“Nerds of the world unite!” These words thundered from the lips of the creators of San Diego Comic-Con more than half a century ago as they summoned their kindred spirits from across the land. The call went out to every sci-fi and fantasy lover — every comic book, dime novel, and movie-obsessed fan and collector — to begin a pilgrimage. “Our time is here,” they cried.
It hasn’t even been four decades since William Shatner famously told Star Trek convention fans to “get a life” on Saturday Night Live, and now they are at the center of an ever-expanding IP universe that caters directly to them. Considering the 460,000 square feet of SDCC convention space, as well as the surrounding locales the convention has colonized — to say nothing of its global digital reach — it seems assured that such gatherings have permanently escaped basements.
The idea that anyone felt the need to create the “general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms” seems like a hoot now. But that’s only because it’s hard to remember how quickly the entertainment world became hypermediated in the 1980s with the advent of cable, home video, and personal computers, and even more so in the 1990s via the Internet.
Which is why it didn’t take long for attendance at Comic-Con to exponentially increase once word of its existence began to travel, from 300 attendees in August 1970, to 800 the following year, and 2,500 by 1974. Take a cursory look at some of the earliest attractions and it’s no wonder why fan interest spread so quickly. Forrest Ackerman — sci-fi fan, collector, curator, and literary agent — kicked things off at the very first event.
At the same time that fans and conventions were becoming ever more sophisticated about how they organized, these new media giants were getting savvier about how they packaged content and catered to those fans. Along with theinternet, conventions — especially the mecca of SDCC — became essential hubs for a new entertainment landscape in which traditionally “nerd” and comic book properties like Star Wars, Star Trek, Batman, and Spider-Man were the crown jewels.
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