I’ve been to a few comic book conventions in my day, from the teeny ones that are essentially swap meets to the ginormous cons held in Chicago and San Diego. The small ones tend to attract the true believers, but these big cons, like the San Diego Comic-Con I hit this week (it runs from July 22-24)—well, those attract pretty much everyone. Every demographic is represented at the show, even the ones (women, older folks) you wouldn’t necessarily think would be there. In fact, I’d guess attendance records would show a pretty even male-to-female ratio. Whole families attend—some dressed as Hobbits. Yes, a whole family of Hobbits. Quite the crack-up, that.

The big conventions are also quite diverse in their entertainment offerings—yes, there’s plenty of comic stuff, but movies, cartoons, television, toys, and even barely-related items like clothes and art are there for your enjoyment at the San Diego Comic-Con. You can catch movie screenings, take a look at movie props and costumes (say, from The Lord of the Rings movies), and even see big stars like Jude Law and Sarah Michelle Gellar. I think studios, merchants and people who like to make money are catching on to the fact that comic fans like a whole lotta other stuff, too.

And, of course, the reverse is true—people who don’t wear Superman t-shirts every day still like comic book-related stuff. Maybe that’s why even though comics themselves are in a bit of a sales (and therefore popularity) slump, the ideas, characters and even the very aesthetics of comics are becoming more and more popular. You can’t turn around without hearing about another comics-themed project. Director Bryan Singer recently freaked out legions of X-Men fans when he ditched directing the third installment of the franchise to helm the long-delayed Superman movie. This year alone sees the release of several comic book movies, from the enormously successful Spider-Man 2 to the enormously unsuccessful The Punisher to the "what the crap is she wearing?" Catwoman to the third installment of Blade’s movie adventures. And they’re making more. Soon to come are movies based on the comics Constantine (Hellblazer), Luke Cage, Watchmen, Batman , Electra, The Fantastic Four and Sin City, and that’s not even a complete list!

Video games have been enjoying the same rise in popularity among movie producers and the mainstream audience. Heck, there are even tons of video games set up at the San Diego Comic-Con, from the likes of Konami, Nintendo, LucasArts, Atari, THQ, Activision and Sony Online Entertainment. City of Heroes posters and stuff are all over the show, naturally, even if NCSoft wasn’t an exhibitor. I found a Sly Cooper comic propped against a desk when I was tying my shoes...I’m guessing it came from Sony’s booth, but I can’t be sure—however, the idea of me finding a comic book based on a video game sort of amused me for a minute.

Also amusing were some of the trends I spotted among the comic enthusiasts.

The Matrix Doesn’t Have Them

Last year, you could still see some four-foot-nothing chicks dressed as Trinity or a flock of Neos and Morpheuses in all shapes and sizes. This year, nada. Gone are The Matrix toys from the shelves of every toy peddler. No t-shirts were spotted. The Matrix is dead to comic fans. Dead, I say. That upcoming game The Matrix Online better be brilliant, ’cause I am pretty sure people are WAY over The Matrix.

Lordin’ Over

What people are not yet over is The Lord of the Rings. The number of cosplayers dressed as Hobbits has ballooned. People were walking around with staffs—not employees, but those stick things. Bodes well for Middle-Earth Online, at the very least in comparison to The Matrix Online.

Look! On That Guy’s T-Shirt!

You’ll always have a few peeps in Superman t-shirts at every gathering of the geek faithful, but I swear there was a huge upswing in the number of men, women and children paying tribute to the last son of Krypton. Superman shirts were everywhere. Maybe the continued success of Smallville is responsible or something, but dang. Is this good news for the dudes making the Superman movie?

Animation Draws ’Em In

Anime and cartoons are still smokin’ hot. Panels about the Adult Swim block of programming on Cartoon Network were filled to capacity, a large concentration of cosplayers were done up as anime characters and cartoon characters were literally everywhere, from t-shirts to art to toys.

Toy Story

Speaking of toys, that sector is burnin’ up the charts, too, even more than last year. Higher-end vinyl figures are showing up all over the place. Most every booth had action figures and other toys on display, even if they weren’t actually selling them. The Masters of the Universe cartoon isn’t even doing that hot, but people (me included) are willing to submit to a draconian lottery system in the hopes of being allowed to purchase a special She-Ra action figure. And those damn Minimates are taking over the universe. Now there are Lord of the Rings Minimates and DC Comics Minimates (if the Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl Minimates don’t make you giggle, you have no soul), and a ton more Marvel Comics Minimates. Man, they’re cute. However, toys don’t have to be even remotely cute to be appealing, as the many monster-, goth- and dead-themed toys prove.

Grown-Ups

Yes, there were a lot of young people at the convention—but it seemed to me that a large portion of the attendees were adults. And this was on a Thursday, so these people had to take time off from work to be there. And like I said before, there were a lot of families there, but I don’t think, for example, that three kids under eight talked their parents into going to the convention, I’m sure it was the other way around. Comics, video games and cartoons, I think, get mistakenly lumped into the "for the young only" category, when quite obviously, they’re not—they’re for everyone.

So, that’s what I saw.

Now excuse me, I have to go back to buy some sweet t-shirts and some more toys. If you see someone with that She-Ra figure, promise you’ll knock them down and take it, so you can send it to me? Thanks!