Greetings!
The San Diego Comic Con officially begins today (for those lucky folks who scored a ticket to Preview Night, festivities actually started last night. Time was, including Preview Night with your four day pass was pretty easy, but we’ll get to that), and before you get excited that by mentioning that, perhaps I’m in line right now, waiting for that popular cast to appear in Hall H…no. Not even close to the convention center. About six hundred miles north of it, actually.
I have been to twelve conventions. From ’89 – ’96 (eight times), and ’06 – ’09 (four times). I bring up the years specifically because, as anyone who has been to San Diego Comic Con (or SDCC for short) for a good length of time can tell you, they represent two very different times in SDCC’s existence:
- Before the Hollywood Invasion
- After the Hollywood Invasion
Before Hollywood realized what a marketing goldmine SDCC was, back in the late eighties/early nineties, average attendance to the Con hovered around twenty to twenty-five thousand people. Currently, it stands at more than one hundred, fifty thousand. If you’ve never been, I would suggest going once for the experience. It’s true that there is nothing like it, at least in the U.S. The addition of the Hollywood element to SDCC has brought many things to the table, both good and bad, depending on who you ask. The Dealer Floor is the largest I’ve ever seen, and you can still see the celebrities you love in excellent panels. My last year going, I was lucky enough to catch Grant Morrison and Stan Lee have a conversation (yep, that was a panel), and Zach Snyder providing real time commentary on a screening of the Watchmen blu-ray release, and broadcasting over the world.
At the same convention, however, I was almost crushed by a wild mob four times. And if you think I’m exaggerating for dramatic effect, I was literally moving with the crowd, but my feet weren’t touching the ground! Once was for trying to get an autograph from a celebrity–I forget who. The other times were for trying to score some free swag. The last time was waiting with a crowd during the last hour of the convention. I was at the Marvel booth, and they had a section of the booth roped off, and the wild crowd were behind the ropes. A woman pressed so hard up against my back, I’m sure her cup size got reduced by one after the giveaway was all over.
Crazy. Insane. Dangerous.
I’m waiting for the news feeds to report a fatal accident occurring at the Con one of these years. I’ve heard in recent years that the Con has utilized more of the city than when I went. There are events going on at a dozen downtown locations, not just the convention center.
If this is your first time going, these rules still hold true:
- Get in line for a panel a few hours early, even if you think the panel will be under-attended. There is no such thing, anymore at SDCC. EVERY panel has a mile-long line attached to it.
- Make sure everyone in your party has there phone on just in case you need to text them your location. You will lose your group in a second if you’re not paying attention.
- Wear comfortable shoes. You will be taking frequent long walks between panels, walking the dealer floor, etc.
- Get right with the fact that you will not be able to see everything SDCC has to offer. Make a plan and make sure your group knows what it is.
If you are going. Good luck and have a ton of fun!