San Diego Comic Con 2008

It's that time again... the time when all of the freaks and geeks head to San Diego for the Annual Comic Con.  I can say Freaks and Geeks because I'm included in them!  I've had my ticket since last year's Con!

If you don't know what Comic Con is, I'll share.  Comic Con is NOT the little comic book show you saw portrayed in Chasing Amy.  It's a ginormous multimedia extravaganza!  There will be guest panelists who are authors (Dean Koontz), and comic book creators (Frank Miller), and move stars (Samuel L Jackson), and directors (Kevin Smith).  One surprise is that it appears that Neil Gaiman will not make his annual pilgramage to our city, I belive this year he will receiving an award, but not at the Con.  We will see trailers that no one else has seen and find out the ins and outs of upcoming movies.  We'll get sneak peeks at movies and television shows and, of course, the opportunity to buy thousands of dollars worth of junk we don't need!  Comic Con also uses almost all of the bottom floor of the San Diego Convention Center for it's exhibitor hall and that's a lot of floorspace, thus a lot of shopping!  If you think that means a lot of comic book sellers, you'd be right, but those guys make up only about 1/6 of the floor space.  There will be also exhibitors like Sci Fi Channel, the WB, Mattel, Gentle Giant, Sony Online Entertainment and Sony Pictures, IFC, McFarlane, LucasArts, Lionsgate Films, etc, etc, etc...   I think you get the picture.  The coolest part is the massive amount of freebies and swag you can pick up here!  T-shirts and posters, and collectibles and actually, a lot of crap, but it's fun filling up bags full of weird stuff. 

If you have never been, you need to get a ticket for 2009 because 2008 is SOLD OUT!  This thing is out of control and I'm pretty worried that they may look at moving after 2010 when their agreement with the San Diego Convention Center ends!  I like it where it is!  If you like movies, televisions, comic books, art, writing, collecting, action figures, superheroes, Hot Wheels, Science Fiction, well, anything like that, your missing out if you haven't experienced the Con.  One of the highlights for some is a massive masquerade with amazing costumes and prizes in many categories.  Star Wars costumes are always a star at this convention, so we'll probably be seeing a LOT of storm troopers and we'll think Boba Fett has been cloned!  Repeatedly!

I'm particularly excited about this year because I'm staying right next door to the Con so I can have round the clock access as needed!  Whoo!  We do a little collecting and some selling of items to help fund our trip to the Con each year, and this year is looking lucrative.

For all the rest of the San Diegoans, you may want to steer clear from the Gaslamp and the rest of Downtown from the 23rd through the 27th, it's going to be wall to wall weirdos!