Neil Gaiman was here in Manila last July and I got close enough to capture some pictures and video. The pic posted here was actually taken by my wife.
And every local fan who has a blog has probably blogged each one’s own euphoric experience with Neil. No, I won’t go into that right now – suffice to say that my neck got crisped, and that I couldn’t get to work the next day because both my legs were cramping, and that I never got to shake his hand. Yet it was still a strange, but euphoric experience for me.
Why strange?
Well, Neil’s a celebrity of sorts – one newspaper called him a rock star. And the usual celebrities I know don’t give as much of themselves as he did. He was signing individual, personalized notes and greeting and hugging, and posing with fans for over 6 hours on day 1, another 6 hours or so on day 2, and I think another 5 hours on day 3. Never at any point did he show annoyance at the adulation. He’s really, genuinely nice. He has none of the usual prima donna airs that us commoners have come to associate with celebrities.
The other thing I found strange was the crowd. Normally, if you have a big Pinoy crowd, add heat, and then add a trouble-maker or two, you have a good recipe for an unruly mob. People start to break lines, and make like crabs trying to out-trample the rest of the horde to get ahead.
In this case, you had well-behaved, and orderly lines! Even at the ends of the queue, where line marshals were not to be seen, people were truly behaved and supportive of each other.
I tried to figure that one out. Everyone was obviously a fan of Neil. Graphic novels or his prose. Readers all. Some people easily dismiss comics or graphic novels as idiot’s fare. But ask any Sandman fan and I’m sure he or she will tell you that it goes beyond the pretty drawings. These people were thinkers. These were people who could look beyond themselves and understand the bigger picture.
I think reading does that.