[quote name='darkcrawlspace']What was your experience like at Comic Con? I swear, one of these days I'll make it out there for it. But I'll probably just end up with a bunch of useless free stuff.[/quote]
This was actually my first Comic Con ever (as well my first comic convention of any sort), despite the fact that I live only 3 hours north in Los Angeles. So I might not be able to give you any sort of veteran run-down with comparisons to previous years. Plus it's been impressed upon me that I'm the sort of Johnny-come-lately that's caused Comic Con to now become an overly crowded affair.
I'm sure that the convention has always housed much more than comic books, with attractions extending to movies, television, and games among other things. But to me, the presence of these other mediums was quite significant, and I sometimes felt that they overshadowed the comics themselves. Perhaps this emphasis on non-comic book attractions --witness the vast floorspace being given not to comic publishers but to movie studios-- has led to the skyrocketing increase in attendance from casual comic fans.
All I know is that I'd never seen jampacked crowds like this before, and I've been to E3, auto shows, baseball and basketball games, music festivals, you name it. Whether this is a good or bad thing isn't for me to say, especially since I'm not a longtime patron with claims to the "good old days."
As a first-time attendee, I did feel overwhelmed by the convention. There were so many booths, signings, giveaways, panel discussions, sneak previews, and other programs all going on at the same time that I hardly knew where to start. It certainly didn't help matters that the provided maps were very poorly designed (though the schedules were clearer) with odd alphanumeric designations that had little rhyme or reason. This is not to mention the fact that some walkways and halls had been designated as one-way or contraflow paths, and this was not reflected in the guide books.
All complaining aside, it was quite the experience to see so many big names in the comic industry in one place. Seeing as how I can only recognize about 10 comic creators, the Comic Con experience must be even more incredible to a hardcore fan. After all, it really took me some time before I realized that I was standing next to Greg Rucka near the DC booth, or that I was shopping directly from Kevin Eastman at the Heavy Metal booth!
What I enjoyed most about Comic Con is seeing how the comic book industry opens its arms to its customers and fans. I could actually go to a panel to see Neil Gaiman in person and hear him speak about Sandman's legacy! I could ask Tim Sale for a sketch and he'd give me one gladly! I could find myself chatting one-on-one with Brian Azzarello about the plot of 100 Bullets! I could see Paul Dini's face beam as I told him how his depiction of Mr. Freeze moved me as a child! These are the sorts of things that I don't think are afforded to the general public by any other industry, and I'm glad to see comic creators embrace us like this.
ING SHIT. That was absolutely insane. I didn't know the significance of the last page till someone told me it was
). Nothing kills it more for me than a 6 part "epic" that could have easily have fit into 1 to 2 issues tops. But it's all about squeezing out as much money as you can from your fans.
