This is the conclusion of my diary of my day spent at Comic-Con:
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1:15 p.m.
We are finally heading back into the convention center after broiling in the hot sun for what seems like an eternity. I now, to paraphrase the old Duran Duran song, "smell like I sound", which is not too good. Still no sign of Zubin or Gabe, who I am sure have given up looking for me by now. After a few minutes I sit down in the large exhibit hall near the back. Kevin Smith was supposed to have started his show at 1 p.m. By now it, is after 1:30. Then, one of the convention directors steps up to the mike and informs the audience what apparently everyone inside the center has known for an hour--Smith, coming down from L.A., is stuck in traffic and may make it in "twenty or thirty minutes." However, this lackey says, he is also about "twenty miles out". Anyone who has driven in Southern California for any length of time--and I have lived here for 12 years--knows that this translates (even on a Saturday) to about one hour of drive time. A defeated resignation settles over the crowd...
1:50 p.m.
But things perk up when a petite, perky Latina clad mostly in black strides across the stage wearing a big smile. When she steps up to the microphone, the video feed across the exhibit hall reveals that it is none other than Rosario Dawson (pictured*), late of Sin City and Alexander, currently co-starring in Smith's Clerks II.
She began with her best Kevin Smith impression (not that good, although the audience respected her frequent irreverent use of the word, "sir", a Kevin Smith trademark), but as she had to kill time she was forced to taking questions from the crowd, which ranged from the reasonably intelligent, talk show quality query ("What was it like working with Kevin Smith as a director?") to geek show, fanboy drooling ("Thank you for being so hot!"). Through it all, Dawson displayed a disarming grace and charm, a good attitude and a surprisingly good singing voice (when asked to sing a few bars from her recent role in Rent). And of course, she managed to work in a plug for her new comic book, which as it turns out is the main reason she showed up at Comic-Con. Who knew she had designed and lent her image to a comic book? "Come by and see me at booth 2729," she implored, "and I'll autograph my comic book and give you a hug."
I was smitten. I jotted down the booth number and made a plan to head down immediately...after first stopping by a pay phone to call my fiancee and have her call Zubin--assuming I left my cell phone in her car, which was hardly a certainty.
* - without said cell phone, I couldn't sneak any pictures of the actual Con, so the above picture is pulled from the Internet. Sorry.
2:40 - 2:50 p.m.
I overhear two girls talking about the announcement made at the convention that the rock group Fall Out Boy is releasing "bobblehead action figures". I thought it was a joke, but I found out later it was all too true. Whatever.
I call Tracy, who (just leaving a hair appointment) agrees to check her car for my phone. I know she's mad because her last words when dropping me off were, "make sure your cell phone is turned on." I guess technically it was turned on--just helps to make sure it's actually on your person somewhere.
I am leaving the pay phone and heading off in my quest to find booth 2729, when I happen to glance over and--ZUBIN! It was like finding the Holy Grail and cracking Da Vinci's Code all in one. After a very brief admonishment along the lines of, "hey loser, I've been trying to call you all day!", I mention the missing cell phone and we compare notes on our day. Turns out Gabe couldn't even get in. Apparently, the good people who run Comic-Con didn't anticipate this year's turnout and didn't realize they wouldn't have space for anybody but the preregistered people--thousands of people stood on line in Al Gore's "warmth enhanced" summer sun for hours only to realize there was no room for them.
(I can hear you nerd-haters out there making your little joke here, something like, "and they were the lucky ones." In the immortal words of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, all I'll say is, "Go frak yourself.")
3:15 p.m.
Picture time with Rosario Dawson! Zubin and I (turns out he was at the "Kevin Smith" show too) find the booth, purchase our copies of "The O.C.T (Occult Crime Taskforce)", which is very well drawn by the way, and then we each sidle up to Dawson for an autograph, hug and picture--well, I take his picture, I feel too nasty and embarassed and beg off of having my picture taken--and then to my shock Zubin starts asking Rosario about Josie and the Pussycats. I can't really follow it, but I think we can assume there will be no Josie and the Pussycats II. If you were wondering.
3:30 - 6 p.m.
Man, is there a lot of shit at the Comic-Con! You really need four days to take it all in...but then there's the question of whether you should WANT to take it all in.
We walk through New Line's Snakes On A Plane display, which is kind of lame and kind of clever at the same time, and Zubin and I both practice our best Samuel L. Jackson delivery ("Motherf***in' snakes on a motherf***in' plane!"). I must admit that the little "first aid" pamphlets ("What to Do in the Event of Snakes on a Plane") is pretty funny.
There are plenty more mostly naked young women in costume wandering about, some very attractive, most not (interesting isn't it how women in comic books wear so much less clothing than most of their male counterparts?) Brandon Routh, the new Superman, shows up to sign autographs, although at that time I had wandered off to catch the last half of the VERONICA MARS panel, so I missed it. (Apparently he was very gracious, and nice and made all the women, and a few guys, swoon.)
I must confess that VERONICA MARS is one of those shows that I admire more than I actually watch, in part because I've met and respect the producer/creator Rob Thomas (no, not the guy who used to be in Matchbox 20) and in part because it's one of the few shows on network television that is actually trying--and generally succeeding--at having a fresh take on an old genre, the detective show. But the main reason I went to the panel was because I needed to get off my feet for a while and I needed something to do while Zubin was getting an autograph from comic book auteur Jim Lee.
I didn't learn much from the MARS panel, although Kristen Bell (wronged by the Emmys once again) seemed to be in kind of a weird mood. At one point, she got up, stepped away from the panel table, turned around and bent over a little bit to show the bumper sticker on her ass promoting some new movie she worked on (you'd think I'd remember, but sorry, I don't--it wasn't Pulse, due out in a month or so). Thomas was interesting and funny, although it was clear that he, and the cast members, are wary of being on the "new, improved" CW. I'm not sure that GILMORE GIRLS to VERONICA MARS segue is going to go so well, but at least the show was renewed, which is miracle enough since it didn't finish in the Top 110.
After some zombie-like wandering around for a few more minutes--and running into a depressed looking David Prowse (the body of the original Darth Vader) shilling for autographs at thirty bucks a pop--we decided to call it a day. Dinner time beckoned and we knew we had missed our chance of getting a seat in the big Spider-Man 3 presentation. The whole cast and director Sam Raimi were there and the line stretched for what seemed like miles, and at some point you've just gotta eat some real food. (My apologies, if you've read this far just hoping to get some dirt from the new movie.)
Zubin agreed to take me to meet my fiancee and my first Comic-Con was officially history. What a day...I can't say I'd go again, but I'm glad I finally saw what the fuss was all about. I shudder to think how many people will show up next year. They may have to hold part of it in Petco Park, the baseball stadium which is almost next door.
I walked away with a surprising amount of stuff considering I hardly consider myself a fanboy or comic book collector--four new comic books, three of which were given to me, a free T-shirt from Paramount promoting the upcoming Iron Man movie, the convention programs and several posters. More importantly, I walked away with my dignity intact and I managed to avoid getting run over by rampaging storm troopers. Despite the cell phone fiasco, I guess the Force was with me after all...
Peace.
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