It’s Sunday evening and I’m on an airplane heading back to Baltimore with my first Comic-Con International: San Diego behind me. While I felt exhausted most of the week now I can barely believe how quickly the time went by.
I’ve been to plenty of comic, pop culture, and horror conventions, but none of them can compare to the gigantic show in San Diego. Studios, production companies, and publishers pull out all of the stops to create interactive experiences and extravagant booths. They get big name celebrities to attend panels and sign autographs and host some of the best dealers and auction houses in the comics industry.
For my final Comic-Con diary entry I’d like give some advice, share some does and don’ts for an optimal Comic-Con experience.
Do: Wear comfortable shoes. You will be walking a lot. The San Diego Convention Center is nestled into a grove of hotels which means that you likely won’t need to spend money on a cab ride since you can walk there. The con itself is spread out through the huge convention center with dealers and exhibitors on the first floor and panels and autograph areas upstairs, plus there are exhibits and events held in neighboring hotels. I walked between four and six miles a day and that includes three to four hours of sitting each day for panels. Wear comfortable shoes.
Do: Stay hydrated. You’ll burn plenty of energy walking around. Since Comic-Con is in the middle of summer and you’ll be surrounded by thousands of people, you will sweat. So take some water bottles with you.
Do: Make the Comic-Con website your new best friend. I cannot accurately emphasize enough how many activities are happening each day. Check the website, make yourself a schedule, keep the map handy and you’ll be less likely to miss something you wanted to attend. This also helps you figure out which events are ticketed and which are not. Speaking from experience, I missed out on a few things because I did not know about the ticket process, which was a big bummer.
Do: Have reasonable expectations. Unless you are willing to spend most of your time in line – and I mean many hours – you will not attend all of the big panels. If you have your heart set on seeing the casts of the newest hot superhero movies or TV shows pick one or two that you definitely want to see. When it comes to panels, there are hundreds, and a lot of the smaller to medium-sized ones are worth going to. Even without celebrity guests, it’s cool to learn about the creative process in making comics among many other things.
Do not: Go to Comic-Con if you have a problem with large crowds. I don’t want to dissuade people from the experience, because it’s very cool, but if you have issues with being in large crowds, you will likely not enjoy yourself. There are very few areas with elbow room. If you live locally and want to go but want to avoid the crowd, get a ticket for Thursday.
Do not: Run in the convention center. I know you want that exclusive or you want to get in line to meet that artist or celebrity, but running in the hall is dangerous. There are kids, there are people with mobility issues, and there are thousands of others walking around. It may sound silly but running in the convention center is dangerous.
Do not: Stalk the celebrities. Yes, they are famous, but they are also human beings. Don’t campout in hotel lobbies or congregate by the elevators to bombard famous people as soon as they are within sight. It’s not nice. Besides, most of them will have signing opportunities during the convention in which you can meet them.
Comic-Con can be a lot of fun or disappointing and frustrating, depending on how you approach it. But if you do some research, consider what you do at other cons, and make a plan for your time there you’ll have a blast.
-Amanda Sheriff
