I was able to go to the Saturday of San Diego Comic-Con, or Comic-Con International 40 if you want to get technical. My cousin Nick drove us in his truck. Even a rest stop on the way had abysmal traffic. To skip ahead briefly, I could probably have gone Sunday but did not recall that my friend Ross lives in LA until hours too late. Also, my grandparents were using their car to go to church in the mid-day.
Yes, I realize that this is extremely late. It will also ramble inconsequentially.
I'd printed nineteen pages of panels, started reading the titles to Nick, then gave up when I remembered that I hadn't printed any for Sunday. My preparation in Missouri was also lackluster. I saved a lot of information to an external drive and grabbed two Matt Fraction comics to get them signed.
I opted not to bring a camera in case I went to a screening. I eventually used my cell phone to take some pictures, though I was waiting in a line by that point. On the walk to the San Diego Convention Center, I saw a woman in the yellow Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform.
The first thing I decided to attend was the Lost panel. Luckily, I started heading the wrong direction and noticed that Jeff Smith was doing a signing. I got in line and made small-talk with some young Asian woman who is a creator familiar to the individuals at the Cartoon Books booth. Of the things for sale, I already had the Bone One Volume Edition, which pretty much left his kids book and RASL. I am a trade-waiter on RASL, which worked out for me when it turned out to have gorgeous, oversized art. I bought issue four just to have something for him to sign, so I will have two copies of it when the second paperback comes out. (It turned out to have both action and back-story.)
I resumed trying to go to the Lost panel, eventually figuring out I was headed the wrong way, and that the line was outside. Getting in line at 10:45 for something at 11, I suspected I would not get in, which was confirmed by the Elite ushers when the panel was half over.
I called Nick, who had lined up for the Futurama panel. Matt Fraction, the only creator I had actually prepared for, would be signing during it, so I did not join him. He was also supposed to sign the next day, but I made the right decision given my non-attendance then and the panel probably being posted online. Nick informed me of a few episodes from the potential season, which was on hiatus at the time of the panel due to talks breaking down between actors and the studio. Someone summarized the Lost panel to him in line.
Between 11:30 and 1, I had time to roam around. I got a moderately overpriced hotdog around 12:30. On one of my few bathroom trips, I saw a program book on a paper-towel dispenser. I asked if it belonged to anyone and took it.
At some point in my roaming I got two more things signed and a sketch. I saw a line for Sergio Aragonés, famous for his Mad marginalia, so I bought the cheapest thing available, Liberty Comics #1. It's an anthology for charity, so it could conceivably have saved me another purchase if I saw other contributors signing. (I would have packed Fanboy if I had prepared properly.) He signed one of his and Mark Evanier's "Tales of Comicbook Censorship!" inside and I told him to enjoy drawing Bart Simpson comics.
I saw a $1 watercolor comic, purchased it, and the creator, William Groede, graciously signed it.
At the BOOM! Studios booth, I saw Roger Langridge doing sketches next to piles of his The Muppet Show Comic Book. A nearby man with an exhibitor badge said, "You like Mark Waid?"
"What?"
"You're wearing a Kingdom Come Superman shirt."
"Oh! Right, sorry, my mind was on Muppets."
"He writes stuff for us, you know."
"Yeah, I read Irredeemable and The Incredibles."
He smiled. "I'll stop with my sales spiel then. Want any of the comics?"
"I was more interested in a sketch."
He pointed this out to Mr. Langridge, who asked, "What would you like?"
"Whatever you'd like to draw."
"I'll finish this, then."
I did not see Fraction among the lists of people appearing on Marvel's monitors, so I mumbled something about his website being full of lies and wandered off. It was lucky I did, because I noticed a Bryan Lee O'Malley signing at the Oni booth. Having previously read each volume of Scott Pilgrim, I took this as a sign to finally buy the first, and the 2008 Color Odds and Ends issue. I saw Venture Brothers villains while in line.
My friend Loree called to inform me of a sale at a Saint Louis comic book store. "I'm at Comic-Con, waiting in line to get Scott Pilgrim stuff signed." She indicated her jealousy of my situation.
When I reached Bryan and gave my name, he responded, "Like Kyle Reese from Terminator?"
"Yes. I impregnated Sarah Conner… either of them."
"Kyle Reese, time stud. That's what they should've called Terminator! Time Stud!"
At some point in my wanderings a woman hawking buttons said "I've got a rabbit puking a rainbow!"
I walked back to the Marvel booth, intent on trying again. I saw Robert Downey Junior in Stark-face and meant to talk to him, and then I saw Fraction on the Iron Man stage signing video-game posters for the movie and got in line.
"Signing comics?" I asked.
"Sure, anything!"
I placed The Invincible Iron Man #1 and Casanova volume 1: Luxuria before him. Signing Casanova, he said, "Thanks for buying this."
I like to think I said, "Thanks for writing it!" but I am only certain I said, "When will volume two be collected?"
"When we start up volume three, two will come out."
I got him to sign a poster as well. As I sat down my Inglourious Basterds bag and began putting things in it in the middle of the Marvel section, I saw Deadpool point a gun at the stuffed animal from Bleach.
Walking around, I said, "Wade Wilson! Mind making that pose again?" I snapped a picture with my phone and walked off, Downey temporarily forgotten.
I got a Dante's Inferno bag of free stuff and grabbed the Webcomics Section. I tried to go to the Gerard Way panel, but it was full, so I went back to the room for Blackest Night which had no line. Noticing a program book in my freebie bag, I sat the one I'd found in the bathroom beside me for someone else to grab. My attempts to take a picture of Black Lantern Steve Rogers were quite blurry.
I didn't get one of wrong-costume Mary Marvel. The final audience question asked for a repeat of how the Green Lantern: First Flight panel ended, so Geoff Johns lead the crowd in the Green Lantern oath. I was among the 65% or more of the crowd chanting with fist in the air, while noticing that I had no enthusiasm for it. I was ashamed of my comparatively low geek factor.
I then headed back outside to get in line for the Kevin Smith panel, where Nick was already waiting. Some G4 woman dressed in the Silk Specter II costume from the comics was recording a segment.
It wasn't Blair Butler, so shouting "The online edition is better!" would have been pointless, in addition to being annoying. I shielded myself from the sun with my signed Iron Man 2 videogame poster. When someone called me out on this, I pointed out that it has sentimental value now. Some people near me smoked a joint after sitting down on the grass.
Noticing a costume, I called out, "Zur-En-Arrh Batman! Can I get a picture… with the cowl?"
"I don't want to put it on right now!"
"Okay!"
After listening to Kevin Smith say things like, "I want you to say, in your own personal patois, 'I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all out of bubblegum'," Nick and I walked through the throng departing the convention center and went to a bar, passing Café Diem. He had nachos and some beer with Red in the name. I drank the same thing and finished one and a half large pretzels with a garlic flavor. Some women complimented his "Who's your daddy?" Darth Vader shirt. He then showed them his Rebel Alliance belt buckle, but had to explain what it was.
We tried to swing back for the Masquerade, but an Elite told us, "If you don't have tickets, don't waste your time."
On the ride back to Fullerton, we listened to the Best Of Queen and Spamalot.
Here are any pictures which did not make sense to place above, starting with all my swag, signed items first:
