It came and went so quickly. We were almost too busy to enjoy Comic-Con to its fullest, but blogger Kell Harker reminisces about the great time she had in San Diego, and reminds us why we love this annual event:
Looking back on Comic-Con
It's minutes before the film begins - a spotlight shines at the front of the theatre - and the audience erupts into wild applause as Jackson along with director Blomkamp and star of the movie Sharlto Copley suddenly appear in front of the screen to introduce the film*. And as the spotlight fades and our surprise guest speakers disappear just as coolly as they entered, I turn to my husband and so articulately say, "Holy crap, that was awesome."
Other fond memories from the Con also include waiting in those lines that stretched into infinity and beyond to see panels of my favourite shows. The one panel that still has me slipping into a state of nostalgia is Dexter - I have an affinity for shows with lots of blood and dark humour. Also as a fun side note, that evening we bumped into Julie Benz (Rita in Dexter and known to fans of Buffy and Angel as Darla) outside of our hotel, and she was kind enough to take a picture with us. Of course it would be the day I would choose to wear my dorky Robin mask. C'est la vie. As we chatted, I so subtly slipped in the conversation that I was five months pregnant - which she so sweetly refused to believe - and after declaring that husband and I are thinking of naming our baby Dexter, she thought we were the coolest fans in the world. At least that's the story I'm going to tell everyone who'll listen.
Speaking of brilliant people, it was an honour to meet up with SFX forum user Chris (who had me in stitches over his Dollhouse rants), fellow Blogger Narin (who is for the record, way cooler than me), and SFX boss himself, Dave Bradley (who is officially the bravest person in the world for not running the other way when he spotted myself and friend Sara dressed in our "SFX ADDICT" costumes.) The convention was made so much more special because of you guys, and I'm glad we found time to geek-out together. And I'd also like to send a cyber shout-out to the lovely EB girls, and all you cool folk who I had the pleasure to talk to whilst waiting in line for the many various panels, or in the line for Starbucks. I give you all the Vulcan salute.
The fantastic thing about SDCC is that it allows for total fan freedom. Having a good time at the convention didn't need to be forced… well, the only thing forced was me inevitably having to give my credit card the scissors. Yes, there was definitely enough to buy. But the most valuable things I take away from this Con won't show up on my next Visa bill - all of the new friendships I've made and old friendships revisited are the most priceless things. Being at the this convention was truly the first time I've ever felt normal. I'm so happy that we geeks find the need to seek each other out. We wouldn't be human if we didn't.
This is a personal article by Kell Harker , who we hung out with in San Diego last week. There'll be loads more from Comic-Con in SFX issue 187, on sale on Wednesday 26 August. Were you at Comic-Con too? Sorry if you were there and we failed to meet! Will you be going next year? Have you got any advice for Kell on what event she should go to next? Your thoughts on conventions welcome below as always.
