Monday, April 7th, 2008
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.
Tags: Brisbane, pop culture, Supanova
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Saturday, April 9th, 2005
My 10 year old daughter talked me into taking her along to Supanova today - at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane. I didn’t really know what I was in for. When we arrived we bumped into an array of in-character twenty-somethings ranging from one of the Incredibles to Sora of Kingdom Hearts. One of the car park attendants was dressed up as Darth Vader. The police were there interviewing people caught stealing cards from one of the stores inside.
Comics Galore
Walking into the display hall we mingled with comic writers/artists Jason Rand from Small Gods, Glenn Ford from The Phantom, Eddie Campbell & Daren White from Batman Order of the Beasts, Stewart McKenny from Captain America, and Nicola Scott from Star Wars Tales. Somewhere round there was Scott Lobdell, creator of Marvel’s Generation X series, and writer for Uncanny X-Men and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Role Playing Card Games
We queued for a free introduction and starter kit for Upper Deck Entertainment. Bought the Yu-gi-Oh movie from JB HiFi who threw in another starter pack! Nice.
Star Wars Convention
We sat in on a question and answers session with Ray Park, martial arts actor who starred as Darth Maul in Star Wars I and The Toad in X-Men. We said kia ora to Temuera Morrison at the barbecue, who was at Supanova because of his role as Jango Fett and the Clone Army in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. We watched the trailers for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
Anime Action
At the Madman Entertainment Anime Theatre we were treated to a panel of artists and writers introducing their work. Great artists but not good with an audience.
Movies
Had a chat with Dov Kornits, the producer of Filmink an Australian film review magazine. Subscribed on the spot for six months. Looks like a good alternative to Empire which is aimed at 18 - 25 year old ‘blokes’ and based on the UK version of Empire. The deal with Filmink included a free DVD - which for me was Labyrinth.
Reflections on the day
So what was going on here? Supanova was billed as a ‘pop culture expo’. For me it was a chance to experience all at once the many variations of the meld between Japanese anime culture and American comics culture. There were so many people there who get their kicks out of this world. I used to think that it’s only kids who are into the card games - but here there were hundreds of people in their twenties. Children under ten were hardly to be seen!
There was an incredible lack of self-consciousness in the fans who were prepared to dress up as their favourite character. It showed the freedom that comes from gathering with other members of the tribe with similar passions.
Tags: pop culture, Supanova
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