Comic-Con San Diego. Day one.

A little over three months ago, I purchased tickets to an event I've wanted to go to since I was a little stupid child. I am of course speaking of Comic-Con International in San Diego. I am a first timer, and have been very excited about going ever since I bought my tickets back in April. Well, today was my first day at this glorious event, and I have much to report. If you've never been but want to go, I suggest you keep reading instead of closing this window and going back to check your Facebook. It's not like anyone wrote you anyway. If you've already closed it, then you can go to Hell.

After a twenty minute long, incredibly crowded tram ride that smelled like a wookie's feet, I arrived at the convention center (which at first somehow smelled worse than feet, even though it's outside) with my brother Eric and my good friend Matt. Since we're all first timers, we were bursting with excitement. That was until we saw the line to pick up our badges (since we only got tickets for two days, we have to pick up daily badges both mornings we go). So we got in line. At first it didn't seem so bad. It went across the front of the convention center away from the entrance, turned around at the end of the building, went back toward the entrance and went inside. As the line moved, we noticed that it actually went around the side of the convention center and that the turning point was behind the building. It still wasn't that big of a deal. But wait, when we had gome completely behind the building, we saw that the line went all the way around the marina behind the convention center and then along the bay for at least half a mile. I know that I'm probably not describing it too well, so forgive me, but you can probably see that the line was really long. It took us about two hours to get into the convention center and to get our badges. To be honest though, it wasn't that bad. We actually did get a lovely view of Mission Bay, and the line got close to a symphonic band rehearsing songs from various video games in the park. I also should mention that right behind us was a pretty interesting fellow dressed as a pirate or something (he killed a june bug with a sword). So waiting in line really wasn't that bad.

Once we got in and got our badges, we wandered the halls of Comic-Con International with absolute amazement. Personally, I had never seen anything like it. The main exhibition hall contained hundreds of stalls selling shirts, pins, posters and all kinds of other things from different websites, TV shows, comics, video games and movies. Despite all this, people don't go to Comic-Con to shop. Many people go to attend panels and exhibits from TV shows and movies, in which the stars of said shows and movies speak to fans and answer questions. What's the point of me telling you this? Shut up and I'll tell you. The night before the convention (Thursday night), Matt and I took a look at the schedules for all of the panels and discussions and picked and wrote down the ones we wanted to go to (oh... how naive we were that night). Since we had gotten in too late to go the the New Moon panel (sad face), the first event on our schedule was Robot Chicken. I was very excited about this panel in particular, since I'm a massive nerd and love Robot Chicken. The panel started at 3:00, and to insure that we got a seat, we decided to show up early, and arrived at 1:45. Despite this, there was a huge line. Determined to get a chance to speak with Seth Green, I decided it was worth it, and and we got in line. Once again, it was a really long line. As the three of us waited in line, we passed the time by making jokes and talking about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a show which I also enjoy very much. at around 3:00, the line began to move, only allowing me to think they were starting to seat us, causing me to get all giddy and excited. After about five mintes, convention workers came out and told us that the panel for Robot Chicken had filled up. To be honest, I was absolutely crushed, and a bit angry. not only was I not going to be part of what turned out to be a hilarious and informative panel about one of my favorite shows, but I sat in line for an hour and fifteen minutes with nothing to claim. It was at this point that I discovered that Comic-Con is not the well-run machine I had originally thought it was. I don't quite understand how they can just let nine hundred hopeful nerds line up for over an hour when the room only holds three hundred people. Wouldn't it make more sense to give vouchers or tickets to the first three hundred people who arrive instead of letting everyone line up, only to crush six hundred dreams? If Seth Green heard about this I'm sure he would be as outraged as I am right now. He wouldn't stand for it.

After this happened, we decided it would be smart to head over to the Dexter panel immediately to get a seat. Let's just say that we gave up on that pipe dream pretty quickly. Even though the panel wasn't going to start for two hours, the line was absurd. After realizing just how long it was, we left and headed back to the exhibition hall. The second time around it seemed to be much more crowded. It was then I realized, "holy shit, they sold way too many tickets". The massive room was absolutely filled with people. It was shoulder to shoulder, and I am not even kidding. Although this was the case, it was still fun. After about an hour, two t-shirts and four wicked awesome buttons later, we left the convention center and got on the tram (which still smelled like a cab-driver's feet) back to the hotel.

So overall, it was pretty fun, but I was very disapointed at how poorly run the panels were. So now I head back up to my hotel room to rethink our strategy for tomorrow. I'll definitely have more updates tomorrow (I haven't even begun to talk about security yet), and will hopefully be more successful in experiencing what Comic-Con is all about: making you all jealous and getting a lot of t-shirts and buttons and shit. So tune in tomorrow.