Comic Con!!!!
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending Comic Con for the second time and I had such an incredible time! For those of you who may not be familiar with this convention, it’s probably the largest gathering of comic book, movie, TV and video game enthusiasts in the country and is held the lovely city of San Diego, California.
Each year the convention grows in popularity for good reason. It manages to get the cream of the crop when it comes to the entertainment industry. Panels featuring the casts of Twilight: Breaking Dawn, True Blood, The Big Bang Theory, Vampire Diaries, Community and Glee were wildly popular with eager fans waiting hours and, in the case of Twilight, days to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. During these panels, a moderator asks questions so that fans can get a better understanding of the show, movie, video game or comic book. Most of the time the panels are a lot of fun, but I shied away from the big ones because I didn’t want to spend most of my time waiting in lines….and believe me, the lines blew my mind! Never underestimate the desire and passion of an uber fan!
I only attended a few panels, and fortunately they were relatively small, so I didn’t have a problem gaining admittance. I was ecstatic when I easily walked into the panel I’d been planning to see from the beginning - I was unable to see it last year because I decided to watch a certain band’s (100 Monkeys) show instead. *giggle*
The last panel I attended was the Twilight fanfiction panel featuring authors ArcadianMaggie (I Wept Not & Amid the Lucid Stream), Belladonna1472 (The Cullen Campaign), Einfach Mich (Confessions of a Difficult Woman), magnolia822 (A Quiet Fire), MJinAspen (Reality Minus Expectations), Rochelle Allison (Starry Eyed Inside) and ScarlettLetters (Wild Swan). Since I’m one of the resident slash lovers and writers here at Jasper’s Darlins, I was very excited to see ArcadianMaggie because I’m a big fan of her work! Throughout the panel, a moderator asked each author questions ranging from ‘why do you write’ to various questions about smut. LOL It was very informative and all of the ladies were very nice. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stop and speak with ArcadianMaggie because I had to rush off to get to an autograph signing, but I’m so glad I attended. To listen to the panel, click here (thank you to ArcadianMaggie for the link!).
Other than the panels, my main goal was to check out all of the cool stuff in the exhibit all. I don’t know how large the convention center is, but the exhibit hall seemed to go on for miles. I’m sure it was the length of a football field, if not longer. Vendors of all kinds set up booths so patrons could check out, and hopefully buy, their stuff. TV networks and movie studios also set up booths where they gave away cool swag items and promoted their upcoming projects. Those interested in comic books had the opportunity to meet and talk to a lot of their favorite artists, which I thought was really cool. I may lean more towards the TV and movie aspect of the convention, but I had the opportunity to the meet the artist of the comic book American Vampire (I attended the panel earlier in week on a whim and was so glad I did) and it was nice to be able to talk to him and watch him work (he signed my American Vampire book and drew a sketch for me). It’s moments like that that make the convention, in my opinion, really worthwhile. I mean, how often to get to meet your favorite artist, actor, etc.?
Another part of the convention I enjoyed was the autograph signings. People ranging from Elvira to the guys of Ghost Adventures were on hand to meet fans and sign autographs. For the second year in a row I was able to talk to three of my TV heroes and I’m still giddy about our interaction. I’ve met other celebrities in the past and one thing I love is when you discover they’re just regular people like you and me. To meet people I’ve been a fan of for years and talk to them as if we’ve been friends all my life was not only mind blowing, but extremely humbling and, pardon my language, fucking AWESOME! LOL
If you ever get the opportunity to attend Comic Con be prepared to see celebrities! Obviously you’ll see them at signings and panels, but you’ll also see quite a few of them just walking around and enjoying many of the same things you are. In the past two years, I’ve stood next to, walked past and taken pictures with all kinds of celebrities I never would have encountered otherwise. As I said before, they are all really nice people and are willing to stop and take a picture with you or even talk to you for a minute before heading off to their next Comic Con adventure.
*sigh* All in all, I had an incredible time at Comic Con and I hope (keeping my fingers crossed) I’ll be able to attend again next year. There is something electric about this convention and everything is just so exciting! Granted, the lines are tedious and having to walk through the packed exhibit hall shoulder to shoulder with strangers can be very annoying, but I wouldn’t give up my experiences for anything!
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