Postkiwi Duncan Macleod

I spent yesterday wandering through the Supanova pop culture expo in Brisbane, my third year there. It was an interesting exercise in anthropology.

First thing I noticed was the groups of people heading towards the venue, many of whom were dressed as characters from comics, movies, games and television series. Jack Sparrow, Batman, Ty3 the Tasmanian Tiger, and Star Wars storm troopers and rebels.

Major shopping chains EB Games and JB Hi Fi were there in force, supplemented by a range of comic shops and gaming studios. There’s a thriving gaming industry in Brisbane, fueled by the local QUT and Griffith courses on animation, computing, sound and music.

For the dull moments we had entertainment laid on by the Australian Wrestling Federation Pro Wrestling, the vocal skills of Michael Winslow of Police Academy, and of course table games for the dedicated.

The Supanova crowd came in all shapes and sizes – with more variety than you’ll ever see in the beautiful people collections found on the ski fields and beaches. Symmetrical faces with tanned and toned bodies count for nothing in a culture that revels in the fantastic.