What’s happening at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con?

san_diego_comic_con The San Diego Comic Con, one of the biggest conventions that any nerd or geek could ever want to go to, finally kicks off this week. For over 130,000 comic book, game, TV series, movie, and animation enthusiasts it’ll be an eventful four-day affair, from June 21 to 24, filled with navigating through crowds, spotting celebrities, people in costumes, prominent artists and writers, and of course scoring some great exclusive merchandise. Five, if you also count preview night, which starts on the evening of July 20th and is limited to the 15,000 who opted to get preview night badges during last year’s con.

While the Comic Con is celebrated for its increasing popularity and the number of attendees, the downside is that it has become significantly harder for other people to get in. In fact, the passes for the preview night were reported to have been sold out before even last year’s con had ended. The pre-sales for passes to the actual convention itself was sold out by March. Due to the limitations of the location, those unable to reserve a pass either wait for passes to pop up on online auction sites, or try getting in as a con volunteer.

In any case, while actually attending the Comic Con this year is pretty much impossible for most of us in the Philippines, we can still read about it to see what we’re missing. Frankly, while the thought of having to deal with a crowd of more than130,000 people is enough to discourage me, I still think I’d want to experience it at least once.

More than 40 Years of Comic Cons
It’s easy enough to find information on the beginnings and the development of the convention and the organization behind it. G4TV’s Attack of the Show does a good job of telling it in less than 3 minutes.

As can be expected, it started out pretty small with the Golden State Comic Book Convention that was organized by Shel Dorf in 1970. Around 300 people attended.

It was three years after when it became known as the San Diego Comic Con. By that time it had over 1,000 attendees coming to see comic book celebrities such as renowned artist Neal Adams.

After that, the San Diego Comic Con just kept on growing, reaching out to more fandoms. By 2003, more than 70,000 people attended, and last year it reached 130,000. The organization behind it has remained non-profit after all tist time, with profit from the cons going into funding the next ones. Additionally, the massive comics convention has remained in San Diego and will continue to be held in the city until at least 2012.

Recounting his experience in the San Diego Comic Con 2010, Steve Weintraub on collider.com points out however, that that the success of the San Diego Comic Con has become a problem, and the system in place is flawed. He also thinks that changes, perhaps some drastic ones, have to be made in order for the con to provide a better experience to the people attending it.

I believe that he also speaks for a good part of the con-goers that they will continue to love it and they continue to look forward to the next cons to follow.

So, with that out of the way, let’s have a look at some of the things we can expect at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con.

1. Score Some Loot

One reason for the Comic Con’s popularity among enthusiasts is that it is a great place to score some amazing collectibles. Forming a collection of something – from limited edition printed material to toys and gadgets is just something that comes naturally to some geeks and the San Diego Comic Convention is a great place to get exclusive items.

For examples of the toys and figures you can expect to find in this year’s convention, you can check out Chris Sim’s fairly long list of Comic Con Exclusives that are “Worth Standing in Line For” over at www.comicsalliance.com. If you want a full list, however, there is no need to look any further than the official site itself as Comic Con has also provided a full list of exclusives.

2. Mingle with the Fandom Celebrities

Conventions are also a great venue to spot and even get to talk to celebrities and other prominent figures in your fandom. Some of them you’ll probably be able to spot roaming around like most con-goers and others you can catch during panels, seminars, and workshops.

TV fanatics can go attend panels of their favorite TV shows. Personally, I’d sign up for this year's Big Bang Theory panel. Meanwhile, comic book lovers can go listen to some interesting discussion on topics such as Comics for Social Justice and Profiling Gotham’s Serial Killers among others.

There’s just so many things going on that it might be impossible to attend all of them. It is important, then, for con-attendees to go ahead and fix their schedules ahead of time and fortunately, Comic Con has provided a page for that.

Reviewing the schedules and the list of special guests, it is also a pleasure to find some Filipinos as well (do you feel it, that swell of pride?) If you checked out the special guests page you’ll be able to spot Gerry Alanguilan, Alex Niño, Tony De Zuniga, and Ernie Chan. Aside from their autograph signings and spotlight panels, they’ll also be in the Philippine Invasion Panel. More details of Gerry Alanguilan’s schedule over at his blog.

3. Check out Cool Costumes

Now, this is something we’re more used to from the conventions we have over here. Any fandom convention would be incomplete without people dressed up as their favorite characters. In an event as massive as the San Diego Comic Con, you’re not just limited to people dressed as anime characters or in Japanese-inspired fashion. You’ll likely see a wide selection of costumes ranging from even the most obscure character from a high fantasy title, to weird character mash-ups, even meme characters.

In any case, despite the issues of overcapacity and the flawed system that, as mentioned earlier, may need some drastic change for the con to provide a better experience and make more geeks happy, the San Diego Comic Con still does sound like an awesome event to attend. As Attack of the Show’s Kevin Pereira puts it in the History of San Diego Comic-Con clip: it’s more than a crowded star-studded event. The San Diego Comic Con is a celebration of the things us geeks love and a chance to walk among our personal heros.

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