Every time I see this, I’m reminded of the dragon-like Marvel Comics monster (and Iron Man foe) Fin Fang Foom.
Of course, the really funny part is that this sign is advertising an event from last July…and it’s still there!
Category: Comics
Anaheim Comic Con 2010 (Saturday Con Report)
I checked out Wizard World’s new Anaheim Comic Con this past weekend. At only 10-15 minutes away, it seemed like a waste not to go, and with Anaheim courting Comic-Con International, I wanted to get a better sense of the convention center.
So I bought a Saturday ticket, drove out for the afternoon, and had a much better time than I expected.
Photos are at Flickr if you want to jump straight to them.
Arrival
For those not familiar with the area, the Anaheim Convention Center is literally across the street from Disney’s California Adventure. There isn’t much in the way of public parking in the area that isn’t attached to a shopping center, a hotel, or Disneyland, but there was plenty of room in the convention center parking structure. Of course, it took more than 10 minutes to get into the structure — longer than I spent on the freeway!
There were two events at the convention center this weekend: Anaheim Comic Con in Hall D, and a Specialty Coffee event in Halls B, C and E. I was half-tempted to find out whether the coffee event was open to the public!
Main Floor
The first thing I saw when stepping onto the main floor was the Red Mist car from Kick-Ass (which opened this weekend). The second thing was the Suicide Girls booth. The third was a long line of people waiting for an event.
There was the usual mix of collectibles dealers, comics dealers, artists, celebrities, the ever-present giant T-shirt booth, prop & costume exhibits, fan groups, etc. There was a heavy Star Wars fan presence (more about that later). The one that really surprised me was the bar that had been set up next to the food service area!
The weird thing: There was virtually no industry presence. I’m not sure I saw a single comic publisher booth. In the battle between C2E2 and Wizard, the publishers came down solidly on the side of C2E2, not even bothering to send a token delegation to Anaheim. It can be done. Last year, DC did full-up DC Nation panels at both WonderCon (California) and MegaCon (Florida) the same weekend.
Space!
Compared to WonderCon two weeks ago, the main floor seemed bigger, but took less time to explore. Judging by the floor plans, the area actually used looks about the same, but the breakdown was different:
- Registration was handled at the front of the hall, not in the lobby or another room.
- The back was blocked off for staging.
- There were lunch tables at one side near the food service. (This was sorely missing at WonderCon!)
- Artist’s Alley was quite a bit smaller.
- The celebrity autograph area was huge.
It was probably comparable to the last Wizard World Los Angeles, except that I remember a lot of empty space at that con, a bigger Artist’s Alley, and a smaller celebrity area. I’d actually guess that the celebrity area at this con took up about 1/4 of the floor space!
One annoying thing: the main floor was at one end of the convention center. The programming rooms were at the opposite end. Because of the coffee con in between, to get to the panels, you had to go outside, then walk along the entire length of the convention center, then go back inside and up to the second level.
Star Wars and Batman
The Star Wars presence was probably a mix of two things: 1. Regional groups aren’t going to Chicago. 2. It’s the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back.
That included groups such as the 501st Legion, the Saber Guild, LA Jedi, and a group that builds working droids.
The Sabre Guild had a prime spot near the T-shirt booth and had set up a ring to perform mock lightsaber battles and demonstrate other skills. Sort of like a mix of fencing and tall flags with lightsabers. They also had music from the movies playing continuously all day, broken up occasionally by the disco version of the Star Wars theme. There were a couple of really good Aayla Secura costumes in that group, and a little girl wearing a Republic Jedi costume who at one point added a Hit-Girl mask and wig and posed in front of the Kick-Ass car.
The other big costume theme was the 1960s Batman TV series — almost certainly because the con had brought together much of the show’s cast, including Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Yvonne Craig and Lee Meriwether, and the Batmobile.
The Sexy
Because of the light industry presence, there weren’t many in the way of booth babes. The Evil Cheerleaders seem to be everywhere these days, plus there were cheerleaders for a energy drink called Bite Me. I was surprised at how many kids were posing with them, actually. Suicide Girls had a big presence, with at least a dozen models, and there was a dance troupe (the Purrfect Angels) who dressed in skimpy versions of super-heroine and sci-fi costumes and danced on a raised stage next to the lunch area.
Then there was the booth placement in the celebrity area, where a pair of 14-year-old girls who had written a science-fiction novel were placed next to a bikini model. Way to send the kids a message, Wizard.
Gollum vs. Uhura
Late in the day, I was walking by where a man dressed (if you can call it that) as Gollum was crawling around, mewling about “My Precious” and showing off a DVD of an independent film with that title. This was at the corner of the celebrity area, where Nichelle Nichols was doing a signing. He crawled into her booth, jumped up on the table, started showing everyone “My Precious,” then turned toward the Star Trek actress. 
She yelped and started hitting him with a plastic water bottle, at which point he took a dive off the table and tumbled onto the floor, then scurried off.
He did pretty much the same thing with the judges’ table at the costume contest that evening.
Costume Contest
The costume contest was more organized than the one at the last Wizard World LA, though nowhere near as formal as, say the Comic-Con International Masquerade. Most contestants simply walked in one door, past the judges, and out the other. Actually, a lot of them early on hadn’t been told to pause so that the judges could see! A few had prepared simple routines, or at least speeches — including, as I mentioned, Gollum, who made the biggest impression. Some other stand-outs (some for craftsmanship, some for attitude) included Count Chocula, the Angel of Death from Hellboy II, Doctor Octopus, and Silk Spectre.
As I was going through my photos, I found it interesting that I had actually run into a lot of the winners out on the floor: Doctor Octopus, Gollum, Silk Spectre…
Food in Anaheim
Concession stands line the edges between the exhibit halls: coffee, sandwiches, tacos, etc. I only had the coffee, which was decent, though the clerk warned us to use the swizzle sticks and not the spoons, because they might melt! All of the hotels in the convention complex have their own restaurants ranging from casual dining to somewhat more expensive places like Morton’s. The Hilton also has fast food including a Starbucks, Sbarro, Baja Fresh, and a smoothie place.
Across the street you can find standard fast food like Subway. The Ramada has an Indian restaurant with a lunch buffet. If you walk around Disney’s California Adventure to the west, you can get to the Downtown Disney shopping center. If you walk east along Katella, you can get to the Anaheim Garden Walk, which has a few mid-range chain restaurants (California Pizza Kitchen, P.F. Chang’s, etc.) and a food court that’s currently running at half capacity. Unless your name is Barry, Jay, Wally or Bart, figure on about 20 minutes to get there. The blocks are large and the traffic signals are long.
Tip: If you plan to cross the street, go out to Katella along the convention center first, not out to Harbor through the hotels. It’s just as long, but there are trees and shade.
What If…Comic-Con International?
Assuming the other halls are about the same size as this one, I think the full convention center could probably handle something the size of the Comic-Con International exhibit floor. The main hurdle is that only about 1/3 of the wall between each section is actually removable (the middle section is permanent, holding the concession counters). Sure, it would make it easy to divide the main floor up into themes — one section for comics, one for movies and TV, one for games, etc. — but it would also create bottlenecks.
I didn’t get a good sense of the meeting rooms, since the con only used a couple of rooms, and I don’t remember much from the only other convention I’ve attended since the expansion. (It was a WorldCon, and I experienced the whole thing through the combined haze of a summer cold and Day-Quil.)
There is room to spill over into the nearby hotels, though. There are at least four in the same complex, and I know at least two of them have a good supply of meeting rooms and ballrooms. They’re closer to the center than anything in San Diego other than the Marriott, and they don’t require you to cross a busy street or railroad tracks.
Check out my full set of photos on Flickr.
Central City Comic Con
Stopped for coffee on the way to Anaheim Comic Con. Yes, actually, I am wearing a Flash T-shirt. Why do you ask?
Even better, the rest of the convention center was taken up by a coffee convention! (For the uninitiated: There’s a running gag in the current Flash relaunch about how much coffee people drink in Central City…especially Iris Allen.)
Follow-up: read my full convention report and check out my photos.
WonderCon 2010 Experience
Last weekend, we made our third trip to San Francisco’s WonderCon in as many years. While it was fun, it wasn’t as enjoyable as the last two years.
We only really planned on going Saturday, but I was half-hoping we’d get there in time to catch some of Friday afternoon. That…didn’t work out so well.
Saturday morning around 11:30, we walked down to the Moscone Center in surprisingly clear weather (it was supposedly 50°F, but the sun was warm enough that a T-shirt was just fine), followed a series of people giving directions, and breezed through the line to pick up our badges. I think we were on the main floor within 10 minutes of entering the building.
Main Floor and Costumes
The convention seemed more crowded than I remember last year — despite the move to Easter weekend. There were places on the main floor where traffic just stopped. The mezzanine balcony, which I remember being a relatively empty traffic corridor last year, had somehow become a popular hang-out spot and photo-op location. Several panels proved to be too popular for the rooms they’d been placed in. People were even lining up three hours ahead for Geoff Johns.
It’s not a San Diego-level crowd yet, but it’s getting denser. Fortunately they still have room to expand. They’re only using two-thirds of the main floor space.
Still, they could really use some more seating out in the lower lobby with the food services. In three years, I don’t think I’ve ever sat at a table for lunch at this con.
Neither of us noticed any obvious costume theme. Two years ago the place was full of GI Joe costumes. Last year it was Watchmen. This year nothing really stood out. I don’t think I even saw as many steampunks as usual. Admittedly, I no longer really notice people in Stormtrooper, Mandalorian, or Jedi outfits, so they could have had the entire 501st Legion wandering around and I wouldn’t have noticed.
You can see all of my photos of the con on Flickr.
Panels
Since I’d missed the DC and Geoff Johns panels on Friday, I went to the DC Editorial panel (covered at Speed Force). Instead of being an actual presentation like last year, it was an hour and a half of question-and-answer. Unfortunately, the timing blocked several other things I’d considered attending, and I’m not sure it was worth it.
Never Give Up. Never Surrender
The best panel either of us caught was the mock Galaxy Quest “23rd Anniversary Celebration” that Katie attended. The panelists made a point that it was actually the 30th anniversary, as we were all there to celebrate our love for the original show and not “that movie,” and the original airdate was several years earlier than non-Questarians reckoned. And it went from there. The audience members who came up with the best answers to “trivia” questions about the original show were rewarded with t-shirts for the upcoming “Next Generation” show (it was apparently picked up for a full season!). There was a lot of speculation about how the new version might go too far in being Darker and Edgier, or that someone had heard there might be a movie with all younger-and-hotter actors and more lens flares than plot. Essentially, a free-for-all to both lament and celebrate the current state of SF media productions.
Missing In Action
Several panels were canceled when presenters couldn’t make it. The Comics Arts Conference session on “Urban and Political Mysteries” had to replace two of its three presenters. The reexamination of Batman: The Long Halloween went on as scheduled, looking at the evidence without taking the confessions at face value. Rounding out the timeslot were an examination of different narrative ways to make the shift from Silver Age to modern storytelling, and the comparison of Wonder Woman to Canadian heroine Nelvana of the Northern Lights.
Another casualty was the Real Archaeology of Indiana Jones, which I caught last year, but Katie missed because it was opposite a special-effects makeup demo. She was hoping to catch it this year, and I was kind of curious as to whether he’d be covering anything different this time.
Goals (or Lack Thereof)
I think part of the problem I had with the con this year was that I didn’t really have any goals in mind. I wasn’t looking for any books. I didn’t have a huge stack of items to get autographed (partly because I didn’t want to carry around Comic Book Tattoo, and partly because I didn’t get around to looking through the guest list or my recent acquisitions). My to-do list consisted of one panel and a couple of artists, and was basically done by 2:00. Usually I make at least one full pass through the main floor, but this time I just kind of wandered aimlessly.
Around 4:00, Katie called me to tell me that her costume shoes had practically killed her feet (she had a really nasty blister, too), and she was ready to go back to the hotel — but couldn’t imagine walking even the short distance. I picked up her sneakers, and then we both went back for takeout and Lord of the Rings. (Thank you, TBS, for your conveniently-timed marathon!)
Hotel: Staying at the Marriott
I think this is the first time I’ve stayed at an actual headquarters hotel for a convention. For the most part, we didn’t notice…except for the Power Girl/Terra photoshoot we saw in the atrium Sunday morning.
The Marriott Marquis is just a short block away from Moscone South, and across the street from the Mosser, where we stayed last year. The rooms are a more typical size, though, and of course the building is more modern. Oddly enough, the Mosser is a better choice for Internet access. The Marriott has free wifi in the lobby, but the rooms are wired only — and they want $13/night for it! (We mostly went without, and just ran down to the lobby for uploads and downloads.)
Restaurants: We were disappointed to find that Mission Steak is gone — or, rather, has been converted to “Mission Grille,” which had a decent enough brunch, but isn’t open for dinner anymore. Despite what the outdated ads in the elevators said. The concierge assured us that the other bar-restaurants in the hotel were open for dinner hours and would serve full meals, but neglected to mention that the 4th Street Bar and Deli had just been closed for renovations the day before. The menu at The View lounge didn’t seem much bigger than a typical bar menu either, the $19 Kobe cheeseburger notwithstanding. The view from our table was a wide city panorama, rain-soaked in typical San Francisco fashion, and we got to watch the fog slowly thicken until the Bay Bridge towers were just hints in the mist. (The picture window with its radial supports reminded me of the Gotham Clock Tower, but apparently it’s become known as the Death Star Bar.) We didn’t visit Bin 55, as neither of us is a wine drinker and their food menu is half the size of their wine list.
How to Get a Hotel for Comic-Con
Planning to go to Comic-Con International, but couldn’t get a hotel room during the reservation lottery? There’s no magic bullet or secret code, but here are some things you can do to find a place to stay during the con:
ADDED: Call customer service if you placed a request but haven’t heard back from them. There may have been a problem with the email (at their end, at your ISP, or anywhere in between), or there may have been an issue with the reservation that prevented them from processing it or sending the confirmation. But do it soon, so you don’t miss the deadline to secure it with a deposit.
Some rooms may open up when the deposit deadline passes. Maybe. This is probably only an option if you submitted a reservation request but didn’t get a room, and it assumes that (a) not everyone will manage to make a deposit in time and (b) Travel Planners will move on to the wait list with the rooms that free up. I wouldn’t rely on this one.
Book directly, but be prepared to spend more. And be prepared to try a lot of hotels before you find one with available rooms, or else go through a travel site like Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline or Hotwire.
Look into short-term condo rentals. Hotels aren’t the only way to rent a room. You could make your trip into a week-long vacation!
Find roommates to share the cost of that directly-booked room. Or find roommates who already have a room. A lot of the downtown hotels actually have suites, so you might even have some privacy. (One thing to watch out for, though: hotels will often charge more for extra people.) If you don’t personally know anyone to share a room with, try asking in your online communities.
Stay with friends or relatives in the area. Obviously not an option for everyone, but again, you can check with online friends.
Stay farther out and commute. If all you need is a place to sleep and shower, you don’t have to stay downtown. Mission Valley and Old Town have trolley service straight to the con, and you can get a 4-day trolley pass for $15.
Try again after cancellation deadlines hit. Some rooms will open up after the last day for a full refund, and more open up after the last day for a partial refund. Check the convention website for this year’s dates and how to get in for the resale.
Good luck!
Once you’ve got your lodging situation settled, check out the rest of my Tips for Comic-Con.
Comic-Con Hotel Experience: 2010
It took more than 8 hours, but I finally got my hotel confirmation for Comic-Con. It wasn’t one of the 12 I’d requested this morning, but it’s in my price range, relatively close, and was actually #14 on the list we put together last night.
All this despite the fact that I put the request in within 5 minutes of the system going online. That part was smooth, and judging by the comments on Twitter and at The Beat, it went smoothly for most people.
Then came the waiting.
On one hand, it was better because I could actually do things — like, y’know, work — instead of sitting there hitting refresh on the browser and redial on the phone for two hours. On the other hand, instead of two hours of active frustration, it was eight hours of wondering whether they had lost my info, or whether I had mistyped my email address, or whether they had actually run out of rooms in the first five minutes and hadn’t gotten around to telling me. A confirmation number for the request itself would have gone a long way toward making me confident that I was in the system.
Later posts on Twitter, and later comments at The Beat, reflected the growing sense of frustration among congoers — and anger as they were assigned hotels that weren’t even on their list.
Order
It seems that not everyone’s requests were handled in the order received. I saw people who had received confirmation hours before I did, but who had submitted their requests a few minutes later. My guess is that Travel Planners was taking two passes through the queue: one pass to handle the requests that they could fill based on people’s actual choices, then one pass to handle the requests where all the preferred hotels were full. Even that doesn’t quite track, though, so I’m not sure what was really going on.
Edit: Katie suggested that they might also be prioritizing based on how many nights you tried to reserve. I was only reserving three nights, so it sort of makes sense that they might give more weight to someone trying to reserve four or five.
Lessons to be Learned
As with the convention’s struggle with crowding, every year they solve one problem only to discover another lurking behind it. A lot of people have compared this year’s process to a lottery, but really, it actually shifted the advantage from luck to typing speed.
Think about it: For the last few years, everyone has had to try to get through, repeatedly, over a period of several hours. Those lucky enough to make a solid connection would then make a reservation and leave. You could start at 9:00 and get through at 9:05 or 11:00, but there really wasn’t any sort of strategy you could apply other than trying multiple avenues at the same time.
Now? Everyone logs in at 9:00, fills out a form immediately, and submits it. Whether you submit your request at 9:05, 9:10 or 9:15 has nothing to do with luck. Instead, it has to do with whether you made up a list beforehand, how long it takes to enter your information, and how much time you spend verifying it before clicking that button.
In that way, it’s actually less of a lottery than it used to be!
Update: I’ve posted some ideas on what to do if you couldn’t get a room.
Fighting Vampires in Office Max
CBR’s coverage of the WildStorm panel at Emerald City Comicon yesterday includes a great bit in which, due to technical difficulties with the slide show, CBR’s reporter was put on the spot to ask the panelists a question:
“If you were stuck in an Office Max during a full scale vampire attack, what would you use as a weapon?”
They rolled right into it. Phil Hester would use a T-square, Kurt Busiek claimed that despite his best weapon foraging attempts he would end up with a stapler and go down quickly, Ben Abernathy would break some broom handles to use as stakes, Darick Robertson would use two drafting triangles as punching daggers, and Francesco Francavilla would assemble a cross out of whatever he found.
My first thought was actually the classic chair leg, but then I realized that Office Max would mostly have swivel chairs on plastic bases, and of course desks made up of sheets of particle board. Technically wood, but nothing you could easily turn into a stake.