Blood, Sweat, and Comic Book Ink
So we have returned from Comic-Con, and for the first time since I started going, I am sorry to report that I was somewhat dissapointed:
- The crowds were, somehow, even bigger this year. Saturday is traditionally the biggest day but what I would have considered a big Saturday crowd a couple of years ago now shows up on Thursday. I should also point out that, aside from the brave costumed individuals, this crowd is largely made of less-than-svelte guys in sweaty t-shirts. Now imagine trying to squeeze through a mob of them on the dealer's floor, while they all crowd around some booth babe trying to get a picture of her plastic breasts. It wears thin after a while.
- Due in part to said crowds, and also to the organizer's failure to schedule things properly, several events I wanted to attend were full. This is always a danger at Comic-Con, but this year it started to get really ridiculous; the Web Comics panel was stuffed into a room roughly the size of my apartment, the Friday night Sci-Fi sneak previews were put in a room half the size they were in last year. People were in line at 6:30 AM to get into the Lost panel, and some still couldn't get in. All this when there were larger rooms nearby that were unused or half-full. My suspicion is that the Comic-Con organizers guaranteeed the studio reps a full room for every event booked.
This isn't to say I didn't enjoy anything - there were a few panels that I did manage to get into, which I enjoyed, and I had the chance to speak to a few people whose work I greatly admire (Ray Bradbury, Kurt Busiek, Ira Steven Behr, Jon Favreau among them.) But I'm wondering if it is worth the hassle. It might be better to lay off Comic-Con for a year or two, and let the heart grow fonder.