I just returned from my first Dragon*Con and my head is still spinning. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think any event could match Comic-Con for geek impact and intensity, but I was wrong.
A lot of people like to compare the two Cons in a heated exchange. I think this is unnecessary. Both are fantastic events with vast and varied programming, cosplay opportunities, and star gazing. It’s important to understand the key differences between the two if your time and budget limitations allow for only one event each year.
For five days my feet touched the holy ground of San Diego Comic Con 2011 geekness. Short of working in SyFy’s Vancouver-based studios or being on set filming the next Tron: Legacy, Avatar, or Star Trek-type movie, this is the closest I will ever come to geek-topia. The friends were phenomenal, the panels were funny and full of information, the cosplay was food for the geek soul, and the exhibition floor was the neverending hall of “I want it all.” I came away supercharged for the next year of scifi, and I’m happy I had the opportunity to attend.
SDCC is more than just the panels you see on YouTube or the coverage on G4. SDCC is a total geek experience. It’s fun. It’s engaging. It’s creative. It permeates all of your senses. It allows you to relive past material and it excites you for upcoming or new material.
Today was the first day of the five-day-long geekstravaganza that is San Diego Comic-Con! This is the second year Chuck and I have attended, with special thanks to our hosts and GWC friends, BKitty, The Hub, Topgun, and Lady D. Since GWC is indeed a family and no family event is complete without all its members, for those who couldn’t be here I wanted to share a tiny vignette of what SDCC looks like through my eyes.
After flying into LAX for the more affordable airfare (and the chance to fly Virgin America’s passenger-friendly line), Topgun, Lady D, Chuck, and I cruised down to San Diego this morning and met up with Barb, the Hub, Raemani, and Shooter, plus a few local friends. We all carpooled over to the Convention Center for badge pickup, which had begun a little earlier in the day in preparation for the opening of the giant exhibit floor for Preview Night at 6:00 p.m. The Convention Center was already swarming with geeks of many colors: a woman ninja with a cigarette dangling from her lips; a teenaged couple dressed as steampunk, well, punks; a little girl dressed as Wonder Woman, and a man in an oddly realistic-looking horse’s head mask (perhaps a Dr. Horrible nod?). In five minutes of walking along the city-side exterior of the Center, I saw more funny and clever geek shirts than I’ve seen in the last year.
Tomorrow I leave for my geek post-graduate final exercise. It’s been just a few years since my return to Geekdom, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve connected with other like-minded geeks. I’ve experienced new-to-me sci-fi material like Farscape and Buffy. I’ve re-emerged myself in gaming. I’ve collected science fiction memorabilia. I’ve purchased geek-related clothing. I’ve written blog posts like this one about sci-fi material. With the gracious approval of Chuck, Sean, and Audra I have even had the opportunity to record a couple of sci-fi discussion podcasts. But there is one thing that I’ve never done in my life: I’ve never been to a science fiction, gaming, or comic convention before. So tomorrow I start my final exercise in my Geek Cred Master’s/PhD and depart for my first geek convention ever: the 2011 San Diego Comic Con.
Steampunk meets, erm, future punk. Check out this steampunk Boba Fett on Dragon Con Walk of Fame!
What you see in the photo above is a one seriously long line. Actually, it’s about 10% of the line waiting for an opportunity for a phone with Shatner and Nimoy at Dragon*Con. This, folks, is an event.
More soon.
How much living can you cram into 24 hours at Comic-Con? Is it worth all the travel, effort, and cash to be there for such a short time frame? I’d say, yes, yes, and YES!
My 24 hours began at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 23rd when I arrived back at our oceanside condo and found a DM on Twitter from Lady D: “Listen to your voicemail!” she said. It seems they had an extra VIP ticket to that evening’s Bear McCreary concert. “Was I interested?” Needless to say, I said a quick goodbye to the family and jumped in the car.
Read on past the jump for the rest of my SDCC experiences, including my first Slave Leia (above).
With SDCC over, we took the time to hit House of Blues one last time — to indulge in White Russians and watch The Big Lebowski with a bunch of other like-minded people. Those matching bowling pins above are “Founding Dudes” Scott and Will — the same guys who guested on GWC’s Thanksgiving-special Lebowski ‘cast (#128).
Sunday. Kid’s Day. The last day of the con — and also the best day to get those deals! Vendors don’t want to pack all that craaap back up again!
The kids get pretty neat freebies, but for little hands it’s sometimes hard to tell what is free and what isn’t! While dealers scramble to protect their pricier wares, they’re more likely to throw a little extra in the bag. The newspaper said the Con thrived despite the economy, though the hub noticed that the Spike & Mike booth kept their prices pretty low and level instead of the usual high start with daily price cut. Read on for lots more pix — and an explanation of how the above photo came about.
Finally, here’s the only man who can hold his own in the wake of the Ironman panel and the reason the hub looks forward to Saturday: Kevin Smith. He has nothing to promote right now, so his was just a straight Q&A that had us falling out of our seats! The man is gracious, kind, and will rip you to shreds if you need it!
Some wanted him to trash on Twilight, but he wasn’t having it; his wife and daughter are both into it, and when a fan offered him a killer-looking bag his wife made for friends, Kevin invited the man to sit on stage with him for the duration — and mugged for pix for the guy’s wife!
No matter how many tangents — and there were many — Kevin always brought it back around to answer or discuss the original question! Witty, profane, gracious and kind.
I’m out of adjectives.
These pictures show only a tiny bit of the Con. Wish everyone could be here!
This was easily one of the biggest, baddest panels of the day! It’s Ironman 2, with Jon Favreau and Robert Downey, Jr. — who totally owned the room, by the way. Read on for more Iron Man pix!
If I had to quantify Saturday at SDCC. I’d say it’s a good day to walk the floor as most people are in the myriad of panels held that day. For example, the photo above show what it looked like to line up for Ballroom 20 at about 9:30 a.m. Needless to say we missed the Chuck panel, which was the first one of the day. Read on for more Saturday SDCC pix!
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