Let me just go ahead and say that San Diego Comic Con was the most fun I have had in ever. Okay, now that’s out of the way, let’s get into the details.
Thursday:
Thursday involved me spending about $200 in the first twenty minutes. I went crashing into the webcomics and small press areas as well as the Oni booth and just went nuts. After that I went to find Mike Maihack of Cleopatra in Space and spoke with him for a bit, which is where I bumped into Stephen McCranie who creates Mal and Chad. Stephen and I spent most the rest of the day exploring the con and meeting all kinds of awesome people. Stephen’s been going to the con for the last four years or so and knows everybody and Scott Kurtz so I got a chance to get to know a few people I wouldn’t have normally.
Later Mike’s wife Jen, their friend Jeff and I all went to the Scott Pilgrim Panel which was awesome even though we were about five miles away from the stage. After that, it was time to head back home and get some sleep. Day 1 = Rocking success.
Friday:
We went to the zoo.
Saturday:
So we only had tickets for Thursday and Sunday, so we planned for Saturday to be a bit of a lazy day since we were sick of walking. Well, we planned to see a movie so we headed downtown. It was there that we stumbled upon a free screening of Scott Pilgrim vs The World that was starting at 6:30. It was 11:00 at the time. We decided that this was the most awesome thing possible, so we grabbed a quick bite and hurried to the line which we soon discovered that we WERE the line. With nothing better to do, we camped out. It wasn’t until about forty minutes later that another kid showed up to drop in line, followed by a few more here and there. It was in line that we got to know a great guy named James who we spent the better part of four hours talking to.
After much confusion by the security guards we starting moving into the theater around 5:30. This is when things started getting extra awesome. DJ Koala was dropping some beats and they were handing out limited edition Scott Pilgrim T-Shirts for various reasons (best costume, worst dressed, etc.). The friend we met in line, James, went up to the stage and informed them that me and my cousin had been in line since 11:30, so they brought both of us on stage for a dance contest (I’m always saying we need more dance contests in this world). So I was supposed to be a bird, and my cousin the ocean. Let me tell you, I am an awesome bird, as is made known by my awesome t-shirt. After that Edgar Write came out and everybody went nuts. He introduced nearly the entire cast and they tossed out bracelets (one of which I caught).
Then the movie began, and my friends. It. Is. AWESOME!!!!! I’ve never had the chance to watch a film with the actual cast, director and creator. So this gave me as well as everyone else in the theater a chance to clap and yell without seeming stupid (I never clap during movies, who’s supposed to hear me?). They all came out at the end once more, as well as freakin Tom Jane. Needless to say this was the greatest movie nights of my life, greatest Saturdays of my life, and one of the best freakin movies of my life. So there you have it, Saturday = Glorious victory.
Sunday:
Ah, Sunday. The last day of the con. I spent Sunday doing all the extra wandering that I didn’t really do on Thursday. I bought some more books and bumped into Stephen and got to say good bye to him.
I talked with Bryan Glass, writer of Mice Templar for a while and got to pick up a copy of the second book which he kindly signed AND sketched in for me (always awesome to get writer sketches).
Later on Mike and Jen invited me to dinner after the con where they were meeting a bunch of friends/artists/etc. At the restaurant I got to meet Dean Trippe for the first time which was pretty cool. We ate some delicious (and EXPENSIVE) fish and chips and then headed up to a post con party that Bill Willingham, creator of Fables was throwing. Bryan Glass showed up and we got to talk to him so more. He’s a really cool guy and shared the origin of Mice Templar with us as well as some encouraging words.
Overall Sunday = flippin awesome.
Monday:
Missed my flight, got moved to tomorrow, got bored, wrote a blog about my trip to San Diego.
Summary:
San Diego was awesome. No if ands or buts about it. I will be coming back next year, no questions. Next time however I will get the four day pass. Big thanks to Mike and Jen Maihack, Jeff (I don’t remember your last name), and Stephen McCranie for being awesome people to hang out with and making the con extra awesome. I’ll post some pictures later on when I get home. That’s all for now!
-Josh
