A Sparkler Reviews Comic-Con San Diego

You may remember DrHorriblesClone from her previous post and her many excellent comments. When we heard she was attending Comic-Con, in San Diego, we demanded that she send us her impressions. And she did!

Comic-Con: The only event all year where thousands of nerds can spend an entire sunny San Diego summer day inside to celebrate and discuss all things pop culture without peers mocking their geeky interests or moms yelling at them to take off their silly costumes and go outside.

The Con turned 40 this year, and its success served as an exhilarating tribute of just how fantastically geek culture has grown since 1969. In fact, the name “Comic-Con” has actually become a bit of a misnomer. It should really be called Comic/Movie/TV/Web/Gaming/AnythingYouCanThinkOfBecauseYou’reNotAmish-Con, as it really does encompass all entertainment-related media, from Alvin and the Chipmunks to Zelda. The diversity draws a huge crowd of exhibitors and spectators alike, meaning there's lots to enjoy—and lots of lines to wait in if you want to enjoy anything besides wandering the exhibit hall where merchandise is sold. My friends and I tried to see as many panels (where creators of comics, TV shows, etc. discuss their work and do Q&As with the audience) as we could.

Without further ado, here are my personal highlights (and lowlights) of Comic-Con 2009:

Most Awesome Panel: Mythbusters Jamie, Adam, Grant and Tory discussing their favorite episodes and experiences and sharing a bit of what’s in store for the show come fall. (Kari was absent from the panel because she’s just had a baby—a girl named Stella!) Adam also declared our Comic-Con audience the best audience they’ve ever had, making everyone feel special.

Most Devastating Missing of a Panel: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. My friends and I waited in line to watch the film plus commentary and sing along for an hour and 45 minutes, only to have the room declared full RIGHT WHEN WE WERE NEXT IN LINE TO GET IN. As a huge fan (see nickname), I was ready to cry…or punch someone really, really hard. This Thursday night tragedy provided a valuable lesson, however: For the rest of the weekend, we got in line two hours early for anything we wanted to see.

Coolest Celeb Sighting: The Incredible Hulk Lou Ferrigno selling comic books in the Exhibit Hall. Not selling autographs, not being The Hulk, just selling comics. (When I told my dad this, he cried, “Why didn’t you buy a comic from him?!?”)

Best Piece of Swag: A “Live Long and Prosper” foam Vulcan hand, done in the style of the “Number One” foam hands worn at football games. Plus, when we held it up, we occasionally got the signal returned!

Best Way to Pass the Time While Waiting in Line: Playing Comic-Con Bingo, in which we had to spot people or objects that fit our own predetermined categories. They included Someone Whose Feet Hurt, A Couple Dressed Up Together, and Someone Crying Because S/He Didn’t Make it Into a Panel. I won, having six out of nine squares filled by the end of the week.

Best-Looking Preview: Where the Wild Things Are. I was skeptical when I heard they were making a film out of a beloved book from my childhood, but even if the script of this film ends up being a complete waste, just watching the huge, puppet-like Wild Things come to life on screen may make it worth it.

Worst-Looking Preview: The Vampire Diaries. Even if The Vampire Diaries was a series of books that came out a decade before Twilight, it’s still the same basic, not-that-great formula: hot vamp meets cute girl and must control his appetite and protect her from other, dangerous vamp.

Overall, the weekend was exhausting, enlightening, overwhelming, exciting, frustrating, surprising, and, more than anything, pretty darned fun. I don’t think I’ll return next year—more expensive tickets and an even larger crowd aren’t quite worth it—but I’m glad I made it to the convention’s 40th anniversary. If nothing else, I can tell people I was in the crowd that gave Adam Savage “better-than-pee shivers” when I cheered for him at Comic-Con 2009.