Comic-Con isn’t just about comics any more. The annual San Diego extravaganza, which opens today, has become one of the main — if not the main — purveyor of pop culture.
From movie premieres and sneak peeks to panels of stars promoting their latest projects on television or streaming video, if it matters in pop culture today, it’s happening at Comic-Con. That’s a huge and important change, according to experts like Professor of Physics and Astronomy Clifford Johnson.
“Comics are still a large part of Comic-Con,” said Johnson, whose work ranges from teaching and research to putting science back into the general culture.
But, he noted, “Comics can be about far more than just superheroes.
“And it is amazing how powerful they are when used to communicate ideas of all kinds, whether it be informative personal stories, the scientific wonders of our universe, or a combination of both.” Johnson has served as science adviser for TV shows and movies including Avengers: Infinity War and Marvel’s Agent Carter and has written a graphic novel, The Dialogues (The MIT Press, 2017) about the nature of the universe.