(SAN DIEGO, CA, July 25, 2004)Once upon a time, the San Diego Comic-Con was, believe it or not, a convention for comic book fans. Thirty-five years later, for better or for worse, the SDCC has evolved or exploded into a massive orgy of the arts. Whether you like comics, movies, television, anime, toys, or video games, Comic-Con has got you covered.  SDCC this year was the biggest it has ever been and there's no doubt that it’s only going to get bigger each year following. Four days and a preview night STILL isn’t enough time to see all there is to see. 

For those who attended this year’s festivities, your brain might be suffering from an overload of memories; memories of waiting in line to get that one exclusive, or memories of that one booth babe asking $5 for a photo. Being at the con is a bit like going to Disneyland… only that there aren’t any rides. Those of you who weren’t able to make it this year, sit back and see just what made this year’s comic-con the biggest ever, and find out why you should plan a trip next year and for the rest of your life.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

One couldn’t ask for a better location than in California, where the weather is sunny 70% of the time. Unless you like drudging in the rain, San Diego in particular is a perfect locale for all the visitors of the con. To start, there are plenty of tourist spots, museums, and dining nearby to provide a well-needed break for the weary. The Convention Center lies in Downtown San Diego, where there is a shopping mall and many fine restaurants all in walking distance. There is one drawback, and it’s a big one: PARKING! Because the convention center lies very close tothe sea, there is only one direction to go when you need parking, and that’s further and further away. Even the conveniences of a hotel will charge you as much as $15 a day for parking during this busy time. Parking in the convention center is only $8, but it fills up by 8 a.m.! So if you rather not deal with parking, the best thing to do would probably to mooch off your buddy and hitch a ride everyday… but make sure you compensate them properly! 


THE EXHIBITION FLOOR

Wednesday was Preview Night for the Con, which means that guests who paid for the full weekend of events were allowed to come an entire night early to check out the Exhibition floor. But even though Preview Night did not start until 5:30pm, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get in right away. A line formed for the evening activities earlier than 10am! Not just a few people either… a lot of people. After the line to get your badge, you waited in yet another line to get IN. This was basically the drill set for the rest of the weekend. 

But once you’re in, the floor is where you do everything from checking out the latest from your favorite companies to purchase exclusives and merchandise from vendors and meet with many of your favorite comic book artists… or be introduced to brand new ones. 

The exhibition floor was huge, but the visiting crowds were even more gargantuan. The freaks in costume came in large numbers… and unfortunately for us, they don’t ride single-file. Lines formed everywhere you look. Lines to park, lines for food, lines to get into the convention, lines to check out the booth babes, and my favorite line of all: the line to get a raffle ticket to SEE if you can wait and line to buy the convention exclusive. That was how it worked with the big ones like Gentle Giant and Mattel, but thankfully, most of the other exclusives were available throughout the weekend. 

The exhibition floor can take more than a day to take it all in, there’s that much to see. One can literally spend an entire day just talking (or getting sketches) with all the talented artists such as the crew from “Flight volume 1” or Michel Gagne, the artist behind the animated Clone Wars explosions and effects. If comic books aren’t your fancy, there were plenty of upcoming toys from Hasbro, Palisades, Mattel, NECA, and many others that were worth checking out. Video games have also gotten a lot more space on the floor, as have many major motion picture studios. Ever wonder if there’s a program to make stop –motion animation for toys? Yup, there’s a booth for that too.

Navigating the exhibition floor takes some skill, so it’s probably best to not to travel in herds, but it does help if you need a lot of freebies and exclusives! And speaking of freebies, there were a LOT of them. You all know about Hasbro’s giveaways, but there were also trading cards, comic books, pins, buttons, posters, t-shirts, stickers, key chains, buttons, and autographs?! That’s right even Carrie Fisher was signing at the Wizards of the Coast booth for free! Many other television stars from Battlestar Galactica to The Incredible Hulk were around for signing if you knew where to look. Paramount’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow booth gave you the chance to win either a t-shirt or an exclusive poster and depending on who was working it, you might have received both! Even Pixar’s The Incredibles panel gave everyone in attendance a poster featuring artwork by Mike Mignola and other nifty items.


PROGRAMS AND PANELS 
Moving onto the panels, this year boasted an impressive line-up. There’s nothing more exhilarating than hearing the title for Star Wars: Episode III for the very first time, or hearing the news straight from Steve Sansweet that the Ewoks movies and cartoons will be made available on DVD. And heck, we even learned of a new game where you can shoot and kill Ewoks! There really IS something for everyone here. The Lucasfilm panel on Saturday was certainly worth the price of admission for the entire weekend with special appearances by producer Rick McCallum, Carrie Fisher, and Hayden Christensen. 

If that’s not enough, the SDCC still threw out some home-runs for the non-Star Wars going crowd (if they even exist). Movie studios offered Q&A and previews of upcoming films such as Batman Begins, Blade Trinity, The Incredibles with director Brad Bird, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow with Jude Law, Constantine with Keanu Reeves, and Sin City with Frank Miller, Jamie King, Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson.

Other panels included a preview and discussion of The Simpsons new season, Hasbro’s G.I.Joe and Transformers panel, Cartoon Voices with Billy West and Joe Alaskey, and tons more. It was a buffet of events with only a four day time limit. 

There seemed to be even more discussions to be seen and heard. You could look through the entire weekend’s schedule of events, make plans to see everything, and not even come close to seeing HALF of what you wanted to. So how much bigger did it get this year? This year, an entire exhibition hall was added for the bigger panels such as Lucasfilm and Batman Begins, etc. Hall H could seat about 2,000 more people than the ballroom on the upper floor could. And with that many people out of the way, you’d think the rest of the convention would be a little emptier, but that certainly wasn’t the case. 


CONCLUSION
The San Diego Comic-Con, one of the largest in the world, is a true destination filled with sight and sound. Other conventions that are too specific in theme can get tiresome real fast, but the SDCC really does have something for everyone. If you’re allergic to crowds, however, this probably isn’t the best place to be, and let’s not even talk about the foul smells around the convention. I can’t even begin to imagine the trash compactor being much worse. 

But joking aside, the SDCC is a must see. Every year I attend, I catch up with old friends and meet several new ones. There’s always a familiar face and something to do, and of course, something to buy. Sure, there’s lines and crowds everywhere you turn, even when going home there’s the same freaks and geeks that you were making fun of right in the lane next to you; only this time, they’re cutting you off without signaling. The experience is nothing short of exhausting, but when it’s all done and you’re sitting at home or at the office, and you’re $1200 in the hole, you can’t help but smile and say, “I can’t wait to play with my new She-Ra action figure.”