If you are a comic book fan you may have heard that Larry Hama, long time comic book creator, had a slight melt down at the Great Philly Comic con this past weekend because he was denied access to the green room.  Now this has raised an interesting question, Should comic book creators get the same treatment as celebrities at conventions?

As a comic book fan the quick and easy answer is yes, so why aren’t they given the star treatment at conventions? After all it is a comic book convention, right? Is this a conspiracy by the comic book convention oligarchy? Or something a bit simpler?

For the answer I think we need to look at the history of conventions. When comic cons first started they were gathering places of fans and collectors. They were held in basements and in the hallways of hotels. Collectors would gather at this pl;aces to share and trade books. Just groups of people that enjoyed comics and shared that enjoyment with fellow fans.

Well people working in the industry got wind of these gatherings and began attending them. Not to seek adoration or praise, but to meet fans, get feed back on the comics and to interact with the community. Not as fans betters, but as equals, and this is how it went for a pretty long time.

 Of course the cons grew over time and got a little bigger. Some even attracted b level celebrities. Never or very rarely was a huge movie star ever seen at a comic con, but that all changed when the X-Men and Spider-Man movies became huge successes.

More people than ever began attending cons. Conventions all of a sudden became big business. And with this new found success the conventions had an influx of cash that allowed them to begin inviting the movie stars that were appearing in these block buster films. Making the convention even more successful.

But of course now that a celebrities were attending cons, the conventions had to offer these stars amenities they were already use to in their careers. That include some kind of green room, a place where said celebrity can take a break, relax and have a few minutes away from their fans so they can eat. Because let’s be honest Robert Downey Jr can’t walk down the streets of Philly and get a cheese steak with out being accosted every 5 seconds to take a photo.

 I believe when they added green rooms to cons there was no malice of forethought to exclude the artists and writers it just kind of happened. And lets be honest here and take a second to look at it from the con’s point of view. Larry Hama might attract 300 local comic book fans to a show, but Rose McIver, Jack Gleeson and Edward James Olmos are going to attract thousands of attendees that might not even read comics. So from a business stand point they want to make sure the bigger assets are happy. And as far as anyone knew the  artists were already happy.

So in all honesty I don’t know what to think. I’m sure some cons going forward will change this policy and all invited guests at least will be allowed in the green room. Which I guess is OK. But some of the biggest stars in comics still buy tables at NY and San Diego, should they be allowed in the green room? Do we want to turn the comic book industry into a popularity contest where the prize is entrance to the green room at a con? Let me know what you think in the comments below. 

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