San Diego Comic-Con Diary, Day Four

By Christian Lipski

Read:
Day One’s Diary
Day Two’s Diary
Day Three’s Diary

And then there was the last day. We eventually got up and packed our bags for checkout, and made our way to the convention floor for our last visit. Since it’s the last day and exhibitors want to ship as little as possible back home, there are rampant sales and many attendees only buy Sunday tickets.

Mile High Comics put their entire stock on sale for 50% off, for example. Independent publishers were willing to make deals, for the most part.The show closes at 5 p.m. as well, so the action in the convention center was tinged with both sadness and anxiety.

We stopped by Phil Foglio‘s table to grab a couple of volumes of Girl Genius for a rare discount; since Studio Foglio is the publisher, they don’t discount their books as a rule since that undercuts the booksellers. However, there weren’t any sellers with Girl Genius, so all bets were off.

MC Frontalot

On our way to get a copy of Mondo Urbano from Rafael Albuquerque, I stopped to shake hands with nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot. When I got to Albuquerque’s booth, I could see that he was exhausted from four days at Comic-Con. He was friendly, but pretty low-key.

That was a common vibe from most of the people who’d been there all four days. I was frequently asked if I was tired out from my experience this weekend, but I could truthfully answer that I would have been happy with two more days of the Convention. My feet were a little tired and I needed more sleep, but the sheer excitement of being there kept me energized. When there’s something or someone new around every corner, you tend to forget about everything else.

I had my eye on a special at the Elephantmen/Comicraft booth, where 30 dollars would get you three soft cover volumes, which would normally be almost 70 bucks. To top that, author Richard Starkings signed and sketched in each one. We picked up some original art from Too Much Coffee Man‘s Shannon Wheeler: a cartoon that he had submitted to the New Yorker and which appears in his book I Thought You Would Be Funnier. He also had a sample of his condensed Bible project with Mark Russell. We ended up seeing all the Portland people I knew there, which did make me glad that I was going home.

The loudspeaker spoke up and said, “The convention floor will be closing in 30 minutes,” so Deborah and I took a walk around a few more aisles before bidding farewell. Smart thinking earlier prompted us to reserve a hotel for an extra night, so we wouldn’t have to go right to the airport. There is to be much re-packing to distribute weight properly, but I predict an early night.

I have to say that the addition of more mainstream media to the convention is a good thing. Although it results in some truly horrible traffic jams in certain areas, comic book fans tend to also enjoy video games and movies. It makes sense to include other areas of interest, which can also help people learn more about comics. I think we can all get along, unless there’s a really really important preview of a movie. In that case, it’s best to stab first.

Some overexcited film fan got in an altercation over seats prior to a session for Seth Rogen‘s comedy Paul and ended up stabbing two guys with his pen. Police shut down the scene briefly, but eventually everything started up again. At least it wasn’t a fight over Marvel vs. DC.

Deborah and I have already decided to return next year, but not before performing some kind of port-mortem to determine what went well and what needed improvement. First on the list is procuring a single hotel rather than three. Next would probably be ensuring that we eat at least one proper meal each day, preferably breakfast. Energy bars are good in emergencies, but they don’t substitute for long. This was a good learning experience, and next year will be even better. As massive as San Diego Comic-Con has become, at heart it’s still a haven for popular culture, and comics will always be a part of that.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more comic news.

For more pictures, go here.

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