Comic-Con 2008...Year 3

This coming July will mark the 3rd year that I've gone to Comic-Con in San Diego. What is it you ask. I guess you can just call it the world's largest geek fest. Just imagine going to a large job fair or a car show, except with action figures, toys, video games, statues, costumes, toy manufacturers, movies, cartoons, clothes, comic books, celebrities, artists, panels, and of course freebies. Every year in July, the world of pop-culture, toys, movies, and comics converge in San Diego for 5 days, where thousands upon thousands of people gather to take part in this festival of geekdom.

Year 1 was the year that Reggie, Tim, Julian, Matt, and myself drove down to SD in my SUV and experienced what we would call a road trip to remember, all for the sake of going to our first ever Comic-Con. Outside of Comic-Con itself, we experienced fires on the freeway, 90 degree heat in the late evening, sleeping at an ocean rest stop for merely 30 minutes to be constantly awakened by passing freeway traffic, trying to find a place to park the car and sleep in downtown SD beaches and parking lots without getting arrested, eventually sleeping in a Denny's back alley parking lot for a few hours, washing up in Denny's, going from sleeping in a car one night (actually morning) to sleeping in the luxurious Rancho Bernardo Inn the next night, etc. Year one was a year to remember. At Comic-Con that year, the premier movie was Samuel Jackson's Snakes on a Plane, as well as some minor publicity regarding some new show called Heroes, and some small movie called Transformers. We met Virgil of WWF notoriety, Reggie and I nearly met Snoop Dog in a VIP autograph session that we won but could not bear to wait in the line of other winners for more than an hour as our other friends sat in a Superman panel that I thought was going to have Smallville guests (they did not show up by the way), Tim met Jim Lee, we saw Bryan Singer director of Superman Returns, etc.

Year 2 was experienced by only Tim and myself, as the other guys had Summer Camp to attend. Our first year experience prepared us for our second trip, as we knew what to do and what not do. This year we flew, got a hotel closer to the Convention Center (the Horton Grand which was only 4 blocks away), took the cab, bought a 4 days pass instead of a daily pass, and brought talkabouts with us. This year had its own set of adventures, as we nearly missed our flight after staying overnight in Sacramento with Francis and Monica. We arrived 1.5 hours before our flight expecting no line early Thursday morning, to be greeted with one of the longest lines I've ever seen at an airport. We made it on the plane 5 minutes before it took off. We took our first ever cab rides. We experienced what I consider one of the greatest meals I've ever had at Rei Do Gados Brazilian buffet steak house. We walked side by side with Lou Ferrigno (aka the 80s Incredible Hulk) from Comic-Con to our hotel, which he also happened to be staying at, but we didn't have the guts to say hi or take a picture with him. At Comic-Con, we saw Todd Mcfarlane, David Arquette, Pee-Wee Herman, Kate Beckinsale, the Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, etc. We also waited several hours in line to catch the preview of Doomsday (Superman) and to buy exclusive toys from the Hasbro booth (Transformers Alternators Rodimus).

Year 3 will be Tim and myself again. Becky was so kind to let me go this year. This time we'll be staying a little further away at the Double Tree (1 mile away), but we will still be flying out of Sacramento for a 2 day trip, although this time for Friday and Saturday. Look out San Diego, here we come again.