Con Report: March 2018

[Use Your Imagination to Insert Picture Here Because I Didn't Really Plan This]

This weekend was my local Comic Con, and while it was a good time, the cracks in Geek Culture™ are really starting to show.

The following is going to be an unorganized recap of thoughts.

The merch stalls seem more derivative than before. Funko Pops stare blindly out at passing guests. I didn't see anybody actually buying them, though.

The genuinely unique stuff, though, was clever and inventive. There was one stand that was selling character figurines made out of colored wires in colors and poses. I'm personally not interested in buying an abstract Galactus made out of colored wires, but its unique and inventive.

The actual comic pros continue to get no real respect from the normies walking past them on the floor. I spent a while talking to two old Marvel veterans from the Shooter-DeFalco-Harras eras and they had some great stories about the late, great Mark Gruenwald. They also appreciate talking to genuine fans who know the eras that they worked in. I feel a lot better spending a little more on prints from them than buying some cheap, derivative pieces like Batman fighting Goku or something, but with weird proportions and were probably drawn in a Korean art farm or something.

John Barrowman had a really entertaining panel that got a little preachy on [current year] politics in a couple places. That's his prerogative of course, but last year Kevin Sorbo had a great panel too, and he didn't start talking to us about Jesus at random points.

Cosplay is getting more and more ambitious. There was an Imperial Fists Space Marine this year who was huge and fully ambulatory. There was another Space Marine two years ago who could barely walk.

There were more Star Trek costumes than Star Wars this year. Original series, Next Generation, DS-9 and even a lone Enterprise uniform. There was absolutely zero Star Trek: Discovery ANYTHING.

A ton of Flash T-shirts. I stopped watching the show in season 2, but its doing well. Barry is still the 2^nd worst Flash (after Bart), but whatever. I'm not bitter.

#TeamWally

No MCU actors this year. I'm assuming its because we're so close to Infinity War that the studio doesn't want anybody accidentally leaking anything.

There was one panel meant to show-off trailers for upcoming movies. They showed four trailers and spent way too much time fishing for audience discussion. Wreck-It-Ralph 2 got the biggest reaction from the audience. Solo and Venom both got super lukewarm reactions and the Infinity War trailer was the same as the one from a few months ago. Awkward, boring panel that felt like filler. I felt a little bad for the presenters.

Doctor Who was a major focus this year because John Barrowman, David Tennant and Billie Piper were there. Flash & Cyborg from the Justice League movie were there, and they had good-ish sized crowds, but the DC cinematic universe remains love-it-or-hate-it.

There was very little hype for upcoming movies. Infinity War was kind of it.

Absolutely zero Ready Player One anything.

More comic book long boxes than previous years.

There were some forced diversity panels. Didn't bother with any of them.

Batman costumes were a given. There were a solid number of Wonder Woman outfits, and a small number of the Flash and one solid Captain Boomerang. A couple Jasom Momoa Aquaman and one really, really good Mera. Nobody cares about Suicide Squad though. A couple Harley Quinns of all kinds, but absolutely ZERO Jared Leto Jokers.

The MCU had a strong presence. Guardians of the Galaxy had a good showing. Spider-Man Homecoming had good number. Black Panther had a couple good costumes. There was exactly one Carol Danvers Captain Marvel cosplayer. She had some purple hair. It was exactly what you're picturing.

There was also a really good DC/Fawcett Captain Marvel. The SHAZAM one.

Star Wars is a severely damaged brand at this point. There still were Star Wars costumes walking around, but its mostly the Original Trilogy. Vader, Luke, Han, Leia, generic Jedi, a Chewie on stilts. You know, the classics. Nothing from the Prequels (I expect that to change soon as people continue to reconsider them) and wayyyyyy less from the Sequel Trilogy than last year. A handful of Reys and a smaller number of Kylo Ren (Kylo ditching the mask in The Last Jedi is going to kill people's interest in cosplaying as him). There was one really good Hera Syndulla from Rebels, and exactly ONE Finn I saw all weekend. The only stormtroopers around were from the local 501^st Legion, which included a single Phasma but no First Order Stormtroopers. It was all Classic Imps all the way beyond that.

Let's recap to let it sink in. Disney Star Wars Cosplay at the convention included a couple Original Trilogy holdouts, a couple Girl Power Reys, and a small number of Kylo Rens with easily bought masks and lightsabers. One Finn. One group of people from Rebels.

That's it.

No Rogue One anything. No First Order troops. No Resistance troops. No classic Rebel troopers. No X-Wing pilots. No Holdo. No Poe. No General Leia. No Rose Tico. No Boba Fetts that weren't with the 501^st. A lot fewer kids dressed up in Star Wars costumes, unless they were in group costumes with their parents.

This is just one con, but even a year ago you would be swimming through Star Wars costumes on the floor.

Not only that, but one merch vendor had the Kenner Power of the Force figures from the 90s. I collected them back then. They were good toys. You could get a mint on card figure for between $5-$7, which is close to what they cost twenty years ago.

Star Wars is a rapidly sinking brand.