Category: Conventions

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I’m still attending Comic-Con in civvies, but Katie wore two costumes this year: another update of her pirate outfit on Friday, and a Sylar victim with a telekinetic slice across her forehead. Saturday, of course, for the big Heroes panel.

Katie in her latest Pirate outfit Katie as Sylar victim

She did the makeup from scratch, using latex and fake blood, and got a lot of attention. In fact, while waiting in line two hours to get into the panel, series director Allan Arkush walked past, stopped… and took her picture!

Sadly, even after waiting two hours she wasn’t able to get into the room, which was about half as big as it needed to be for the audience. Lots of people left at that point, but she was among the group that stayed hoping to get into the Battlestar Galactica panel afterward (which she did). While bored in line, she and the fan next to her posed as Sylar and victim. Edit: we have a copy of the photo, and permission to post it!

Sylar and Victim

So you can see the result of the traumatic experience of the day:

Katie, after the convention

She got her revenge, though. After we went to see the Buffy the Vampire Slayer 10th anniversary screening of “Once More With Feeling” (described in my Saturday guest post at Comics Should be Good), we went out to the Ghirardelli shop in the Gaslamp District. She got a dark chocolate raspberry sundae, and the raspberry sauce was dripping around the edge of the glass, just so…

Katie zaps the sundae

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I saw quite a few Flash T-shirts in San Diego this year (more than I’m used to seeing at Comic-Con, actually), but only two people dressed as the Flash. Interestingly, both were women.

Kelson meets the Flash Another Flash

While all four of the major Flashes have been men, DC has published a number of female speedsters, including several alternate-reality Flashes and two who have worn the Flash symbol in-continuity: Lady Flash and Jesse Quick.

I also found it interesting that both costume designs incorporated sunglasses, reminiscent of one of Jesse’s later costumes and of the Kingdom Come version of Iris West II.

Update August 3: Wallyoeste and West both pointed out CBR’s 3rd Photo Parade, which includes two pictures of a couple in Flash costumes. Part 4 has a picture of a DC group with a fifth. This brings it up to at least 5 Flashes at the convention: 3 women and 2 men.

Update 16 years later: the CBR photo galleries are long gone, and the Wayback Machine didn’t catch any of the images, so I’ve removed the links. But I still have that Nightmare Before Christmas T-shirt!

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My San Diego Comic-Con reports are up at Comics Should Be Good for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. (edited as posts went up)

We’ve got tons of photos between the two of us, and we’ll post them (including the weird stuff) when we get back. (Edit: photos are up!) And I still hope to post more here, like the two perspectives on Wednesday, if I can get a chance when I’m not totally exhausted.

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We made it to San Diego after a longer than expected midday drive. (Traffic between Carlsbad and the San Diego city limits was a nightmare.) After checking into the hotel, we stopped for a snack and then headed out to the convention center to pick up our badges for Comic-Con. It went a lot more smoothly than last year, probably due to actually having confirmation notices. (Though I did end up having to run around looking for the press desk for the CBR gig.)

One note: For the first time in four years, we were actually asked to show our trolley tickets. You have been warned.

People waiting for Preview NightWe had tickets to see Avenue Q tonight, so instead of staying for Preview Night with everyone else (and there were lots of people waiting to get in at the time we left, about half an hour before the doors opened at 6), we went to dinner at Dussini, the Mediterranean restaurant that replaced the Spaghetti Factory a couple of years ago.

Then we walked over to the Spreckels Theater, which was interesting. It’s inside an office building, and you get from the lobby to the balcony by taking the regular office elevators to the third floor. Then they check your tickets.

Anyway, good show, highly recommended if the idea of raunchy puppets doesn’t disturb you.

Tomorrow we go to the con proper, and my con report should appear at Comics Should Be Good.

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Update July 2009: I’ve got a new list of Comic-Con Tips over at Speed Force, and I’m posting new ones each day to @SpeedForceOrg on Twitter.

San Diego: Comic-Con InternationalSo, you’re thinking about going to Comic Con International this year, or you’ve already got your tickets, but you’re a bit apprehensive about some of the stories you’ve heard, and you’re not sure where to start with a convention this size.

If so, this post’s for you.

We’ve previously posted 11 Suggestions for Comic-Con. Some highlights: Go more than one day if you can, and do the main floor on some day other than Saturday. Don’t forget your camera, with lots of film/memory and a spare battery. Get a trolley pass so you won’t have to drive around downtown. Plan ahead for dinner: make reservations early.

Comic Coverage is about halfway through A Newbie’s Guide to Surviving San Diego, which is shaping up well.

Also, if you’re there for 3 or 4 days, get out a bit. You’re in a major city. Take an afternoon (or even a whole day—Saturday is usually packed) off to explore Old Town San Diego or the Gaslamp District. Tour the historical ships at the Maritime Muesum. Go to the beach. Visit Sea World or the zoo. See a play, like Avenue Q or the Too Much Coffee Man opera. If you’re wearing a costume, wear it to dinner at a nice restaurant. đŸ™‚

One more thing: if you haven’t already ordered your tickets for the 2007 con, buy them now. For the first time in the con’s history, they’ve sold out of 4-day memberships. So head over there to the con website and sign up! Update (July 23): The Beat is reporting that Saturday has sold out as well. Thursday, Friday and Sunday are still available, but who knows for how long?