Comic Con 2013
I returned to Comic Con after an absence of several years. I hadn't been able to get 4 day tickets, so only had tickets to Thursday and Sunday. This meant I missed most of the TV panels I would have been interested in, but you got to break in somewhere!
It was a different experience. It was far less rushed and there was a lot more time to just kick back and relax when you didn't feel the need to be somewhere every second of every day. I only saw three panels in total. THREE. Can you believe it? The Thursday panel was for "The Sidekick", Rob Bendedict's (Chuck) short film that he hopes to turn into a series. Sunday's panels were "The Nerd in the Classroom: Sci-Fi as an Educational Tool" and "Under the Dome".
What was that you say, Zanne? You did not go to the "Supernatural" panel on Sunday?
No, I did not! And the world kept turning!
This was a radical departure from previous years. While the panel I chose to go to instead was disappointing, I'm actually feeling a little more optimistic for the latest season of SPN. I think it's because I wasn't sitting there listening to the cast tell the same lies they've been shilling about about how different (yet the same) the new season would be. So when the season starts, I won't feel duped from the very first episode because I'd just listened to them make promises they didn't keep only a couple of months earlier, if that makes sense. I also liked delving into a panel that wasn't dedicated to a TV show. It was like seeing a completely different side to this Comic Con business.
Lancer and I decided that we should try to pick one out-of-our-norm panel to go to every year. She votes for the "Ball-Jointed Dolls Symposium" next year.
I played "Kick-Ass 2 Bingo" with Lancer's assistance. We got a blackout and when it was time to turn in the BINGO card to get our prize, they were not going to reward us with something better for getting a blackout and just give out the same prize everyone else got - a KickAss sweatshirt. We managed to convince them to give us a second one so we each could have one.
Other things that happened were a Thrilling Adventure Hour, a Nerdist podcast, and a Misha directed costume contest. The first two I hadn't bought tickets for, but the third person in our group couldn't go, so sold the tickets to me so I could keep Lancer company. TAH was weirdly disappointing. There wasn't an influx of surprise celebrities like I had come to expect from TAH, much less what I would have expected to show up during Comic Con. Nerdist was entertaining, but it was Matt Smith as special guest and since I don't watch "Doctor Who", I think some of the shiny was lost on me. It was an interesting new experience!
Misha's last minute costume contest, however, drove me INSANE. The man cannot plan anything and execute it well without other people doing it for him, I think. I would offer my services, but I know he wouldn't take it in the spirit of get-things-the-fuck-done-right-the-first-time spirit in which it is intended. He hadn't cleared the event with Comic Con, so half the people couldn't get to the point where he set the contest up. Even he couldn't get in, since he didn't have a badge yet, but they let him gather the people who were waiting where he told them to wait to bring them down to the people who couldn't get in that day so the entire thing was held in a loading dock parking lot. Then, since security wanted all these people the hell out of their way, he just randomly picked a few people (after a few useless attempts to get people who weren't participating to at least step away so things would be less confusing) to get the prizes. He didn't even see all of the costumes! Plus, there was this really scary guy who had straws taped to his chest who kept muttering, "I must touch Misha," as he forced his way through the crowd. He got a T-shirt. There was no attempt to see if people had the required items in their costume or to give the participants their fair due in even looking at the costumes and appreciating them, even if they didn't merit a prize. I did not wear a costume, but I designed one for Lancer and since she was in the back of the crowd by the time Misha dragged the second group down the stairs, he didn't see it. It was awesome.
Overall, it was generally a more relaxing Comic Con than in previous years. We took our time for getting places, having lunch, and seeing some things that were happening outside the convention center.
Accumulated Swag (some free, some not):
Supernatural CC bag
Kick-Ass sweatshirt
Kick-Ass T-shirt (NSFW)
Kick-Ass tattoos
Kick-Ass buttons
Kick-Ass cups (they were promoting this movie big-time)
Walking Dead beanie
Superhero beanie
Tardis hat (what can I say? I like beanies/hats!)
"Ender's Game" necklace
"Dr. Who" necklace
"Game of Thrones" pillow
"Dr. Who" lanyard
Arts Council lanyard
"The BlackList" bag
"Grimm" photo
Frisbee
Nerd HQ Nerd Machine T-shirt
"The Walking Dead" photo (they took 2 and the stupid e-mail system was screwed up, so we didn't get the really good one. Every other picture e-mail place was so much easier to maneuver.)
It was a different experience. It was far less rushed and there was a lot more time to just kick back and relax when you didn't feel the need to be somewhere every second of every day. I only saw three panels in total. THREE. Can you believe it? The Thursday panel was for "The Sidekick", Rob Bendedict's (Chuck) short film that he hopes to turn into a series. Sunday's panels were "The Nerd in the Classroom: Sci-Fi as an Educational Tool" and "Under the Dome".
What was that you say, Zanne? You did not go to the "Supernatural" panel on Sunday?
No, I did not! And the world kept turning!
This was a radical departure from previous years. While the panel I chose to go to instead was disappointing, I'm actually feeling a little more optimistic for the latest season of SPN. I think it's because I wasn't sitting there listening to the cast tell the same lies they've been shilling about about how different (yet the same) the new season would be. So when the season starts, I won't feel duped from the very first episode because I'd just listened to them make promises they didn't keep only a couple of months earlier, if that makes sense. I also liked delving into a panel that wasn't dedicated to a TV show. It was like seeing a completely different side to this Comic Con business.
Lancer and I decided that we should try to pick one out-of-our-norm panel to go to every year. She votes for the "Ball-Jointed Dolls Symposium" next year.
I played "Kick-Ass 2 Bingo" with Lancer's assistance. We got a blackout and when it was time to turn in the BINGO card to get our prize, they were not going to reward us with something better for getting a blackout and just give out the same prize everyone else got - a KickAss sweatshirt. We managed to convince them to give us a second one so we each could have one.
Other things that happened were a Thrilling Adventure Hour, a Nerdist podcast, and a Misha directed costume contest. The first two I hadn't bought tickets for, but the third person in our group couldn't go, so sold the tickets to me so I could keep Lancer company. TAH was weirdly disappointing. There wasn't an influx of surprise celebrities like I had come to expect from TAH, much less what I would have expected to show up during Comic Con. Nerdist was entertaining, but it was Matt Smith as special guest and since I don't watch "Doctor Who", I think some of the shiny was lost on me. It was an interesting new experience!
Misha's last minute costume contest, however, drove me INSANE. The man cannot plan anything and execute it well without other people doing it for him, I think. I would offer my services, but I know he wouldn't take it in the spirit of get-things-the-fuck-done-right-the-first-time spirit in which it is intended. He hadn't cleared the event with Comic Con, so half the people couldn't get to the point where he set the contest up. Even he couldn't get in, since he didn't have a badge yet, but they let him gather the people who were waiting where he told them to wait to bring them down to the people who couldn't get in that day so the entire thing was held in a loading dock parking lot. Then, since security wanted all these people the hell out of their way, he just randomly picked a few people (after a few useless attempts to get people who weren't participating to at least step away so things would be less confusing) to get the prizes. He didn't even see all of the costumes! Plus, there was this really scary guy who had straws taped to his chest who kept muttering, "I must touch Misha," as he forced his way through the crowd. He got a T-shirt. There was no attempt to see if people had the required items in their costume or to give the participants their fair due in even looking at the costumes and appreciating them, even if they didn't merit a prize. I did not wear a costume, but I designed one for Lancer and since she was in the back of the crowd by the time Misha dragged the second group down the stairs, he didn't see it. It was awesome.
Overall, it was generally a more relaxing Comic Con than in previous years. We took our time for getting places, having lunch, and seeing some things that were happening outside the convention center.
Accumulated Swag (some free, some not):
Supernatural CC bag
Kick-Ass sweatshirt
Kick-Ass T-shirt (NSFW)
Kick-Ass tattoos
Kick-Ass buttons
Kick-Ass cups (they were promoting this movie big-time)
Walking Dead beanie
Superhero beanie
Tardis hat (what can I say? I like beanies/hats!)
"Ender's Game" necklace
"Dr. Who" necklace
"Game of Thrones" pillow
"Dr. Who" lanyard
Arts Council lanyard
"The BlackList" bag
"Grimm" photo
Frisbee
Nerd HQ Nerd Machine T-shirt
"The Walking Dead" photo (they took 2 and the stupid e-mail system was screwed up, so we didn't get the really good one. Every other picture e-mail place was so much easier to maneuver.)