Is Comic-Con Still Just For Geeks?

Comic Con has always been the Mecca of the geek. Whether it’s showcasing the latest superhero movie, a Q&A session with a prominent comic book writer or a season reveal of the latest sci-fi franchise; it’s always been for geeks, by geeks. But what about this year?

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man

The last decade has seen a rise in popularity of geek culture, culminating in the ever-popular U.S sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, featuring four lovable geeks and their supposedly ‘normal’ neighbor Penny. Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj all eulogize Comic-Con in the show, and like many of so-called geeks who identify these characters, they collect innumerable fantasy and sci-fi object D’art.

Take a look, if you may, at the main events for this year’s Comic-Con. The cast and crew of Breaking Bad are popping along to talk about their award-winning drama, which is set to wrap up this August. Similarly, The Walking Dead guys will be in San Diego to talk zombies ahead of season four in October. The stars of Showtime's "Dexter" will convene in Convention Hall H for one last appearance as the show takes its final bow.

Chris Evans as Captain America

This year, immensely popular Television shows –lauded by many, not just the geek community – are top of the menu. Breaking Bad, which his being talked about in the same breath as The Wire and The Sopranos, is easily one of the best things on television in the past few years, but it’s not exclusive or niche. Everybody likes it. 

Of course, the more obscure, niche aspects of Comic-Con will be on display. Comic book expos for The Sandman: Overture, Ash and the Army of Darkness, the Hellboy series and The Sun Is Sick will keep the core exponents of geek culture happy, but it’s time we stopped attributing this mass-orgy of everything pop to the one-time super-hero obsessed clan society labelled geeks.

The Dark Knight trilogy helped put Batman back on the cinematic map

Comic-Con is ostensibly geeky; on the face of it, someone dressed up as Batman - taking pictures with fans - seems like sub-culture in practice, but one look at the box office numbers and the ticket sales for the Dark Knight trilogy tell you that this isn’t a sub-culture anymore – not by any means – this is the mass-produced mainstream, and Comic Con is its Woodstock, its Cannes, its Disneyland.