Geeks OUT @ Comic Con
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 12:30PM Reader Takeover Day! The Reader Spotlight is coming back soon but as a special triple treat here's the first of a few posts over the next 24 hours written by you, the reader. (Well, not you literally). Here's Charles Quittner to share his Comic Con adventure. TFE had neglected the annual NYC event (I was in LA) but Charles is here to rescue us! - Nathaniel
Here I am as a post-Disney acquired Spider-Man
Hello there! I’m Charles, a faithful reader of this fabulous site by way of a Google search for Oscar predictions 5 years ago.
This weekend was the 8th annual New York Comic Con at the Jacob K. Javits convention center. Media aficionados dressed in awesome costumes lined up 10th avenue to buy and browse merchandise of the geektastic variety and to catch glimpses of upcoming books, comic, TV series, and films from the mouths of the creators and stars. [More...]
Balrog from LotR poses for cameras while his friends go through heightened security
After three years of going to NYCC as an attendee, I went this year as a volunteer for the fabulous Geeks OUT organization. Geeks OUT is a super-cool group that seeks to build a community of queer geeks through awesome events (the recent "Gays of Future Past" event at Bartini was bunches of fun), outreach programs, and activism.
They’ve recently received national attention for their “Skip Ender’s Game” campaign. Though the upcoming science fiction film was officially absent from convention, Geeks OUT’s campaign was in full force with flyers for their upcoming Skip Ender’s Game event stickers with the campaign’s logo on it.
"Fifth Element" screening on November 1st with Geeks OUT
This is a campaign I can get behind not simply because of the producer and writer of the original novel Orson Scott Card's dick stance against gay marriage. First they made the title six-year-old character a teenager ?!? Yes Asa Butterfield looks very young for his age of 14 but what makes the novel so horrifying is the government manipulation of a young child to do their bidding, no matter who he kills along the way. The marketing is seriously downplaying the age thing. The trailer was bland and made the film look like standard, unimaginative, modern sci-fi. I’m also not sure Gavin Hood can lead a major action series -- X-men Origins: Wolverine basically made the studio reboot a reboot with The Wolverine. Lionsgate will inevitably want a series for Ender in yearly succession if this movie does well; the famous book is only one of 19 set in the world it introduced so they’d have plenty of stories to mine. This combined with the whole “I don’t want my money at the disposal of a former leader of an organization against positive change in human society” thing makes the film seem personally unappealing.
The booth also showcased and presented fabulous queer artists like Phil Jimenez (a comic book artist whose works include Wonder Woman, Infinite Crisis, and New X-men), the cast and writers of the acclaimed Husbands web series, Bill Roundy (from the webcomic Bars Crawl), and the sexy, up-and-coming artist Aedan Roberts who acted as Geeks OUT’s unofficial booth-babe.
Aeden Roberts photographed by Brian Anderson. Imagine Bob Hoskins in this costume!
I did get some time to walk the con which was the flashiest one I‘ve been too. There were so many awesome exhibitions including a life-sized model of a block from the town of South Park. Giveaways of swag were plentiful among the floor. I was present for a frantic Hunger Games promotion that mirrored the pressure of the titular games. A limited number of awesome prizes would be given to the first six people who put up a social media picture. Dozens of hopefuls whored their web-personas out to the studio in hopes of winning the coveted prize. While my competitors bitched about the unfair circumstances (low signal made their tweets, instagrams, and status updates super slow), I took off like Katniss to find signal. I found it, claimed victory in the genius-marketing ploy, and proudly received my reward: a mockingjay pin valued at $6.20 a poster of Katniss in her flawless Victor dress by costume designer Trish Summervile (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
Though I didn’t have time to do much outside the booth, I had a great time fighting homophobia in Hollywood and helping to empower gay geeks. Do ever go to the Con? Share your Comic Con adventure in the comments.
More Comic Con? Check out these galleries
Absolute Best Cosplay at i09 (including a Human Sock Monkey and Rogue as a Playboy Bunny)
Hottest Comic Con Guys at Boy Culture (including Wolverine making out with Lara Croft)
Reader Comments (6)
I have the sudden urge to play Mario Bros, any iteration. (although my favorite is Mario Cart)
Sadly, I haven't been to either NYCC or the SCC. I would love to go to both at one point but money is an issue and I never remember when they sell tickets. I don't think I'd ever dress up for one - I feel too self-conscious to dress up for halloween - but I still like to go. As for Ender's Game controversy, that's such a slippery slope.
On the one hand, I don't think the author's personal views should be held against a film that is being made by completely different people (people who probably don't share those views at all). On the other hand, however, giving money to someone or something you are strong against is a sign you support such behavior and that sends the wrong message. Ultimately, it's really a matter of a person's belief system: Some people can separate their values from their entertainment and some cannot.
I think I'll be in the "wait and see" camp for Ender's Game. I'm pretty okay separating out author's personal views when the piece of work is good so if the movie has good word of mouth and/or the critics love it then I'll check it out. If not, then no big loss either way.
As for that Mario... Mamma Mia!
D'OVE L'AMORE!!!!
I understand the film was also made by people who distanced themselves from Card's views but he is still the author and a key producer on the film. Also, I was less than interested in a live-action film adaptation before I read about his antigay track record.
mark -- what are you implying?