We’re still working our way through the interviews we did at Comic-Con (see "Interview with Comic-Con's David Glanzer," and "The Manga Market, Kids Titles, Replacing 'Shonen Jump'," for example, and more over the coming days), but we wanted to wrap up our news coverage with some odds and ends that we hadn’t previously reported. 

We were glad to hear that the charity aspect of Nerdist Industries’ "Course of the Force" lightsaber relay from Los Angeles to the San Diego Convention Center (see "New 'Course of the Force' Video") was a big success, raising around $100,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation.

We were interested to see the increased presence of evangelical Christians at Comic-Con, not only in the form of the numerous pickets outside, but also with a "Passport to Christians in Comics" inside that directed con-goers to booths with Christian content or themes on the floor.  It’s one more aspect of the Big Tent that Comic-Con has become that religion finds a place at the show, along with its over-all secular bent. 

There was considerable pessimism about the future of bookstores among some industry folks at the show.  There’s concern about how Barnes & Noble will survive against relentless competition from Amazon and about whether or not the last national bookstore chain is resisting the onslaught vigorously enough.  There’s a general belief that having a place with trained booksellers who can help consumers find what they’re looking for, and with inventory that customers can browse, is generally good for the industry.  That ties to the fear that with a shrinking number of bookstore doors, the over-all graphic novel business will decline, even for Amazon, which relies to some degree on the showroom aspect of brick and mortar stores.

Last, we were struck by an incident that demonstrated clearly that the "soul" of Comic-Con is still there.  We were going down in our hotel’s elevator when two sets of parents and a group of children entered the car.  The group was excitedly buzzing and was practically glowing.  It became clear that they’d just had a chance encounter on their floor with Stan Lee and as one of them put it, "that made the whole weekend for me."  It’s that connection between the fans and the creators of comics that have always made comic conventions special events unlike any others.  And the fact that even in the midst of massive displays of Hollywood talent and spectacle, a brief contact with a special man who contributed so many great stories and characters to comics can be the high point of the weekend reminds us of the roots of comics fandom and why we go to cons.