Review: Fun and Informative: Great Use of Kindle Single Format
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 25, 2012
Journalist Douglas Wolk's account of Comic-Con is fun, colorful, and informative.  For those unfamiliar with the event, Comic-Con is an annual convention in San Diego that began as a meet-up of sorts for comic book fans.  Since its nearly grassroots inception in 1970, the convention has grown orders of magnitude to now include areas of film, television, books, videogames, board games, or anything "geek" related.  Comic-Con isn't just a bunch of people dressing up -- Douglas Wolk does his best to dispel that stereotype and show that this convention is the ultimate fan event.Wolk's essay begins with brief images of the people around him.  One of Comic-Con's hallmarks is its attendee's quirky participation, usually involving wild and niche costumes.  The author spends the perfect amount of time going through the weirdness of it all (compared to normal, "everyday" life), before delving into the structure, history, and logistics of the convention.  As Wolk has written on comic-books/graphic-novels before, he treats much of the material here with wide eyes -- he never shuns the convention's participants for being eccentric or appearing strange.  COMIC-CON STRIKES AGAIN is written with love, but Wolk does a good job maintaining journalistic impartiality.But for whom is this book?  I'm a self-confessed nerd/geek, so much of this information was already familiar to me, as I assume it will be for a large portion of the "nerds" out there.  Readers who are unfamiliar with Comic-Con and eager to learn what all the fuss is about, I would give this a recommendation.For further insights:Morgan Spurlock-directed documentaryComic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hopeand its accompanying bookCOMIC-CON EPISODE IVboth try to capture the spirit of San Diego Comic-Con.  The movie follows a group of individuals who have all traveled to the convention for different reasons (aspiring artists, toy collectors, etc...).  The book is more of a companion piece -- it's largely composed of just pictures and quotes from celebrities.  It's bright and colorful, but not as informative as the movie or Wolk's account here.