FAN EXPO 2026 - How Cons Have Changed
Cons used to be the final place for has been celebrities to garner attention. That notion has changed. Cons are now lucrative industries for A-listers and D-listers alike. The stereotypical cave dwellers are still present, but they’re the minority at a festival that has now become Woodstock for pop culture. Yet, not necessarily the comic books that inspired it all. Unless you’re a household-name comic book artist, which is a list one can count on two hands, you’re likely going to have an empty booth while there are hundreds lined up to see Mel Gibson, who you can tell by the scowling forced smile and empty eyes that he, in polite words, does not want to be there. Cons have become more about celebrity pictures than about books with pictures.
Before Comic-Cons became more like CinemaCons, Cons focused on displaying and selling affordable comic books to the masses, while attracting comic book fans to a place where they could hang out together without feeling judged. That spirit is gone when everyone in attendance can’t even talk to each other because they’re canned in like sardines and tripping over someone’s fake Hobbit foot. Still, if you’re curious about Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, you can get an affordable reprint. Each year, at each Con, the number of comic books visibly shrinks even more. It’s difficult, however, to entirely critique the convention for abandoning subculture for pop culture. At the end of the day, we all want to make money.
Nostalgia draws in those curious about comics and opens them to a world of fiction that could delight them. As for the dedicated comic book geeks, they get to dress as their favorite character and share in their nerdiness with other people without shame. What used to be considered dorky is now largely embraced. It’s not looked down on or laughed at to have a lifelike Darth Vader suit replica. That is, as long as you have a job. People no longer have to feel shy to admit they attended a con. Nor do the stars have to feel embarrassed to go to one.
In 2016, some actors were paid a guaranteed rate of $5,000 minimum to $10,000 at top conventions. Think of what that money would balloon to in 2026. Many talents commonly earn $50,000 to $100,000 for prime conventions. Actors are making more in two days from a con than they would in two weeks of shooting their show. Even A-listers like Kurt Russell charge a minimum of $266.24 for a photo op. Kurt Russell's prices are certainly fairer than those of some other A-listers from previous years who shall not be named. Russel was a jovial gentleman. Heck, you have to be when you’re making that much for doing some pictures.
Most actors are happy to collect the money, while others keep a safe distance from sweaty men who want to touch an attractive celebrity. The interactions are pleasant, but artificial and transactional. However, most celebrities, contrary to popular belief, are hardworking people who earned their success due to their openness and ability to learn. Most of the stars might be putting on a fake smile because they’re happy to get your money, but they’re usually genuinely happy to see their fans. Unfortunately, they have to rush fans through the line like cattle since thousands are waiting.
If you want a real photo opportunity and conversation, go to an empty or short celebrity line. I recall having wonderful conversations with actors and artists when the pandemic made people afraid to go to cons, and rightfully so. Remember 2020’s C2E2? If you’re in line to see an A lister you get to enjoy the smell of a hairy man’s armpit while he’s having a mental breakdown behind you. Conventions should be enjoyed for the showroom floor. If you’re there to see the comics, toys, illustrators, and authors- you’ll have a good time. If you want to attend the panels or get autographs, enjoy the airport-simulation experience.
We forget about the artists and get more excited to see the actors who spoke the artists’ lines. This author is guilty of such shallowness as well. Still, if you go to a con, attend the cosplay events. It’s fashion at its finest, where all three days at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center feel like Halloween on crack.
Still, what should feel like a meaningful reunion of the director and cast for Halloween or The Thing is monetized and filtered through black carpets that wrap around endlessly like the black lodge from Twin Peaks, then exit to more lines. Fan Expo has done this event before and can do better. I take no joy in being a Karen, but when one person’s Hulk hand is pushing you, while Captain America’s shield is shoving you in line, it’s hard to to not say anything.
What used to be a magical place of pop and subculture coming together where you can meet good people is regressing to a place where people are growing frustrated with one another because there’s just too many of them, and too little spread-out space. I may not have been around Comic-Cons when they weren’t celebrity conventions, but that feeling from 2019 is getting worse when it could be improving. It’s understandable; public events with 75,00 people are a madhouse. Yet with a little more organization and better usage of space, FAN EXPO could be something special.
Fan Expo ran from August 14-16 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
