Fanboys and Comic Geeks Unite: It's Time For 2008 Comic-Con International, July 24-27

Entering its 40th year, Comic-Con International is arguably at its biggest and most influential in 2008. Entertainment Weekly is featuring the San Diego event in its most recent issue, and USAToday.com pop culture columnist Whitney Matheson blogs all week from the event, among the many mainstream media coverage.

And although the annual gathering of comic book geeks and fanboys has grown to the point of bursting the San Diego International Convention Center to its seams (over 120,000 attendees over the four-day pop culture orgy), Comic-Con is still the one place for those who always felt perhaps on the fringe or outside life's mainstream to come together with others of a kindred spirit.

Oh, sure, Hollywood has in recent years embraced their presence at Comic-Con, knowing that the cult status of their films and TV shows can be made or broken by enthusiasts or detractors who blog about new or returning projects. But at its heart and soul, Comic-Con will always be the bastion of fans of Frank Miller, Stan Lee, DC and Marvel Comics, and, of course, Star Wars, even though you're as likely to get a glimpse of Hollywood's Keanu Reeves, the cast of Lost, Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith, or Jennifer Love Hewitt at this year's gathering.

But Hollywood knows they need Comic-Con, and those attending know that. Comic-Con International is a great example of balancing the right mix of cult status and acceptance with the embrace of the pop mainstream just before you can accuse the organizers of selling out. Oh sure, some veterans may gripe that the annual geekfest has gotten much too big, and yearn for the days when it was held in a couple of stuffy rooms at the old El Cortez Hotel.

Has Comic-Con has gotten too big? - it is completely sold out (yeah, you heard it right) and there are persistent rumors that it may flee San Diego for the bigger facilities of Las Vegas. But when you think about it, where else are grown men who collect action figures and comic books, who idolize Star Wars and Battlestar Gallactica, going to reveal their inner dweeb with their fellow brethren?

Maybe it's not that Comic-Con has gotten too big - maybe it's just that more adults are acknowledging their arrested development and need for escapism. And that's not so bad, is it?

Read more about the 2008 Comic-Con International in my article here.

Read about the Comic-Con Event Spotlights here.

Read my Comic-Con Survival Tips right here.

Read Deb Aoki's About.com manga coverage of Comic-Con here.