Comic Con, Day 1: What's the point of Preview Night?

I'll admit it. I haven't been to the San Diego Comic Convention in roughly 10 years. Back then, I was a bright-eyed boy, looking simply to convince my grandfather to part ways with his cash so that I could spend it on toys and comic books. I doubt I even have any of the items I purchased from that day anymore. But I do remember that the hall, while packed from end to end with vendors, was filled with true comic book fanatics, such as myself. I don't recall endless parades of movie and television promotion, fighting for space with video game advertisements and girls in tight pants wooing you in to a booth to see replica statues worth thousands of dollars. Of course, being younger, I probably just didn't notice the girls and the replicas, as they were undoubtedly there. But I'm pretty sure my other observations are correct. Comic Con used to be a place for comic book fans to get together and geek out over their favorite subject: Comics. If movies entered into it, it was simply as an outgrowth of our enthusiasm.

As all things do, Comic Con has changed. But now more so than ever. Comics are no longer relegated to a cultural ghetto. When you have a film like The Dark Knight grossing over $200 million in five days, and every major movie studio with a comic book film or three on its slate, it becomes clear that comics have reached a level of popular acceptance unknown in the medium's history. But the movie studios and gaming companies realize that it's not just comics that make big money. No, anything a little offbeat, fantastical, or beyond the normal can be exploited, if marketed correctly to the crowd that dresses up like hobbits and stormtroopers. And that's why you see these corporations buying up more time and space at events like Comic Con, ready to hand out freebies and show off their toys to the masses, who are more than willing to go along with the program.

All that probably sounds pretty cynical. Let me pause here and say that I'm as much a part of this machine as anyone else. More so, in fact. Not only do I fall for the marketing (I've seen The Dark Knight three times already), but I propagate it by writing about it. The question has to be asked: Why? Why do I do this if I know how manipulative it all is? I'll tell you why. This stuff is cool. Damn cool. I've come home tonight with toys galore (more on that later). I like it. I get a kick out of it. Some of this stuff I grew up with. Others have only recently come around. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. But that doesn't mean I can't go through the experience with a an eye for what's gone wrong. In fact, I'd say it's my responsibility to look at the experience of the San Diego Comic Con through some kind of critical lens, otherwise this simply becomes another fanboy report. So, to the day's events.

For those who don't know, the San Diego Comic Con has become synonymous with the term "Cluster Fuck." You don't sell out an entire convention center and have things go smoothly. It doesn't happen. It's just too big. So, before I even set foot in the place, I encountered my first obstacle. Namely parking. The San Diego Convention Center is located downtown, where parking is already a little frustrating. More so if you're going somewhere for more than 9 hours (there are a lot of lots that will let you park in 9 hour increments, don't ask me why). The Convention Center parking lot fills up around 8 AM (note that nothing is scheduled to start at the Con until 10 at the earliest), although, with today being only a half day, I imagine the parking lot was full at 8:15. I ended up parking a few miles away and hoofing it to the Center, which I'm sure was great exercise, but, combined with the non-stop walking on the Convention floor, pretty much ensures that my feet will be nothing but bloody stumps by the end of the day Friday.

Getting to the Convention Center, I see lots of people milling about. Some look purposeful. Many look confused. I make a beeline to the first person who looks official and ask where the press go to check in. Now, I don't want to sound like a complainer, because I know that being with the press is a good gig and I get to do a lot that many people would pay for, let alone get paid for, but this was easily the worst handling of a press event I've ever seen. There were three sections to pick up your badges. One was for general attendees with four day passes. Then there was the professional/exhibitor line, and the press line. Well, out of the three, the general attendee line might have been the longest in length, but I promise you that the press had the longest wait time. We were being let in five people at a time. And the intervals between each group were vast. Finally getting inside, I understand why. There's only a single booth for pre-registered press. Obnoxiously, there were two booths for press who just happened to show up. If I had known that, I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of registering in advance. And, to top it off, they had no freebie bags. I know, a minor complaint, given that you always walk away from Comic Con with a mountain of free crap, but that little freebie bag makes you feel like you've arrived. It seemed anti-climactic without it. I went on a long and fruitless search for a bag. Each time I asked someone about their location, I got a different answer. No one seemed to know what I was talking about. As I said, it's just too big.

At this point I took a little break to head back to roughly where I parked. I met several people from DVD Talk at Hooters. I had never been in a Hooters before, and the food was better than I thought it would be. One of the guys commented, "I don't want to sound like a sexist pig, but our waitress has a great ass." My reply, "They want you to be a sexist pig, it's how they make their tips." Anyway, I digress. Here's a picture of our ugly mugs:

If you're in it, you know who you are.

We head back to the Convention Center around 5:45 PM. The doors for the Exhibition Hall open at 6. This is the sight that greets us:

Great. Wonderful. This is what Comic Con used to look like on a Saturday. Now it's the crowd for Preview Night. The only people who are meant to get in to Preview Night are people with four day passes, exhibitor/professional passes, and press passes. How many four day passes did they sell? It's ridiculous. Also, I heard from some people that they were selling Preview Night tickets to walk-ins. I thought the point of Preview Night was that it was an extra incentive for people who bought the four day pass. I've heard others say they saw people being denied a one-day ticket, but I'm sure it was a case by case situation. Either way, this is just too crowded for what's meant to be an easy going Wednesday evening. You're meant to leisurely stroll the floor on Preview Night. That's not the case anymore.

As soon as the doors opened, people went rushing in. Within seconds, I saw people who had managed to get their hands on free stuff. A lot of people were handing out oversized bags, which I tried to get so I could actually put my purchases in them, but no. That wasn't good enough. Attendees were snagging them by the handfuls and stuffing them away, to save as a souvenir, or more likely sell. I think people need some perspective. These are free bags. You could get 1,001 of them without even stopping at a booth. How much money can these really garner on the secondhand market? At one point, I was by the Warner Bros. booth, and they started handing out free oversized Wonder Woman bags. I went to get one, as I now was weighed down with merchandise, and immediately got crushed by a crowd that made a Nine Inch Nails mosh pit look like a picnic. It took all I had not to elbow somebody. This wasn't a Watchmen bag, or a Dark Knight bag, just an animated Wonder Woman bag. Either way, I digress.

For those who don't know, the exhibition floor is massively impressive. Here's what I saw the moment I walked in through the doors:


Truly a geek's paradise. Also, completely overwhelming. And, this being Preview Night, not every booth is actually open. Most of them are, but some of the smaller vendors won't set up until Friday or Saturday. I wandered, mostly in a daze, trying to avoid being crushed by the unthinking throngs of people in search of the cool and bizarre. Seeing as how there were no events or interviews on Wednesday, it was my shopping day. I searched mostly for The Dark Knight and Wall-E products, and saw very few of either, unless i wanted to spend $1,000 on some meticulously rendered statue, which I didn't. Below are some of the highlights of what I saw.








A few shots of a rather significant prop from the upcoming Warner Bros. film Watchmen.







A pair of photos from Sony's upcoming PS3 game, Little Big Planet.




Jabba The Hutt, Iron Man, and Lego Batman all made appearances. None were willing to sign any autographs.





Iron Man and the Angel of Death both showed up without bodies. Hellboy did bring his body, but in miniature proportions. I sure hope the little guy doesn't suffer from an inferiority complex. After all, he's destined to destroy the world.







DC had a lot of banners and some neat products. Check out that Joker poker set. Pretty neat stuff.




Star Wars: The Clone Wars was heavily advertised.

I saw more, but things were so hectic that I wasn't able to take too many more pictures. Hopefully I'll have time during the rest of the week. If I'm not dead by then.

Check in tomorrow for my report on Thursday: Revenge of the Nazis from Mars with Handicap Parking Plates.