With SDCC 2014 being less than 3 weeks away, we thought we'd kick off the 1st of our "Comic-con Edition" 4LISTs with some buttery SDCC goodness!!. With so many happenings going on in, and around SDCC, it might be hard to breakdown all the madness. We're going to try............4LIST by 4LIST!
We can't pack all off SDCC into one 4LIST, so we guess you'll just have to read a TON of separate ones. Enjoy suckers!
4. OFF-SITE EVENTS
With everything going on "inside" the convention center during Comic-con, it's sometimes easy to forget that downtown San Diego comes alive "outside" the convention center as well. For anyone not lucky enough to score a badge, or anyone who got shut out of their panels, there's sooo much to do offsite too. From Nerd HQ to the Geek and Sundry lounge, visitors can see and do so much. The SDCC unofficial blog has a great calendar of events for everything that's going on. This doesn't include the multitude of simple geekdom happening around downtown San Diego. Restaurants and bars are taken over and transformed into pop culture getaways; Hordes of zombies typically walk the streets; Movie and T.V studios set up elaborate interactive events for fans to enjoy. SDCC 2013 saw an interactive Godzilla exhibit not too far from the convention center; a mobile 3D IMAX theater to screen a 15 minute scene from "Gravity"; an "Ender's Game" interactive event directly across from the convention center, and the ever popular "Walking Dead Escape" in Petco Park... just to name a few . More great offsite events include live shows from Chris Hardwick's "Nerdist Podcast" and "Hollywood Babble-on" with Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman.... so get your tickets early, they sell out fast.
3. COSPLAY
Lets face it, if you go to SDCC you're going to see costumes..... LOTS AND LOTS of costumes. They range from simple constructions made in a few minutes in some dude's Doctor Who clad bedroom, or complex re-creations of your favorite superheroes that took months to assemble (get it?).... to the booth babe in a tight suit with her boobs popping out. Most costumes are INSANE, while others are pretty weak (but you can't blame them for trying). If you're at SDCC you WILL take photos of Cosplayers, there's no way around it, and It all builds up to the Saturday night Masquerade in Ballroom 20 (SDCC's costume contest). Here, hundreds of cosplayers perform skits and battle it out for cold hard cash. If you're into Cosplay don't miss it. You have to get a ticket on Saturday afternoon to attend, but don't worry, its free. (overflow viewings are also set up in the Sails Pavilion and other empty ballrooms rooms that night if they run out of seats in Ballroom 20 "Ha- Ha- Ha" )
2. THE CONVENTION FLOOR
The convention floor is 291,000 miles of nerdgasm. Fine, It's not 291,000 miles but it feels like it. There's sooooo much stuff packed onto the convention center floor your brain might leak some form of fluid from it being overloaded. Overloaded from everything on display, and overloaded from the tens of thousands of people you'll be walking through, around, over and under. The floor is home to almost everything "nerd". Here you will find Artist's Alley, where all the big names in comic illustrating will be. Swing by to see their work, get an autograph, get a quick sketch done or just talk them up. They'll appreciate it.
The Exhibitors area is where all the studios, toy companies, production companies, t shirt shops, and general merchandise is for sale or on display. Hasbro sells its exclusives through the Hasbro booth near the center of the floor, Marvel always has amazing things on display from their movies or their comics, Sideshow Collectibles always has incredible statues and figurines made by their artists on display... plus hundreds more. Autographs take place in and around this area too, so don't be surprised if you stumble upon a line of people waiting to meet "Perfect Strangers" star, Bronson Pinchot!! There's literally hundreds of thousands of things for sale on the convention floor. You'll be spending A LOT of time (and money) here, especially if you're a toy collector or if you like the exclusives. We do!
To the right side of the Exhibitor's area is were you'll find millions upon millions of comics. If you're here to buy comics, this is were you'll go to find some great deals, or get that rare issue missing from your "Spider-Ham" collection. Strewn among the comics section are local sellers and fan tables. Here you can buy old vintage toys from the likes of the Travel Channel's "Toy Hunter", Jordan Hembrough, or simply browse independent artists booths.
Lastly, against the far right wall are video games. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo always have great set ups (Nintendo actually had their own room last year in the Marriott as opposed to the convention floor) Last year saw PS4 and Xbox One live demos set up before they were for sale to the public. Ubisoft even had a 20 minute private "Watchdogs" walk-through. The floor is huge, the floor is massive, the floor will melt your feet off to the bone from so much walking, and that's why we love it. Because we love melted nubby foot bones...that, and pina coladas.....as well as getting caught in the rain.
1. PANELS, PANELS, PANELS.....
Panels, sooooooooooooooooo many Panels. From Hall H super panels, to Ballroom 20.....From mid sized panels for "The Nerdist" and "Geek and Sundry", to panels on how to break into comics. Hundreds and hundreds of panels. The San Diego convention center is massive, and to be honest, its massive size is not enough for the amount of panels held at it each year. Panels spill out to the adjacent hotels. You'll end up catching some in the Hilton Bayfront or the Marriott Marquis.
While SDCC started as a comic book convention. It's grown into the world's largest Pop-culture mecca. Ballroom 20 hosts today's most popular television shows like "the Big Bang Theory", "Vampire Diaries", "Family Guy", "Agents of Shield" and many more. The smaller rooms in the convention center house the more intimate panels .. eg. "How to break into comics the Marvel way", Animation spotlights, "Insights for Independent Creators". If you're serious about comics as a career, you should be at SDCC. The hundreds of smaller panels for artists and writers are basically like "required college courses" in the comic biz. Comic-con is great for marketing yourself and getting your work out there. These smaller, more personal panels are a great way to meet some of the big names in the industry. You shouldn't pass it up
This leaves us with "Hall H". The H must stand for "HOLY SHIT!".. Hall H is a 6500+ seat function hall and is where all the big name Hollywood stars will pop up. Sure you might see them in the hotels elevators, or maybe walking the floor , but most are there to promote their new movies....all in Hall H. Last year saw the "X-Men Days of Future Past" mega panel; "Edge of Tomorrow" with Tom Cruise's first trip to SDCC (he played Stacee Jaxx!); Sandra Bullock promoting "Gravity"; "Guardian's of the Galaxy" panel complete with a trailer after only 10 days of filming; and the announcement of "Batman V. Superman" from director Zack Snyder. This is where the big studios leave their mark (Sony, Marvel, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros.), and this is where you'll find the biggest lines. If you've ever been in a line for anything in your entire life, it DOES NOT COMPARE with the line for Hall H. People will start to form their own line at 12 pm on Thursday for the panels on Saturday! Yes, Black Friday lines start weeks before, shut up, but they cannot come close to matching the length. The line is about half a mile long at its peak, but to be honest, I think this is where a lot of my fondest memories of Comic-con came from. You somehow "bond" with the people around you since you're all in line for 6+ hours, so the time goes by quick.
Once you get inside its just massive...yet you wonder "how in the world did all those people outside fit in here?" Hall H has its own atmosphere. You can feel it once inside. Private trailers shown only to Hall H attendees BLARE from the 8 or so jumbo movie screens located throughout this room. And the thought that you've been in line since 1 am, and will now sit in Hall H for 12 more hours does NOT cross your mind even once. Sure, some people don't even go to Hall H during Comic-con and still have an amazing time. But for us, Hall H is worth the price of admission 10 fold.
