More than comics at comics convention

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But English insisted that Giant Robot was by no means out of place at the convention.

"A lot of the artists that are in Giant Robot's galleries do underground comics, but they're also fine artists," he explained. The irreverent online comic strips featuring the Uglydolls might not bear much resemblance to the action serials of the Justice League, but the influence is certainly there.

Thinking about ComicCon that way--as a massive display of comics' pop culture legacy, in addition to the comics themselves--created more leeway for many of the other exhibits. For example, it was easy to see comics' impact on the NBC serial action drama Heroes, which was represented at the convention with trading cards and other merchandise in addition to Panettiere's appearance.

Then there was the memorabilia from filmmaker Smith's movies like last year's Clerks 2. Smith himself is a comics artist and has created tie-in comics for many of the movies produced by his View Askew Productions company. There was also a prominent display from News Corp.'s Fox Atomic Pictures, a division of Fox Films Entertainment that focuses on action and horror movie releases, often with graphic novel or comic tie-ins.

"People who like comic books like a lot of very rich, dramatic fiction," said Russell Williams, CEO of Flying Lab Software, which was showcasing its new online role-playing game, Pirates of the Burning Sea. He admitted that Flying Lab's new game had no formal connection to comics.

But Williams, who is himself an avid comic book reader, said that there is "a lot of crossover in that sort of dramatic, flamboyant, Errol Flynn, superhero kind of style." Comic fans and gamers are drawn to that kind of narrative--Williams pointed out the ubiquity of Star Wars at the convention. It hadn't started out as a comic either, but it fit right into what that fan base loves: an action-packed story about good and evil.

And the convention-goers, likewise, didn't seem to care that Pirates of the Burning Sea had no comic roots: the demo stations for the game, which is slated for a June launch, were a hot destination at the event.

There were some purists, of course. A handful of attendees at ComicCon passed grudgingly by the Sony PlayStation 3 stations and Family Guy action figures, making a beeline for the "real" comics. But most of those at the Javits Center didn't seem to mind the intrusion of Pokemon, horror movies and Dance Dance Revolution.

Comics, I learned, cast a broad net. But perhaps it's better to say that they cast a wide web. Or force field. Or laser beam?