San Diego Comic Con was a crazy, sleep-depriving, fun-filled event of a lifetime! This was my first ever Comic Con and I wanted to have the full experience – cosplay, camping out for Hall H, getting free swag, offsite events, and more. I didn’t get to do everything on my list, but I’m extremely happy with the things I got to see.
Here are some of my highlights:
Preview Night
I am so lucky and thankful to have gotten a badge for preview night. The crowd was manageable and I was among the first to see the all of the amazing booths in the exhibit hall up close. There was also tons of free swag to be had. My brother and I both walked away with our bags full!
The two photos above were from my favorite booth at the Comic Con: The Court of the Dead. They had the most beautifully made figures in the entire convention. The company seems to be in the beginning stages of development, but they told me that they have a graphic novel and art book in the works.
Hall H
Camping out was horrible, but the rewards were great. My brother and I started camping out on Thursday at 1pm for the NEXT DAY’s panels. The line was pretty okay half of the time. In the hot afternoon we got a nice shaded spot by the marina facing the concert grounds, and actually got a nice view of the San Diego Symphony’s Pokemon concert. But when the sun went down, so did the overall mood. Not only did it get very cold, there was a lot of confusion about when/where/how we would get wristbands. I got the feeling that security was just barely holding the crowds in check, and nobody seemed to know anything. Sleeping was nearly impossible, even for my brother – and this is a person who doesn’t even wake up when I literally drag him out of bed in the morning.
My brother and I in the Hall H line, about 3pm Thursday.
Friday morning. Dead tired.
Getting into Hall H took an eternity. We were constantly moved and forced to condense the line by security. It felt like one of those dreams where you keep running but can’t get any closer to the end. When we finally got through the doors, we got a spot underneath one of the huge screens in the middle of the room, and I made a mad dash to use the bathroom. I saw a bunch of people brushing their teeth and washing up in there. Despite getting no sleep and sitting on the freezing cold concrete all night, I was pumped for Friday’s panels!
I stayed awake through the Animation panel, which was OK. They showed some regular shorts and a few very arty ones.
Walking Dead was pretty good – they showed the trailer for season 6 but didn’t reveal too much about what is going to happen. It was great to see Chandler Riggs (Carl) on the panel. He’s really adorable!
I was unimpressed by Fear The Walking Dead. They weren’t able to reveal anything beyond the trailer and some basic character information. The show itself seems weak compared to The Walking Dead. But who knows? It might actually be great.
Game of Thrones panel was very entertaining and everything I hoped for. Everyone in my group gasped when Sophie Turner appeared – she is GORGEOUS!
We were about to leave right after Game of Thrones, but my boyfriend convinced us to stay. He reasoned that we already waited so long to be there, we might as well stay an extra hour to see how the Star Wars Panel would be like. I am SOO glad that we did!
The Brave New Warriors panel was between GOT and Star Wars. I didn’t expect anything, but it was surprisingly great! I was impressed by how well spoken and wise Michael Cudlitz (Abraham – The Walking Dead) was. He was like the dad of the panel among a bunch of youngsters.
Onto the Star Wars panel. They brought out the whole cast, including the legendary trio from the Trilogy. And we got a free concert with lightsabers. Need I say more?
I was actually very pleased to see that Gwendoline Christie will be in the film! She’s one of my favorite characters from GOT show.
Jim Lee
We were really lucky to pass by the DC booth just in time to see Jim Lee do a live-drawing presentation. As an artist, I really appreciated him sharing his skills with us, and found a few things that I would like to use in my own drawings.
Offsite Events
Comic Con would not be complete without offsite events. We stopped by the Petco Park Interactive Zone for some photo ops and more free swag. The selfie stick that Dark Souls III and sunglasses from the Totino’s truck (where we unashamedly went multiple times for free food) were the most useful freebies of the weekend.
Nerd HQ had an awesome setup at the Children’s Museum. We went there just to try out Star Wars Battlefront, but I wish we had gone there earlier because they had booze, a dance floor, and a bunch of activities going on.
Cosplay
Saturday is the day for cosplay. So many awesome costumes, we couldn’t get enough pictures! One thing I don’t like about SDCC is that there isn’t one hangout area for cosplayers like Wondercon. In Wondercon, there’s a large fountain area in front where all cosplayer gather. There’s no such spot in the San Diego Convention Center, so everyone is just scattered throughout the long lobby.
We did a group Cosplay, but ended up changing into regular clothes in the afternoon. I don’t know how people can keep it up all day! It’s not only hot and sweaty, it gets really uncomfortable after a while.
That’s it for my highlights! This post took me 3 days to write because I was so tired after SDCC (and still am). Thanks for reading and hope to see you there next year!
