Buffy The Vampire Slayer

When you’re used to being the only group of rabid fans with countless conventions dedicated to your obsession, sharing might be a hard lesson to learn.

But like it or not, Trekkies are learning to share.

Because no matter how realistic their Klingon costumes or lifelike their Spock ears, the Trekkie is no longer the only breed of super-fan in the galaxy.

And Buffyheads, fans devoted to the now-cancelled show Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel, are a force to contend with.

At conventions like Toronto Trek, which wrapped up last night at the Regal Constellation hotel, organizers are increasingly scheduling programming that caters to the Buffy crowd.

That doesn’t go over well with old-guard Trekkies.

And it’s just one of the divisive issues that’s bickered about in the hours between autograph sessions, and picking up a new action figure, still in its original packaging.

"I think the biggest rift I saw as a chair is that they’re (Buffy fans) newer to the convention. They’re the next generation of convention-goers," said Michael Emond who, in the eight years he’s been working with Toronto Trek, has become head of the event. He lives in Sudbury.

"They’ve got it down. They know how to act. They know how to act around guests, in the autograph line, around each other," said Emond about Trekkies.

Buffy fans tend to be a wilder bunch.

"They’re a lot more hyper around the guests. They don’t know how to pace themselves. They can get a little out of control sometimes."

Emond says Buffyheads will follow a guest around or try and figure out which car a celebrity owns and where it’s parked.

Trekkies, he says, have been obsessing for 30 years so they’re not as clingy, they’re more mature, older.

"I’m not saying there’s not obsessive Star Trek fans but they’ve been at it so long now."

Emon says organizers heard that the Buffy fans weren’t too thrilled about the Trek Dance they’d organized last year, and didn’t want to go.

So this year they put on a Buffy-themed dance.

Among the inner sanctum of convention organizers, Sharon Vernon is well known as a Buffy maniac.

"It’s my favourite show," said Vernon who has been to eight conventions since she started going last year.

"What I have noticed is the Buffy fans don’t understand the sci-fi fans because the majority of them aren’t sci-fi fans. They tend to be horror fans, Goths, vampires," said the Scarborough native.

She still likes Star Trek, but says that Buffy is brilliantly written and praises its creator Joss Whedon for his "amazing vision."

Vernon was at a convention in Baltimore last year and says she noticed Buffy fans eyeing the Klingons or Darth Vaders. It’s generally the same at the other conventions she’s been to. "I wouldn’t say it’s animosity. I would just say it’s misunderstanding. That comfort level is not there. I find they don’t feel comfortable mixing, socializing."

Vernon dashes to the autograph line for Anthony Stewart Head, who played Giles on Buffy. Actors can make big bucks doing the convention circuit - a $10,000 fee is average for someone of Head’s calibre, says Emon. Actors can usually make another couple thousand dollars selling photographs of themselves, he says.

And over in the dealer room, there’s plenty of money changing hands, with fans selling just about every knick-knack, poster and comic on the planet. There are talking Austin Powers key-chains, glossy headshots and paperback novels. There are airbrushed glass plates showing Cpt. Picard on Christmas morning.

There are Harry Potter cloaks and pillows. There’s leather armour, foam swords and real swords.

"There’s just some sort of fascination," said Cindy Nyland, who along with her husband George, came up to Toronto from Pittsburgh for the convention. They like swords. Some they hang on their walls; others match their outfits. The Nylands are also into costuming.

"My husband has a katana. I have the Xena sword."

Back in conference room E, the knives have been drawn, and Hollywood is taking blades from all sides. The seminar is about adapting comic books for the big screen.

"I have big problems with X-Men," said Angela Street, who came decked out in a Harry Potter Griffendorf cloak the colour of a Tibetan monk’s garb.

"They changed their backgrounds so horribly," said the Scarborough resident.

Next to the Buffy vs. Trekkie debate, this is another biggie. The question is, do you like what the big studio and its writers have done to the comic book?

Daredevil gets hurrahs. The Punisher gets dismissed. And the jury’s out on The Hulk. For an hour attendees talk over each other, their frustrations bordering on existential.

"What would happen if they made a movie for the purists?" asked Buffalo native Sal Monaco.

"The purists can’t even keep Marvel in business," said Justin Morhareb.

"If Trekkies really want a voice, buy stock in Paramount," said Erin Sibley.

And if there’s one final and eternal rift in the convention community, it’s the following: You either support the new incarnation of Star Trek or you don’t.

In this case, the show is Enterprise, which just wrapped up its second season.

"There’s a lot more T&A, some people are into that," said Stuart Kenny, a panel member.

Those people think that showing a bit of skin won’t make up for a lack of substance, he says. And because Enterprise doesn’t deal with philosophical issues, they think it’s not real Star Trek.

"The problem is the writers pandering to the lowest common denominator," said Kenny.

But with so many firmly held and diverse convictions at gatherings like these, it’s a wonder there’s a common denominator at all.