New e-book charts the historical past of Comedian-Con and the “triumph of geek tradition”
“Fandom is a tribe of people,” says pop culture historian Mathew Klickstein. “Geeks, nerds, fanboys/fangirls, misfits, outsiders, weirdos — all bonding over pop culture nostalgia. People who speak a shorthand based on the singular universe built around certain niche passions. It’s more than a subculture, but rather an entire network of interconnected and often overlapping nodes of fandom.”
Klickstein is one of the authors behind a fascinating new book from Seattle-based comics publisher Fantagraphics, titled See You At San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture. The book uses the history of Comic-Con from the 1970s to the present day as a lens through which to explore the rise and rise of ‘geek culture’; and the ever-shifting ways in which ‘fandom’ has transformed pop culture today.
See You At San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture, cover
Women in comics panel
For the most part, the book takes the form of a rambling but charming chat between the key players throughout Comic-Con’s history. There’s a palpable sense of community and camaraderie here: while there’s certainly a bit of harking back to ‘the good old days’, there’s a warmth that makes it all feel very intimate — like us readers are part of the gang, too, even if we’ve never been anywhere near San Diego.
There’s nearly 50 contributors in all, ranging from big-name comics artists to the likes of infamous Troma legend Lloyd Kaufman; mumblecore maverick Kevin Smith; fantasy nut Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman and Coraline; and a raft of other “integral members of the Comic-Con and fandom scene”, as Fantagraphics puts it.
There’s even some women in there too, despite this being a historically rather male-dominated area: contributions come from, among others, actor and writer Felicia Day of web series The Guild, a show loosely based on her life as a gamer; and seminal octogenarian American comics artist, Trina Robbins.
Through this sprawling and strange cast of characters we hear funny stories, nostalgic stories, and heartbreaking stories; but ultimately, these tales weave together the narrative of the “transformation of mainstream American pop culture into comic book culture over the past century”.
Poolside at Jack Kirby’s house, photo courtesy of Barry Alfonso
Los Bros Hernandez at the Petunia conference in Oakland, California, 1984. Courtesy of Dave Miller
1982 Comic-Con attendees
There’s a wealth of gorgeous photography showing the world’s biggest pop culture gathering (as certified by Guinness World Records) through the ages; and as you might expect, it’s a surreal ride. There’s a baby precariously balancing, asleep, on the shelves of a comic book store; Lee Marrs, one of the first female underground comix creators, resplendent in some very 1970s specs and necklaces at the 1973 Berkeley conference; shots of the early conferences’ ‘dealer rooms’, stacked from floor to ceiling with neatly labelled comics; Trina Robbins drawing at an easel at an early 1980s conference, wearing a swimming costume, naturally.
Through those images and a raft of posters, flyers, badges, and shots of beautifully shonky, DIY costumes throughout the years, we get a glimpse inside not just a niche community, but an entire movement in the US, in which the cult became mainstream, and the geeks really did inherit the earth — or at least, a very devoted slice of the people that live on it.
American comics artist Gilbert Shelton
Batman creator Bob Kane
See You At San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture is published by Fantagraphics; fantagraphics.com