When Comic-Con began 40 years ago, it was pretty much a bunch of guys and their comic books. My how times have changed. Now it's a multi-day, multi-million dollar tent pole event. Gaming, TV, and movies are all using the convention as a springboard to success, though not all succeed. It's less a comic convention now and more a convention about what would interest comic book fans. A big recurring theme this year was not just the increase in exposure for other meduims, but also the growing influence of the internet on each of them.
In his panel for The Frog Princess and Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo, John Lasseter announced that Disney/Pixar would be releasing exclusive content to their Facebook page with shorts and behind the scenes footage of the animation process.
Huge on YouTube, the comedy group Derrick Comedy was picked up by Roadside Attractions for the feature film Mystery Team. The movie follows the adventures of three bumbling Encyclopedia Brown-type sleuths trying to solve an adult mystery. The group has had several videos go viral in the college circuit, and if the clip shown during the Roadside Attractions panel is any indication, this adventure is definitely not for kids.
People were even using the internet to discuss Comic-Con. The live podcast/get together of fans and top Twilight bloggers discussing the New Moon panel and their Comic-Con experiences is only one such example.
Even family-friendly entertainment made it to Comic-Con. The popular podcast The Radio Adventures of Doctor Floyd did a live podcast on Sunday morning to a delighted audience of kids and adults alike. Able to attract major voice talents like Stan Freberg, Frank Conniff (Mystery Science Theater 3,000), and June Foray (the voice of Rocky in Rocky and Bullwinkle), the radio show is now it talks of being developed into a TV series or movie.