‘You’re such a nerd,’ is the usual response I receive when attempting to explain how important science fiction is in today’s society.
‘But…modern science fiction is pretty interesting,’ I blurt back. ‘The thoughts and speculations of our contemporary authors and thinkers have probably never been closer to the truth…’
However, 99 times out 100, it falls on deaf ears. So, for much of my youth, I considered myself alone in my beliefs that Babylon 5 should be on the national curriculum and that Star Trek is probably man’s greatest single achievement to date.
Then one July, a trip to San Diego, California changed all that. After years of being mocked, I embarked on a pilgrimage to the annual Comic-Con convention where I discovered I had friends. Over 150,000 of them.
Not only is it a gathering of all things geek, Comic-Con has become the biggest single cinematic event in terms of news and announcements. Yes, it focuses on the sci-fi, cult movie and comic genres and you might think that doesn’t relate to you, but what you have to remember is that you do dip into it, whether you realise it or not. Batman, Spiderman, The X-Men, Watchmen, Iron Man and Star Wars all fall into this category. And everyone has watched at least one of these.
For the first time in my whole life, I could launch into an intense discussion about the issues I have with the destruction of Vulcan and be completely understood. I was in heaven. This is what Comic-Con is all about: an opportunity for people to meet, hang out and talk about common interests, shared likes and dislikes and which Dr Who is the best and why.
This phenomenon is spreading too. There are now Comic-Con associated events taking place annually around the globe and the latest is set to land in Dubai on April 20 and 21.
Confirmed guests so far include Mark Sheppard, who among other roles in cult favourites like The X-Files, played the scene-stealing attorney for Gaius Baltar, in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, Luciana Carro, who played the courageous Captain Louanne ‘Kat’ Katraine, also in Battlestar Galactica and John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in the Lord of the Rings and also played Indiana Jones’s trusted friend Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade.
It won’t be on quite the same scale as the US event, let’s face facts, no one does anything quite as big as the Americans, but it’s a start. And that’s always important.
But it’s not long now until I’ll be able to meet more like-minded lifeforms. All that remains is to decide whether to go as James Kirk or Jean-Luc Picard.
Scott Snowden is our deputy editor who thinks one of the most moving scenes in cinema is when Spock dies.
