Directed by Morgan Spurlock
When San Diego Comic-Con launched in 1970, it lured 500 hardcore comic lovers. Forty years later, it's become a veritable pop culture expo that draws upwards of 125,000 attendees. There's a catch: most of them are now curiosity-seekers, toy-collectors, and movie-lovers rather than devotees of the medium that started it all.
Attempting to cover all bases at this geek mecca, director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) cycles through his duly diverse subjects: two artists (one of them an African-American solider) hoping that their portfolios will catch publishers' eyes; a young woman who's designed elaborate Mass Effect costumes to compete in the masquerade event; and a senior comic retailer who contemplates selling a $500,000 Red Raven #1 to offset his debts.
As you might suspect, there's rather meagre drama to be milked from these scenarios. Furthermore, Spurlock doesn't seem particularly interested in chasing down any stories. Aggravatingly, when someone intriguingly asserts that LucasFilm maintains tyrannous control of the San Diego Convention Centre's loading docks, the documentarian can't even be bothered to ask a follow-up question.
Instead, the primary concern here is rounding up countless talking heads including comic legends such as Grant Morrison and Frank Miller and celebrity fans such as Seths Rogen and Green to offer anecdotes, endorsements, and bon mots. Spurlock's overly casual and congenial approach is hammered home when he gives Kevin Smith about eight cracks at a sound byte before he finally knocks one out of the park.
Ultimately, A Fan's Hope is a little too content to skirt the perimeter of geekdom rather than delve into the heart of it.
