San Diego Comic-Con: Day One-ish

July 25, 2008 on 8:59 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Justin here in sunny San Diego, in an apologetic mood. I had promised you guys I’d be blogging from the show and here I am, nearly full two days into the show, and this is the first blog post. What gives? Simple.
It’s
too
damn
busy.

Words cannot describe how much stuff there is to see and do here. So I’m going to try to recap what I’ve seen, but beware: it’s gonna be a little rambley. If you’d like a straightforward rundown of what’s happening at the show from the men living it, check out Wizard’s Con Report blog.

So toy-wise, we’ve seen a few new and exciting things making their debut here at the show. Hasbro unveiled a Wal-Mart-exclusive Marvel Legends wave with a Build-an-Ares, and they’ve got a panel in about half an hour where some more stuff might get revealed. Mattel’s DC panel featured a ton of exciting revelations, including new JLU and Infinite Heroes, and a new Build-an-Atom Smasher wave of DC Universe Classics that features Blue Beetle and Booster Gold and should bring joy to even the most cynical heart. Mezco showed off their new figures from the Spirit film, and DC Direct let out a piece of news fans have been waiting for for 30 years – they’re making a Christopher Reeve Superman statue. Over at NECA, their Coraline prototypes showed off our clearest look yet at the look of the film, which is shaping up to be fantastic.

So far my favorite thing about the Con has been getting to step out of my semi-professional Editor mode and truly geek out like the dork we all know I am. I don’t think I’ve geeked out in years as hard as I did when I walked up to the Owl Ship from Watchmen at the Warner Bros. booth and peeked inside the window. I literally felt like I’d left my body and floated into a comic book.

Then there’s the other aspect of the con that a lot of people don’t get to see – the after-hours con of parties and bars where pros, press and even some average joes get to interact together on a level you just can’t do on an (insanely) crowded con floor. I’m definitely relishing the opportunity to get to catch up with old friends and meet new people without feeling like I’m holding up a 400-person line trying to buy exclusives.

Speaking of 400-person lines, I stood on the longest line I’ve ever seen (it was out the convention center and down two flights of stairs) to get into a panel. And it wasn’t the Watchmen panel (regrettably there was no way I was getting into that)–it was a panel for Spaced, the semi-obscure BBC sitcom from the makers of Shaun of the Dead that was just released for the first time in the U.S. on Tuesday. (Go out and buy it right now). There’s no doubt that Hollywood has found Comic-Con, but it just goes to show you–something that’s truly made for and loved by geeks still has the power to go up against the mightiest movie panel here.

So that’s the scene from San Diego. The next couple of days bring more toy reveals, more TV panels I’ll have to wait on really long lines to get into, more parties, and more exhaustion. And I promise I’ll have at least one more blog post, so check back this weekend.

- Posted by Justin