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AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)
Going Crazy for Comic-Con
By J’AMY PACHECO
I’ve done some crazy things in my life. By the time you read this, for example, I’ll be at a doll convention with my daughter, who will be walking around dressed as the Black Knight from Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie. There can’t be too many things crazier than providing one’s sweet dainty ‘tween with a faux bloody stump for an arm. But I found one.
My daughter is obsessed with a series of books called, “The Twilight Saga.” If you haven’t heard of “Twilight,” I predict you soon will. It’s a three book set about a mere mortal teenaged girl named Bella who is in love with an unbearably beautiful and chivalrous vampire named Edward. The series is roaring through the hearts of the ‘tween crowd in a way the scarred, bespectacled Harry Potter couldn’t.
The August 2 release date of the fourth book in the series, as well as the upcoming Twilight movie, have fueled ‘tween enthusiasm to the point of hysteria. It’s all my daughter talks about. When she asked if we could go to an event at which the author was to appear, I said I’d think about it. Truthfully, I blew it off, because I thought it was in another state.
But a few days later, she mentioned San Diego as the location for the event. I decided to look into it, and discovered the program – which would include the director and cast from the movie – would be held during something called Comic-Con. The price was reasonable, so I registered us for one day of the convention.
I soon discovered that going to Comic-Con isn’t exactly a day trip. Parking, for example, requires a driver to find a spot in Tijuana, then take a train back across the border. The reason for this vehicular insanity is that over 100,000 comic book fans go to Comic-Con. Yikes.
I realized that if we were to have any hope of seeing the Twilight people, we’d have to go the night before. After checking into a hotel, worried about the anticipated crowds, we decided to walk to the convention center to see if we could pick up our badges for the following morning.
To say the single available walkway was packed would be an understatement equivalent to saying the Titanic sprung a leak. People were lined up facing every direction, and nobody seemed to know what they were in line for. I found many staff members wearing t-shirts that said, “Ask me!” but not one of them, even a suited management type, had any idea if we could pick up our badges. By the time we got to the end of the last line, we learned that we couldn’t pick them up until the next morning, when the lines would form all over again.
On the way back, I found myself gridlocked next to the suit. I told her what I’d learned, and mentioned my disappointment in the apparent lack of organization. She gave us passes to a preview being held that night.
To say the exhibition hall was crowded on preview night would be an understatement similar to saying the sidewalks the night before were full of people. Never in my life have I seen so many strangers using bags as weapons, or had my backside bumped by so many interstellar visitors and superheroes. My daughter’s bloody stump has nothing on the people who go to Comic-Con dressed as video game characters, comic book stars, and, well – some things even I couldn’t figure out.
We retreated to our room to await the next morning. Before dawn, I looked out the window, and saw another line already forming in front of the convention center. We raced over, got our badges – and found the line for Twilight wrapped around the sides and back of the center. I thought we had no hope of getting in.
But an hour or so later, we found ourselves in Hall H along with 6,498 other fans – all of whom screamed when Keanu Reeves, Mark Wahlberg and Hugh Jackman showed up to pitch their upcoming movies.
But their reception was nothing compared to the crowd’s reaction to the Twilight panel. Its young stars seemed overwhelmed by the reaction, and unprepared to be instant superstars. The ‘tweens went crazy.
My daughter sat quietly in her “Got Bella?” t-shirt, a big grin on her face. When it was over, we went back to the exhibition hall, where my daughter had the good fortune to win a giant Twilight movie poster from Summit Entertainment.
To say she was happy would be an understatement, similar to saying…well, you get the idea. It was crazy, frustrating, fun, a little scary – and the coolest thing I’ve done this summer.
Well, except maybe for walking around with the Black Knight and her bloody stump…
Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company