Cast and Crew Say Fan Killed Outside Comic Con Will Not Go Unremembered

Kudos to them for doing this, I say.

And kudos to you at the Mary Sue for not turning this into an advert for Twilight nor the panel, as some sites have done.

Good for them. I’m horrified by the number of people who flippantly react to this with some dumb “one less Twilight fan” or similar comment. I don’t care how bad the books are, that’s not funny, it’s just sad.

The fact this even happens points to gross incompetence by the ComicCon staff – whether the description given is correct or not the fact is the poor woman was running across a street to keep her place in line for some reason.
I’ve considered going to SDCC for years but when people are being stabbed in the eye in a fight over panel seating and now a woman gets run over because the staff can’t corral the waiting lines properly…
Not likely to happen in my lifetime.

If SDCC lines involve being moved across crosswalks these days, I think I can say that my ever-dwindling regret over not being there has reached zero now. I’m glad I went a couple of times. I’m glad I got that Doctor Who panel shirt. But my comic art needs will be fulfilled by APE and maybe Wondercon (though it’s turning into something of a madhouse), my Doctor Who celebrity dance card will be far better filled by Gallifrey One, and … well, Fanime outdid itself in clusterfail this year, so I’m looking for an anime replacement (3ish hours in line for pre-reg?). I think some of the larger conventions have gotten far, far too large. 

At any rate, thanks for keeping this piece focused (unlike my rambling above!). My significant other is even more anti-Twilight than George Takei, and even he (my SO) winced when he heard the story. It’s an awful thing to happen.

I hope that the organizers will look into better arrangements instead of being defensive and retrenching. It is possible that it’s too big and too spectacle-focused as is.

P. S. Sorry for the username. I loathe Disqus. I am not THIS domain’s admin!

People have been doing that? Personally I dislike Twilight, but that doesn’t have anything to do with this story. What matters is the tragic fact that someone died while at an event that they had probably been looking forward to for months. Also that actions on someone’s part (whether it was solely the woman’s for trying to beat the light or SDCC’s line management skills) that led to the tragic event.

Saddened that TMS feels the need (and not unnecessarily, I’d say) to spend several paragraphs telling people that a person has actually died. A real person, who was hoping to have a fantastic time at a huge geek event has died and people are joking about it because of their fandom?

This is not the geek culture I know and love :( As Wil Wheaton would say; don’t be a dick.

RIP Gisela Gagliardi

This is so sad. I just can’t help but thinking how excited she was to see the panel. It was supposed to be such a fun day for her.

I agree with comments I have seen on other articles about this that Comic Con needs to organize panel attendance differently. People should be allowed to preregister online. They can have a few timed registration sessions or something so that everyone has a chance to get in–but of course they have to beat everyone else, just like they would in a line. Or they can have attendees take a number. OR they can just make it against the rules to line up that early, which I have seen at other, smaller conventions. SOMETHING.

That being said, I hate to blame the SDCC staff or anyone for what is ultimately a tragic accident. A sad day for nerds everywhere.

I hate Twilight as much as the next guy, but she was just as much a fan as any of us. Had it been someone in line for, say, the Marvel Studios panel, it would’ve been just as tragic. 

It’s sad when something like this happens in order for the organizers to realize the chaos that results from getting into Hall H. There really needs to be a shake up in the Hall H attendance next year.

That’s SUCH a sh!tty, disgusting thing to say, and I have no doubt some idiot has said it secure with the anonymity of the internet. She was a human being. If nothing else, think of this woman’s family. They might actually READ some of these comments and it could really affect them.

While I agree that this is a tragedy it is FAR overstating it to say “now a woman gets run over because the staff can’t corral the waiting lines properly…” This was a tragic accident but Gisela Gagliardi had surely crossed a cross walk before. She was over zealous and used poor judgement. I’ve gunned a cross walk myself before. MOST people have at one point in their lives. But you KNOW it’s a dumb, dangerous thing to do when you’re doing it. The vast majority of us don’t get hurt or killed for it either. Yes, the SDCC management and staff has some culpability here, but the vast majority of “blame” lands on the shoulders of miss Gagliardi and (to a lesser degree) the person driving the car.

I think the only reason lines are being moved across streets, is because Twilight fans line up on Sunday/Monday, for a panel that is on Thursday. They have to move them, because they are still in the process of setting up for the convention. If Twilight fans didn’t line up days before Comic-Con actually starts, this wouldn’t happen. Oh well, they can’t possibly have a Twilight panel next year (last movie comes out in November), so this will be the last year dealing with the giant mass of Twilight fans.

Most of the time they try to keep the line contained to the area around the convention center.

Yes, I’m not so quick to blame SDCC directly and entirely. They should certainly use this as a wake-up call that something needs to be done about the line situation at the event.

I would suggest arranging an area with lots of space where people can line up for panel tickets. One ticket per attendee only, arrange to give them out in a chronological order (so that you don’t have to be in line at the same time for two panels at different times), and make sure that the ticket guarantees a spot in Hall H or one of the other couple of large panel rooms.

The problem with this suggestion is, of course, that people will line up anyway for better seats. I’m not sure if they can really expect staff to prevent line-forming, but hopefully this would at least cut the problem significantly.

Maybe also arrange some sort of official ticket exchange area too, so if you get a ticket to something and wind up deciding not to go, you can maybe trade it for something you want in exchange for letting someone ELSE go to the panel.

I don’t know why but the first thing that came to my mind when I read this was: poor woman, it happened BEFORE the convention. It’s a crappy accident but crappy accidents can happen to anybody at any time. In her case, it happened just before a few days that would probably have been happy ones for her. After that, it would still have been a tragedy but she would have died at her happiest.

All of the comic cons are getting bigger and bigger, yet crowd management isn’t keeping up.  Emerald City Comicon in Seattle used to be intimate and has turned into an uncomfortable, dangerous mess, particularly this last year, so much so that there is a second comic-related con, now.  Perhaps SDCC needs to have more than one event each year to take the pressure off?  Not to mention the fact that movie and TV related stuff keeps overshadowing comic books more and more at their own cons.

Anyhow, this is tragic, and people have needed to lay off the Twilight fans for a long while now. Who cares what the people are into, including Furries?

Why the hell is this story ‘Twilight fan dies at Comic Con’? Why isn’t it ‘Human dies at Comic Con’? What she was a fan of should be irrelevant. Who cares about that when a person has died. I think it’s shameful of TMS for highlighting the ‘Twilight’ aspect of the story.

It just says “Fan Dies at Comicon” not twilight fan….cool your jets man. I think they’re addressing the way people are saying “one less twilight fan” by saying “she was a fan of twilight, its cool. They get a lot of hate but they shouldnt’

From the way you lead into this story, I was afraid it would be that someone murdered a Twilight fan with a stake, or something.

Still, tragic accident. I’ve been at that junction, and it’s a long-ass light to wait for. Can’t pretend I might not have done the same.

I think what TMS is trying to explain is that while Twilight isn’t the most loved fandom in the geek world, that’s no excuse to brush off or belittle the victim just because she was a Twilight fan. There have been a lot of horrible comments poking fun at the accident and insulting the victim. It’s a reminder that someone who’s tastes differ from yours is no less human. You are obviously aware of that, but unfortunately, there are many who are not.

The fandom is completely irrelevant. The fact is, a woman died, which is horrible, especially at something that should be a happy place. May she rest in peace.

“It’s a reminder that someone who’s tastes differ from yours is no less human. ”

Quoted for truth.