychopath? You Decide!" was SRO and the audience and panelists seemed to enjoy it. The audience asked good questions (e.g, "Can psychopaths like the Joker be rehabilitated?" Answer: "not really") and the panelists gave their opinions on the Joker and his motivations. I hope to post some video of the panel next week.

Blackest Night/Green Lantern

Those comic fans who are following the Green Lantern/Blackest Night story might find this 3-part article about emotions and the different colored Lanterns:

"Interestingly, when you talk about the rainbow spectrum being used here, there is something about these negative emotions that is very intense," she said. "Intense greed is maybe a funny one in there, but intense fear and intense anger are very real. They really do narrow your focus cognitively. Even your awareness is limited. You're focused on what's right in front of you and less on the periphery. And that's true of your visual awareness and your perception, but it also guides your thinking. You're not really thinking at all – you're feeling.

"Hate swamps your emotional system. And that's true for fear as well, typically. It's not just specific to rage. But that's true of any intense emotions. They literally become overpowering," she said.

For the full articles (Parts 1-3) in Newsarama go to:

Part 1: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090713-blackest-night-spectrum.html

Part 2:http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090714-EmotionalSpectrum2.html

Part 3: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090715-blackest-night-specturm-3.html