Comic-Con Recap
Written by Jeremy Snow
Published on 07/28/2007
Originally from Binary Culture / [the-lowdown.net]
http://www.binaryculture.net

So it's official: Comic-Con is sold out. All 4 days have been filled to capacity meaning that over 140,000 people will be mulling through the gigantic convention center for the next 24 hours (roughly). I was fortunate enough to have purchased a ticket ahead of time for Friday the 27th.

I got to the convention at about 8:30 AM thinking that registration was going to take some amount of time between 45 minutes and forever. As it turns out, unlike Anime Expo, the San Diego Comic Con knows what they are doing and was able to get me through the doors and give me my badge in about 20 minutes. A staggering figure considering I was behind about 500 people when I got there.

So after I stood around in a state of pleasant shock for about 20 minutes I realized that nothing started for another hour. Wandering around the hall my stomach decided that it wanted a bagel. Of course, being in the middle of a convention center, said bagel was about $3.50...with a 12 oz. soda costing another $2. After dropping nearly 6 dollars for a "meal" usually costing no more than a buck I still had about 30 minutes to mangle. So, I went into the art auction.

It was a haven from the ever growing crowd of people gathered around the stairs to the exhibitors hall (more on that later) and within the art show lie a great number of visually orgasmic items ranging from metal sculptures to painstakingly detailed panoramic views of a futuristic city (the 4 foot by 8 foot drawing was valued at $30,000). I saw a couple paintings by Ciruelo, one of my favorite artists famed for his depictions of dragons. Original art was starting at $250...making me wish I had brought a LOT more money.

Finally 10 AM rolled around and I saw the mass of bodies slowly surge forward. Heading back into the madness and down the stairs I was suddenly overcome with excitement as I saw the very beginnings of the exhibitors hall. I have been to two other conventions in my life: Fanime and JTAF (or the Japan Town Anime Fair). JTAF is an incredibly small venue while Fanime has roughly 10-15 thousand visitors. Fanime's dealers' hall is 50,000 square feet and I thought that it was huge.

Comic-Con's exhibitors hall dwarfs Fanime's dealers hall. I walked around their vendors hall for over four hours, and I still didn't see everything there was to see. I saw the Wizards of the Coast booth, giving away Magic booster packs and demonstrating their new games. I saw multiple toy dealers showcasing the latest and greatest in their action figure lineups. I saw anime distributors like ADV and Funimation and a replica of the Black Pearl all on the floor of the San Diego Convention Center (which is absolutlely gigantic, including a Hall which seats 6,500 people).

After wandering around the exhibitors hall I made my way to my first panel of interest: Viz media. While I was there the panelists announced that Bleach was going to be their newest title to undergo serialization (basically, they'll be releasing Bleach in its original format...bigger, badder and with tons of special features). They followed the panel with a question and answer session which mainly consisted of a bunch of Narutards asking about couples and when X and Y would be getting together blah blah blah...I, on the other hand, had a question about Claymore, one of their Shonen Jump Advanced titles. Hoping to get an answer as to when it would be licensed and brought to the states, the editor of the magazine said that he hoped to bring it to America soon, as its one of the few series that contains a strong female protagonist.

After the Viz panel I went to the panel on the upcoming film "I Am Legend", featuring Will Smith. Orson Scott Card was there, and I was disappointed that I forgot my copy of Ender's Game...one of my favorite sci-fi books. The panelists revealed many elements that went into the making of the film based on Matheson's book, and revealed the I Am Legend website which will be featuring adaptations of the comic and other information as the film nears release. Another important announcement was the Orson Scott Card will be working on the comic book rendition of his classic Ender's Game very soon. So, comic and sci-fi fans rejoice!

Upon leaving the panel I was treated with a free copy of I am Legend volume 1. Autographs followed, and chaos ensued. However, I was able to get autographs from everyone on the panel. I also caught glimpses of the upcoming Death and Return of Superman animated feature, based on one of the best-selling Superman arcs of all time.

The last panel I attended for the day was the "300" DVD release with the director of the film, Zack Snyder. Frank Miller, the illustrator of the comic upon which the movie is based, was also there. I got there a little late so I was mainly watching the Question and Answer section. Responding to a question about the political undertones of the film (the battle-ready Spartans representing George dubya and the Persians representing the Middle-East) Frank Miller responded: "Yeah you can politicize it all you want, but why make it boring?"

If only I had another day to explore the convention, but as it turns out I was only able to attend that single day. However, now I know that a full weekend at the Convention is necessary along with a full bank account. I'll definitely be getting a 4-day pass for next year. Until then, 365 days to go!