Staggering in its Absurdity, More So in its Stupidity

Did you hear about the protest at the (fast approaching) Comic-Con in San Diego this year? You know, the one with great social relevance and nobility behind its inception?

No? Really?

Oh, right. I forgot.

That's probably because there isn't one. With the social relevance and the nobility, I mean.

What there will be, however, is a protest by (insane) fans (who have nothing better to do, apparently), in an effort to stop DC Comics from relaunching their titles in the fall.

Let me repeat that, just in case you haven't had your coffee yet.

A group of fans will be lined up outside of San Diego Comic-Con this year, protesting the relaunch of the entire line of DC comics later this year.

A protest. Over DC's relaunch in the fa--

A protest about FICTIONAL THINGS THAT WILL BE HAPPENING TO FICTIONAL CHARACTERS?!?!

Don't worry, though. As with all nut jobs, they have a (slightly grammatically incorrect) mission statement. Oh, yes. They do.

From their now-defunct Facebook page:

Are you utterly baffled, disappointed and just ANGRY to see how DC ruins your favorite character's design and wipes decades of comic history out of the mainstream universe? Well, you're not alone!

And why not make some noise at the biggest pop-culture event this year, where creators, artists and writers appear in person - show them how fans - the fans of the classic characters, the (nevertheless slightly changing) designs, the character's history and personality - really feel about it!

There was a time, we used to protest things like war, and unfair treatment of workers. Now, we protest a comic company relaunching their line of books.

*sigh*

I guess this year's "protest" is so disappointing to me, because of what happened at the Con last year.

A fanatical and media attention-seeking group protested Comic-Con in 2010, brandishing hateful signs and just being mean, really. They did so to make the news, of course. But instead, the story of that particular day was the counter-protest, held by convention-goers, who held up their own, hilarious and on-the-nose signs.

It was a wonderful showing of geek culture triumphing and standing up to hate speech. Hate speech, mind you, that had gone pretty much uncontested (at least by counter-protesters) to that point.

It really was a great moment, and news outlets--instead of reporting on the funny costumes and using taglines like, "Bif, Bam, Pow!"--focused on the creativity, and the heart, of what comics- and geekdom can be about.

This year? Not so much. This year, we'll protest DC Comics.

Again, I say, *sigh*.