Freak flags unfurled and flying high
I selfishly went to Comic-Con in San Diego this weekend in search of material. I was hoping it was going to be a room of adult male virgins and other random freaks. It turned out to be like Washington Square Park on a weekend, except with an inordinate amount of families.
When did comics, animation, and anime go mainstream? Has gaming helped? I don’t know. I saw a lot of father/son combos, which means somebody in the convention center was having sex. There were also a healthy percentage of Asian females dressed up as little school girls. I assume they had an anime fetish, or were there to help the teen male virgins. I saw a newborn in a Spiderman onesie, and a family of Jedi warriors. I was dressed in normal street clothes, but added a touch of freak by putting my hair up in a Princess-Leia-on-acid configuration.
I found myself enjoying the areas catering to younger audiences. The Pokemon booth rocked and I scored some trading cards for my nephews. Nickelodeon also had a booth featuring Jimmy Neutron and my beloved Spongebob. The kids were going ape shit for swag and raffle drawings. It was exciting to watch.
My purchases were tame. I bought Giant Robot t-shirts for my nephews. A girl in my office has her Jesus bobblehead pointing into my cube, so I got a Quick Draw McGraw and Squiddly Diddly to complete the unholy trinity.
Overall, a tame day that left me actually missing New York.