Fandom

So Darwyn Cooke got caught on video saying that superhero comics should "...stop catering to the perverted needs of forty-five-year-old men." He called out rape, children being forced to eat rats, explicit sex, foul language, and a lack of new characters. And now some people are getting upset. Oh come on, like you've never thought any of that. Unfortunately the whole thing got derailed by his swipe at turning Batwoman into a lesbian, which came off as rather homophobic to some. Personally, I have to admit, I read it more as the character continuity issue of a man who likes his Bronze and Silver Age comics, which is somewhat humorous, given that he's complaining about comics being ruled by the whims of forty-somethings, but he is large, he contains multitudes. (To which I say, Darwyn, it wasn't "overnight". She may have been around since 1956, but she hadn't made any significant appearances since Crisis on Infinite Earths which basically changed everything. SEE? I can be as big of a geek as you are.) So let's break this down from the point of view of someone who is not forty five or male -- me.

If you read ONE local paper story about a comic-con/nerdlerbrity fest/back issue bonanza, it should be this one by Micaela Hood in the Miami Herald on this weekend's Supercon, because it nicely captures the peaceful intermingling of the fans in their homemade costumes, the dealers selling stickers, and the aging stars with nowhere else to go. As "Comic-Con" has become a brand name for an entrainment event where you can expect all this and MORE, the various strata of con-world must learn to live with one another. Just what IS going through Richard "Shaft" Roundtree's mind, anyway?

This has a distinct revenge of the nerds feel to it. Ghyslain Raza known to the world as "The Star Wars Kid"...

Can you imagine how long the line for the restroom was?

With Comic-Con's rise in the popular imaginaion over the last decade, we've heard many folks mutter over the years "I need to write a screenplay about Comic-con!" If you have been working on such a script, it is time to quietly set it aside and start working on that oil spill comedy you had been pondering. In keeping with the times, Comic-Con will be the subject of a geekumentary by Morgan Spurlock (Super-Size Me) following the fan's journey of seven con attendees. But Spurlock's not going it alone, because that would be too much for any man.

We got this open letter from Patrick Brower of Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago, and it's a little hypeish, but it sounds like...

Via Steve Bunche, who is writing a Dragon*Con report for us which we should have up any minute now.

Cheryl Lynn Eaton is blogging for Bleeding Cool . And here's the Flickr group, which is the must-see of the show.

Creation is launching a 20-date series of TWILIGHT conventions, writes Geoff Boucher at the LA Times: The three-day weekend fan conventions will tour around...

A fan in a yellow hat went to Chicago Comic-Con, saw Rob Liefeld -- who has certainly had his ups and downs in the...

Before I get into this, let me state unequivocally that San Diego Comic-Con is a fantastic experience, and despite any kvetching that follows, it's...

Steven Grant looks at the crazy goings on of the past week, specifically the "Dan DiDio is getting the Willie Randolph treatment!" rumor and...