San Diego Comic Con Recap – Day 1
Written by Landen
Posted on July 28, 2009
Filed Under Reviews | Leave a Comment
After a good night’s sleep, a quick breakfast of sourgummy worms and Pringles potato chips, I once again made my way to the beautiful San Diego Convention Center. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and the smell of sunscreen was in the air. This was day 1 of Comic Con.
Despite the abnormally long line to register, the crowds on the inside were rather slim. I figure most people either had to work (it was a Thursday after all) or were burnt out from the festivities the night before. Either way, this was a good day to get things done at the Con.
In addition to being the first official day of Comic Con, this was also the first day for guest panels. Panels, for those of you who may not be familiar with the lingo, are specialized meetings that include question/answer sessions, promotion of the event(s), and discussions about whatever it is the panel is focused on. During Comic Con there are many panels devoted to new and upcoming movies, video games, comic books, toy releases, and basically everything pop culture.
Thursday’s biggest and most popular panel (by far) was the Disney 3D Animation panel that featured the new installment of the movie Tron, as well as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland movie. While I was unable to make it into the panel to witness it all for myself, word quickly spread on how spectacular it all was. In addition to being among the first to see exclusive trailers and clips from these movies (in 3d of course), the fans got a real treat when director Tim Burton said he brought his imaginary friend with him today. Then, out from the shadows, comes none other than Johnny Depp himself. He greeted the crowd, said a few words, and then disappeared back into oblivion.
Back in the exhibit hall, there was another commotion over a few of the new movie props that were being displayed. One of which was the Green Hornet’s car, The Black Beauty, that will be featured in the upcoming movie starring Seth Rogan. The promotional department for the film even had Green Hornet and Kato costumed people out in front of the car posing for photographs. Very smooth.
While it was definitely less chaotic than the night before, there was still electricity in the air. The ratio of costumed people to those dressed in normal pedestrian wear began to tilt, and the freebie piles began to grow. Movie posters, keychains, energy drinks, postcards, toy figurines, comic books and foam fingers filled the bags of lucky attendees. It seemed like everywhere you look, someone is trying to hand you something.
Many of the booths that were scattered along the exhibit hall had the pattern down pat. Attract customers, give them free stuff, attract more customers. A simple task? Not for some. The biggest and most obvious troublemaker was the Warner Brothers booth. For whatever reason, they just couldn’t keep a constant flow of people going. They would hand out a few items, then panic, then have people line up, then disperse the line claiming the booth was “closed”, only to open it again, hand out a few more items, and then shut down the booth for real for an hour or so. This was the 40th Comic Con for Christ sake!! Why was Warner Brothers having such a hard time? Maybe it was because Gene Simmons and his son were signing autographs nearby. Or perhaps it was Lou Ferrigno who was to blame. Who knows…
But as the sun set on day 1, I hauled my massive bags full of swag back to the parking lot and returned good ol’ room 244. I watched some free HBO, took some asprin, and went to bed. My god, there are still three more days of this?!?
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