When we were either still dating or just married, my wife made fun of me for wanting to go to a comic book convention.
However, she quickly changed her mind when I described what a convention actually is versus what people think of and what the folks on “The Big Bang Theory” reinforce.
“Amber, what if there were a magical place where you could go and meet the actors, writers and directors behind ‘Lord of the Rings’ and the television shows (it was ‘Lost’ back then it would be ‘The Walking Dead’ today) you enjoy? Would you be interested in hanging out with like-minded fans and the creators of the thing you love? Oh, and lots of fans will be dressed up like their favorite characters in comics and movies.”
Her eyes lit up.
“Is that what it’s like?” she asked.
The answer, of course, is yes, that’s exactly what it is like.
The comic part is still a big part of these conventions, but comic books and the properties influenced by comic book sensibilities have, essentially, eaten the pop culture world. Marvel and DC are more movie and TV studios than they are comic book publishing houses. And an awful lot, much more I think than most people realize, of the television and movies we watch spring from the creative world of comics.
This past weekend, at Amber’s insistence, we attended Pensacon, Pensacola’s convention. Pensacon was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday and Sunday saw brisk business with serious crowds both at the Pensacola Bay Center, the nearby hotel, the Saenger Theater and in the downtown restaurant and bar scene for theme parties each night. Pensacon was assisted by the Pensacola Airport and the town trolley service (which shuttled attendees for free to various locations throughout the event).
Saturday was so massive that some people could not get into the floor of the convention by order of the fire marshal. They seated the crowds by sections in the hockey arena and let them in after a wait of 90 minutes or so.
Given that the convention was held in what is, I’m told, the biggest building in Pensacola, that is an amazing accomplishment.
So, let’s get down to the point here.
Panama City currently sustains three comic book shops, which I can promise you is as many as you will find in major cities like Atlanta or Orlando. We also have an annual convention.
Jayson Kretzer (bias alert: Kretzer is a friend) has run CreativeCon in Panama City for the past few years. He’s gotten some support from the local community, but none from the people who can invest thousands (perhaps even tens of thousands) into marketing the event or into the event itself.
Instead, each year, this money gets invested into concerts and similar activities that sometimes succeed based on the talent and sometimes fail because of a lack of interest or the weather. I am not saying all of that money should be diverted into a comic convention, but I do think that, perhaps, given what is happening in Pensacola, someone should take another look at a different sort of event for the Panama City/Panama City Beach area.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m biased here. I’d like my hometown to give this a shot and to bring a little bit more diversity to the tourism scene, which seems to be mostly focused on concerts, sports and the natural beauty of Panama City Beach.
Those are all great things, but I bet there’s room for something new.