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In looking at past
photo galleries from the Comic-Con, I noticed that since I've gone
to so many of these, I have taken similar photos over the years, including
of people I often see from year to year! So I have tried to watch out
for any pictures that may be similar to those I've taken in the past.
Finally, some of you may notice that some of the photos are a bit blurry. I have a new digital camera and am still getting the knack of keeping still when I take the photo. So my apologies in advance....
| As noted in my report, the entire family accompanied me to Comic-Con. From left to right is my daughter, my wife, son, and I. I also have posted two film clips of my son walking on the floor of the convention! He learned to walk about a month before the show. To see the footage, click on the links below (may require you to download a plug in if it's not already installed):
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Another one of the family. You try getting two young kids to stay still for a family photo!! |
I call this my "infinity shot"–a photo down one of the long aisles of the convention hall. You can see that I am standing at about aisle 1400 (where my booth was located). The convention hall started in aisle 100 and stretched down to aisle 5300. |
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This was the first show since she was a baby that Peri was not overwhelmed by (or, more accurately, frightened by) all the images and people in costumes at the show. She even ended up staying with Dad at his booth when Mom went back to the hotel so that her baby brother could take a nap! As this photo shows, she quickly warmed up to the show, and even asked to take pictures with people. Peri is posing
here with Ms. Monster at the B-1
Minus Comics booth which actually was located right next
to me. (We were neighbors at the 2005 show as well!) |
Holy Adam West—it's Peri with a 1960's era TV show Batman (and, no, this is not Adam West!) |
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Of course, any picture with the '60's TV Batman would not be complete without Batgirl and Catwoman! Robin was there too but we didn't get a chance to get a shot of
him. |
| When we saw Willie Wonka on the floor, of course we had to take a picture of him with Peri since she loves the new Tim Burton rendition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I must give this fan credit for staying in character when we spoke to him (most do); when he talked, he used the same soft-spoken/lilting voice that Johnny Depp used in the film (reportedly patterned after Michael Jackson). By the way, we tried to get Peri to also watch the 1971 version of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder, but she would have none of it—some of the sequences in that film was too scary for her! Go figure.... |
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Peri with your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man... |
| ...who could also be spotted hanging from the ceiling of the convention hall (this is a life-size mannequin at an exhibitor's booth). | 
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| Another mannequin figure at a booth at the show—it probably was about 8 feet tall or so. | 
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I took this photo of the popular Japanese animated character Pikachu because everytime we came within sight of it, my 15-month old son Dash would get very excited and point to it. |
| ...so of course we made sure to take a picture of him and Pikachu! |
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Here's Peri with an Imperial Stormtrooper of the Empire's 501st Legion. This photo was taken at a "recruitment" table for the Legion—a fan organization that bills itself as "the world's definitive imperial costuming organization." Sometimes when I walked by their table, a large group of them would be milling about "off duty," taking a break with their helmets off (sweating profusely), having a refreshment or hanging out with their family (I saw one pushing a stroller). I regret I never took a photo of that, but there's always next year! (You can see one person with his helmet off in the background), but there's always next year! By the way, to see some pretty funny pictures of members of the 501st "off duty," check out this link. |
This photo is courtesy of my brother, of a group of stormtroopers marching down a hallway of the convention center. |
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Since we're on the subject of Star Wars, this seems like a good place to include this photo of a jawa, another Star Wars universe character. |
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Yes, Comic-Con is a place where universes collide— My wife is a big Harrison Ford fan, so when these two Harrison Ford characters came by my booth—that's Deckard from Blade Runner on the left and, of course, Indiana Jones on the right—I had to ask for a picture! |
Ah, yes, the"booth babes." Here's one who was working at a booth just a few tables from me. You can see she is being interviewed by the many media people attending the show. (I myself was interviewed for a Podcast.) Dressed here as Wonder Woman, like many other people appearing in costume at the show, I noticed she changed "identities" regularly. She also appeared at the booth as Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) and other comic-book characters. Compared to past years, many of the models working the booths were much more modest in dress. The Comic-Con a few years ago cracked down on people in too revealing outfits, particularly as this was intended as a family-friendly event. |
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Here is a picture of some attendees showing that costumes are not restricted to just comic-book and movie characters, and people can be as creative and offbeat as they wish! I did see these characters frequently around the floor, but I did not take this photo. This photo is (c) the respective photgrapher (jrwilliams) and this photo and more may be found here. |
| A shot during off hours of the Star Wars/Lucasfilms booth. |
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A shot of the crowded convention floor from the mezzanine level on Friday. This is only about 4 of the 52 aisles. My table actually was located nearly underneat where I took this photo; the bottom portion of the photo is the Small Press Pavilion area. |
| A shot of the registration area on the third level of the convention center. The organizers funnelled registrants to this level to keep the front of the convention center relatively clear of the large crowds. |
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An exterior shot of the convention center from across the street;this photo doesn't really capture what I was trying to do, which was to capture the throngs spilling out from the convention hall at the close of one of the days. They are entering the Gaslamp District of downtown San Diego. Restaurants were packed in the Gaslamp, and we've learned to go further out to avoid the crowds and long wait It's clear that the Gaslamp has a real singles scene going; even with the comic-con crowd, there were lots of young couples obviously on dates. |
| A photo from my booth of the convention floor; I stood on a chair to take this photo. |
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This is the DC Comics booth, publisher of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. Of course, the new Superman Returns films gave DC quite a boost in attention. Star Brandon Routh made an unannounced appearance at the booth to sign autographs. As mentioned in the past, Comic-Con has become an important place for film studios to promote their upcoming movies. Nicholas Cage, Tobey Maguire and Topher Grace were among the many celebrities to appear. A hall that seats 6000 people for such presentations is usually filled to capacity. It's not uncommon to see celebrities on the floor, since many of them are into comics themselves (or looking for properties). I personally saw Seth Green and producer Dean Devlin (Independence Day) walk by my booth. |
Although there are several free shuttles for the convention running throughout the city, we chose to get a hotel within walking distance of the convention center since it was more convenient with the kids and stroller. On my walk down to the facility, I always had a magnificent view of the new San Diego Padres baseball stadium, which is just catty-corner across the street from the convention center. I took many many photos of it—here, way in the distance left-of-center, you can see the upper deck of the stadium. (The Padres reportedly scheduled their games to ensure they were not in town during to show since the size of the crowds would have been untenable!) This photo also shows all the construction going on in San Diego. |
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During the week of the comic-con, the city also erects a variety of banners throughout the city. Here is a street banner of one of my favorite characters (from the 1940s), the Spirit, created by Will Eisner, who passed away in January 2006. (See my tribute to Eisner here.) Eisner was a seminal figure in the early history of the comics industry, and remained vibrant and creative until his passing. As an indication of his stature, his death received prominent notice in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, etc. The "Oscars" of the comic-book industry, the Eisner Awards, are named for him, and given out during this convention. Eisner attended all of them when he was alive. As such, I saw Mr. Eisner frequently most years, and I had the pleasure to speak with him briefly a few times. A picture I took of him can be found at my photo gallery from the 2001 show. |
A good friend of mine who I have known since college, Scott Brick, was featured on a panel on audiobooks. An accomplished actor and author, he also is one of the most premier comic-book fans I know. In recent years, Scott has become an award-winning rising star in the fast growing audiobook market (he was profiled in a front page story of the Wall Street Journal), and this panel featured him, along with some of the authors he has become friends with as a result of his good work in bringing their books to life by reading them aloud. Scott also was prominently featured in the audioshow based on my comic-book, Three Days of the Fanboy which in an indirect way led to his audiobook work! |
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Scott signs some autographs after the panel. |
| Here is fellow cartoonist Garrett Izumi. Garrett and I go back a ways, and initially met in the mid-1990s as we were both Xeric Foundation Grant award recipients. |
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See you all in July 2007! |
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All artwork and text copyright by Randy Reynaldo
Posted
August 2006