Tag: San Diego

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Every year I think I’m ready for the Comic-Con crowds. And every year they astonish me. By the time I’ve gotten used to the crowd level from Thursday and Friday, it’s Saturday, and there are even more people.

Katie got up 2 hours before I did to make sure she got a spot in the Heroes line. She succeeded, and managed to get into the hall before I even made it to the convention center. Of course, that was in part because I wanted to grab cash, coffee, and a sandwich to hang onto for lunch before I got in. I think I stood in line for at least 10 minutes waiting for an ATM at a branch in the Gaslamp district. There were two machines, one of which was broken, and the two — just two — people ahead of me were both making deposits. And the machine was slow.

As for coffee, I figured I’d go to a Starbucks just because it was closer — but once I got to the nearest one, I realized I wasn’t far from an It’s a Grind. So I walked the two blocks, and passed another Starbucks on the way. 😕 So I grabbed coffee and something to eat, then spent at least 20 minutes at Subway. Then I had to wait for the trolleys so I could cross the tracks…

By the time I got to the convention center, they were letting the Hall H line in. It was running all through the park area at the end of the center, zig-zagging around, and reportedly went all the way to Seaport Village. Which doesn’t make sense, because IIRC Seaport Village is at the other end of the center, so maybe they were talking about the line for badge pickups?

I waited near the front, figuring I’d hand Katie her water bottle and crochet hooks on the way in, but then I asked one of the “Elite” staff when the line started moving — and it had been almost an hour earlier.

So I went back to Artist’s Alley to pick up that sketch from Todd Nauck. He was off doing a signing at the DC booth. So I went to the reservation desk to set up for dinner. Which took a while, since I went through the main floor, which was a very cattle-drive-like experience. At least my shoulders are starting to get used to the backpack again, though I’m starting to feel like I’m in that third-day convention haze. (Plus I had only a scone and coffee, instead of a full breakfast, which might have something to do with it.)

There are a lot more people in costumes here today. As expected, there are lots of Jokers this year — so many, in fact, that I’ve stopped paying attention to them except for the really good ones and the creative ones. I’ve seen at least two Nurse Jokers over the last few days, possibly three.

I’m waiting for the Tori Amos/Comic Book Tattoo panel now. I figured the line would be long, so I showed up about 45 minutes early, but it turned out they were letting people walk right into the Ralph Bakshi panel, so I wandered in, watched the end of it, then moved to a better seat at the break. The room’s packed, and there are about 10 minutes left before the panel. But I’m only 5 rows back, and a little off to the side, which is better seating than I’ve had at any of her concerts.

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Comic-Con seems to have learned from last year’s line debacles. They’ve worked out a traffic system where halls are one-way, lines are clearly labeled, and breaks are clearly marked, with staff directing foot traffic. At least for the small-to-medium rooms. I haven’t messed with the large ones, like Ballroom 20 or Hall H.

I’ve found that my shoulders are screaming in pain whenever I put my backpack on, but they get used to it after a while. And I’m losing my voice from trying to talk above the background noise.

I caught the Mark & Sergio panel after lunch, which was (as always) fun. Found the S*P booth, talked to Randy Milholland, and picked up a copy of Super Stupor with a sketch of Aubrey. (Thankfully, I don’t seem to be the inspiration for this strip.) Made my way back to Studio Foglio to get two more volumes of Girl Genius signed by Kaja Foglio. Got to the TwoMorrows panel and booth, where I finally met Keith Dallas, the primary author of The Flash Companion.

Managed to liveblog DC nation, which I started posting as soon as Dan Didio introduced Geoff Johns and Ethan van Sciver as the team on Barry Allen: Rebirth. This woman dressed as Batwoman was about 10-15 feet behind me in line, and got to go up on stage and…well…look like Batwoman.

Getting out of the panel was slow, since they were funneling everyone through one set of double doors and handing out little Batman pins. Once I was free of the crowd, I raced back to the hotel to meet Katie (fortunately we’d already planned to just meet back at the hotel, because my cell phone’s battery died right before DC Nation), and we went out to dinner at Dakota.

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*ahem* Sorry about the title, but when you read that a truck carrying 60,000 pounds of meat flipped over and burst into flames, it comes to mind.

I hope the driver pulls through.

The accident shut down the 5 freeway for most of the day Thursday. We were fine since we drove down yesterday, but a lot of people coming from the LA/OC area or farther north — including my parents, a lot of panel guests, and the driver with all those copies of Comic Book Tattoo — were stuck in the traffic jam for hours. It took us about 2 hours yesterday, including navigating the downtown streets to find our hotel during rush hour. My parents, coming from roughly the same distance today, made the drive in 6½ hours.

The problem is there just isn’t another way to get from there to here. Between Anaheim and Oceanside, there’s only one route inland, the Ortega Highway, and it’s a twisty little mountain road. And there’s miles and miles of freeway bordered on one side by the ocean and the other by Camp Pendleton. Naturally, it was in the middle of that stretch that the accident happened.

(Link via aeryncrichton)

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First morning at Comic Con, we went to breakfast at Cafe 222. Harvey Dent would love this place — it’s 222 Island Ave., and it’s on the corner of Second Street. They have dishes like the Two Plus Two and the Two Plus Two +2. By the time we left, the line to get in was stretching at least 30 people. Great food, definitely recommended.

Arrived around 9:00 AM, about a half hour before the doors opened. I wanted to go straight for the Image booth for the tickets to the Tori Amos signing; Katie wanted to go straight for the Sci-Fi booth for the Big Frakkin Bags — and the lines to get in started at either end of the convention center. So each of us picked a different line, and waited for the doors to open.

Just after 9:30 a huge cheer went up from the front of the line over by A and B. They opened the doors all the way along, so I went in the first one that opened, and made a beeline for the Image booth… where I stood in line for an hour, talking with the people in front of me and behind me in line.

The missing books turned out to be on a truck that jackknifed on the freeway, if I heard correctly on a truck stuck in a massive traffic jam on the freeway. They’re hoping to get them in tomorrow or Saturday, in time for the signing itself. For now, they’re selling prints and offering the book for the price difference, at least for people who arrived in time for the signing “tickets.” I managed to get the 46th slot this morning, out of 75: I’m in for the signing!

After that I went back to Colleen Doran’s table to get Orbiter and A Distant Soil signed, and kicked myself for not bringing The Book of Lost Souls. JMS was standing there talking with her. I waited until he left and said something to that effect, and she said he’d probably be back at some point. But I got the two books signed, and she sketched a space shuttle on the inside cover flap for Orbiter. (Then I noticed a small stack of the Lost Souls trade, and realized I probably could’ve bought a copy right there and had both of them sign it. Ah, well!)

After that I wandered over to the small press area, and found myself in the webcomics neighborhood. I picked up Girl Genius vol.7, got it signed by both Phil and Kaja Foglio, and got Kaja to sign volumes 1 and 2. (They keep coming out right before Comic-Con, so I’ve ended up getting all of them signed… by Phil Foglio. This was the first time I caught them both at the booth while I actually had the books!) While I was paying for the book, Randy Milholland of Something Positive came over and handed the Foglios a copy of the Super Stupor comic book, then left. I’ll have to locate his booth at some point today.

After that it was up to Sails so I could drop some flyers for Speed Force off at the freebie table, where I caught up with Katie again. We wandered a bit, made reservations for dinner, then I headed back to the hotel (such a novel idea!) to drop stuff off. And decided to blog.

General sense: about the same level of crowd as last night. More costumes. Saw lots of Dark Knight-style Jokers, not all of them in purple suits — including one woman dressed as a Nurse Joker. As I waited to cross the street from the convention center, someone actually asked me if I was selling my ticket. 3 hours into a 4-day show? I don’t think so!

Now to grab some food and head back to the con!

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“Preview Night” is about as accurate as “Comic-Con” these days.  They might as well call it a 4½-day convention. Wednesday night was surprisingly crowded (though it’ll get a lot worse by Saturday), and it started from the moment we arrived at the convention center.

It took an hour and a half on the freeway to come within sight of the buildings of Downtown San Diego, and possibly another half hour to make it to our hotel.  Once we checked in, we set about unpacking for our 4-day stay, then headed over to Dussini for dinner.  Afterward, we went straight to the convention.

This is the first year we’ve stayed somewhere close enough to the convention center to walk, and it was very nice not to have to wait for a shuttle or a trolley — either going to the con or coming back to the hotel.  Of course, since you can only cross the tracks at either end of the convention center, that means you need to walk at least half the length.

Our first hint of con culture came on the walk from the hotel to the restaurant.  Someone dressed as a giant donut in a sombrero was walking the streets as part of a promotion for some movie.  [Edit: apparently the movie was Sex Drive.] A little boy of around 5 or so turned to his mother and said, “I don’t like him.”  Kid, you’ve got the right idea.

We arrived at the convention center around 7:45 and discovered two disturbing things:

  • The line to get in and pick up badges went all the way down to the end of the center, then looped around in the sculpture garden.  (At least it moved fast.)
  • People were camping out for Hall H.  Which doesn’t open until tomorrow.

The big usable promo items this year seem to be the giant Wonder Woman bags (following up on the Superman: Doomsday/Smallville bags from last year, which makes me wonder how long it’ll be before we see them converted into aprons, dresses, etc.) and the giant “Big Frakkin Bag” — which is a big purple bag with the words “Big Frakkin Bag” on the side.

Katie noticed that it seems to be all about buying stuff today — being the first to get some item, etc. Partly because everything’s discounted, and partly because there’s essentially nothing else to do until programming starts tomorrow.

I went straight to the Image booth to see what I could find out about the Tori Amos signing — it turns out there was a snafu with getting the books, and the organizer of the event was really annoyed that several boxes had gone missing.  The first however-many people in line, after the one box ran out, got vouchers instead.

I also went over to Colleen Doran’s table, talked with her briefly, and bought a set of Reign of the Zodiac, which she signed for me.  I’d brought Orbiter and A Distant Soil, vol.1, but managed to leave them in the hotel.

I didn’t spot the DC booth until right before closing, but I noticed something interesting: all the staff were wearing Flash symbol T-shirts. (This probably doesn’t mean anything — they’ll probably all be in GL shirts tomorrow, Wonder Woman on Friday, Superman on Saturday, and Batman on Sunday. But I found it interesting.) I also spotted Ethan van Sciver as he drew a sketch for the last person in the line.

Overheard through the window just now: “Don’t get run over, people!” Always good advice!

Edit: In the time it took me to write this, Katie crocheted herself a lanyard for her badge.