PB gets to go to all the cool places. I must live vicariously through him.
Vicariously PB living can be fun at times, but sometimes it can be precarious or tenacious, or even notorious! Mostly though, it's just Mango Lemondous!
Anyway, pics are going to take a bit because I have to sort through them and all that happy nonsense. However, from what remains of my energy, I shall tell you about my experiences. Needless to say, I had been waiting for the Comic Con for a year, and it met every one of my expectations, and more. Despite the free 3 day pass I got for the last Comic Con, this was easily the best one I've ever been too. This was the first one in which I took the time to sit in on panels, spend some hard earned money on art & figures, and really just soak it all in. It was so much to soak in that I was actually overwhelmed by it. There was just SO. MUCH. to do that I didn't even get to do it all due to lack of time. I guess the best thing to do would be to run down the days...
-Friday
Ninja Lou, SexyWil & I got there about 2 hours before the Comic Con actually opened, got sandwiches, and waited. We did pretty good line wise. Friday was the least crowded day due to people still being in work & school. Heh, this was kinda sad because Friday had the majority of panels that I wanted to see, so the least crowded day to walk around the floor was the primary day in which I could not. Accursed irony.
The first thing I did was make a bolt for Artist Alley cause I had planned to get some sketches for both me and my friend. Shane Davis sketched a quick
Dex-Starr for me for free, so I was happy about that. Then came the first panel that day, which was one of the ones I was most excited about, and that was the Spotlight of Geoff Johns, my current favorite Comic Book writer and the genius behind the current Green Lantern Universe. It was spec-[tornado fang]ing-tacular. He seems like the kind of guy you'd just love to hang out with, play some Halo with (yes he plays Halo
), and have a good laugh with as he has a really awesome sense of humor. So that was a tremendous treat for me. Then I got a small break to actually check out the showroom floor. Got my MMU Arthur Lance, got to try out Donkey Kong Country Returns (which, by the way, [tornado fang]ing rocks), and then pretty much walked around a bit more before heading down to the panels for the rest of the night. Oh, but before I went down to the MVC3 panel, on my way down I bumped into S-Kill himself and got to talk with him for a bit. It was cool that he remembered me and that we got to talk again, although briefly. He seriously is such a cool guy to just talk with and hang out with.
The Marvel vs. Capcom 3 panel was awesome, especially since I cut the line which Lou was merrily waiting on (thanx buddy). The crowded erupted in cheers as Arthur was announced, and it was overall such an awesome scene. Last came the Venture Bros. panel, which was another one I was greatly looking forward to. It did NOT disappoint, and the phrase, "BOOM! YUMMY!" uttered in Shore Leave's voice will be engraved in my mind for quite some time. Thus ended Friday.
-Saturday
EASILY the most heavily crowded day of the Con, to the point where my one friend literally stuck to Artist Alley & the panels because he just couldn't deal with trying to walk around in there. I don't blame him.
So my first stop was once again Artist Alley cause I had just bought a new sketchbook and it needed some drawings. I pretty much spent the first third of the day in Artist Alley getting sketches, then heading back to the DC booth in the showroom to get a few more sketches. Due to this, I actually missed out on a few panels I really wanted to check out. However, looking at my sketches, it was WELL, WELL worth it. During some sketch time I got to walk around the floor a tad bit more and check out more booths. They were really nice. Actually, my final sketch before heading down to the panels was actually of Blues from the Archie Comic guys doing the new MM comic. This made PB super duper happy!
The first panel of the night was the Green Lantern panel, which was REALLY packed with a super long line I managed to cut because a friend of Lou's, who I know also, just happened to be in the front of the line. Damn, I'm lucky! Anyway, that panel was really awesome, with some nice reveals for future issues that I cannot wait for. From this panel, I decided to head to the Anime Festival Artist Alley (they had two separate Artist Alley's for Comics & Anime), and I managed to find this really, really, REALLY nice
Zone Of The Enders 2 art from this artist. I bought it as soon as I saw it, and I talked with her &
her friend at their table. They were both really nice and we had a good conversation.
Finally, I got to my last panel of the night, the panel for Disney's Epic Mickey. Warren was just awesome, and quite frankly, the game is probably the best looking game I've ever seen on the Wii. It looks breathtaking, and when Warren tells you that this game has "the best soundtrack I've ever heard in a video game," well that just gets me super-duper psyched.
-Sunday
Another early day as the all important Capcom panel & RPM meet up was today. However, before that, I got a chance to go play some Kirby's Epic Yarn & Goldeneye Wii. Both were freakin awesome. But then, down to the Capcom panel, which I was first in line for. The Capcom panel, as you well know, was all kinds of awesome with the reveals and everything. Although it was kinda lost in the MML3 hype, one note that got the crowd very interested was the MMU note that Non-Capcom characters were going to be playable in this game. That seriously opens up the door for a lot of guest appearances.
And thus the Capcom panel was over. The RPM meet-up was short, but very enjoyable. Alas, it was a shame we couldn't hang out a bit more, but I had a friend to go meet and just so much more to do at the Con. It was back to Artist Alley to see about some more sketches, then back to the DC Booth to get a possible sketch from Ivan Reis, the guy who drew GL & Blackest Night (I love his work). Sadly he didn't have time for a quick, free sketch, but I got his autograph at least. Due to this chance, I had to miss the Inafune signing (if I hadn't have already gotten a pic with him & a signature from him before, I wouldn't have missed it). Thankfully Hypershell & his big bro managed to get another pic signed for the front page of RPM.
Finally it was time for some more purchases, some final sketches, and ultimately it was time to go. By the end of the Con, I was actually happy it was over due to being pretty exhausted & pretty sore from all the walking & line waiting I did for literally 3 days straight (or more 2 and a half). Also I was glad it was over because I spent SO. MUCH. MONEY.
In the long run, this was one of the best weekends ever. I had a ton of fun and I am looking forward to it next year. I must say, the combination of the Comic Con & the Anime Festival is both fantastic and bad at the same time. It's fantastic because of the price as well as all the stuff there is to see and do. There is so much that there should be something for everyone. Haha, it's also the reason why it's bad. There's actually SO much to do that you wind up missing out on stuff because other stuff is going on. LoL, that and the sheer amount of people. Ultimately though, I prefer it combined and might even spend another $100 bucks for the VIP pass next year (if I have a decent job
)
-Pics to come tomorrow!