This was my first sojourn to San Diego for Comic Con, or for anything else for that matter, and I was unsure of what exactly to expect.  I had pretty good advice going in about things to do and avoid, which was very helpful.  Nothing truly prepares you for the sensory onslaught or the sheer size of the event itself.  Comic Con flows out of the convention center and infiltrates the neighboring Gaslamp District, making you question if everything you are seeing is some type of marketing campaign or just a normal part of life in San Diego. From Robert Rodriguez handing out tacos to promote Machete to SyFy taking over a cafe and theming it based on one of their shows every turn offers new experience or marketing adventure.  One of the best things about the con is the ability to meet creators and writers of comics and artists of all types who have booths on the exhibit floor and are willing to converse about their art.  My head is still spinning from this 4 day journey that began last Wednesday at 5 am.

WEDNESDAY

Early Wednesday morning I  headed off to the airport on my trek to Comic Con.  I flew Southwest, because most of the other airlines have insane fees or shit service, and had no issues or delays.  Upon arriving in San Diego, I grabbed a cab and took the short ride to The Hyatt from the airport.  I headed to the convention center to see how long the line was to pick up passes.   There were about a hundred or so people in line so I went to find something to eat.  I ended up at SyFy’s Cafe Diem, which ended up being my first experience at the con.  I sat at the bar and the service was good, as was the chili.  I was back over at the convention center in about 20 minutes and when I arrived there was no line outside, so I walked right in and picked up my pass.

There were a few hours before the exhibit floor was opening so I went and roamed a little while.  I came back with a few people who had to pick up passes still, so I went ahead to get my first glimpse of Comic Con.  As I entered the exhibit hall I was immediately overwhelmed.  To sum up my feelings the next day someone texted me asking what I thought so far and my response was “amazing/exhausted”.  The hall was just a mass of bodies trying to devour every ounce of geekdom and techness the floor had to offer.  After five minutes my head was spinning and I was wandering like a strung-out hooker looking for my next fix.  After a little while I met up with a group of people and we went to Fred’s for some delicious mexican and beer.  All in all my first day was very good even though I lost my bearings in the Exhibit Hall for awhile.

Thursday

I woke up around 730 or so on Thursday morning and headed out to pick up provisions for the day at Ralph’s ,a local supermarket, and then off to see some panels.  My first panel was The One Ring : The Hobbit panel.  I chose it because it was a smaller panel and had a short line so I could ease into the experience.  It was okay, they kind of rehashed all the news about The Hobbit movie that has come out recently and speculating on what may happen to the project.  I went to see the 38 Studios panel next.

38 Studios is a game studio headed by Curt Schilling , yes the pitcher, and they were previewing their first release Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The panel included: Todd McFarlane, R.A. Salvatore, Ken Rolston and Curt Schilling.  Todd McFarlane was incredible to watch and his passion and intensity for his craft easily came across.  At one point McFarlane was up on the table describing how the characters will live in the world being created.  The shots of the game looked absolutely terrific and I am definitely excited to see more of this game.

Before the 38 Studios panel I sat through some of the Caprica, Battlestar and Beyond panel.  I have never seen either show so I didn’t know much of what was going on but Bear McCreary, composer Battlestar, Caprica and Walking Dead, was incredibly interesting and I was glad I sat through the panel.  I was planning on seeing Assassin’s Creed panel next but never made it there.

That night I ended up going to the G4 / Lucasfilm party with the Media Junkyard crew and Jana.  This was beyond insane.  There were Stormtroopers everywhere, Darth Vader and Boba Fett chilled at the party, and some other Empire Strikes Back theming and characters.  Im not going into any details but needless to say the night ended in the early morning hour and was complete effing awesome.  Oh but I will say the Josh Whedon was cutting a rug at the party.  A big thanks to the whole Media Junkyard crew for bringing me along on this crazy experience.

to be continued…

Bear McCreary

http://www.bearmccreary.com/

38 Studios

http://38studios.com/

The One Ring

http://www.theonering.net/

Fred’s Mexican Cafe

http://www.fredsmexicancafe.com/