I don't have anything else to say about Comic-Con that anyone else hasn't already covered or that'll earn me scorn. [I hope whoever accuses me of being a snob realizes I am equal parts booth troll and floor troll, Paul Pope and Eddie Campbell fan, geek and douchebag. I am not however, a fan of tevabirkencrocs or No Fear, and if that's wrong, I don't want to ever be right.]
I do however have one small observation. In the 8 years I've been in the company of comics paraphernalia and the con, three of them have been election years. But in neither of the preceding two was anyone doing presidential campaign merchandising. I've seen parodic images of Bush, and vintage pins, Nader shirts on attendees, political statements about American congress, and the war in Iraq, but never ever, election politic campaign materials actually being distributed.
This year, there was not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Obama x Comics artifacts prominently exposed on the floor.
Exhibit 1:
Ron English poster "mash up" of Obama and Abe Lincoln. This is part of a group of prints by Upper Playground, including the Fairey CHANGE poster and a print by Sam Flores. Last Gasp was selling these for $20 a pop. I saw one in Silverlake after the Con selling for a lot more...Exhibit 2:
Alex Ross's SuperObama T-shirt. I bought a signed print, not so much because I like Obama but because of the implications of a Superman-Obama. Mythical icon, dual identities...Exhibit 3:
This poster wasn't the actual merchandise, but there was an "Adama For President" delegate on the floor handing out "Adama - Obama 2008" bumper stickers and flyers of E.J. Olmos and B. Obama in back-to-back profile. [You can download their campaign posters for your own guerrilla campaign purposes.]
I love this mashup because 1. I love Battlestar Galactica, though 2. BSG claims no association with it. i.e. It's BSG fans who've started the faux campaign on their own. Like, the Adama delegate doesn't make money from BSG or Sci-Fi channel. It's ultimate fandom 3. Mexican-American and African-American oval office? Hellllllz yeah.
Exhibit 4:
And of course, the thing that inspired it all (sort of). Shepard Fairey's campaign posters...This wasn't actually selling at a booth, but there was an Obama delegate at the Con distributing miniature versions of this print as "cell phone stickers."Did you see any Obama x Comics merch I've missed? Memories of past campaign paraphernalia on the floor?
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