What can I say about San Diego Comic-Con that I haven't said many times before. It's my mecca (said that). My geeky home away from home (I'm sure I've said that). It's both exhilarating and frustrating and so totally worth whatever you pay to experience it at both ends of the spectrum. That's SAN DIEGO Comic-Con I'm talking about. Let's not confuse it with any other event with the name Comic-Con (nothing against them at all, but we know that this is THE geek event of the year). So what was the big deal with this year's event? Glad you asked.
Here’s a few observations from my experiences at the geekiest place on earth…
- I spent the months leading up to this SDCC hawking my book, The Unauthorized San Diego Comic-Con Survival Guide, to anyone who will listen (and hopefully buy). Thanks to the guys from the band Kirby Krackle, I was able to sell a few copies from their table on the exhibition hall floor. And even before the real event began, I did a radio interview on KROQ‘s Kevin & Bean morning show on Wednesday as well as on the local San Diego Fox affiliate’s REALLY early morning show on Thursday. I hung out in the green room with Klingons and Ferengi. Missed running into Stan Lee (who was on the show later in the morning) by thismuch. Had a great time, but it was good to get the really nerve-wracking stuff out of the way early in the week. Besides, I had line standing to get to…
- Comic-Con has truly taken over San Diego as the promotions and events spilled out shamelessly into the streets, the hotels, the bars, the restaurants for as far as the eye could see. When I was interviewed by Fox, I made it clear that San Diego doesn’t just HOST Comic-Con each year; It BECOMES Comic-Con! And that’s a good thing. There is no other city that can or will say that about their event – past, present, or future…
- You couldn’t turn to the left or right without seeing a very creative ad for HBO‘s True Blood.
- Marvel‘s booth was taken over by Odin’s throne from the upcoming Thor movie, in which the legendary All-Father Stan Lee rightfully took a seat in at least once during the week.
- Speaking of Marvel and icons, Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice Guy, stopped by dressed as Cloak (from Cloak & Dagger) and Luke Cage all at once, hoping to convince the powers that be to cast him in the latter character’s role. Great to know that the guy ladies love to love is also a huge geek.
- The Walking Dead comic and upcoming TV series on AMC was out in full force with a truly macabre booth that was pulled right from a scene in the pilot episode. Can’t wait to see this!
- No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get into Flynn’s Arcade this week, which is probably my biggest disappointment/failure for me as geek and possibly a human being (runner up: Not seeing the Scott Pilgrim vs the World screening due to my inability to stand in direct sunlight for 8 hours while in line).
- The Warner Bros booth was moved toward the back of the room to lighten the burden it usually places on foot traffic whenever they have a celebrity show up or even think about handing out some swag. The Harry Potter props (horcruxes! wands! the not-so-invisible invisibility cloak!) were great to see as well as the corpse of Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who hands off his ring to Ryan Reynolds in next year’s Green Lantern movie.
- Toys toys toys! The gigantic Galactus figure! The exclusive henchmen figures from Venture Bros! The Lego Star Wars Cube Dudes! Those astounding as always Hasbro Star Wars dioramas (Hoth this time around)!
- The Scott Pilgrim Experience at my hotel (which didn’t help me jump to the front of the 2 hour line) that included live music, video games, and custom t-shirts screen printed by the stars of the film! Oh, and garlic bread! Yum!
- Hit up the Let Me In private party, with an open bar and astoundingly good pizza. But maybe that was the liquor talking…
- An astounding array of creative costumes. My favorite: oh, I can’t pick. Look through my pictures on Flickr and YOU choose…
- Seeing those beautifully detailed Kermit the Frog reporter puppets at the efx booth (I dream for the money to get one of those).
- The Machete taco truck and screening party in an empty (but fenced in) lot full of low riders.
- Actually getting to see Stan Lee at the Hero Complex party at the Puma store across the street from the Machete party.
- Seeing John Oliver from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the cast of the Big Bang Theory, and Rob Lowe all on one stage while sitting in the outfield of the Petco Park stadium during the TV.com awards (just missed seeing Spoon perform live, though).
The big Hall H moments:
- A very blue Will Ferrell dressed as his Megamind character. And Tina Fey absentmindedly groping a cardboard cutout of the absent Brad Pitt.
- Getting my voice (along with the crowd of 6500 others) recorded for inclusion in the Tron: Legacy movie as battle arena spectators.
- Angelina Jolie looking more gorgeous in person than you can imagine (in town to hype her Salt movie).
- Bruce Willis‘s first Comic-Con appearance to promote both RED and the Expendables.
- Most of the Expendables cast, including writer/director/actor Sylvester Stallone, put more testosterone on one stage than there ever has been in any Comic-Con panel in the last 41 years
- Guillermo del Toro making a surprise appearance to announce that instead of the Hobbit, he’ll be directing Disney‘s new Haunted Mansion movie.
- JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon just talking to each other on stage (it could have gone for hours longer) about the many things they’ve created and we unabashedly love.
- Knowing that Patton Oswalt should moderate every panel, not just Disney‘s.
- Scott Pilgrim vs the World‘s Michael Cera coming on stage dressed as Captain America since Chris Evans couldn’t make it for the panel.
- Simon Pegg and Nick Frost “accidentally” getting called on stage by buddy Edgar Wright during the Scott Pilgrim vs the World panel.
- They’re only one week into shooting yet Marvel brings breathtaking footage from the Captain America movie featuring the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) before his disfigurement. And the fact that the clip showed strong references to the Thor movie also coming out next year.
- The surprising lack of footage of Ryan Reynolds in his Green Lantern costume during the panel. The result of too much fan backlash from the EW cover photo?
- Trying to decipher if Zack Snyder‘s girl-power-is-all-in-your-head Sucker Punch movie will be brilliant or a low brow yet entertaining mishmash of genres set to slo-mo special effects (regardless, the girls are undeniably gorgeous).
- Paul looks to be the most fun I’ll have with Simon and Nick since Shaun of the Dead. And with a supporting cast that’s out of this world (Weaver, Hader, Tambor, Lo Truglio, Bateman, Rogen)… how could anyone NOT see this movie?
- The Thor footage gave us the biggest smackdown of the week when it came to preview clips. The kind of smackdown that makes you a little lightheaded with stunned giggles afterward. Did I mention Natalie Portman is in it as well? Geek slam dunk.
- How can you top director Jon Favreau introducing the legendary Harrison Ford‘s first ever appearance at Comic-Con during the Cowboys and Aliens panel?
- You get Samuel L Jackson (aka Nick Fury) to bring out director Joss Whedon and the ENTIRE CAST of heroes from the upcoming Marvel Studios AVENGERS film, including Scarlett Johannsonn (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), and the newly cast Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk! Whoa mama!