A simple idea to get more people into the library has evolved from a quaint Saturday afternoon activity into a supersized convention. Comic Gong, run by Wollongong City Libraries, now attracts thousands of people from around NSW, the ACT and even some from as far as Queensland and Victoria.
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Jenny Thompson has helped co-ordinate the event since it began at Corrimal Library in 2012 and recalls how “low-key” the initial even was.
“We had a few stall holders, we might have had maybe 20 who we had to work really hard to attract,” she said.
“One of my enduring memories of that day was we were literally packed up, we were sweeping up and tidying the centre. This gorgeous little boy came in with his dad all dressed up in his Bat-suit. He came in the door and we said ‘it’s all over’ and he was ‘no, no!.”
The emotion from that dismayed child at missing out on such an event helped put the wheels in motion for Comic Gong to return for a second year, then third, fourth, fifth, and now sixth. The annual event has grown significantly and is now held throughout Wollongong’s Arts Precinct including the Town Hall, Art Gallery and City Library.
The program showcases known – and unknown – graphic novelists and comic book authors. It celebrates the art of cosplay (costume play) and honours anime characters and the many great superheroes who defend the world from evil. There is also gaming components, virtual reality, live entertainment and workshops.
Destination Wollongong (DW) estimates 8000 people visited the event in 2018, delivering at least $490,000 in economic impact to the region.
As it is a free event, DW’s major events and special projects manager Jeremy Wilshire said exact numbers were difficult to ascertain. But he still believed it was one of the region’s “great success stories”.
“It’s a very organic, authentic event that was created on the whim and hard work of a few people within Council who saw a market opportunity,” Mr Wilshire said.
“Comic Gong has captured the imagination of the creative and curious, and to see the diverse demographic it reaches is really quite amazing.”
Initially created to encourage people to see their local library in a new light, Ms Thompson attributes its success to timing and Marvel movies.
“There’s just this incredible resurgence of interest in the Marvel movies, whereas for [a long time] you never really saw a superhero movie – it was few and far between,” she said.
“But I do think also, for people to have an escape from the everyday, so for people to dress up as their favourite superhero, to have their alter ego come into play for the day I think is a wonderful fantasy.”
She said the strong sense of “unbelievable community vibe” was also very apparent on the day with thousands coming together and sharing in pop culture, often striking up conversations with strangers – something not often seen.
University of Wollongong Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications Chris Moore has been an avid consumer of comic books for years and has passed his passion onto his 10-year-old daughter.
Not only will the pair be soaking up the atmosphere at Comic Gong, Dr Moore will also be conducting research on “fan power” with his colleague Renee Middlemost.
“We’re going to be interviewing cosplayers and people involved, and look at how much fan labour goes into preparing for the event, what this might mean for the creative industries in the future,” he said.
“We’re seeing more power and attention to niche creative industries. So they still sit outside the mainstream but the sheer numbers of people involved are making them powerful creative industries in their own right. Comic Gong is a huge example of this.”
Similar to the views of Ms Thompson, the academic believes superheroes have given the public hope over the last decade where there have been many troubled times.
“It’s a massive escapism, absolutely,” Dr Moore said. “There’s still a kind of nostalgia for better times.
Another factor Dr Moore attributes to the rising popularity of comic culture is the Marvel cinematic universe which has seen characters like Thor, The Avengers, Iron Man and Wonder Woman revived on the big screen.
While the movies do drift from the original illustrated stories, he said the winning formula for the comic empire was to interconnect their stories into a decade long serial (with more movies on the way).
“A lot of people my age grew up with comic books in the late ‘80s to ‘90s,” Dr Moore said. “We now have families and are now taking our families to see superheroes we read in comic books in our teens.”
Dr Moore believed events like Comic Gong, or Oz Comic-con or Supernova allowed people to “show off” their creative skills.
“It’s a chance for the community to celebrate those individuals and give them some attention and applaud their hard work and devotion,” he said. “It’s a massive celebration of fan power.”