Hit up a comic con in San Diego last weekend and saw something wild

I went to the big comic con in San Diego last Saturday. It was my first time going in about 5 years. What caught my attention was how many people were walking around with like 20 different variant covers of the same issue. One dude near me had 3 copies of the same Batman #157 all in different plastic cases. And he was showing them off like trophies. But when I asked him if he actually read any of them, he just shrugged and said "I buy them to flip later." It felt less like a fan community and more like a stock market floor. Anyone else notice cons turning into just reseller warehouses instead of places to actually talk about stories and art?

2 comments

2 Comments

davidh881d ago

Wait, did you check his pockets for a laminated price guide and a fanny pack full of graded slabs? Sounds like the guy was running a one-man stock exchange out of his tote bag instead of enjoying the actual cosplay and art. Guess it's cheaper than a brokerage account, but man, where's the soul in flipping comics you haven't even sniffed the ink off of?

simon3781d ago

@davidh88 you nailed it with "sniffed the ink off of" because that is EXACTLY the level of disconnect we're seeing. These people treat comic books like they're trading stocks, not stories. But here's my REAL question for you - what do you think happens to the community when the ONLY interaction a new fan has at a con is with someone like that? I mean, I've seen kids walk up to a table with a modern issue they're proud of and get SHOT DOWN by some flipper who only cares about a 9.8 CGC copy of some key issue. How do we convince these speculators that crushing a kid's enthusiasm with a price check is actually hurting the hobby way more than any bad comic adaptation ever could?