Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

Comic-Con -- the place to be if you like virtually anything -- is well worth the year-long wait. And it is indeed a place, considering that the fan-fest takes over San Diego for more than a week. While I did meet locals, and even out-of-towners staying in the immediate vicinity of the convention center, who were oblivious to the fact that Comic-Con was going on, the effects of the convention are felt throughout the year. This is a second Christmas for businesses downtown, with food trucks and Starbucks  experiencing amusement park-like lines.

Planning seems to be the most arduous task of Comic-Con. Hotels are bought in a block and are offered online, passing along a discount to convention-goers. Travel is contentious; while I experienced a minor delay getting to San Diego from Long Beach on Crucero/Greyhound for $1, there were several who travelled from Las Vegas and were stranded. The company offered no compensation or warning except for bidding them “Best of luck.” Traffic was a snarl getting to downtown. My bus driver didn’t take the carpool lane; I have no idea why.

Actually getting a badge is notoriously difficult. Previous years' Con-ers have the option of being grandfathered into the following year’s although they do have to spend quite a bit of time in line. This year, pre-sales were opened for a limited time and by 7am, the line easily had 1000 people. After the line was cut off, those who remained got tickets to buy the badges. That did not necessarily guarantee them a chance to buy a badge. Those who missed out will have to compete online next year.

Thursday was all about Hall H’s Twilight and Ballroom 20. People camped for several days to get into the vampire movie’s panel, with several of the cast appearing beforehand to greet the fans in line. The other line was for those waiting to get into the main convention center, dispersing once admitted for another set of lines. Ballroom 20 snaked outside onto the balcony and back inside; many then sat through 5 hours of panels until The Game of Thrones Q+A with some of the stars.

I sat in several Star Wars related panels including the Kinect Star Wars and the Star Wars: The Old Republic, the MMO experience/game. Unveiled was an Xbox 360 Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars Bundle with R2D2 appearance and sounds as well as exclusive downloads.

I met with Disney Store Director of Toys at the Funko booth to learn about their new partnership. Known for its bobble-headed vinyl toys, Funko teamed with Disney to create this line of favorite Disney characters. Sold at Comic-Con were toys exclusive to the convention, including a 3-inch blue Mr. Incredible -- not his normal red suit. The mass-market toy line is available via Disney's online store as well as at their brick-and-mortars. The toys do not go back into production so whatever is made is all there will be. These toys will definitely appeal to those into all things kawaii.

Photo of Mr. Incredible courtesy of Funko/Disney Store; photo of XBOX Limited courtesy of LucasArts

Several of the so-called closed lounges weren’t actually that; anyone with a Con badge was let in. AMD, Nintendo, Konami, IGN, Sega, and Wired Image, though, had much-needed exclusive suites with food and laptops set up for VIP and press.

Photo of Elijah Wood at the Arts and Cinema Centre by Nintendo: Michael Bezjian, Wireimage: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword courtesy of Nintendo

Nintendo had a rocking Arts and Cinema Centre, and Konami had a posh suite set up to peruse and play games, including the Kinect favorite Leedmees, where you transfer little creatures along your avatar’s body.

           Photo of Leedmees Kinect courtesy of Konami

It’s quite a workout, especially for the quads, and enormously fun.

Another vampire franchise was Friday’s main focus, with an evening True Blood panel. The zombies of AMC’s The Walking Dead appeared earlier in that room. But easily the spotlight was on maestro of science-fiction and action Steven Spielberg in his first appearance at Comic-Con. Promoting his film The Adventures of Tin-Tin with Daniel Craig and Jamie Bell, the uber-director brought out Peter Jackson, producer and director of the planned second film, onto the stage. To top that, Spielberg announced a fourth Jurassic Park movie.

Celebrities were in full force with Cowboys and Aliens world-premiering at the Con, shuttling its stars Craig and Harrison Ford for the movie and panel. Hugh Jackman reportedly passed out T-shirts on the streets for his movie, Real Steel. A drunk and America-hating Rhys Ifans, the new villain for the Spiderman reboot, got arrested for pushing a female security guard. Star Trek: Enterprise captain Scott Bakula was a surprise guest joining fellow caps William Shatner and Avery Brooks in promoting The Captains documentary.         

An intimate press conference at the Movies on Demand lounge with Jason Momoa was on the agenda. I asked if Jason felt a responsibility being one of the few APA leads in a Hollywood film. He was confused as to what the acronym stood for and was subsequently interrupted by a perennial free food hound. Eventually Jason answered that he was proud and cheered, “Go, APAs!”

Ian Anthony Dale, Peter Shinkoda, and Falling Skies fellow cast member Colin Cunningham were extremely gracious to my Racebending.com friends, whom I couldn’t get into the Tucker and Dale vs. Evil kickoff party back at Nintendo’s Arts and Cinema Centre; the PR person said she wouldn’t let even Justin Timberlake in. Kevin Tancharoen failed to get beyond the velvet ropes and took off. Dale and Shinkoda took off their wristbands and used chewing gum to attach them to my friends’ wrists.

Strangely, Hall H was easy to get into on Saturday, with highlights including Francis Ford Coppola and Patrick Stewart’s first Comic-Con appearance. A fan was booed for an inappropriate question, but all was forgotten when the audience sang Happy Birthday to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, led by his Dorothy of Oz cast member Megan Hilty.

Senitype sent out a late invite to check out their Captain America collectible movie ticket. Contrary to belief, one doesn’t have to turn in the collectible movie frame and card to see the movie; a special code is exchanged for a movie ticket. Known for its various collectibles with original movie frames, the company presents an innovative marketing technique that will appeal to both movie-goer and collector alike.

Saturday I took some friends from The Hub to the exhibition floor, with a warning that my power-walker stride (acquired from having a big dog) would be on full force. Keep up, or eat my dust. We snagged special badges at the Warner Brothers booth, got sidetracked looking for Angry Birds, and got shut out over and over again at ABC’s Pan Am booth that gave away retro Pan Am cases. We were so sick of hearing the promo girls saying that all reservations were booked for the flight -- meaning a viewing of an excerpt of the new show. Disney said that they would plop something in your Phineas and Ferb backpack if they saw you wearing it; I walked past the booth at least 20 times throughout the convention without getting a thing.

Oddly, the free convention shuttle on Sunday didn’t start until 8am, which makes early line-forming difficult. One of the most popular lines, for Glee, was first in the morning. Generally, people look after one another at the Con; fans of Castle from Toronto offered me a ride in their cab and paid my way as I don’t carry cash. I pulled a woman into a line just before it got cut off. And while you’re bound to run into those who use their full body weight to push you out of the way, the general happiness and helpfulness are a buzz.

For me, going home was a nightmare, with Greyhound delayed by four hours. I almost missed my connection but pleaded with the driver to get me on. A girl from SF State who had a test the next day and who was on the bus before me was shut out of 5 buses, including the one back to SF. Amtrak next time.

Planning is in the works again; next year's Con will be earlier: July 11-15. Batman 3, Superman reboot, GI Joe 2, Bourne Legacy, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and the Total Recall remake follow Comic-Con in the summer, with The Hobbit on the near horizon.

Anyone have hotel reservations yet?