Comic Con International Nostalgia Thread
EarthGBilly
Posts: 362
I know that @Torchsong was thinking about starting a thread like this, but I didn't want to jack another thread with my very long thoughts, so I went ahead and did this.
Feel free to discuss anything about the Con you want to - great years, the last time you went, the good, the bad, the stinky... whatever.
After attending Comic Con International... seven? I want to say, "seven" times. After attending Comic Con a bunch of times, 2010 was the last year my buddy and I went.
And, you know what? When it was all said and done, we looked at each other and admitted we were done.
2010 was the first year that we ended up standing in line for things and STILL missing them. When I say "standing in line," I'm talking for HOURS, only then to find out we were not going to see what we wanted to see.
We were Con veterans, so after the first day, we took stock. We had always gone in with plans of attack, first choices, second choices, third choices. We stocked supplies, timed bathroom stops, picked a slow day to walk the floor. Much of what we had planned now had to be completely rehashed because the volume of people simply made some things impossible, even with planning.
The rest of that weekend, we got to see what we absolutely wanted to see, but almost nothing else. Anything that was, "well, I wouldn't mind checking that out" or "I'd like to see that if we have time" was cut loose, allowing us time to stand in a line for something we didn't want to miss.
The culmination for us was Saturday that year. Hall H was the location of the big announcements - the Marvel films and the (as yet still not known to be terrible) Green Lantern film. We knew what we had to do. We knew the sacrifice required if we really wanted to see those panels.
We got supplies the night before and arrived to stand in line at 5 a.m. There were many, many people ahead of us. Not enough that I worried we would not get in, but more than I really expected. I think they started letting us in about 10 a.m., and my buddy and I got pretty good seats and quite literally camped there the ENTIRE day. Hall H has its own bathroom (thank goodness), but other than that, we stayed in those seats until after 7 p.m. that evening.
It was more exhausting than any other day we ever spent at a con. You'd think that the less moving would be good, but between being stuck in one place that long and sitting through panels that we had no interest in so that we could see the panels we did want to see, it was grueling.
We got to see the Avengers announcement and the cast line-up, which was a great culmination of our total Comic Con experience - to realize that something we had dreamed about but never believed would actually happen was actually going happen. I remember, looking at the cast, turning to my friend, and saying, "Holy crap... they are actually going to make an Avengers movie!"
After that, we realized we were done. We were in our mid-30's, and the idea of standing in line for hours to see commercials (which is kinda what it all is)... it wasn't something we wanted to do anymore. We hated the crowds, hated being pushed and rushed and pressured to keep moving.
Our first years at Comic Con International were amazing. That last year? Worth it only to see that childhood wish come to fruition.
A couple of years later, we went to Wondercon Anaheim. It was much better for us. More like the first couple of years of CCI. It was a nice mid-late 30's kinda con.
I don't see us ever going back to the San Diego show. When they announced it was remaining in San Diego, I was disappointed only because I knew that it has reached capacity, and they can't expand, which means it will not get better... just more expensive.
I've come to appreciate the smaller shows. And, hey, they all sell the same $8 chicken sandwich that looks like a sad version of that one on the McDonald's dollar menu, right?
Feel free to discuss anything about the Con you want to - great years, the last time you went, the good, the bad, the stinky... whatever.
After attending Comic Con International... seven? I want to say, "seven" times. After attending Comic Con a bunch of times, 2010 was the last year my buddy and I went.
And, you know what? When it was all said and done, we looked at each other and admitted we were done.
2010 was the first year that we ended up standing in line for things and STILL missing them. When I say "standing in line," I'm talking for HOURS, only then to find out we were not going to see what we wanted to see.
We were Con veterans, so after the first day, we took stock. We had always gone in with plans of attack, first choices, second choices, third choices. We stocked supplies, timed bathroom stops, picked a slow day to walk the floor. Much of what we had planned now had to be completely rehashed because the volume of people simply made some things impossible, even with planning.
The rest of that weekend, we got to see what we absolutely wanted to see, but almost nothing else. Anything that was, "well, I wouldn't mind checking that out" or "I'd like to see that if we have time" was cut loose, allowing us time to stand in a line for something we didn't want to miss.
The culmination for us was Saturday that year. Hall H was the location of the big announcements - the Marvel films and the (as yet still not known to be terrible) Green Lantern film. We knew what we had to do. We knew the sacrifice required if we really wanted to see those panels.
We got supplies the night before and arrived to stand in line at 5 a.m. There were many, many people ahead of us. Not enough that I worried we would not get in, but more than I really expected. I think they started letting us in about 10 a.m., and my buddy and I got pretty good seats and quite literally camped there the ENTIRE day. Hall H has its own bathroom (thank goodness), but other than that, we stayed in those seats until after 7 p.m. that evening.
It was more exhausting than any other day we ever spent at a con. You'd think that the less moving would be good, but between being stuck in one place that long and sitting through panels that we had no interest in so that we could see the panels we did want to see, it was grueling.
We got to see the Avengers announcement and the cast line-up, which was a great culmination of our total Comic Con experience - to realize that something we had dreamed about but never believed would actually happen was actually going happen. I remember, looking at the cast, turning to my friend, and saying, "Holy crap... they are actually going to make an Avengers movie!"
After that, we realized we were done. We were in our mid-30's, and the idea of standing in line for hours to see commercials (which is kinda what it all is)... it wasn't something we wanted to do anymore. We hated the crowds, hated being pushed and rushed and pressured to keep moving.
Our first years at Comic Con International were amazing. That last year? Worth it only to see that childhood wish come to fruition.
A couple of years later, we went to Wondercon Anaheim. It was much better for us. More like the first couple of years of CCI. It was a nice mid-late 30's kinda con.
I don't see us ever going back to the San Diego show. When they announced it was remaining in San Diego, I was disappointed only because I knew that it has reached capacity, and they can't expand, which means it will not get better... just more expensive.
I've come to appreciate the smaller shows. And, hey, they all sell the same $8 chicken sandwich that looks like a sad version of that one on the McDonald's dollar menu, right?
Comments
Great memories:
- 2008 (last year we went before the hiatus) I got the opportunity to be press and interviewed several manga creators (Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail) being my favorite. Met Tite Kubo (Bleach) but he was a bit standoffish and I think I pissed him off by asking the wrong questions). It was a great time either way.
-2013 - My wife cosplayed as the Sharknado. All hell broke lose as everyone in the hall wanted a picture with her. This worked out great for me, as I could go through bins, get sketch, talk it up with creators, etc...
-2003 - The first time we went. I remember having a list of things I wanted to get and saying "I'll be lucky if I find half this stuff, of course, but at least I have a list." I found EVERYTHING on my list on Preview night! I've been hooked ever since. :)
Between 2002 and 2011, I only missed 2008 because I was not able to score a hotel room that year, so I ended up going to NYCC. The first few years were relatively easy to get tickets and a hotel room. Like I mentioned in the other thread, the first few years you could still walk up to the doors and buy tickets and not every hotel in the area was a "convention hotel" but you could still get a decent one. I never stayed further than a mile from the convention center. As the years went on, it became increasingly more and more difficult to get a hotel room and, later, tickets for the con. I would take the day off from work when sales went live because you never knew how long it would take. I was able to get tickets for all nine years, even if it wasn't on the first round of sales.
Over the years I was able to meet a great many of my favorite creators - George Perez, Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Mark Waid, Ivan Reis, Mike Kaluta and many more. One of my fondest encounters involved one of the Geeks. In 2007 I was at the DC booth waiting to get a sketch when I hear a voice behind me ask who the line was for. The voice sounded familiar and when I turned to answer I said, "Pants?" Our beloved Pants it was and I introduced myself and he remembered me from my avatar. I was then fortunate to actually hold the last page from the Sinestro Corps War special with the big reveal that he had just picked up from Adam Hughes. From then on, I would run into Pants several times over the following years, usually at the DC booth or the Mattel booth.
I attended my fair share of panels, mostly DC. The Star Wars Fan Film Awards was one of my favorite events to attend. It was also a blast to see a number of the DC animated film premieres. The best was when Geoff Johns led a couple thousand people in reciting the Green Lantern oath before Green Lantern: First Flight.
After DC's announcement of the New52, I decided that 2011 would be my last Comic-Con. A great deal of my time at the con had been hanging out at the DC booth to get sketches or going to DC-related panels. I had no interest in DC's reboot and after over thirty-plus years of being a DC reader, I was walking away. The financial cost, the headache of trying to get tickets and a hotel room and the main reason for attending now gone, it just isn't worth it. I will miss it but I had a good run.