What a day! Day one is down and it’s been incredible. From meeting Dr. Travis Langley and talking about the mental illnesses of superheroes and villains to getting chased from Lou Ferrigno‘s booth….by Lou Ferrigno himself.
We saw Kristen Stewart, Tom Lenk (Aimee even got a photo with him!) and so many more celebrities that gave cause to geek out. We um…accidentally recorded some behind-the-scenes Halo footage of the Warthog without realising that it was forbidden. That being said, we did manage to keep the clip so you can find it hereif you’re interested!
We got to meet some awesome industry people at the Voltron panel in the forms of Brandon Thomas (writer of the Dynamite Voltron series) and Jacob Chabot (Viz Media‘s Voltron Force books 1 and 6). We also got to meet Team Unicorn at the Voltron Panel where Mattel announced the launch of a new multipart Voltron toy, available excusively at mattycollector.com
But best of all, we met some awesome people; standing in lines for bathrooms, hotdogs and panels. We met some of THE coolest cosplayers in the world including one of the youngest Star Wars fans ever. We decided that best way to explain the awesomeness of the day would be in pictures. So here you go!
Lines around the block. Nothing unexpected there then…
Coolest little cosplayer ever!
Dr. Travis Langley, author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight
Aimee meets Buffy’s Tom Lenk!
Awesome Scarlet Spider!
more awesome cosplay!
Lou Ferrigno … about three seconds before he chased us from his booth!
You’re going to have to take our word for it but Kristen Stewart was in that car!! Cue massive screams all round. And that was just some of the boys….
Team Unicorn make it onto the stage for the Voltron Panel.
Curicon meets the very passionate Brandon Thomas!
Curicon meets the awesome Traci Todd & Jacob Chabot
Let the madness commence!! The most hotly anticipated event of the nerd year has finally opened its doors. After months of waiting, anticipating, endless hours trying to get tickets sorted (oh why is the SDCC computer system so archaic???), and angsting over which comic book character t-shirts to pack (answer: all of them), San Diego Comic Con opened its doors for preview night.
We’ve been absolutely HYPER in the run-up to SDCC. That just escalated into sheer madness by the time we got on the aircraft. Luckily the lack of sleep in the 24 hours before the flight ensured we passed out for the majority of the journey. But not before we took some pictures of….well, everything. We were like kids whose parents had let us out of the house for the first time. With a camera. Here are some of our better efforts
After all that hyperactivity, we needed a little nap to refresh us for preview night!
We were in line for a couple of hours to be let into the Exhibit Hall. I’m sorry to say we weren’t in any way professional and the fanboys and girls in us came to the fore in a most unbecoming manner. We were practically SCRATCHING at the door to be let in, foaming at the mouth at the thought of all those exclusive collectible toys. All in all, it’s safe to say our dignity was left in the overhead compartment of the Virgin aircraft we came in on. We’ll try to relocate it on our way back home.
Given the amount of people there, the line went surprisingly quickly so when the doors finally did open, it was like being left loose in toyland!
Here are some of our pics!
Nerding Out
We had chilled out a little bit at that stage so were in a much better position to, you know, actually speak to people. We met the lovely David Gallaher from Marvel who, along with Steve Ellis, will be debuting his comic book The Only Living Boy at SDCC. They’re both really nice guys, so for those of you at the con, try to swing by Booth #2206 and say hello. For those of you who didn’t make it this year, try to get your hands on a copy. It looks awesome!
Other people we met include Spiderman and Silver Surfer inker Victor Olazaba, British artist Jim Cheung and Randy Emberlin, known for his awesome work on X-Men, Amazing Spiderman, Star Wars, Batman and The Avengers. It
Check out Victor settling down for a read of new amazing Aussie comic, Winter City. He’s a cool guy!
Randy very kindly signed a copy of Matt’s Scarlet Spider. So even if Matt had to go home now, he’d be happy.
Over the next few days, we’ll be keeping you updated on all the happenings at SDCC. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on panels, announcements, interviews and anything else that takes our fancy.
For the noobs going to San Diego Comic Con, we have compiled a list of some of the best guides to surviving the weekend at Nerd Mecca. That way you can have the best of everything by picking and choosing the tips most relevant to you.
Yes, we could have written a guide ourselves and given you tips that were thoughtful, eloquently written and downright fabulous. But we thought it better to arm you with as many guides as possible, straight from the pens of Comic Con veterans. Some would call it lazy. We prefer the term ‘energy efficient’.
One thing we will mention though. For the love of whatever deity you believe in, and even if you don’t believe in any, do everybody a favour and bring deodorant and breath mints. And don’t be afraid to use them liberally, on your underarms and in your mouth respectively. They won’t be half as effective if you use them the other way around.
Comic Con is a crush from beginning to end and if you’ve had your olfactory senses assaulted by anybody who hasn’t been acquainted with a bar of soap in over 12 hours, you’ll agree with us when we say, it should be a term of entry into any convention that all attendees be utterly deodorized.
So here they are, the 7 best survival guides to San Diego Comic Con 2012!
LA Times – Hero Complex
Comic Con Tips: A ‘Dexter’ Survival Guide for a killer weekend
How would our favourite serial killer approach the mash-up that is San Diego Comic Con. With precision and forward planning of course. ‘Dexter’ writer and producer Scott Reynolds provides this in-depth guide to the SDCC ‘Code’.
Con News
Shawn Marshall gives a great run-down on getting the edge on SDCC panels. If you want to have the best Comic Con experience possible, I suggest you take note of his wise words.
Rober T. Trate offers some insight into experiencing ‘Nerdvana’ in all its glory, including not being ‘that guy’ with the longbox of comics to be signed.
Possibly the best survival guide ever, simply because of how witty it is. We’re loving the 50’s style and the general hilarity of it all. Well worth a look. And make sure you watch it until the end!
On a final and more somber note, on Tuesday morning Twilight fan Gisella G. was killed in a traffic accident while crossing the street to wait in line outside the San Diego convention centre. It was a senseless tragedy for all concerned. Please, whatever you do, take care of yourselves. A tragedy like this shouldn’t have happened in the first place and it casts a terrible shadow on an event that epitomizes fun and everything geeky and cool.
Take care of yourself, keep an eye out for friends and try to stay together if you can. And above all, have an amazing weekend. Because despite the over-priced food, the long hours standing in line for panels and the endless lines to the bathroom, SDCC is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!!
Ok, so that’s something of a morbid title and while we’re not expecting you to pop your clogs any time soon and shuffle off this earthly coil, we thought it would be fun to start a Nerd Bucket List; a list of things that you should definitely do before you die. This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means – in fact, it’s anything but that. We just wanted to get you thinking about what it is you’d put on your list. Feel free to add anything to this list in the comments. We’d love to get your feedback!
Yes we know it’s not about the comics any more, we know that the TV companies, the toy distributors and the publicity people have taken it over so it’s more like Entertainment Con than anything else. It’s jam packed full of people, the food is overpriced, you have to wait for two hours just to get to a panel and it’s a s**t-fight just to get to the toilets. So why go?
Because it’s San Diego Comic Con man! It’s nerd mecca and despite the fact that it’s overpriced and there are too many people and it’s not about the comics, those aren’t reasons not to go. Stripped back from all of the promotional stuff, Comic Con still has heart and that’s because of the people who attend year in, year out. People who have grown up going to SDCC and now bring their kids
It’s awesome. It’s one of the most hectic, fun-filled, exhausting weekends you’ll ever have in your entire life but it’s completely worth it just to nerd out on all the cool stuff that’s there. Artists Alley, the panels, the coolest cosplays you’ll ever see in your life, the people you’ll meet and make friends with for life, the sheer scale of the whole thing and of course, the swag! If you only go once, you should go. It will honestly stay in your mind as one of the best experiences of your life. Warning: Trying to get a member ID and a ticket will shave considerable years off your life, so don’t say we haven’t warned you.
If Comic Con really isn’t your thing and you’re just a die-hard comic collector, then you have to get to Heroes Con in North Carolina. Started 30 years ago by Shelton Drumm, Heroes Con is beloved by comic book fans for being ‘legit’. It should absolutely be on your list of ‘Cons To See Before I Die. It took place just last weekend so to get you in the mood and ready for next year, make sure you read the following articles. These will get your blood pumping and we promise you, you’ll have booked a ticket to North Carolina before the weekend is through!
Comics Alliance’s Chris Sims recounts his experience at Heroes Con and gleefully boasts about his considerably impressive haul at this years con.Readit and weep (literally).
Sure it doesn’t trip off the tongue and these games might dredge up connotations of middle-aged men living in their mother’s basements but MMORPGs are so much fun! They’re also becoming a lot more mainstream now thanks in part to World of Warcraft’s massive advertising campaigns, so try one out before it loses its nerdiness. The beauty of a MMORPG is that you can create an entire back story around your character and completely immerse yourself in their world. Yes, it’s escapism but so what. Where else can you battle demons and trolls and have this much fun?
Learn Klingon
Even if you’re not a Trekkie, you should definitely try learning Klingon with its gutteral sounds and odd sentence structure. The language was created by Mark Okrand at the behest of Paramount Pictures for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek:The Next Generation.
You should pick yourself up a copy of the Klingon dictionary. For the collectors among you, you might like to try to source the first edition which was printed in 1985. If you can get one of those, let us know. We so want one!
Here’s something to aspire to: Okrand himself is said not to be fluent in Klingon so if you can beat him you will be one of approximately a dozen people on the planet who are fluent in Klingon. Now THAT’S an achievement!
Start a podcast
Inflict yourself on the internet with the intention of becoming famous for your in-depth knowledge of Kevin Smith films only to realise your fore-nerds got there before you. You can still have fun with it though. Invite your friends, make it a party. That’s the beauty of the internet – anybody can be famous for at least 15 seconds (look at Justin Bieber), you just need an internet connection and you’re set!
Solve the rubix cube.
Solve it without taking it apart or transferring the stickers around. Hours of fun, yes. Hours of frustration will follow though when you realise that this contraption was designed to baffle you and make you feel intellectually inferior. When you realise that you can’t solve it, feel free to wallow in your own misery by watching this youtube video of this three year old Asian kid who can solve it in 114 seconds. And she didn’t even have to leave the comfort of her high chair.
Back to back Star Wars
You cannot claim membership of the nerd club without having watched Star Wars back-to-back. Simple as. Even now, when we have 3D movies and special effects galore, you have to admit that George Lucas is a veritable genius for what he achieved at the time.
P.S: In case you were wondering, the term ‘bucket list’ comes from the idiom ‘to kick the bucket’, meaning to die – something of a euphemistic expression. If anybody knows the first person to die from kicking a bucket, we’d be most grateful if you would enlighten us. Answers on a postcard please. Or as the Klingons would say, “QIn ‘echletHom jang.”
Aimee meets Buffy’s Tom Lenk!
