Comic books have become increasingly important to Hollywood, but the community of artists and fans remains relatively small — and mostly ignored by mainstream media. Pat Loika is the industry’s beloved hybrid podcast host/journalist/superfan/convention photographer, with enough influence that artists sometimes draw him into their books.
Photograph by Sam Hodgson for BuzzFeed
Pat Loika hasn't shopped at San Diego's Comics-n-Stuff in years, but when he walks in, everybody says hi.
You get the sense this would happen in any comic store in the country. Comic fans know Loika — he's a regular at conventions and hosts Loikamania , a popular interview podcast. He strolls by the action figures and the Mylar-bagged comics and the signs reminding you to keep the comics in the Mylar bags or else. After getting permission to disobey that rule, he opens a copy of Uncanny X-Men Vol. 3 #15.
"I'm in this one."
He flips to a panel of the X-Men following an angry mob through the streets of London. They approach a mutant sealed in a cocoon and pass Loika, peeking over his shoulder to make eye contact with the reader as if to say, "Can you believe the crazy mutant action that's about to go down?" Pat Loika the Marvel character is a lot like Pat Loika the Marvel fan: eager to bond with another reader over how cool this stuff is.
The cameo wasn't written into the original script, but artist Kris Anka added him to a crowd shot after becoming friends with Loika and appearing on his show. Loika has that effect on people in the industry. He isn't a commentator or critic so much as preacher of the comic book gospel. He wants to know if you've heard the good word about Drax The Destroyer. The world of comics is small enough that by being one of the most vocal and visible fans — both online and at conventions — Loika has become a minor celebrity. When he got trapped in an elevator last year, his live-tweeting of the situation was covered by the website Bleeding Cool. If you've seen a photo on Tumblr of a superhero cosplayer at a convention, it's likely Loika took it. And that X-Men comic isn't the only cameo he has had in a Marvel book — in fact, it wasn't his only appearance last year.
Photograph by Sam Hodgson for BuzzFeed
The comics industry is small. The top-selling book in January sold just over 100,000 copies — a fraction of the audience needed to sustain a TV show or green-light a movie sequel. But every summer, writers and artists and fans dressed up as their favorite characters gather at a series of conventions. Stale newsprint fills the air in warehouse-sized halls in Atlanta and Chicago and Orlando. Most movie fans might never meet the directors and actors they idolize, but comics rely on a minimal barrier between fan and artist.
Loika has been to 300 conventions. He has met nearly everyone face-to-face and has had many drinks afterward at hotel bars — real network-y stuff for what can be an industry of isolated creators and socially awkward fans. Over the years, Loika has risen through the fan ranks to become a recognizable face and name at conventions — the Biggest Geek in Comics, so to speak.
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