Why the WGA strike won't hurt Comic-Con

The comics blogosphere has been abuzz about the potential impact of the writer’s strike on Comic-Con ever since the estimable Peter Sanderson raised the issue (scroll down) over at The Beat. The thinking goes that with such Comic-Con staples as “Lost,” “Battlestar Galactica” and “Heroes” on indefinite hiatus, that Hollywood might roll back the star power that draws so many fans to the show. You can follow the train of thought, courtesy again of Heidi MacDonald at The Beat, which ends with Con spokesman David Glanzer telling the San Diego Union-Tribune that there’s nothing to worry about and plans for the show are proceeding normally.

While it’s almost comforting to think that something really could ease up the Comic-Con crush, it’s unlikely that any strike-induced reduction in star power would hurt attendance or interest in the show in any significant way, for a number of reasons.

If the strike is still on come July, then, yes, it is likely that networks and studios would reduce their involvement in the show. But what does that really mean? TV has been hit first and hardest by the strike, and you could expect networks to not be paying for its folks to go to San Diego and speak on big panels that promote shows that won’t be coming back any time soon. (Most networks don’t bother with booths on the floor.) That could hurt smaller shows or new ones — of which there will be zero if the strike is still on.

But the big-name shows are more immune to rollbacks than you think. You can be sure that writers and producers who work on the hot Comic-Con shows — guys like Jeph Loeb, Brian K. Vaughan, Joss Whedon and Damon Lindelof — are going to be there no matter what. So unless the networks or guilds somehow decide to prohibit folks from appearing on panels, these guys can still talk about their work with fans and maybe even on panels organized by the con instead by the network. (That raises the interesting possibility of panels that could avoid the unabashed sales pitches of recent years.)

From the WGA’s perspective, there’s no reason not to attend San Diego. Unlike talk shows or awards shows, Comic-Con panels are not written — as anyone who’s sat through the Q&As can tell you — and the only bits that end up on TV are news-related, so there’s no reason to picket or protest a la the Golden Globes. If the strike is still going on by July, Comic-Con could be a very important way for the guild to bolsters its public relations and morale. (I'd say the same is true for the AMPTP, but I can't imagine a rep from the org getting a good reception from the Comic-Con crowd.)

Regardless of how much the strike affects the TV side, there’s still plenty of movie material that went into production pre-strike to play up in Hall H. With films like “Star Trek,” “Will Eisner’s The Spirit,” “Watchmen” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” all set to come out in late 2008 or early 2009, fans can expect as many cool sneak peeks as ever — even in the event that cast members and folks like J.J. Abrams or Frank Miller decide not to show up. Animated projects, most of which fall outside the WGA’s jurisdiction, also will be unaffected and free to carry on as normal at Comic-Con.

How many people go to Comic-Con to see a specific celebrity is an impossible question to answer, but is likely low given that exactly who is and isn’t attending is never made clear until the programming schedule is announced a week or two before the show begins. Anyone who’s made travel plans and hotel reservations six months out is unlikely to balk at the absence of any specific person or persons. Walk-up attendance was limited last year by the first sell-outs in Con history; I suspect that most if not all passes will have been sold out in advance this year.

Places where a Hollywood rollback would be felt more keenly would be a reduction in swanky network- and studio-sponsored parties. That will be a minor inconvenience to a relatively small number of people. It also could increase, however slightly, the number of hotel rooms available for the show. It’s never been clear how much hotel space studios take up for the show (or even how much of the space they reserve actually gets used), but it’s still nice to think that it might be just a tiny bit easier to score a room this year. (FYI, the con-discounted hotel reservations for this year go live on Feb. 6).

Lastly, Comic-Con was a hit before Hollywood writers, stars and directors showed up; it’ll survive just fine if some of them stay home this year.