2008-08-01 - MODOK AND MULTITUDES: COMIC-CON: INTERNATIONAL 2008 by Seth "4:10" Robison

MODOK and Multitudes: The 2008 Comic-Con International: San Diego

Now I fancy myself something of a comic book, ahem, I mean "Popular Arts" convention expert, but all a decade plus of Chicago's event showed me is that I've been watching Arena Football all my life, thinking that it's the NFL. The difference wasn't the TV stars or the movie previews (TRON 2! WHOOOOOOOO!), it was the people, the thousands upon thousands of people.

As I thought about this fact on the plane back home (wedged into a middle seat, but enjoying a soundless screening of FINDING NEMO courtesy of the five-year-old in front of me) I find that I can't come up with the right word to describe the numbers of attendees. So let me put it this way: I more then once had to wait on line to get on an escalator.

In fact, actually being there is a bit of a double-edged sword, that is, if you are patient and willing to wait on a line that stretches to the Mexican border (and back) you're no doubt going to see something very cool. However, you are going to pay a price: you're going to miss something else you wanted to see like the MYTHBUSTERS panel, a piece of rare swag (more on that stuff in a minute) or a sketch from your favorite artist.

I'm not saying that it's better to stay home and read all about the events on some Web site (which I can guarantee are written by some of the most cogent, smart and talented authors out there), far from it. I wouldn't trade my hard-earned blistered feet for anything, because the best thing about the San Diego con is that whatever you are into, you can be guaranteed to find at least 50 other people to talk about it with you.

But enough Capraesque wisting, time for some details. Let me start out by saying that if any of you are tired (or a bit angry) from me bragging all the time about my Press Pass, you'll be glad to hear that I got my comeuppance this past weekend. All my Comics 101 pass at SDCC got me was a mildly shorter line at the check-in booth and that's it. No special access, no unique swag (there's that word again) and no line cutting, I was just like any other attendee. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Well, it was also free, but I since I worked hard to get it, technically I paid too.

The great thing about America is that when you pay for something, you get something, and in San Diego that thing is called swag, quite possibly the "funnest" word in the English language. Every booth from BBC America to Marvel Comics to Konami had something to hand out with their name on it. Items ranged from the fascinating but impractical, like the keychain promoting the movie THE SPIRIT that let out a bloodcurdling scream every time a button on it was pushed (accidentally setting this off on the plane home almost got me sent to Gitmo), to the cool and functional, like the Star Trek messenger bag my buddy Nav won at the Paramount booth by earning the job of "Tool Handler" (heh) in their Build the Enterprise Alternate Reality Game. But the best by far was the "Evolution of Nathan Spencer" T-shirt I won at the Capcom Panel by coming in first among the fans in a four-player BIONIC COMMANDO REARMED Deathmatch:

Material gain is fun (and lucrative, thanks, eBay!), but no con would be complete without costumed fans and the hard, free work of diligent artists.

This excellent and well-appreciated Aeon Flux was no doubt counting on the warm climate...

No con is complete without a Slave Leia.

A clever duo was the NSA's John and the CIA's Sara (that's from NBC's CHUCK, FYI).

Leia's mom, Padme ... and I've just ruined the effect by putting it that way, didn't I?

Zatanna casts a spell and manages to be the only red-eye free photo in my camera.

I blackmailed freelance illustrator and cartoonist Katie Cook (katiecandraw.typepad.com) for a Kirby sketch with a $10 donation to the CBLDF.

Mike Krahulik (better known as Penny-Arcade's Gabe) brought Cheeto out of mothballs for me.

Continuing a tradition of mine, Zach from Strong Arm Labs shows us Fallout's PipBoy celebrating his victory over the Master Chief. (That's him on the lower left…the "Bloody Mess" perk was on.)

And finally, Art Baltazar's (TINY TITANS) take on a personal favorite character, the daring Darkhawk!

All and all, I got to see the third-season premiere of HEROES, hours of baffling Japanese cartoons (which made me wonder if Japanese conventiongoers can sit in a room and watch WINGS or HERMAN'S HEAD). I was among the first to hear the announcement of the Joker's appearance as a playable character in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and watch a man ask Kiefer Sutherland to yell at him and be obliged ("DAMMIT CHARLIE, DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!"). Nowhere else in the world but at SDCC. I just hope they let more people share it with me next time!

Seth "4:10" Robison, who holds court every Wednesday at Keith's Comix in Schaumburg IL, is the gaming culture columnist for gamertransit.com. E-mail him at seth410@gamertransit.com. The above is © 2008 by Seth "4:10" Robison, used with exclusive permission by comics101.com. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. All images and characters are the property of their respective owners.

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