How San Diego Comic Con Still Belongs To The Comics Industry

Comic-Con International: San Diego, the largest comic book convention in the nation, kicks off today. For 35 years, the comic book industry and its fans have descended on San Diego, turning the city into a geeky paradise for a weekend. Comic-Con has grown enormously from its humble roots as a 300 person convention into the multi-genre mega-event it is today, filled with all sorts of movie, television and comic announcements.

With the growth of Comic-Con comes a growing wave of disillusionment with the convention, a thought that the growing Hollywood presence has somehow taken the comics out of Comic-Con. It's almost an annual tradition for some creator or comics blogger, sick of the large crowds and constant streams of announcements, to declare that Comic-Con isn't about comics anymore. They're partially right, Comic-Con has transcended comics, it's about just about every sort of geeky entertainment you can think of, whether it appears in books, television, movies, anime or comics. However, Comic-Con remains one of the most important annual events for the comics industry and one of its biggest weekends.

For most comic professionals, Comic-Con is the biggest working weekend of the year. Thousands of comics creators, editors, and publishers are entering the city as I write this, getting ready to network, make pitches and look for collaborators for upcoming projects. While most comic professionals attend multiple conventions every year, Comic-Con represents the one place where you can find (almost) everyone. Ask any comics professional about Comic-Con, and almost all of them will talk about at least one comics project or connection with a comics editor or artist that got its start at Comic-Con.

Not only is Comic-Con important due to the sheer number of comics creator who attend the convention, it also marks the critical announcement period for many of the year's major comic announcements. Reading a comic book blog or website during Comic-Con almost always causes at least a little bit of information overload, as SDCC usually brings with it hundreds of announcements and news items about upcoming comics and projects. Recently, many publishers have tried to "beat the rush" and announce their major upcoming comics before Comic-Con arrives. Heck, Image Comics even launched their own one day "Image Expo" to promote just their comics the week before Comic-Con starts. Even so, the comic industry is still working around Comic-Con and trying Even so, the comics industry is naturally predisposed to schedule their biggest announcements around Comic-Con. The comics industry entire calendar is built around Comic-Con.

Finally, there's an excitement level and enthusiasm that surrounds Comic-Con that simply can't be matched anywhere else in comics. Comic-Con is a BIG DEAL. It's a big deal to comics pros, it's a big deal to comics fans, it's a big deal to people who know nothing about comics but follow pop culture. Comic-Con is one of the few times a year where people get excited about comics (and whatever other geeky passions they have, too.) It's the high point of the comics year, the time where comics fans can actually act like comics fans without regards to societal pressure or creeping disillusionment. At the very least, Comic-Con is the one time a year where thousands of comics fans are all enjoying comics instead of being online and whining about how unhappy comics make them. Comic-Con is fan culture personified, and that sort of thing always has a place in a comics industry that fully relies on its fans to survive.

You can't take the comics out of Comic-Con, no matter how many Hollywood studios arrive to present at San Diego. At its core, Comic-Con is still all about comics, and comics is still all about Comic-Con, no matter how much it doesn't want to admit it.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments, and follow along with ComicBook.com's San Diego Comic Con 2015 coverage by clicking here.