It shouldn’t be a surprise that I, a comic book fan, wanted to meet and get to know other comic book fans for the filming of COMIX. I knew their stories were an essential part of the COMIX story. With crew in tow, we interviewed as many fans as we could at conventions like Comic-Con, Wonder-Con, Anime Expo, Wizard World, and Comikaze…and kept coming back for more! I knew that the fans are the driving force of these conventions, but what completely blew me away is their integrity, kindness, loyalty, sincerity, intelligence, and passion for the art form. These are the qualities that I admire and frankly, the fans have helped me to persevere over the last ten years.
It is amazing how fans can be seen as geeks. What is a geek, anyway? I decided to look it up. A geek is described as “a boring and unattractive social misfit.” This can’t be further from the truth. Consider that all of these conventions ARE places where interaction, in some form or another, whether in costume or not, are places where fans can socialize. There is nothing boring nor unattractive about those fans who have the courage not only to dress up but also have the intelligence to create their costume or their “look.” Their cosplay is indeed their expression of love. For instance, take Chris Gutierrez, a school teacher by day, a cosplayer by night. He makes his costumes from scratch and his attention to detail is genius. He talks about how he uses things like old carburetor parts from engines to make his costumes.
Devotion and courageous-abandon are words that I would use to describe fans. They let their imaginations run free and are not afraid to express themselves and show loyalty to what they love. It’s these fans that any genre would be lucky to have. They are the reason that the phenomenon has become the phenom that it is. I am proud that they are a part of my film and to be one of them.
———————————————————————————–
COMIX: Beyond the Comic Book Pages is an exciting new feature film documentary about the world of comic books told through the thoughts and images of the creators, artists, writers, collectors, store owners, independent publishers, and especially the passionate fans who have made it the phenomenon that it is today. Please support our Kickstarter campaign to help finish COMIX. We are almost there! You will receive all kinds of amazing rewards, including being the first to receive the movie! The link is below:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1732480229/comix-beyond-the-comic-book-pages-the-movi