After years and years of watching it from afar, I finally scrapped up enough time and money this year to take the trek out to San Diego and experience the largest comic book convention in the United States. I’d heard all the legends: famous writers and artists close enough to touch, autographs from people that never give autographs, big companies hiring new writers and artists on the spot just because they liked their personality. I’d heard it all and I’d finally decided to be a part of it and find out how much was truth and how much was talk. I spent three days and the San Diego Comic-con: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And here’s what I learned:
Lesson One: San Diego Comic-Con really is as big as they say!
In spite of what you see on television or read in magazine articles, nobody ever really does a good enough job of conveying just how many people are at Comic-Con and just how overwhelming it can be. Raw numbers simply don’t apply. Until you’ve been there, in that massively large enclosed space, and swam that sea of people, it’s hard to really get how many comic arts fans come out. It’s an experience that’s both frightening and satisfying and, either way, you’ll need to pace yourself, travel light, wear comfortable shoes and definitely make out a game plan for meals.
Lesson Two: Planning, planning, planning!
It’s simply the only way to have a good time at Comic-Con. Before you go, take an hour or two, print out a list of all the events happening on all the days, and then start making hard decisions about who and what you want to see and attend. At Comic-Con, there’s more stuff going on than you can shake a stick at and this reviewer nearly went mad trying to make it to panels, talk to writers, visit small press booths, as well as hunt down a few comics I’ve been wanting to add to my personal collection for years. By the time the weekend was over, I’d only accomplished about half of what I went in planning to accomplish. But I still had a damned good time.
Lesson Three: Make Friends.
If you’ve got secret dreams of breaking into the industry as a writer, drawer, inker, letterer, or just promotions roadie, then Comic-Con is where you need to be. Everybody’s there. Every major publisher and dozens of smaller publishers. So what does that translate into for someone aspiring towards a career in the industry? Opportunity. And I think we all know about the old saying about how often Opportunity comes rapping at one’s chamber door. Comic-Con can be a chance to meet editors, artists, writers, anyone in the industry. So bring that portfolio and don’t be afraid to say hello. When I was at Comic-Con, I spent a fair amount of time in Artist’s Alley shopping around for an artist for a script I’ve just finished and found more than one person who was incredibly helpful and made for good old conversation. A lot of the time I found myself just sitting back and listening to some artist talk about his time in the industry and thoroughly enjoying myself.
Lesson Four: Make a shopping list and a budget.
If you’re a collector looking for some elusive issue to finish off that perfection collection, then Comic-Con’s where you need to be. There were dozens of vendors representing every face of the comic arts world. Whether you wanted Golden Age products or the latest release, there was someone at Comic-Con selling it. Personally, I’m still excited about the issue of Incredible Hulk #181 that I managed to haggle twenty-five percent below asking price on the last day of the con! Of course, by the time it was all over, I’d still went over my budget because I kept coming across comics that I’d forgotten I wanted until I saw them sitting there in front of me and the old impulse buying mechanisms took over. Ah well, can’t take it with you, right?
Well, dear readers, that’s my advice on how to handle the San Diego Comic Con and make it out alive. Feel free to apply to rules to any comic con nearest you. Soon, I’ll be posting another article talking about a few of the small press publishers I ran into while in San Diego and some of the adventures that ensued. Stay tuned.
