Con-Men: Understanding the Gendered Language of the Comic Book Convention

Abstract

I can clearly remember my first time ever going to a comic book convention. It was rather late in life- I’ve been a fan of comics since I was thirteen, but I went to my first convention at the age of 34. The circumstances were pretty basic- I moved to the city of Baltimore, which has its own comic convention (called the Baltimore Comic-Con). My friend and neighbor was a much bigger comics fan than me, so he was going with his boyfriend of the time. So why not go? Experiences when I am a fish out of water are much better in a group, and if I know individuals I will feel less awkward. Additionally, the boyfriend wasn’t a comics fan at all; he could easily be used as a buffer if things got a bit overwhelming.