An Editorial From Hidai Moya

It was around the start of the new millennium when a new era of “Geekdom” emerged. Before then it was culturally confined to niche groups & isolated fandoms but in 2001 everything changed when two of the literary series were adapted into blockbuster films: The Lord of the Rings & Harry Potter. Suddenly Geekdom really became culturally mainstream and this trend continued strongly the start of when the new decade rolled in with the MCU & Game of Thrones becoming part of a global cultural zeitgeist. Go to any random workplace in America and inventively there will most likely be a Pop! figure or two sitting on a desk, in playgrounds across the country kids argue about their favorite MCU character, & late night TV implements many sketches of any of the recurring Geek things currently happening. It’s clear being “a nerd” has never been more “in”.
With Phoenix Fan Fusion right around the corner, it will be a time when we can turn our collective geek dial to “11” and just let loose into a temporary fantasy/sci fi mecca. One of the most fascinating things about attending a Comic Convention is the ingenuity & creativity of the attendees devotion of their fandoms. Seeing someones meticulous homemade cosplay never gets old, especially when it’s something really complex & layered. I once remember running into a girl who had had a cosplay that looked movie quality good as Enchantress from Suicide Squad. Unless she got the exact one from the Warner Bros set or it was given to her by the Costume Designer of that film, she had had an A+ job on her outfit. The floor of the convention is a defacto fashion show for everyone to show off their favorite character by strutting around like a Jedi or zombie. It’s never not fun. You never know what’ll happen or what you’ll see next.
One of the most memorable times attending a con was when two generations met for a common appreciation of video games. I was once sitting in a game room playing the classic N64 game “Goldeneye”, a defining multiplayer game of the pre online console era. Suddenly some random kid decides to take up the seat next to me. He had never played “Goldeneye” on N64 before. I found myself telling him about the good ol’ N64 days, something he never experienced until now because he hadn’t grown up with it.
On the flipside I had never played Super Smash Bros ever before, until I walked into the game room and it just happened to be there. Some guy next to me raved about how good it was and was shocked I had never played it before. I finally experience the craziness of that game for that first time at the Con.
That’s what these Festivals are about. A collective geek experience that we all get to share in.