Summary

Sci-fi and comic book fans gathered in San Diego, CA for the 43rd Comic-Con International on July 12-15. Originally a convention to showcase comic books and science fiction & fantasy literature, film and television, the event now encompasses horror and anime genres, as well as toys and board, card, and video games. This year’s Comic-Con was preceded by the release of The Amazing Spider-Man and followed by the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, the highly anticipated final installment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. The following infographic represents online mentions, or buzz, surrounding Comic-Con between June 15 and July 15, 2012.

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Analysis

The buzz surrounding the 2012 Comic-Con, traditionally a hub for comic book heroes and supernatural creatures, reveals that Superman and other aliens did not dominate the conversation. Looking at the online mentions from Comic-Con, the focus on science fiction and comic books, typically geared towards young males, has waned. The television show with the second highest number of mentions within Comic-Con was not Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, but his more conventional and "popular" show Glee.

Similarly, Iron Man, a tech-savvy businessman with an amazing suit, received more buzz than his alien, magical, and supernaturally enhanced compatriots. And, though the Twilight series includes vampires and werewolves, the books upon which the movies are based target a young female audience. Breaking Dawn Part II, the final installment of the Twilight film franchise, received more online mentions than its closest five competitors combined.

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Zehnder Communications created this information graphic as part of our proprietary State of the Listen series where data derived from social media mentions over the last 30 days is collected and deciphered using sophisticated monitoring and analytics platforms. Like this info-graphic? Want the Zehnder crew to create one for you? Email Us.