Was at the big comic con in Chicago last month and noticed something about the crowd...

Fiona Shah · 2026-03-11T19:30:07.375667+00:00

I was in Artist Alley for like two hours, and I swear I saw maybe three people over the age of 50. The whole vibe was super young. I get that new fans are the lifeblood, but it made me wonder... is the hobby getting too focused on the newest generation? I saw a guy, maybe 60, looking at some classic Silver Age art pages, and he just seemed kind of out of place. On one hand, comics need to evolve and bring in new readers. On the other, it feels like the history and the older fans who kept things going for decades are getting sidelined at these big events. What do you think? Are cons becoming less welcoming to longtime collectors?

seananderson6mo ago

It's a real shame... feels like we're losing something.

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jana_davis905mo ago

Ugh, @seananderson... but where do the old-school dealers even set up now?

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the_mary6mo ago

Honestly, it's not just about feeling out of place. Tbh, the whole dealer room is changing. You used to see more bins of back issues and people talking storylines, now it's all pop vinyls and anime prints. Feels like the history gets priced out or just shoved into a corner. That guy with the Silver Age pages? He's the whole reason the con exists, and now he's basically a museum piece himself.

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