This collection of 13 new essays employs ethnographic methods to investigate San Diego's Comic-Con International, the largest annual celebration of the popular arts in North America. Working from a common grounding in fan studies, these individual explorations examine a range of cultural practices at an event drawing crowds of nearly 125,000 each summer.
Investigations range from the practices of fans costuming themselves to the talk of corporate marketers. The collection seeks to expand fan studies, exploring Comic-Con International more deeply than any publication before it.

Ben Bolling is a Jacob K. Javits Fellow in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Matthew J. Smith is professor and director of the School of Communication at Radford University, where he teaches courses in media studies, including graphic storytelling. He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Table of Contents


Foreword: Visiting Comic-Con, Revisiting Comic Book Culture¿(Matthew Pustz) ¿1

Introduction: The Pilgrimage to Comic-Con (Matthew J. Smith) ¿9

Part I: Identity and Play at Comic-Con Actualized Fantasy at Comic-Con and the Confessions of a "Sad Cosplayer" (Kane Anderson) ¿15

"Love to Mess with Minds": En(gendering) Identities Through Crossplay (Catherine Thomas) ¿29

Part II: Gendered Fandom

Queer Conversations: LGBTIQ Consumer/Producer Interface at Comic-Con and the Intransitive Writing of Comics (Ben Bolling)¿40

Soaring to New (?) Heights: Cute, Tough, Geek Girls and Post-Feminist Discourse (Lisa H. Kaplan) ¿52

You Don't Own Me: The Representation of Twilight Fandom (Melissa Miller) ¿63

Part III: Negotiating Fandom Through Communicative Practice

"What Can You Tell Me About [Blank]?" Exploring the Social Rules of Fan Talk (Brian Swafford) ¿76

Facing Front True Believers: Panels as Exercises in Image Management (Jon Judy and Brad Palmer) ¿88

"You are not a true geek, I am": The Role of Communicative Aggression in Geek Culture (Chad Wertley) ¿102

Part IV: Technology and Participation

"Ask me about my zombie plan": Fan Dissection and Female Participation in RedvsBlue (Cameron Catalfu) ¿116

Where Are the Web Shows? (Tanya D. Zuk) ¿128

Part V: Attending

What Are We Waiting For? A Look at Line Culture (Regina C. Gasser)¿142

Tense Proximities Between CCI's Comic Book Consumers, Fans and Creators (Christian Sager) ¿153

The Volunteer Experience: Meaning, Motivation and Role Conflict in a Temporary Organization (Michael J. Tornes)¿169

Afterword (Randy Duncan and Peter M. Coogan) ¿183

References ¿187

About the Contributors ¿195

Index ¿199