Comic-Con 2011: Saw some stars. Got some migraines. Gained 7 lbs in 4 days.

For anyone contemplating going to Comic-Con next year, my advice to you would be don't. Overall, I had a decent time in San Diego--saw actors from some of my favorite shows, got tons of free junk, purchased a few irreverent t-shirts, consumed a lot of thoroughly badass Mexican food--but a good portion of the fun was eclipsed by the massive crowds. 


Fact: "Comic-Con" is Latin for "there's hella people up in here, yo."


Although originally conceived as a celebration of comic books--hence the "comic" in "comic-con"--the convention's biggest draw nowadays is that "celebs" come to promote their shows, movies, latest bowel movements, etc. Yes, I do read comics--in fact, as I write this, there are copies of The Walking Dead and Batman on one side of me and a Green Lantern backpack on the other--but I don't lie and I don't hate: I love celebs and TV and movies. I'm completely entranced by it all. (As someone who's reading this blog, I'm assuming that you have a little of that going on as well.) But the very thing that I love about the convention is threatening to destroy it. Well, maybe not destroy it, but at the very least suck all of the lighthearted, nerdy good times out of it. 


As the convention has received more and more coverage in the media, more and more people are showing up every year. There's also a huge influx of "norms" (as opposed to geeks). The night before the first official day of the convention, people were already lined up to see the next morning's panels. 


I'm a sci-fi nerd, I lined up to see The Phantom Menace way back when, but there's no way that I'm going to camp out on some dirty, sticky sidewalk in San Diego (especially when I've paid hundreds of dollars for a hotel room) just to see the cast of Psych. That's ridiculous, right? Who loves Psych that much? It's almost enough to make me start watching Psych, because clearly it's the most amazing show in the history of TV.


Fact: At Comic-Con you stand in line to stand in line.

The absolute worst line was for The Big Bang Theory panel. With at least 1,500 people in line before me, I was able to get into Ballroom 20--which holds about 2,500 people--and saw Mayim Bialik and Johnny Galecki (2 of my fave former 90s teenagers) along with the the rest of the cast. 

There were 7,000 unfortunate souls who stood in line for hours and didn't get in. 

I took the above picture of the massive line for that day's panels. It went out of the convention center and across the harbor. And here's a picture of the convention center to really drive home the point.

The doors didn't open until 9:30 or 10:00am but I got there every morning at about 6:00, which was early enough to get into every panel that I'd planned to see. But even when you are fortunate enough to get into Ballroom 20, you have to contend with body overflow aka the large gentleman beside you, essentially, sharing your chair.

Sure, it could have been worse, but sitting scrunched up next to some stranger for, like 4 continuous hours is not awesome. 

All griping aside, on Thursday I saw my love Bruce Campbell who was hysterical and condescending in a very charming way. Though his entire ensemble was quite stunning, I was most impressed by his pocket square. Rather than listening to what he was talking about (Burn Notice?), I spent the time wondering if he'd folded it himself. 

Later that day was Game of Thrones--a show that has really become my obsession over the past couple of months, and to which I give my highest, most enthusiastic recommendation. Not only was I able to see one of the raddest Peters ever (Dinklage), but the moon of my life, Khal Drogo was there. 

Jason Momoa is clearly psycho--as you can see he was wearing his Khal Drogo eye makeup--but psycho in the most endearing way possible. I didn't think it was possible for me to love this man any more than I already did but alas, it looks as though I'm going to have to see his (potentially god awful) Conan movie this summer. Also, Emilia Clarke is basically my idol.

So, if you leave Ballroom 20, there's absolutely no getting back in--unless you've gotten a bathroom pass from a security guard at the door and even then you have to be back in, like, 45 minutes. As a result, you have to sit through a lot of panels that you don't really care about just to see one that you do care about. Because Game of Thrones was near the end of the day, I was forced to sit through Covert Affairs... 

which, as it turns out, wasn't so bad because Christopher Gorham (probably my biggest crush of 1999) was there...

...the illustrious Psych

...which I still don't get...and Ringer

...which, from the clips they showed, looks like it's probably going to get canceled in its first season. Nevertheless, it was cool to be in the presence of the slayer.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I went to panels for:


Torchwood

...where my love for John Barrowman, Eve Myles, and the studly Bill Pullman grew exponentially. Eve Myles is hilarious and you could tell that she and John are really close.


Eureka

Fringe

Every year I go to this panel hoping that Joshua Jackson will lead us all in one giant Mighty Ducks quack, but it never happens. Lame.

True Blood

American Dad

Seth MacFarlane and the rest of the cast were there, but I was really just jazzed to see the guy who does the voice of Reginald. If my mom ever does buy me the koala that I've been asking for, I pray that the CIA will have replaced it's brain with that of a homeless man.

Some TV Guide thingy

Matt Smith is so cool, no? He's my favorite Doctor, for sure. 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I'd barely even heard of this show last year, but now I own every season on DVD and have watched each one of those DVDS 4 or 5 times. I'm pretty sure Danny DeVito was stoned or drunk or something. 

Yo Gabba Gabba

Sadly, DJ Lance didn't do the DJ Lance Dance--which I live for.

Allen Gregory

This is Jonah Hill's new animated show. French Stewart is in it, which was already enough to entice me, but then they screened scenes from the pilot episode, and it looks like it's going to be super funny. Also Jonah Hill is so svelte now, don't you think?

On the comic book tip, I saw Stan Lee and Jim Lee.

Despite the last name and overall resemblance, they aren't related. I don't think. Jim Lee is one of my favorite artists and Stan Lee is so fuggin old but seems super sweet and grandpa-y.


On the stalker tip, I took these iPhone paparazzi pics of Fred Savage: 

I saw him when I was walking back to my hotel. He was practically begging to be stalked.


And here are some miscellaneous photos:

I saw Paul Scheer from Human Giant, Best Week Ever, NTSF:SD:SUV, etc. walking around and he was really nice about taking this picture with me. He said my camera was cool. Admittedly, it is rather cool.

Standing awkwardly in front of the TARDIS.

Taken at the CBS booth in front of a green screen. Upon close inspection you will notice that I am groping Jim Parsons.

Outside the convention center, there was this art gallery, I guess sponsored by TBS, devoted to Conan O'Brien art. 

The one good thing about standing in super long, 10,000-deep lines is that sometimes people will let you try on their authentic Captain Jack Harkness coats. And your hair will look really weird.

Amber + Prince Adam = Best Friends 4 Eva

Back to the Future memorabilia. Yes, that is a Flux Capacitor on the left.

A Mexican Pizza that I had at this restaurant in Old Town called Cafe Coyote. So good, man. If you're ever in San Diego, you need to go there.

So that's it in a nutshell. Even though I told you not to go to Comic-Con at the beginning of this post, on Saturday morning of the convention, I got in line at 4:00am to pre-register for next year--probably a sign that I'm some sort of masochist.

Amber vs. Comic-Con or An Epic Post of Epic Epicness

San Diego Comic-Con 2010 is officially a wrap and, for me, the experience was overwhelmingly dope, occasionally unreal, and thoroughly insane.


Comic-Con, for those who don't know, is the world's largest comic book convention, though, I use the words "comic book" loosely. I suppose there must have been a period when the convention actually revolved around comics, superheroes, etc. But these days it's very Hollywood, very commercialized, and disgustingly crowded. Don't get me wrong, I dig celebrities just as much as any US Weekly reader, but Hollywood's growing presence at the convention is directly responsible for the ridiculous number of attendees and probably indirectly responsible for the stabbing incident this year. Like I said earlier, I had a good time but trying to walk around the convention center was one of the most sickeningly oppressive experiences I've ever had.


This being said, I'm not really a superhero comic fan. I've read some Astonishing/Uncanny X-Men and Geoff Johns' Blackest Night/Brightest Day but I'm really an alternative press, zine, Fantagraphics girl. Since there's an entire convention here in San Francisco devoted to the sorts of comics that I usually pick up, I spend most of Comic-Con attending TV panels. So yeah, to a certain extent I'm one of those celebrity obsessed people who've made the convention the gigantic clusterfrak that it is today.


I was a Comic-Con virgin last year and didn't understand how the convention worked. Like, I didn't know that if you wanted to see a movie/TV panel you were supposed to get there three hours before the doors even opened, stand in a long ass line, and then, once you got in, stand in another long ass line for two hours. (Geeks heart queuing.) But I learned my lesson and this year I was able to get into pretty much every panel that I wanted to see (Big Bang Theory, True Blood, Glee, Bones, Joss Whedon, Caprica, Fringe) and a few that I was totally indifferent about (American Dad, The Vampire Diaries, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sons of Anarchy, Stargate Universe).

Panel surprises included The Barenaked Ladies performing The Big Bang Theory theme song, which I've captured here on Shaky-Cam:

Big Bang Theory Theme Song Live from The Amber on Vimeo.

And Nathan Fillion showing up at the Joss Whedon Q&A.

As cool as it was to listen to Joss--one of my TV writing heroes--discuss his upcoming projects, it was infinity times cooler when I met him down in the convention hall.

This is by far the geekiest picture I've ever taken in my life. Not only because I look like a mega nerd-hobo but there are just so many layers of geekery going on here:
1. We're at a comic book convention.
2. Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, etc. = geek icon.
3. Joss is wearing a Scott Pilgrim shirt.
4. I'm wearing a Jedi beanie.
5. My overbite is out in full force.


When I saw Joss, he was with some woman near the mellow end of the convention hall--this is the area where comic books are sold/the area almost no one at this "comic book" convention visits. I sort of interrupted him as he was talking (by "sort of," I mean totally, unmistakably, and rudely) and then I pulled that dick move where you hand your camera to the famous person's non-famous friend and have them take your picture. Joss and his friend were pretty cool about it, though. I mean, there was no eye-rolling or annoyed sighing from either of them and I felt like a real champ afterward. Like, I could have flown back home right then, satisfied with Comic-Con 2010.


Other celebrities seen while walking around include, Jerry O'Connell (who was power-walking so I couldn't take a picture of him without chasing him down), Adrianne Curry--the first winner of America's Next Top Model--dressed as Leeloo from The Fifth Element...

and Mark Hamill.

Seeing Mark Hamill was incredibly bizarre. He was just sitting on these steps by himself, looking sort of dejected. No one was swarming him or really even talking to him. Of course, being a Star Wars nerd, I refused to act as if he were just "some guy" and asked him if I could take a picture.


I think the fact that no one was asking him for an autograph or hovering around him sort of speaks to the Hollywoodization of the Con. So many people are there to see Angelina Jolie or Michael C. Hall, etc., that the convention is starting to lose touch with its nerdy roots. After I took my picture, some girl asked me who the guy sitting on the steps was. I told her that it was Mark Hamill. "Oh," she said, disinterested. Her boyfriend asked her who the guy was. "Mark Hamill," she said, followed by, "who's that?"


One of the most exciting things going on at Comic-Con this year, at least for me, was the "Scott Pilgrim Experience."

(Scott Pilgrim is this awesome manga-styled, pop culture/video game influenced series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. If you want to know more about the books from the POV of a fan, I suggest you check out these posts at Soft Nonsense.)


The movie comes out next month and the public relations/marketing departments promoting it are some of the hardest working and most creative people in the entertainment business (and if I ever met one of them I'd give that person a very earnest high five). At the Scott Pilgrim Experience--which was across the street from the convention center--you could make your own Scott Pilgrim t-shirt, create a flipbook of yourself doing some crazy Scott Pilgrim inspired martial arts stuff...

Scott Pilgrim Flipbook from The Amber on Vimeo.

...play the new Scott Pilgrim video game (which is only being released on PS3 and not Xbox. No one's getting a high-five for that), and get autographs from the stars of the movie.

While you waited in line (I stood in line for 2 hours!) there was someone handing out free garlic bread and t-shirts.

By the time I finally got to the front of the line, I was told that they weren't doing anymore autographs. To be honest, I wasn't that disappointed. I already have Edgar Wright's (the director) autograph from this Hot Fuzz thing I went to a couple of years ago and I was fine with just seeing some of the stars, taking some creepy paparazzi pictures of them, and leaving with all my free shiz. But after I finished making my flipbook, I accidentally wandered into the autograph line. By the time the security guard noticed, a lady in a wheelchair had made the same mistake and wandered in line behind me. Because he couldn't very well deny a woman in a wheelchair an autograph, he had to let her stay in line. And because I was in front of her, he had to let me stay there too or it would have looked like discrimination or something, I don't know. Anyway, I got autographs from Edgar Wright, Michael Cera, and Jason Schwartzman (who said he liked my beanie). 

I got so much free crap (t-shirts, bags, comics, buttons, books, posters) while I was there that I'm considering having a blog giveaway. I'm going to New Orleans tomorrow but I'll post some pictures in the coming weeks of all the swag/junk and gauge interest. Until then, here are a few photos...

Li'l Iron Man

Ben Edlund/Les McClane autographs.

Trolley sign in Klingon.

Me with my new boyfriend at the booth for AMC's "The Walking Dead."

Tron light bike.

My homie.

My robo lover, Optimus Prime.