Thanks to Wikia, a Star Turn for Comic Book Geeks

Top contributors attend events as ambassadors of the comic book site

Elliott, a nuclear physicist by day, is a supercontributor to Wikia. He strives to keep up with the 75 to 90 new Marvel comics each monthPhotograph by Benjamin Rasmussen for Bloomberg Businessweek

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By Devin Leonard

January 11, 2013 at 4:36 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

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This article is part of the January 14, 2013 issue of businessweek.

Nathan Elliott used to be just one of the 130,000 fans who faithfully attend Comic-Con International, the annual geek culture convention in San Diego. He suited up as his favorite comic book characters and waited in line for hours to get into panel discussions about upcoming superhero movies. There were parties at night with celebrities. Nobody invited Elliott. He didn’t care. It was enough just to be surrounded by fellow nerds.

At last July’s Comic-Con, however, Elliott was a star. He went through the VIP line, enjoyed free drinks, and had his picture taken on the red carpet at a party at the Hard Rock Cafe thrown by Wikia, the user-generated website primarily devoted to video games, comic books, and movies.