I’ve been going to ComicCon since the early 90's when a film company I was working with sent me down to talk to the creators of a comic book that they wanted to produce into a movie (yes, we were making movies from comic books even back then.)
It was simpler by many degrees in the 90's - not the overcrowded zoo it’s turned out to be in 2010. In some ways it’s awesome to behold these days but it’s become so crowded and impacted that going at times seems like an exercise in futility. They just need more space (or less greed from packing in every vendor in the Universe.)
This year I went down on Saturday and my traditional Sunday with my friend Kevin. I ran the streets of the Gaslamp District with OCSWA board member Eric Hensman and Itai Levin. Eric was hawking his Zombie Flesh Jerky and Itai agreed to participate, in full zombie dress, in the Zombie Walk that starts at Horton Plaza and ends up at a zombie-friendly bar, Quality Social 
on F and 6th Street. I just humped equipment back and forth and tried to stem the non-stop sweat from the unseasonable humidity that poured from my body. Thank goodness for an air conditioned bar and plenty of icey libation. This was all for fun and a good cause so support your local Zombie Walk. (info)
Traffic is a given on the way to S.D. - you get it going down or coming back. On Saturday it took 3+ hours to get there; on Sunday it took 2.5 hours to get back to the O.C. Everyone has
their theories as to the sudden onset of traffic on the 5 on any given day - Del Mar race track opening, summer Mexico day trips, escaped zombies - there was even a swarm of bugs on the 5 freeway that we suspected might have contributed to the stall out of San Diego. Every year I say I’m going to get a hotel room and/or take a train down to the Con. And, of course, every year it’s the same tedious drive, park and walk to the convention center.
Since it took much longer than we anticipated geting down to San Diego on Saturday I was only able to pick up my badges and do a quick visit to J. Michael Straczynski’s talk before the Zombie Walk.
I decided to harass him by asking him the most idiotic question I could come up with - “Changeling II,” I asked with a straight face, “when?” Joe, an industry friend, seemed momentarily perplexed and said with outraged conviction, “Never!” I thanked him and left immediately prompting him to get laugh from the assembled with an even more perplexed look and then noting in most stentorious voice that I had stood in line for 30 minutes just to ask that one stupid question.
Joe’s a great sport - he knew I was trying to get a laugh at his expense and, as always, gave back as good as he got. His Q&A’s are always funny and entertaining with him riffing brilliantly off the fanboy/fangirl questions. This year he talked a lot about Wonder Woman which he was hired by DC Comics to reboot.
Unfortunately I missed OCSWA friend Kevin Sorbo who was signing autographs at the Lightspeed booth on the floor on Saturday.
The Zombie Walk was truly great fun - it was my first time and although I didn’t go with the zombies as they shuffled through the Gaslamp (I had too much of Eric’s Zombie Flesh Jerky gear in my care) the spirit at the start point was amazing and it continued until the zombies made it to the bar well into the night. The Quality Social Club was in full compliance with the zombie milieu and made them all feel welcome - kudos to the management and staff for creating a great undead watering hole. Having been to this one, I’m going to make sure I do it again. I want to find those cute zombie girl Starbucks baristas again and try to get them to foam my latte.
Sunday I went early to walk the floor with my buddy Kevin. Although I heard many OCSWA members were there, I ran into no one - except everyone else on the planet who seemed to converge on the convention center floor. At one time, as my friend noted, when you came on a Sunday you had about an hour and a half in relative comfort. Noonish and things would get heated up and crowded. No more. We hit the floor at 10:15 and couldn’t move. I am still astounded at the attendance - this year had to have set records as it has every year for a while. There’s talk about moving the show to Anaheim which is a larger venue; honestly, although I would
welcome the space and the closer drive, it probably wouldn’t be the same.
What’s increased the buzz around the Con over the years is all the movie and production companies. Since the major (and minor) companies have committed to announcing, showing and doing other promotional endeavors at the Con attendance has skyrocketed. This, to my mind, has both improved and destroyed the Con. The organizers have relegated the big timers to one end of the convention floor and good luck trying to get to anything. It’s simply wall-to-wall people. I almost lost an eye when a bamboo bo stick alarmingly swung my way on the back of some character from an obscure movie or comic book. Plus, not to put too fine a point on it, but those with, uh...gastrointestinal issues should perhaps invest in those underpants that kill escaping methane. Yuck. Next year, I’m thinking I’m going to dress up like a character with an oxygen mask to avoid the toxic clouds that seem to sit in the aisles waiting to ambush the innocent.
As usual, my friend and I had missions for the Con. I was doing my usual business schmoozing and Kevin was looking for a Captain America glass since he had broken his last one. Plus, both of us being casual collectors, we’re always on the lookout for comics and graphic novels. Okay, so when you say it aloud it seems silly but trust me, having a mission of any kind makes inching your way through those aisles a bit more tolerable. Well, that and the Princess Leia slave girls.
This year I avoided grabbing all the free swag that I normally get (and then eventually toss.) I did get a big giant bag and a lanyard (love lanyards) from the funny lady creators of “Heroine Addict” but I carefully did not fill it with anything beyond the few comic books/graphic 
novels I bought (R.I.P., Frank Frazetta - impossible to imagine his pen is stilled forever.)
One of the best things about the Con is the people you meet. At one point, Kevin and I went for some cardboard-textured nachos with jalapeno cheese goo and a pizza that had been flavored with red and green. That’s the only way I could describe it since whatever it was flavored with was not familiar to me - and I’m of 100% Italian heritage. Calling it pizza was perhaps the biggest stretch of the entire show.
We shared a table with a cute 18-yr-old (slightly geeky) girl from Utah who we had fun talking to. She was at her first Con with her sister and boyfriend and had apparently had enough since they were still on the floor but she was quietly lounging at one of the food courts waiting for their return. She was sweet, funny and enjoyable to spend some time with - especially since we couldn’t actually eat the food we’d overpaid for. Kevin managed to apply a glob of radioactive-yellow, cheese goo right to his white shorts in the crotch area which led to a few hilarious and inappropriate comments - and Utah geek girl was right there with us in her own disarming way. Good luck to her and her impending college years. Maybe we’ll see her again down the road as a grizzled veteran of the Con.
This year was marred by some alarming geek violence as someone apparently hopped up on too much cheese goo and Coke stabbed another convention goer with a pen at the “Resident Evil: Afterlife” panel. Initially it was reported that the stabbing was in an
eye but thankfully it turned out to be just a scratch. I’m now praying that nothing remotely violent ever happens again - it would just kill the joyous geekdom celebration that is Comic Con.
The San Diego Comic Con runs in late July every year for four days (Thursday-Sunday) and sells out these days every year so get your badges early and take a train down - you’ll save money and frustration (parking is between $17.00-$25.00 and is sometimes hard to find.) In 2013 the contract with the convention center runs out and then both Anaheim and Los Angeles have expressed interest in taking the Con away from San Diego. And that could happen since the San Diego Convention Center is (and has been) maxed out. They need at least 1.5 times more floor space to be comfortable.
With exhibits, talks, seminars, autograph signings, premiers and a hundred other things to do, Comic Con is simply too big to take in even if you go all four days. Olan ahead by using the online tool provided by the Comic Con website.
I had a lot of friends on the floor or in the upstairs rooms and I saw none of them (except JMS.) But you go, you do what you can, see what you can, eat some cheese goo, and the rest you hope you’ll catch next year or the year after. It’s certainly a sometimes frustrating experience but on balance it’s just a lot of damned fun.
