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Comic-Con started in 1970 as a small gathering of devoted comic-book fans with a solid group of creators and fan favorites. It was very little different from the scores of other conventions throughout the country other than being in a great climate and having more than their share of talent willing to meet the fans while spending a weekend by the beach. But nobody back then could have seen the juggernaut that Comic-Con is now.

It is tempting to talk about their contribution to super-hero movies and nowhere in film is Comic-Con's considerable influence felt more. But this powerful influence that started with reactions to direct comic translations like Spider-Man and the X-Men has grown like wildfire. Every movie studio runs huge panels during Comic-Con. And not just for super-hero movies.

At Comic-Con in 2008 among the amazing responses generated by the Watchmen movie preview and sneak peeks at X-Men Origins among others there were huge audiences for Terminator Salvation (pre-Christian Bale's famous rant) and the Keanu Reeves "Day the Earth Stood Still" re-make. These are cited as traditional sci-fi movies with no comic book link, yet the fandom support was just as strong and the audience just as responsive. The Star Wars movies have been a powerful presence at Comic-Con since 1976 (yes, before the first movie came out) and give credit to these fans for the amazing success of that franchise.

In truth, the massive Comic-Con audiences (125,000 people in 2008, growing every year) are in the majority science fiction fans as well as super-hero fans. But more importantly, they are hyper-literate. There are streaming videos coming out from Comic-Con every day for just about every aspect and literally thousands of blogs written about each and every film presentation. What was once simple word of mouth support has become something much bigger and stronger.

The opposite can be true as well. The most famous Comic-Con case of a negative response to a movie was the much-panned Batman & Robin movie in 1997. This movie featured a star-studded cast and was helmed by very successful director and producer. What should have been a very successful blockbuster barely made back its investment. But the fans, of which Comic-Con attendees are among the most boisterous, rejected it heartily for its bad jokes and lame storyline. This directly affected the movie to the tune of as much as a hundred million dollars.

Recognizing this rabid fan base that once was considered simple devourers of anything that once graced a sectioned page, the studies now realize that this is an intelligent and affluent base that supports good movies (and some bad) not only by seeing the movie but by viral promotions that get out on the Internet and create waves of buzz that ad agencies dream about.

Most amazing of all the effects is the fact that movie studios show previews and clips at Comic-Con and then actually LISTEN to the attendee's responses. No concrete word on whether any movie has actually been changed due to this response, but the fact is that Comic-Con now serves as the largest and strongest voice in consumer feedback to science fiction films. From simple gathering to powerhouse studio advisory board, there should probably be a movie made about that!

Learn more about this author, Benjamin Lomax.
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