When I was a kid I saved up money from mowing lawns and other odd jobs to go to Comic Con. My first was at the El Cortez Hotel. I was a huge room filled a bunch of guys with boxes of bagged comics. Much has changed since my first con. The Golden Age was when Neil Gaimen held a midnight book reading. Those days you could show up for your favorite panels an hour early and still get a good seat. There was a booth where you could pay a discounted price for badges for the next year.
Now the biggest events are held in Hall H. When it was first built you could get in with maybe a 2 hour wait. Lately I see on the news people getting interviewed for camping out overnight for Twilight or Game of Thrones panels. I was going to try getting into the Simpsons panel in room 20 but it’s becoming like Hall H. I showed up 45 minutes early and there was a huge line that moved up maybe 30 people. Seems like people get into room 20 and don’t leave.
An innovation to keep lines from getting too long is they cap the line and tell you to come back later. If you are unlucky the line will be capped each time you return. This is a big problem if you want to make a purchase at say the Peanuts booth where they bring a limited amount of merchandise and they run out before you can get into line to buy stuff.
I still enjoy Comic Con. Each year there seem to be less Comic Book dealers but there are still bargains to be found. I like searching through the half off graphic novel boxes. Book publishers still give out novels and other swag. There are quite a few vendors with attractive t-shirts and other items I don’t see in town. One of my favorite things is the awesome cosplay.
Comic-Con International
111 W Harbor Dr
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, CA 92101
Whoa! The Transformer was super tall! Jacque sure had a great time with you! My favorite thing was all the free books! I love discovering new authors.
It’s hard to resist free stuff! Keep on reading!