Thursday:
On Thursday I left for the convention…some of you might remember my frantically complaining about the scripts I had to get done while I was busy not writing scripts. Well, I managed to get them all done on the plane: three scripts total, one full length and two more writing samples to show that I could do different styles. And it only took being cooped up in an airplane without Internet access for six hours for it to happen! There were some fairly major delays on the way up…I don’t know why, but I arrived in San Diego at about 1 am, their time, 4 am my time. By the time we were checked into the hotel, got all unpacked, etc, it was 2:30….5:30 by my internal clock. Six hours of sleep later, I was bouncing around like a hyperactive chipmunk. Which brings us to…
Friday:
YAY FINALLY!!! My mom and I got into costume (Vera/Manchester Black for me and Menagerie for mom) and headed downstairs for (ugh) BREAKFAST. How dare she waste my time with nutrition when I COULD BE AT A COMIC CONVENTION!! I also printed out the scripts I had written the night before, along with some wonderful character sketches by our very own CaptainCockblock.
Badge pickup, then we headed over to the DC 52 panel.
On the panel were Jim Lee, Dan Dideo, and some other people I can’t remember. The discussion was about the PROCESS of the 52. Jim Lee went over his artistic process and what he was thinking when drawing Justice League. Jim Lee and Dan Dideo went over how DC decided on the 52. It didn’t honestly seem all that well thought out. They even admitted that it was really designed to boost sales. Many of the fans had ideas or solutions that would have improved things immensely, storywise at least. Still, the energy was nice and many of the stories looked like they would be good even though I’m still skeptical about the reboot itself. Someone high up at DC (I don’t remember who) gave me and my mom each a signed copy of the promotional 52 booklet because we were in costume.
After the panel we went to the convention floor. As usual it was big, loud, and amazing. We wandered around a little bit, but we had to break when my costume began falling apart…it turns out that the maxim I learned in nursery school about how not to use a ton of glue was incorrect! I should have used ALL the glue! But it was lunchtime anyway, so we headed back to the hotel to eat and change. Then it was back to the convention center! Wandered around the gaming area of the convention center, with particular focus on the Capcom Booth…I was hoping there would be something cool featuring Albert Wesker. It was around then that the world started spinning…not just tilting, actually spinning. Mom managed to drag me onto the shuttle bus and got me to swallow a bottle of water. We’re still not totally sure what happened, but mom’s main guess is that I got dehydrated. Whatever the case, we stayed at the hotel until it was time to decide whether I could make it to the showing of Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Live that we were scheduled to see. A zombie invasion would not have kept me away from that show.
Mom and I walked down to the Gam3rcon building, where the show was going to be performed. Naturally there was much singing in the line. The show itself was extremely well done…the Gam3rcon people had adapted the blog to the stage, using clever lighting tricks with a screen to add the visual effects. All the actors had great voices, and the production was absolutely fantastic…they even managed to add in a few extra scenes seamlessly.
After the play, mom and I got some dinner and watched Black Swan on Pay Per View. Okay, maybe not so much ‘watched’ as ‘covered eyes and complained at all the nudity/sex stuff’. And then mom was covering HER eyes during all the violence/horror stuff, so maybe between us we saw the whole movie.
Saturday:
YAY SATURDAY! I insisted on going to breakfast in costume (Indigo Lantern), and did so. Then it was onto the shuttle bus for the convention! They made me weapon check my Indigo staff. The guy doing the check thought that was ridiculous, and glowered at the door lady who had sent us over…he had bigger things to deal with. Like chainsaws.
We headed over to the Spirituality in Comics panel with Grant Morrison and Deepak Chopra, plus Deepak’s son Gotham. They gave a fascinating look at how ancient mythology shaped modern heroes, as well as how modern heroes are creating a new mythology. Grant touched on some of the key symbols, such as the lightning bolt. On the way to this panel we ran into none other than…INFERIOREGO!! He was in a bit of a hurry, but it was really nice getting a chance to say hi.
After the panel, mom made us go back to the hotel so that she could dump some of the stuff out of the bag I made her, I mean, she was nice enough to, carry. I had kinda/sorta/maybe put about 50 comic book boards in there, along with my sketchbook, a normal book, two programs, and some rocks. And duct tape. We had lunch (again with the nourishment! Yeesh!) and then…
We’re going down to South Park gonna have ourselves a time!
(Friendly Faces everywhere! Humble folks without temptation)
And so on…
I sang the song about four times before we actually got to the little South Park replica area. I went and procured a bag of Cheezy Poofs while mom waited in line, then I made a South Park version of myself. Then I sang the Cheezy Poofs song. I’m just going to say it now, my mom is a saint.
Okay, I wanted to insert the song earlier, but I forgot to mention that I had asked for some commissions from artists before we went down to South Park. Now we headed over to pick them up…I’m kinda embarrassed to say this, but I have NO IDEA who the artists were. If you recognize the signatures maybe someone could tell me? Whatever the case, the work turned out AMAZINGLY. I had asked for Doctor Who meeting Booster Gold (because they’re both time travelers) and Ted Kord. While I was picking up the Ted Kord sketch I noticed something…FRANCIS MANAPUL WAS DOING SKETCHES AT THE NEXT TABLE!! I raced over to get in line. Francis Manapul was not only doing sketches, he was doing FREE sketches. Totally worth the hours I spent in line. He drew me a Weather Wizard sketch!
During my time on the convention floor, I managed to find Tiny Titans writer Franco! And his bodyguard, Jimmy the Muscle. I knew Jimmy pretty well from New York Comic Con when my friend and I waited by the Tiny Titans booth for an hour to get sketches.
After all this running around I was pretty tired, and (especially with the three hour time difference) it was late. Back to the hotel, where once again I insisted on going everywhere in costume. Mom and I watched Limitless, which was pretty bad, and then I realized that I hadn’t tied my tie for the next day’s costume. Neither mom nor I know how to tie a tie…but someone might!
I headed back down to the lobby, where I asked the concierge to help out…he was extremely confused, pointed out that he was already WEARING a tie, and then finally realized that no, I didn’t want him to take the tie, I needed it for the next day.
Sunday
NOOO!!! My last day at the con. Well, I was determined to make the most of it! Today’s costume was H.P Lovecraft! So we headed down to the convention and I made my way straight towards the Cthuliana booth I had noticed before. It was…NIRVANA!! They had SOOOO much Lovecraft stuff, and I just stood there in a daze. Until Gerard Way walked past. Yes, you read that right. GERARD WAY WAS RIGHT THERE!! If there was one high point of the trip it was being at the Cthuliana Booth talking to Gerard Way.
Later I stumbled across the Dr. McNinja artist. I had no idea he’d be there, so this was a very nice surprise.
At another booth there was a Cthulhu cosplayer! Pictures were a must.
At one point an alarm went off telling everyone that the previous alarm was being taken care of. People who were totally unconcerned before began to panic a bit.
We walked over to the Hall H line to chat with one of my mom’s high school friends. Her son was a big Doctor Who fan.
Eventually it was time to go home…I was sad. I am still sad. I considered holding onto one of the pillars in front of the building and not letting go, but that wouldn’t have really solved anything. Oh well.
More pics:
Fore even MORE pictures check out the SDCC 2011 folder in my gallery.
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