Well, well, well. Another San Diego Comic Con has come and gone. What a week it was. I'm still super tired, to be quite honest.Comic Con is always full of disappointments - it's impossible to see and do everything there is - and this year seemed heavy on the disappointments - but I still loved it and can't wait for next year?? I'm definitely ready to unpack what happened and all of the great news that came out of SDCC, so let's get to it.
WEDS
The #nerdgirlgang spent their fourth Comic Con together! Our Wednesday started off with me picking up Sirose and Kirsten and then heading to the store for snacks. We had time to kill before Nicole's plane from Seattle landed, so we stopped at a new Boba/Ché shop called Bambu in Gardena and I HIGHLY recommend it. The drinks were delicious, and the woman behind the counter was a total boss. We headed to the airport and for once, traffic wasn't bad. We circled a few times, and then picked up the fourth member of our girl gang, Nicole, saving her from what has been an awful flight. We hit the road. My god, the drive to San Diego was awful. It was great until we hit Oceanside and then it was basically stop and go the rest of the way in. We left the airport at about 1:45 and didn't make it to San Diego until about 5:45 (and we only made one quick stop for In N Out). And as the chosen driver, I was absolutely EXHAUSTED. We checked into the hotel and the girls let me rest while they ventured out for more snacks. When we were reunited we made our way to the Gaslamp and made our way to Oscars for dinner ceviché. It was utterly delicious. Do not skip this gem the next time you're in SD. We walked through the Gaslamp and other areas outside the Convention Center getting the lay of the land and trying to figure out what was where. While it was Preview Night, none of the outside activations were open yet, so we couldn't check them off our list. We headed to the Bay Front to find out more information about the super secret Westworld activation - it was the one thing we all REALLY wanted to do this year. Information was slim, and while we saw the Delos set up, we couldn't gather much more info, so we went back to our hotel room to get some sleep for our early start the next day. BTW, Nicole made us all the CUTEST matching back patches and we had matching backpacks and we just looked like the cutest, coolest girls all week-end.
THURS
The whole weekend is a blur, but especially Thursday. We woke up super early so we could get in line for Westworld: The Experience, only to find out that the line had already reached it's capacity of 120 people at about 6am. We were incredulous at that small amount of people, but when we read the Variety article, it all made sense. Since our hotel we right next to Tram stop, and having realized how our hotel was the last stop on the free SDCC shuttle, we made a group decision to pay the $15 for an SDCC all-weekend Tram pass, and it was worth it. Definitely keep that as option for your transportation needs during Comic Con. We rode down to the Gaslamp and I split off, because I working Thursday. That's right, after years of dreaming of working at SDCC and not just going as an attendee, my wishes were granted and through my amazing job, I was able to work at the Her Universe Fashion Show! Like I said before, the day was a complete blur and I barely remember it. It was long, magical, difficult, but oh so rewarding and I'm really proud of myself, my coworkers, and all of the contestants. The OC Register did a pretty legit article about the show, so here it is.
After the fashion show, I headed over to a party hosted by Kraken Rum, that Nicole's cousin Andrea was kind enough to get us girls into. It was a blast! Until it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, Kraken knows how to throw a party, but the DJ was really odd. She played a trap remix of The Fun Song from Sponge Bob, then the theme from The Fairly Odd Parents? Like, what? Also, there were some creepy dudes at that party. We wished we could have stayed longer and danced more, but it was still great. We headed back to the hotel and passed the eff out.
FRI
Exhibit Hall day!! We all woke up really early to hit the floor. Nicole, earlier than the rest, because she did an AMAZING cosplay of Pink Lars from Steven Universe - which I just now realize I didn't take a single photo of. Believe me, it was fantastic. Nicole, Kirsten, and I ran around the hall floor together taking it all, before splitting up for a bit. We met up with our friend George and were all able to snag a Comic Co Exclusive Steven Universe 7" record. We also made new friends in line named GG and Meredith! After running around the hall floor for a while (where I met Greg Grunberg of Alias and some AMAZING WOC Comic creators and Babs Tarr and got some signed books) we headed back to our hotel room, where I took a lengthy nap. I was still worn out from the day before. That evening we headed out to a DragonBall Z themed party hosted by NerdOut, where our friend Katherine, their brand rep, was cosplaying as Bulma. It was a super fun party!
SAT
We slept in on Saturday and went to have our traditional Irish breakfast at Dublin Square, but breakfast was kind disappointing, to be honest. We think they must've changed ownership or something, because the food just wasn't on par with previous years. We then headed out to attempt as many outdoor activations as we could, but the weather really dampened our moods. It was incredibly hot and humid this Comic Con. INCREDIBLY. It made everything uncomfortable. Add that to the record breaking amount of people in San Diego for this years Comic Con and doing anything outside was difficult. There were a lot of cool things though:
- The American Horror Story Zoetrope
- The Blade Runner Experience - A Virtual Reality showing of the trailer with a noodle meal and cocktail afterwards
- Legion had a Virtual Reality experience
- Broad City's life size coloring book
- The Netflix Experience that covered many of their shows, including Stranger Things
- IT had a scavenger hunt that ended with a VR showing of the trailer
- The Tick was showing the pilot in an air conditioned dome
- Adult Swim on the Green had an upgraded Meatwad Dome
- Knighthood castle photo-op
- The Lego Ninjago photo-op
- The Game of Thrones Experience
- A secondary Netflix/Game of Thrones photo-op
And those are the ones that I remember seeing/walking past! There were more. Virtual Reality and photo-ops reigned supreme this year. And of course, like every year, there were several crews walking around offering up free swag. My favorite were a group of a women promoting Atomic Blonde and handing out copies of the soundtrack on cassette tape. It's a great soundtrack and I am so stoked for that movie.
We headed back to our room, I napped again. Later that evening we ordered a mess of Thai food, as is our tradition, and played the new Steam game DreamDaddy together! It was probably the highlight of my weekend; taking turns playing, each of us reading a different chraracter, and turning it into a drinking game.
SUN
Another early start. Pack up the room. Check out of the hotel. Enjoy the continental breakfast. Run through the Exhibit Hall one last time. We ran into Tyler, one of the creators of DreamDaddy and had a lovely chat with him. He revealed one of the most rewarding characters to romance is Goth Dad - Damien, and that made me happy, because he was definitely my pick. I split off from the group to watch a panel. My very best friend, the light of my life, Phoenix was on a panel about Queerness and Fanfiction and the panel was so warm, educational, and affirming. Her friends and colleagues were also so fucking lovely. We also started talking about ideas for panels at other cons/next year's SDCC, including one about race and fanfiction - so fingers crossed, I'll be a panelist next year. I met up with the girls, we made our regular Lucha Libre stop for burritos and enjoyed an easy drive home - we were home in time to watch Game of Thrones and Insecure.
WHAT A WEEKEND. It was over in the blink of an eye. I can't wait to see my ladies again; there were rumblings about Emerald City Comic Con and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
NOW. About the news that came out of the weekend -
- A pretty comprehensive trailer round-up thanks to Twitter.
- We don't deserve the beauty that is Ruth Nega
- The new Star Trek series looks amazing.
- Once Upon a Time has jumped the shark and now airs on Fridays.
- Stranger Things second season is going to be the end of me.
- Wonder Woman 2 was confirmed
- Ben Affleck is still going to be Batman
- Hey Arnold and Rocko's Modern Life are back and I'm really emotional
- Midnight, Texas looks interesting. I want to read the books from the hype at SDCC about the show.
- RIVERDALE. I LOVE RIVERDALE.
- The Originals is ending.
- READY. PLAYER. ONE. All aboard the hype train!
- And more
There wasn't a lot of "news"? I think this article does a good job of explaining the cultural shift that's happening with Comic Con. It's going back to being fan-focused and while still a huge marketing event, that's not really the stress? I'm excited to see next year and how that plays out.
Until the next con - LA City Comic Con?
xo.
