I felt like a new mother at San Diego. I had been reading all the books and preparing for the baby that would be Comic-Con, but when it actually arrived, I still didn't know what to do.
Dave, especially Dave, and myself had been preparing for San Diego Comic-Con for weeks. There were some crazed times (the pug book shipment came just before he was supposed to leave!) as well as disappointing times (not all the manatee shirts worked out), but it was absolutely wonderful to see all the hard work come together when I arrived at Dave's booth on Saturday afternoon. Upon walking into the convention center, the energy was so high I felt instantly excited but also overwhelmed. I entered a world I knew nothing about (I know I should be punished for saying this, but I've only seen one Star Wars movie, and Dave almost cried when I said "I just remember there was a chase scene in the forest"). I was out of my element with all the enthusiastic fans that were not only dressed up but carrying two bags each of various posters, flyers, and other comic paraphernalia. I immediately retreated to my safe place, and stood in line at Starbucks for nearly thirty minutes. Iced chai in hand, I attempted to walk the floor of Comic-Con, only to realize this was nearly impossible with the amount of people there. It was like a weird dream with anime-looking girls and half human-half fox characters saying hi to me. When I turned to be startled by the Predator, I hid in a fort made of t-shirts. I was Alice in Comic Book Wonderland.
I decided the best thing for me to do was come out of hiding, and embrace everything San Diego had to offer, so I started looking at the scheduling of events. Unfortunately, I had already missed a couple such as Heroes and meeting the writers of The Office. I spent the majority of the late afternoon in H hall, being star struck by the cast of the newest Mummy movie and Pineapple Express. Later, I dropped a couple of raffle tickets in boxes (they never call my number) and took some pictures of the back of Hayden Panettiere's head. The best picture to describe my experience was the Joker dressed in a nurse's costume standing in front of a massive floating Pikachu. When my parents arrived, I took them on a quick tour of the floor, until voices stared to announce that Comic-Con was coming to a close for that night.
While we were exiting, I asked my dad what he thought of the chaotic event, and his response summed up my experience when he said, “Well, everyone has something." Luckily, that is the case, and I got to be a part of it for a day. See you guys next year!
