Comic Con: Day 1!

I want to say this right up front: don't go to Comic Con when you're sick. It's so draining, and there's all this amazing and fun stuff around you, and you can't do any of it because you're too tired... That said, even though we left early because I felt tired and sick, I still had a WONDERFUL time!

We got up early enough to park down at Fashion Valley, only to find that everyone else had the same idea and the train was crowded--almost Tokyo subway crowded, but not quite. The convention center was packed, too--lines of people waiting for the doors to the Exhibit Hall to open, lines of people waiting to pick up their passes. (Pictures are here, and of course I'll keep adding to it as I go along.) As usual, the staff moved us through very quickly and we barely had to stand in line at all. From there, it was straight to Ballroom 20!

I should pause and say here that I have/had two "missions" to accomplish during this Con: 1) to attend the Who/Torchwood panels and 2) to hear Lynda Barry. The first has been majorly accomplished, as is evidenced below; the second will be accomplished tomorrow. :) (Add onto these two a "semi-mission" involving the Con exclusive My Little Pony for sale at the Hasbro booth, one of which I have already seen on eBay for $25! I shall endeavor to purchase two tomorrow, one for me, and one for Shanghai Vixen... wish me luck!)

Ballroom 20 holds about 2,000 people, and I'm pretty sure that during the first panel (Stan Lee and Grant Morrison) that it was at 75% capacity, and during the second two panels (Who/Torchwood), it was at 99% capacity. yebisu9 and I were quick to grab seats around the tenth row, left-hand side, and we stayed there the entire time--something which we sort of regretted later, as hunger and dehydration threatened. While we were waiting for the first panel to start, I chatted with the cool people behind me, notably ratchet and her friend S., and the woman next to me, who had a fabulous camera and was (I suspect) getting far better pictures than I was.

The Stan Lee/Grant Morrison panel was fantastic. Every time I see Stan Lee, I get all happy to be included in the "club" that he's in--OK, not really, but he's always got this great vibe about him that makes me happy to love the stuff he's written and to hear him talk about it. (Also, every time I see him, I think to myself, You're so awesome that I forgive you for 'Stripperella'.) He kept ribbing Grant Morrison for making him (Stan Lee) look bad, first by wearing a suit, then by giving complicated answers, and then by being a better writer. He also joked about his hearing aid being a translation device for Grant Morrison's Scottish accent. Grant Morrison was very good-natured about the whole thing and kept pace. I'm really curious now as to what their collaboration turns up, work-wise. I have, in all honesty, never heard of Virgin Comics and wondered if it was the same millionaire guy who owns Virgin Records, Virgin Air, etc. Not sure what it will look like, but it should be interesting at the very least!

But then... the Who/Torchwood panels! ( Spoilers ahead, for both latest Who and Torchwood series! And I mean SPOILERS. )

The best part of the Torchwood panel was when John and Naoko sang "Last Night of the World" from "Miss Saigon" together! *dies of happy* (That was how they first met, when she was just 17 years old!) I was especially pleased because I was really curious to hear her singing voice, after learning that she was in the London production of "Avenue Q" and she sounded great!

After the awesome trio of panels, Yebisu and I took a brief spin around the Exhibit Hall. I attempted to get in line at the Hasbro booth to buy the Con Exclusive My Little Pony, only to discover that I had to have a ticket, and that they had run out for the day. This was a little disappointing, but nothing too terrible. There was a giant model of Castle Greyskull from 'He-Man' that I really, really need to get a photo of. I was tempted by the Yotsuba action figure, but decided to hold off and see if I was still tempted in the next few days. Dark Horse, as usual, had a very con-friendly booth that was easy to walk around in and buy all their cool stuff. :)

And at about this point, total fatigue set in, for both Yebisu and I, and we decided to head home for the day. A short trip to Trader Joe's later, we were happily at home, hurriedly rehydrating.

Tomorrow! Lynda Barry! Meeting up with psychoe! (And jtaylor2? ashearstone?) Yebisu will binge on all the Star Wars-related stuff! My wallet and I will likely have a fight! Can't wait! XD