Pojo's
Comic-con International 2004 Report
San Diego, CA
Convention Center
By:
Jonnyo and "V" Pojo.com's Roving Reporters - San
Diego
You could have gone
everyday to Comic-con International’s 4 day
event here in San Diego and not see
everything there is to see related to
comics, fantasy art, gaming, anime, film
shorts, demos, tournaments, learning
sessions, visits from the stars, toys,
lectures, and just plain fun with other like
minded gamers and enthusiasts like yourself.
In short -- It had it all.
The first
thing we noticed when entering the
San Diego Convention Center, where
the event is held every year, is the
sheer volume of people. Thousands!
People of all ages, all
nationalities -- from every where --
all pouring into what is obviously
the global Mecca of gaming and
fantasy related entertainment. The
second thing we noticed was that a
large number of these people were
dressed up as some of their favorite
characters. You could see Borgs,
elves, and stormtroopers.
You had the
occasional Zena Warrior Princess,
hubba hubba, and then... the third
thing we noticed -- maybe some of
them shouldn’t be dressed like that.
“Hey lady! Give it up! Carrie
Fischer you’re NOT!” But, they try,
and they have tons of fun doing it.
There is even a character masquerade
ball on the last day of the event.
"V" cuddles the
irresistible Pikachu
The Venue
The Convention Center itself is big,
and it’s tightly jammed right into
the heart of San Diego. Its location
puts it within walking distance of
all sorts of hotels, the waterfront,
trendy restaurants all located in
what is called the “Gas Lamp
Quarter”, the trolley line, and even
the new baseball stadium is right
near by. So, if you’re interested in
coming to the Convention next year,
it would be a solid plan to make a
whole vacation of it.
Free Stuff!
One of the benefits of conquering
the crowd at an event like this is,
of course, swag. We grabbed two of
everything available. Posters, pins,
cards, figures, stickers -- we even
grabbed stuff that I was
immediately, and forcefully,
informed -- was not free. Crud! We
had to put that stuff back before we
were given a sound drubbing with a
giant, plastic, glow-in-the-dark,
light saber.
Demos
For TCG players, this is the place
to be. Every card game available on
the market today had a booth with
larger then life displays of your
favorite characters, cards galore,
tables to practice your craft on or
gain knowledge of a game you’ve
always wanted to try. There were
staffers on hand able to explain
every nuance of the games to players
of any experience level. And, plenty
of people looking to sit down and
give each game a good go.
A table
full of Yu-Gi-Oh! duelers gets some
expert advice.
Some kids try out the new MegaMan
TCG.
There were also more then a few
sneak peaks and introductions to
gaming opportunities both brand new
and coming in the very near future
like Duel Masters’ newest expansion
set “Rampage of the Super Warriors”,
a brand new TCG called “MegaMan”,
and a yet to be premiered TCG and
cartoon called “Dragon Booster”.
Lectures
No, not boring, chalk dust filled
explanations of mitochondrial DNA or
mathematical string theory. These
lectures were stuff you can actually
put to good use in the real world,
like how to write and draw comics
and go about getting them published.
Or, finding out if you have what it
takes to illustrate. There were
lengthy talks and Q and A’s by
editors, character voice over
artists, even real live celebrities
like Keanu Reeves and Sarah Michelle
Gellar of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
fame.
You could also sit in on showings of
low budget movie shorts for those
that enjoy the cutting stuff. Or, if
you want some mainstream excitement,
you could catch sneak previews of
titles to open soon by the big boys
like Pixar. Jessica Biel actually
stopped by at one event by New Line
Cinema to help preview the upcoming
Blade 3. We missed that one -- DOH!
This convention is very very big. Do
yourself a huuuuge favor and check
out in advance on the Comic-con
website all the activities that will
be available before
you attend future conventions. Then,
wear comfortable shoes, plan your
days accordingly, and get your
tickets in advance when they’re
available. Not planning ahead for
this one was a mistake we will not
be making twice.
Me, Jonnyo,
getting crushed by the hugeness of
Comic-con
Exhibit Booths
What can we say. Everything under
the sun and tons of stuff from
galaxies and dimensions yet to be
fully explored. T-Shirts, old
prints, new art, sculptures, toys,
mint condition collectibles, unique
stuff, mainstream stuff, weird
stuff, if you could name it, you
could get your wallet out and own
it.
The
big kids on the block had all kinds
of action going on at their exhibits
that were drawing crowds we didn’t
have the patience to deal with. A
massive Star Wars booth complete
with a full size X-Wing fighter was
in place to help them announce the
last title in their Trilogy --
“Revenge of the Sith”. The staff at
the Lord of the Rings booth was
actually having some difficulty
wrangling all the people waiting in
line for God only knows what. we
didn’t stick around to find out --
we were carried away by the human
tide.
Total Impressions
All in all, this was no ordinary
flea market of souvenirs
collectable. This was an aggressive
and comprehensive gathering of
industry professionals to promote
their wears and advance their arts.
If anything in the fantasy arena
holds your interest either
professionally or even as a hobbiest,
you will find this event worth your
while to attend and suffer through
the aching feat you will endure.
And, hey, its a stone through from
the beach. so what do you have to
loose.
If you missed Comic-con this year, you
missed the coolest of the cool in
displays and other announcements
like the soon to hit theaters mega
battle between Predator and Alien
Magic the Gathering
The
big kids on the block had all kinds
of action going on at their exhibits
that were drawing crowds we didn’t
have the patience to deal with. A
massive Star Wars booth complete
with a full size X-Wing fighter was
in place to help them announce the
last title in their Trilogy --
“Revenge of the Sith”. The staff at
the Lord of the Rings booth was
actually having some difficulty
wrangling all the people waiting in
line for God only knows what. we
didn’t stick around to find out --
we were carried away by the human
tide.
