Notes from my first comic con
Geek culture, Kevin Smith and extreme enthusiasm
It might surprise some to find out that, before last weekend, I had never been to any sort of comic book or pop culture convention. As someone who loves film and has written about it for nearly 20 years, many people would think it’s something right up my alley, especially as a fan of comic book movies and horror.
But the truth is, I’d never much considered going. Oh sure, back when San Diego Comic Con was the place for big movie announcements, I dreamt of being in Hall H as the biggest reveals were made (something that appears to be on the wane). But as someone who isn’t a big fan of crowds, lines and spending money I don’t have, I always kind of assumed they weren’t my thing.
Plus, I was also worried I might be the ultimate outsider. I love movies, but I’m not a collector or autograph hound. I enjoy comic books, but my knowledge is extremely surface level. My wife will tell you I can name drop like no one else (she’s right), but I’ve never had the desire to wait in line for hours and pay money to get a photo with a celebrity. Would this be a case where I wasn’t geeky enough for geek culture?
But late last week, I saw a Facebook ad for a comic book/pop culture convention called Astronomicon that was happening in my town over the weekend. In fact, it wasn’t just in my town; it was literally just outside our subdivision, about a mile from me. Tickets were relatively inexpensive, and the main draw was that director Kevin Smith and most of his Clerks cast would be on hand and speaking at panels. I’ve written before about how instrumental Smith was in my early film geek days, and I’d seen one of his Q&As before and had a great time. I picked up a ticket for Saturday.
I have to admit I was a bit nervous as I parked my car and walked toward the entrance. I didn’t know what to expect. I was going alone – it was too short of notice to grab a friend – and I didn’t quite know how to navigate between the panels and what to expect on the convention floor. Would I be wandering around in a daze, awkwardly? Would I be bored out of my mind?
I needn’t have worried. The second I passed by one of three Ectomobiles in the parking lot, I knew I was with my people. I mingled alongside guests dressed as Silent Bob, Spider-Man, Freddy Kreuger, and the clerks from Clerks. I grabbed a drink and wandered the convention floor, taking in the wonderful art on display and the cosplay booths. I didn’t pay for an autograph or a photo – I still feel like that would be the grown-up equivalent of paying someone to be my friend – but I did kind of geek out as I saw everyone from the cast of Clerks to Heather Langenkamp from A Nightmare on Elm Street, to Tom Savini (who made the gory effects for Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th, among many others) sitting and chatting with guests. A few highlights:
The first panel of the day was celebrating the near-30th anniversary of Clerks. Smith wasn’t there for that one, but most of the cast was, including Brian O’ Halloran (Dante), Jeff Anderson (Randal), Trevor Fehrman (Elias in Clerks 2 and Clerks 3) and Marilyn Ghigliotti (Veronica). I’ll admit that Clerks is not my favorite View Askenwiverse movie, but I do think it’s one of the most important films from the ‘90s indie scene and it’s still extremely funny (I think Clerks 2 and Clerks 3 also work). And it was a lot of fun to hear this cast – who I’m sure have told these stories countless times – crack wise, tease each other and shed light on filming the movie. There was a time in the 2000’s where Kevin Smith was one of my favorite filmmakers, and these actors pop up in several of his films. Even though I’ve met and interviewed several famous folk, there was something really surreal about seeing these people in person. My favorite moment was an offhand one, when the moderator made a remark about not knowing what McDonald’s Grimace is and Anderson jumped up out of his seat, slammed his palm on the table and happily shouted “I know this! He’s a f—ing taste bud!” The glee in his eyes was such a Randal moment (and he’s right about Grimace).
I was going to head back to the exhibition hall after the Clerks panel, but thought instead I’d stick around and see the next guest. It was Dave Santia, a local artist who bills himself as the “world’s-tallest speed painter” (an odd record, but the dude is tall). I knew nothing about him, but I think this was the moment that I got caught up in the fun of the whole event. Santia came out in light-up coveralls and, as music played and the crowd cheered, he created three incredible paintings of Kevin Smith, Freddy Kreuger and Jason Voorhees in less than 45 minutes. I’m a reserved person; I don’t yell or scream. Even at concerts, the most I do is stand and bob slightly with my arms folded. But I got really pulled into this, cheering and hooting with everyone else, and my jaw dropped when I realized what each painting was. I’d never seen anyone do this – I wasn’t even aware speed-painting was a thing – and it was an extremely cool experience.
I took some time to tour the exhibition hall after that. Like I said, I’m not a collector and I have just a slight level of comic book knowledge. And lord knows I’m too insecure to cosplay. But man, I could have spent hours – and hundreds of dollars on that floor. There were amazing drawings and paintings of superheroes, horror icons and, of course, the View Askew characters. There were, of course, numerous comic book collections to browse through, as well as DVDs and VHS tapes. And my god, the toys. Funko pops. Giant Gremlins figurines. Simpsons action figures. Ghostbusters toys from my childhood. And every few steps, I’d find someone I could take a photo of. There are photos of Spider-Man and Doc Ock I grabbed for my son. I had the Detroit Area Ghostbusters pose for a photo under an inflatable Mr. Stay-Puft. Later, they were joined by Michael Myers, Freddy and Jason.
Fun story: Walking past autograph row, I walked past an open door to the loading dock and was hit by an immense cloud of weed smoke. I looked to my right and who was standing there but Jason Mewes? Now, I know Mewes hasn’t smoked weed in something like 15 years, so my guess is the pot smell was coming in from workers on the loading dock. But still, to get hit with a whiff of weed and see Jay standing there was incredibly on brand. When I was walking past later, I heard him cheerfully shout out “snootchie bootchies,” which was just perfect.
I caught two cosplay contests, one for kids and one for adults. Both were fantastic – I particularly loved the little girl dressed in a business suit and bloody makeup as “dead office lady,” who let out one of the most fantastic horror movie screams I’ve ever heard. The adult costumes were a lot of fun – a grown-up Rainbow Brite won, and she was good, but I kind of preferred the Jason Voorhees who showed up not only with a grisly mask under his hockey mask but his own victim in a sleeping bag (also, bonus points to the Spaceballs).
Now, I know all of this is likely par for the course for most of these conventions; I experienced nothing that people who’ve been going to these for years probably haven’t. But I loved it. And I was particularly surprised by the tone of the entire event, which was one of joy and enthusiasm. There was a sense of goodwill and community that you don’t see everywhere, especially when so much of our pop culture discourse is isolated to online spaces. People dressed up as their favorite characters and icons and everyone cheered them on – and there was no sense of ridicule or derision from the people who weren’t dressed up; there was no “look at the freaks” tones that you might get from “regular” moviegoers who see people dressed up on opening night. People clapped and cheered; they walked up to tell the others how much they enjoyed their costumes.
I’m often pretty proud of my Gen X identity, mostly because it allows me not to be identified as either a Baby Boomer or a Millennial. I often think we had better taste in music and movies than other generations. But one thing that I picked up in the 1990s that I’ve had a hard time shaking is the idea that we should curb our enthusiasm and dim our excitement. I was taught to keep an ironic distance; don’t be too much of a fan. It’s the mentality that made me wear the other school’s colors to high school pep rallies or that encouraged us not to wear our favorite band’s T-shirts to their concerts. Even with movies – an art form I love and try to approach with an open mind – I sometimes adopt a mindset with really popular items that says they have to prove their goodness to me; they’re lame until proven great, and sincerity is still suspect.
But there was none of that here. People showed up because they were fans. Vendors sold art they made of the pop culture they loved. Fans waited in line and paid close to $100 at times to get a photo and chat with someone who was in a movie that was important to them. People were happy to ask for photos of cosplayers, who were even happier to stop and pose. There was no irony in our cheering for Dave Santia; we genuinely screamed and hollered because what he did was amazing to watch and he took joy in doing it. One panel attendee got choked up talking to the Clerks cast because the ending of Clerks 3 had helped him process feelings about the death of his best friends. Before the Kevin Smith panel, I grabbed a drink and sat down, and I listened to a group of guys wax on eloquently and with passion about a Spider-Man arc in the comics.
It was a genuine wave of positivity, enthusiasm and gratitude toward artists, and it was contagious. Any anxiety I had walking in washed away as I was buoyed by the goodwill. I walked around with a smile on my face. I laughed. I got excited about things. I remembered that it’s fun to enjoy stuff.
And now, let’s talk a bit about the Kevin Smith panel that closed it out. He was, as you’d expect, as great a raconteur as they come. He came out and tossed questions right to the audience because he was only scheduled for an hour; he actually ended up entertaining the crowd for closer to two. He talked about his movies, but he also talked at length about his time on “Degrassi.” He discussed the writer’s strike and the threats AI could pose to the industry. He talked about his dog who recently died and his mother who recently came home from a long hospital stay. He talked about superhero fatigue and streaming problems, and gave an update on his upcoming projects (he’s scheduled to start filming The 4:30 Movie this summer, and Mallrats 2 and MooseJaws are still possibilities). He was funny, open and his tone was exactly what you’d expect – he didn’t hold court like it was our gift to get to hear from him; he seemed genuinely engaged and happy to talk to the people who’ve supported his work.
And it got me thinking about Smith and his work, which I’ve written a lot about here. In the late 90s and early aughts, both Chasing Amy and Dogma were essential to my growth as a filmgoer – particularly one who’d been raised with politics and views of faith that might have needed a bit of challenging. And I followed him right up through Cop Out (which, much as I like Smith, is an awful film). I’ve checked in sporadically through the years, and I thought last year’s Clerks 3 had genuine moments of sweetness and weight. But by and large, my attitude over the last few years has been that I’d outgrown Kevin Smith (Smith addressed that on Saturday, too; and he said that while those fans may have grown up, “I haven’t.”).
And maybe I have reached a point where his movies won’t hit as hard as they used to, and there are ones I’ll like and ones that just won’t connect with me (that happens with most artists). But you know what? I think I’m still a Kevin Smith fan. Whatever some Podunk critic in Detroit might think of his work, he’s doing work that makes him happy. He’s working with his friends, telling the stories he wants to tell. He seems genuinely happy to be doing just that. And while they don’t all work for me, they all are undeniably films made with his voice. He’s a true independent, and I do think that he’s a voice people are going to go back and revisit in years to come because it’s the rare thing that feels unique in our IP-obsessed age (Smith’s Askewniverse may be IP, but at least he’s playing the with the toys he built).
And I left that meeting center Saturday night feeling grateful. Without Smith, I likely wouldn’t have taken a chance on some films that challenged me as a fledgling critic. The man still tells some great stories, and I really do hope his next film is a good one. But more than that, in a day filled with a sense of joy, gratitude and community, I think Smith is a director who consistently displays that in his work and in his interaction with his fan community. And I’m thankful for that, as well as the day I got to spend immersed in what we would normally call geek culture, but that I like to think of as “enthusiastic community.”