In a word: “Exhausting.”
I’ve been wanting to go to San Diego Comic-Con, that Holy Grail of all that is geeky, for the last few years now, and after finally finding people insane enough to go with me, after enduring the standard rib-poking, the friendly “dude...you’re such a nerd” reminders, that’s really the best word that comes to mind when people ask me how it went.
Which, of course, begs the inevitable follow-up: “Really, what’d you do?”
And the embarrassing answer to that: “Well, we waited in line, sat in a hall, listened to people talk, watched some clips, and then maybe—if we were feeling up to it—walked around the convention floor for a little bit.”
That was our Comic-Con experience in a nutshell—lots of line-waiting, lots of listening and watching. I don’t know about my two fellow writers (both of whom seemed to have way more energy—those freaks of nature), but I was beat after the end of every day we were there.
None of which is a bad thing, of course. In fact, I think the sheer amount of panels going on (of which we’ll describe more later), that ridiculous number of people moving shoulder-to-shoulder on the exhibition floor, the rows upon rows of stuff you can buy and explore—all of that adds to the charm of Comic-Con. It’s been called uber-geeky, but that’s not even an accusation—it’s just a welcome statement of fact.
Yeah, it was tiring (just try having a navigation plan on that exhibition floor, which moves with the speed of L.A. traffic in a rush-hour construction zone car accident)…but the overall spirit of the place is so infectious, you can’t help but be caught up in it. Everyone there came to celebrate the things that they love—whether it’s comic books, movies, video games, or the numerous genres that make up the “fanboy” stereotype. And, that, to me, was the greatest thing about the entire convention—all of these people genuinely care for the characters and stories that talented artists created, and they want to see them done right. They want to honor them, to talk about them in great, geeky detail—something I do pretty much on a daily basis, but never on this scale.
All of that made the lines, the waiting times, and, hell, the massive influx of “Twilight” fans, worth it. I loved the chance to chat and geek out with other crazy enthusiasts; to catch my favorite stars laid-back and talking directly to their most vocal and appreciative fans. The atmosphere was a welcoming one—sure, there were stupid people, asking moronic questions hoping for some attention, but they were instantly cancelled out by the passionate and often insightful other fans, all hoping to have some face time with the people they admire.
Robert Downey Jr., just too suave and charming, summed it up best. In the middle of an interesting history of “Sherlock Holmes,” he stopped point blank and, with a grin, just couldn’t resist saying: “Ah, I love you guys.” These fans might dig on a lot of movies (myself very much included), but when they love something, they embrace it wholeheartedly, and the stars obviously react to that. You could tell some were forced or contractually obligated to be here, but a good chunk of them were just there to have fun, selling their movies, but really loving the experience.
There were costumes too, of course—some creative, some interesting yet very uncomfortable-looking (props to the person wearing Medieval chain-mail on a hot, humid San Diego day), and some…deeply inappropriate. But, all in all, it felt natural and organic to this entire convention. It’s a celebration of creativity, and how bland would it be if it was just a bunch of people in suits, pretending to be “cool” and above it all?
Looking back on the whole experience, I don’t think I’m a full convert quite yet (after all, as my mom said when I came back, I looked like I needed serious relaxation after my little vacation), but, to put it in the best way, I’m intrigued. I’m intrigued in the same way as when I first saw “Superman” when I was 6. (Let’s ignore the fact that after “Superman,” I found a red sheet in my parent’s house, drew this weird English symbol on it, and started jumping from our couches to fly…and was very upset that my cape wasn’t working—stupid Ukranian sheets!). “Superman” pointed my attention to Tim Burton’s “Batman,” both huge hits on Russian TV, and slowly sparked my ridiculous six-year-old imagination that there’s more interesting stuff here to discover—I needed to digest more and more of this superhero business to fully comprehend its awesomeness.
And that, in a far better nutshell, was Comic-Con for me now. We probably saw a fraction of all that it had to offer, and I’m way too curious to see much more—much too intrigued to skip out on it in the coming years. I don’t think I could last all 4 days again (I don’t have my hard-core geek cred just yet), but I definitely haven’t seen the last of it.
We have lots to talk about, including dissecting the individual panels, like the fantastic (“Chuck” and “Iron Man 2”), the awful (sorry, “Star Wars”), and the unintentionally funny (ahem, “Twilight,” with its topless-male overload), celebrating the individuals who embraced the wild enthusiasm of the crowd (take a bow, Mr. Downey Jr.—you truly are the King of the Con!), and, of course, giving our thoughts on the various footage we’ve seen. So stay tuned to the “Lunch Table” for our individual takes and more Comic-Con footage, pictures, and lots of good stuff throughout the week…
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