Comic-Con International 2010 - San Diego, CA

[One Radical Dude]

They have sold out of DW comics. I went to that booth earlier.

[Sparky]

We were able to get issue #2 at a comic shop today, but it seems Monsters Inc isn't actually released publicly yet so no luck there.

[cartman414]

Well, most of the con went smoothly. Got into the Tron: Legacy panel though I got in line just two hours in advance of Megamind, and it was sweet. Met most of my favorite VAs, including Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Steve Blum, Tara Strong, Tom Kenny (he confirmed he was the "p@nis whisper bandit" guy from Mission Hill, and of Futurama, Lauren Tom (told her I was high school friends with a one time fellow cast member of hers; she ran into her last weekend!), Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMaurche, and Phil LaMarr. Passed by Grey Delisle a moment before realizing it was her, and I was all, "DOH!", because I have never been able to meet her once in my life. I did also meet Mindy Sterling, longtime Groundling member and Frau from Austin Powers. Fantastic in person, and she also remembers a high school friend of mine who was once part of the Groundlings' Sunday company. Encouraged me to go with it and take classes there as part of my VA training. She did confirm that Chowder was cancelled. I also ran into Patton Oswalt as he was right about to leave the Marriott, which was awesome since I'm a huge fan of his (he's also been covering the big Disney panels, including this year's Tron, and will be in one of the new episodes of Futurama).

Saturday was sort of hit/miss. I did get into Ballroom 20 because I camped out rather early in the morning, as I was interested in both Chuck and Futurama. Glad I didn't bother ditching my spot there after the former for the signing, since it filled up at 9:50, even though the panel began 10 minutes later and the signing itself wasn't until noon! Really, what is it with those WB staffers? Anyways, Futurama panel: totally worth it, especially since Lauren Tom and Phil LaMarr dropped by in addition to the regular four: Katey, Billy, John, and Maurice. Wish I could have asked David what kind of mathematical/linguistic/etc. geek nuggets we could expect in the future. Missed the Guild panel, but I did get to see the Legend of Neil, which was ridiculously funny. Just missed the chance to meet Felicia Day though, as she had to take off right before I had the chance. (Eerie part: last person who talked to her asked her what she thought of working with Sarah Michelle Gellar, with whom I share the exact same date of birth. Oh, that and my brother has also worked with her in the past.) Missed the last train back due to the LoN panel, so I had to stay until this morning.

[One Radical Dude]

2010 San Diego Comic-Con International is completed. It was certainly a blast. The final day was the usual with me going to Starbucks and getting a few things for breakfast. I forgot to mention that yesterday, I ran into Lori from CN while she was doing portfolio stuff. She wanted me to tell anyone that has talked to her in the past that she said "hi" to you guys. Well, this morning, I saw Lori again, this time, it was while I was getting Starbucks inside the Marriott Hotel & Marina. I met up with a few friends in the Artists Gallery area. Next, I went to see Cartoon Voices II. This panel consisted of Phil LaMarr, Tom Kenny, Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson, Penelope Pitstop, etc), and a few others. Briefly, I ran into Matt (CG's ex-boyfriend), after he got out of another panel. I also ran into Melody (one of Keith's closest friends, AKA Hygena from Who Wants to be A Superhero?, Season 2) briefly. I went to one more panel, called Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil. I ran into Khaki Jones over there. She now is, at least for now, working at Disney (she said that her position right now isn't long-termed, but there's a possibility that it may change.). After that, it was one last walk at the exhibit hall, and I did briefly say hello to Doug TenNapel. As I was exiting the convention, I briefly met a friend of mine from Mexico that does comic work (click here for his stuff). Finally, I ate at an Italian restaurant. Most of us were there, except for cartman (who left SD this morning) and iceberg (not sure if he's still in SD at the time of this post. Great day, sad to see the convention end. I look forward to 2011!

[BluebottleFlyer]

Final day of Comic Con, kicked it off with myself and ORD heading to the Cartoon Voices II panel, which featured another group of famous voice actors including Phil LaMarr, Tom Kenny and the original voice of Judy Jetson, Janet Waldo. It was great, and just like the first panel, they too did a cold reading of a Cinderella script, with some more hilarious results. Ran into Tom Kenny again after the panel, to say goodbye, he commented on the Bob & Flyer t-shirt I was wearing, and with words to the effect, he said if it were ever made into an animated show, he'd do an audition. I have to admit, that kind of blew me away, having the voice of Spongebob SquarePants say that about my creations.
After that, I met up with two DA buddies, Kaaziel and MSPainterman, for the second time (we met back in '08 as well), they were done up as Leela and Zap from Futurama, and they sure looked the part. Kaaziel also made a couple of sketches for me and I also made a little sketch for her in return. We then just had a long look around the exhibit hall, just taking in the sights. I bought a little comic called "The Winged Tiger and The Dragons of Hawaii", a little stab in the dark, its cover caught my eye. I also got an autograph from its creator, Phil Yeh, really cool dude.
After the Con, myself and ORD met up with the rest of the Never Forgotten group, including Cassini and Howard, to have a meal, we ended up going to an Italian restaurant called La Bocca. We all had something different, I went for a spaghetti based dish, which was spaghetti plus fresh tomato sauce and basil (forgot the name of it). It was different to normal canned spaghetti, and while it was just a little spicy, it was really tasty, and it certainly filled me up. It was great talking to the group too, even if I didn't say that much. I gave ORD, Howard and Cassini sketches that I did on the spot, as well (To taranchula and narfcake, sorry I didn't do the same for you, I didn't know what to sketch). A nice way to end the week.

[One Radical Dude]

Well, today, it was a day that I had to be up and get ready to leave San Diego, not exactly my kind of day. I had to get the Bloo costume shipped and I had to ship something else. I had to board on the train by 3pm. Before I did that, however, Cass and I did agree to meet one more time to have lunch, we ended up going to the Grand Central Cafe, only a few blocks from Santa Fe Depot. Food wasn't bad at all. Once it was 25 min before going, I had to say farewell to Cass. I hate goodbyes. Thanks for joining me earlier, Cass. It made my afternoon better. Since almost 6pm, I've been hanging around friends that live near L.A. I definitely miss the city and those that I've seen at the con, but I will be back! It is nice to get a little break from all the walking, though.

[Cassini90125]

Always a pleasure, dude.

After ORD and I parted company I wandered around for awhile, eventually stopping at a 7-Eleven before calling the hotel for a shuttle ride back home. This evening I went out again, walking all the way to the Gaslamp Quarter and back, which is roughly a 3-mile round trip. Actually, it was closer to 3.5 miles; on the return walk I overshot my hotel by a considerable distance and had to stop at a bar for directions (and a badly-needed restroom break). Got a bunch of new pics along the way, and some exercise, so I'd say it was worth the effort.

[Howard]

Well what can I say? Pretty much what the other NF members (who were there) said. Cass and I enjoyed the next four days of San Diego mayhem. Actually we drove outside the city and paid a visit down to where I used to live while stationed here - Imperial Beach. I showed him some other places of photographic interest (we all know what a shutterbug he is). The Con itself was wonderful with the exception of two incidents (which did not have any affect on us). The Western Baptist hatemongers were protesting near the Convention Center. They were outshouted by the counter protesters, who sent them home with their tails tucked between their legs. The other inceident was two attendees who got in a fight over a seat in Ballroom H, and one of the two was stabbed in the eye with a ballpoint pen. The other part of our wonderful adventure was the eating...and eating. We caught up with ORD, BBF, Tarantula, and Narfcake and we had a wonderful NF member dinner. I do have some pics, which I will post here and on dA. I left Sunday night at about ten pm, and got back to AZ at 4 am. I slept and relexed the rest of the day. I went back to work today. Uhhhh...I guess that is about it. I want to thank BBF for his wonderful sketch of Frankie he presented me.

[taranchula]

I was going to post about my con going experiences last night but I was so exhausted after 15 hours of traveling, the only words I could manage were ugh and Uh. Which would not be an enjoyable read in the least, unless someone on the forums is fluent in :"Cave-Man"

Anyways to sum it all up I think that this year was no doubt the best overall experience I've ever had at the Con.

The hotel was nice, a little out of the way but very comfortable on the whole.

The food was fantastic, even the fast food. Man I wish we had In & Out Burgers up here where I live.

The panels I went to were all great, my overall favorites are a seven way tie between: Capcom 2010 and Beyond, Penn and Teller. (I am now in the small percentage of the total population of the world who know what Teller sounds like.) Batman: Brave and The Bold, CN Comedy (I too got a free Finn hat and made a lot of Con Goers jealous), F/X's Archer, Worst Cartoon's Ever, Cartoon Voices 1 and last but not least the Yoshitaka Amano panel.

And of course it was great to once again hang out and meet with my friends from the forum, sorry to those of you whom I missed, I was busy through most of the con and didn't have much in formal lines of communication. (Save for the hotel computer)

All in all Comic Con 2010 was a great experience and an experience that everyone who have love all things Comic's, Cartoons, Movies and Video Games should try and take at least once in their life.

BTW for those who want to make for next year better start planning now because every year this event sends out faster and faster, they sold out of 4 Day (With Preview Night) passes even before this years show ended.

[Cassini90125]

Originally Posted by taranchula

BTW for those who want to make for next year better start planning now because every year this event sends out faster and faster, they sold out of 4 Day (With Preview Night) passes even before this years show ended.

Are you serious? The 4-day passes with Preview night for the 2011 Con are gone already??