Graphic Content
By Wally Flores Jr.

As this was my first (but hopefully not last) experience at the San Diego Comic-Con I thought it appropriate that I take the time to actually do some reflection from the standpoint of a general fan/attendee. The reason I'm being specific about my stance is that there are other things that I plan on talking about in the future from more of an "outside" standpoint. That is, trying to turn off my comic reader mindset and look at it from more of a professional/critique standpoint. With that said, let's get on to the story of this first experience. The first day of Comic-Con started off relatively smoothly. I picked up my badge in the early evening, and that took all of about three minutes as I was preregistered as press. The line for those that weren't...wooah nelly! After that our dear editor Sheryl, her husband Paul, and Collector Times writer Jamie Colville and I went to the hotel were many of us were staying so that Jamie and I could drop off our belongings. After that we went to the hotel Sheryl and Paul were staying so we could be familiar with the location of what could be "Collector Times Central" and then the four of us caught the con bus that ran by their hotel. The four of us arrived at the convention center and after a relatively short wait outside they opened the doors to the main floor and we headed in. It was a freaking madhouse. In my mind it was basically a mad dash for free stuff (a.k.a. "swag") by the majority of the people there. Me, I was there to experience the con, so I was a bit perturbed feeling like I was in a giant mosh pit. Sheryl took a picture of me going in (you can see it here in the pictures area of Collector Times) and a picture of me standing in front of the Hulk statue. I tried to pull off a, "What's behind me?" look but ended up looking more like a gimp...oh well, nothing new there. Sheryl and I wandered around the exhibit hall for a while and when we paused to get my picture her husband and Jamie vanished. Paul went to find a shirt and Jamie went to do something (probably find contact as he is quite the interview machine when it comes to comics). I saw giant Wonder Woman bags from the Warner Brothers booth but didn't get one (I wanted to get one for a friend). I also saw cool Black Panther bags and while I wasn't able to get one that first night I was able to get one on Saturday. Sheryl and I were able to hit the DC booth right when they were handing out a variety of posters that were of different J.G. Jones cover art for Final Crisis and a bunch of mini-pins (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash). After we were done for the evening the four of us went to a Denny's near the hotel Jamie and I were staying at. Even later that night my roomie for the con Jason Bourgeois (who has been known as the other half of my brain for 10+ years) showed up as his flight to San Diego was delayed due to a severe weather warning. Thursday morning we go up around 8:00 I think, had breakfast, got picked up at 9:15 and then headed into town. Once I got into the con I went to 'Ballroom 20' (I was sitting by 10:30), which would be my home until about 2:15. I saw a panel that was for Virgin Comcs and spotlighted on Stan Lee and Grant Morrison. It was a really good panel. The moderator asked both of them very good general comic industry questions even though he worked for Virgin and it was a Virgin panel. I was really impressed by that and I think it showed respect for the standing that both men had overall in the comic industry. I must say that I think Stan Lee is hilarious and pretty quick witted. Morrison was MUCH more reserved than I would have expected him to be and I never thought he would have been in a suit the whole time (that being other panels and during the day when I saw him about). As someone who has been reading a few titles from Virgin Comics I'm really interested in seeing how Morrison's MBX storyline unfolds (it's an online CGI series of shorts). After that was done I moved up a few rows for the next panel, which was a Doctor Who panel. Now, I've just recently gotten into Doctor Who (via Torchwood) but I REALLY enjoy the show and was looking forward to the panel. Unfortunately Russell T. Davies wasn't able to attend due to working on Doctor Who scripts, but Julie Gardner and Steven Moffat were great. Even the questions by the audience members were mostly interesting and of quality. Some of the more memorable things during the panel were Steven Moffat talking about dating (don't bring a toothbrush on a date, you'll have a hard time explaining why you brought it) his understanding of how Doctor Who fandom starts in the UK (If you're not good, no Doctor Who), and how he considers non-UK audiences when coming up with jokes in the show (If I don't think non-UK people will get the joke...I'm using it anyway!). After that panel was over Steven Moffat left and a few Torchwood cast members came out (oh, after we saw the extended Doctor Who 2008 Christmas special trailer for a second time...whooh!). One by one John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd, and Naoko Mori came out to sit with Julie Gardner. All I can say is that I've seen little bits and pieces of John Barrowman in interviews and bloopers and such and the man just seemed to have a presence about him. Well, let me tell you that in person the man just EXUDES charismatic energy to the Nth degree. I cannot tell you what it is but just seeing him live is a treat. Watching him goof around, tell stories...it's awesome. Now, maybe part of that is because he was with his fellow Torchwood cast mates but something tells me that when he's in a situation like that (presentation in front of fans) he just puts himself into it. Again, a lot of good questions from fans and good answers from the panel. The stories from all three cast members were really interesting to hear. Due to one request from a fan John Barrowman and Naoko Mori treated those at the panel to a short rendition of a number from Miss Saigon as they had both been in it together many years ago (it's when they first met I believe). I got the audio on my camera. There is video too, but it isn't good as my camera isn't that high of a quality and I'm not all that good with it. After the Torchwood panel I took a break to wander around for a while. I ended up at the DC booth again and was able to get three of my mini-posters from the night before (I had them in an envelope in my backpack) signed by J.G. Jones. I gave one to a friend as she's a Supergirl fan. Mr. Jones was nice enough to make his signature on that poster a "tramp stamp". Sure, it was on Supergirl's abdomen, but I'd say it's still fair to call it one. I told him the Flash and Green Lantern ones were for me due to them being my favorite DC characters (sharing a name with the Flash and GL being my favorite hero since I was a kid). He asked me who my favorite GL was and I told him that while Hal was who I grew up with I identify with Kyle. He nodded and smiled like he knew where I was coming from in that statement and offered me a handshake before I left. A VERY nice guy. After that I went to the Street Fighter IV panel. Unfortunately it took them a while to clear the room and get those of us in line inside so I missed a bit of the panel as they did start on time. The game looks sweet and I'm sure I'm going like it a WHOLE lot more than Street Fighter III. If you are on Xbox Live you can download the game trailer and see the same game play trailer I saw. They also showed us a few animated shorts that will be with the game when it releases at home, one of which they premiered during the panel. The evening finished with the Collector Times staff going to dinner thanks to our editor Sheryl. If you haven't seen it you can see a picture of all of us who went to the dinner at the Collector Times site. Good food, good friends, good stuff all around. Friday we got up earlier and were supposed to be heading out by 8:15. It didn't happen. I must say that it is both humorous and frustrating that people who are more familiar with cons seemed to have a more difficult time getting ready and prepared than someone who is new, like me. I'll let that story end right there. We got to the con later than we wanted (mostly due to traffic) but I was still able to get into the panel for The Big Bang Theory. The first third of the panel was mostly a montage of footage from the first season. After that we got to hear a bit more about the actors and the show in general. One cool thing they mentioned during the panel was that Sarah Gilbert would be returning in season two for two episodes as Leslie Winkle. After that I went to get some tickets so I could stand in line to buy some toys. A friend that was originally planning to attend the con asked that I pick him up some figures as he wasn't able to go after all. Let me say that unless there is something I desperately want next time there is no way in hell that I am ever doing that again. It ate up pretty much the rest of my day. The Big Bang Theory panel got out at 11:15, I wasn't able to get into a panel again until 6:00. Now, all that time wasn't me in line, but most of it was. I did take a half-hour for myself about and get autographs from John Barrowman (picture and his book) and Gareth David-Lloyd. Saturday was pretty much a wash. I tried to get a ticket for an autograph from Tite Kubo for a friend and wasn't able to do that. I was also supposed to pick her up a Kon backpack at the Viz booth (they were selling it for one day only) but they had to restrict selling times for security reasons as that's where Tite Kubo was doing the autographs. After that I had a bit of time before I was going to get other autographs for a friend and myself. These autographs were from voice actresses that do the English language version of Bleach. Before then is when I finally got my Black Panther bag, and a Chuck bag. The autographs I did get took a while, but it was worth the wait as the ladies were very nice and the early signing time moved faster than they were expecting so a many people got a few things signed and even got pictures of/with the ladies (they were both very sweet and friendly with everyone). After that I realized my right leg wasn't going to take much more as my knee was starting to hurt. I don't know if it I did something or it was just too much standing the previous day. None of the lines I was in on Saturday stopped moving for too long. That's why I don't think it was so much the standing/walking on Saturday as it was what I had done on Friday. I only made it to a legion panel that night but during my time on the floor I talked to a shop manager, saw a preview for an upcoming comic called Beloved, got the first three issues of Helen Killer, a few toys (Revoltech Transformers) and a DVD called Chocolate (female-type Tony Jaa, awsome). Overall the event was great, and as time went on things only seemed to get better. It got more hectic on some levels too, but I don't it was ever as bad as the preview night. Personally I think the preview night should go back to the way Sheryl said it had been in the past, when all you could do was go in and see things and nobody was selling or giving away things. I think that would be great as people who are there that night could go in, get fliers from booths so they know when all the signings/sales are supposed to happen and get info on how to get tickets for such things. For someone like me who would like to get information for Collector Times and experience the con as a general attendee also, it would be very helpful and make the con a much more enjoyable experience over all. I'll probably expand on points like that in next month's article. Now, for those that might actually be interested in seeing some of the pictures I took here is a small collection of things. Most of this is stuff that I was interested in, but it is my first experience at the con and this is another way that I am sharing it. Me in front of the Hulk   Rear of Nerd Herd car from Chuck   Side of Nerd Herd car from Chuck   A DC shell for the Xbox 360   A Watchmen shell for the Xbox 360   Me in the Comic-Con lobby (that's Sheryl sitting down)   John Barrowman revving up the crowd when he first got on stage   The cute/beautiful/hot Naoko Mori making a pouty face after someone made a comment on the fate of her character Toshiko Sato   Gareth David-Lloyd   John Barrowman reenacting his reaction when he found out he was going to be in Torchwood   Upcoming 25th Anniversary Optimus Prime (Dec. 08 - ARP $70)   War Within Prowl and Grimlock Titanium Figures (Toys R Us - Aug. 08 - ARP $17)   Bumblebee 3-Pack (Wal-Mart - Sept. 08 - ARP $26)   Transformers Universe Figures (Sept. and Oct. 08 - ARP $10) (L to R) - Sideswipe, Acid Storm, Galvatron, Ironhide, Silverstreak   Onslaught (Aug. 08 - ARP $25)   Silverbolt (Sept. 08 - ARP $25)   Cyclones are soooooo cool   Lego Darth Maul!!! (oh, and Leia)   G'nort figure!   Some folks the Batman has been known to interact with   Guess which figure I want   Life-size Iron Man   So close, yet so far...   Batman and Wonder Woman at the DC Online booth   Movie style Optimus Prime hanging out with Wolverine   I took this for my friend because she likes My Little Pony . . . I took it for me because the black pony with the mask makes me think of Clerks 2..hah!   Elvis didn't die, he went to a galaxy far, far away   Bleach English voice actresses and me (L to R) Michelle Ruff (Rukia), Stephanie Sheh (Orihime), me   Movie style Bumblebee   Cammy (I didn't have the guts to ask her to do "the pose" . . . if you play the game you know what I mean)   Blaster (this lady built in an iPod player or something so music would come out of the chest area)   The Batcycle!   King Grayskull (he...made...the powerrrr!)   A guy as Ichigo Costume wasn't all that awesome as compared to others, but the sword was. So much so that Tite Kubo asked to sign the sword.   The blade is a solid piece of wood (don't remember what type...oak or pine I think) and the hilt was solid metal (steel?).   The ORIGINAL Captain America   Jean Grey Black Queen (I could NOT get a good pic. Her face was always blurry. She said she was pumping out the mind powers)   Evil-Lyn and Teela (no wonder it's so tough to choose between being good or evil sometimes)   Bleach action figures (this is one of the few animes I like)   PVC Bleach figures and Bleach watches

[Back to Collector Times]

[Prev.]

[Return to Comics]

[Disclaimer]

[Next]