The following blog is very old as I attended Comic Con the first and only time in 2008. This article was on my Hubpages site which I’m discontinuing. I thought this might be an interesting addition and timing as Comic Con 2019 is taking place this weekend. And no, I am not attending and miss this experience. I’ll have to plan on going next year.

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There’s Batman exiting the parking lot! And there’s the Joker crossing the street. And there’s another Joker. For years I heard about the Comic Convention or Comic Con as they like to call it. Every year seemed to pass by and I’d forget about it when it was time to get tickets. This year almost slipped through my fingers like a villain falling from a great high-rise. About a month before Comic Con it was nearly sold out. I got a ticket for just Sunday. I drove down to San Diego from Los Angeles. It only took 1-and a-half hours to get there.

I thought I might try to catch the “Smallville” panel upstairs, but a staff member told me it was sold out. So, I started walking along the great line of people waiting to get into “Smallville” and got on at the end of the line to think about attending the “Supernatural” panel in the same room afterwards. I mainly got in line to collect my thoughts. Am I going to wait in long lines all day on my first and only day of Comic Con? NO! I decided to check out and spend the whole day downstairs where all the booths are. Somehow I found myself on a long line there too. It wasn’t for a panel with celebrities talking about filmmaking. It wasn’t for a celebrity signing autographs either. The line was for picking up free stuff off of a table. That’s insane! The staff person said the line was about 5 minutes long. Twenty-five minutes later I was more relieved to be done standing in that line than whatever crap I got from the table. I’ll probably end up throwing most of it away. So, long lines leading nowhere is a part of Comic Con.

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You’d think by Sunday the convention would thin out a bit. No way! It was wall-to-wall people. Some were dressed as PREDATORS, STORMTROOPERS, GHOSTBUSTERS and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. The good thing I got about walking up and down the aisles was a warm, fuzzy feeling, a nostalgic heaven of sorts. There were toys I saw that I used to own. There were toys I saw I’d like to own. My budget was tiny, but there was one item I really wanted, a small figurine of a Cylon. I LOVE “BATTLESTAR GALACTICA”! They were sold out of course. All the cool stuff is available early on in the convention. I did purchase a few items; One Batman tee shirt, 2 8x 10 photos of DARTH VADER and INDIANA JONES. The convention is jam- packed with figures of superheroes and villains of all sizes. The HULK and IRON MAN were bigger than life.

Various celebrities and artists were signing autographs throughout Comic Con. The actor that played the guy in the bunny suit in “DONNIE DARKO” was signing autographs. After walking all day long I took a little time to rest up at a table I found luckily. I ate my pretzel and water for 7 dollars and people watched. Well, some of them looked like people. Actually, sitting down, eating my pretzel and people watching was a highlight to my day. I was exhausted. It was nearly 4PM and I wasn’t sure how much more roaming around I could do. I got a tip from a fellow fan that Lou Ferrigno was there. That’s the real INCREDIBLE HULK! There he was with his arms the size of my head. I snapped a few photos. I didn’t want to take too many pictures as he was actually there to sign autographs and take pictures for cash. I currently don’t have $20 for an autographed picture with The Hulk and definitely not for the actor who’s name I don’t know who played that guy who wore the bunny suit. So, if you’re new to Comic Con and want to get the best out of your experience be prepared for

1) Long lines everywhere you go

2) Most wanted toys sell out early

3) Heavy crowds

4) Expensive food

5) Oh, and if you’re driving from LA, what took me 1-and-a-half hours to San Diego took me 3 hours to drive back. I felt like the Hulk. My body was even turning green. RRRRRRRRR!

Comic Con is a serious business. Somewhere the Joker is laughing. “Why so serious?” HA HA HA HA!