Surviving Geek Heaven Chapter One: Overview

Every year, my wife and I ask for our vacation early, in order to ensure the time off from work. Invariably, we are asked by our respective employers where we are going. They always look slightly confused when we answer "the San Diego Comic-Con". "Oh, that's nice. What is it about?" This usually stops me for a moment. When I first started going, my mom and grandparents asked me this same question. It sounds so simple when you tell anybody who is not a comic collector that it is a comic convention. Not just any comic convention, though. It is THE comic convention. The one with all the bells and whistles, as it were. In reality, it really is more of a cultural convention. Comics do dominate, but there is so much more.

It satrted thirty-six years ago in the U.S. Grant Hotel with Guests Of Honor Jack Kirby, Ray Bradbury, and A. E. Van Vogt. The following year, the con moved to the El Cortez Hotel, where it spent several of the following years. On my second trip to San Diego for the convention, we stayed at a Best Western down the block from the now-condemned El Cortez. It was an imposing structure, highlighted by an aging neon sign proclaiming its name for all to see. It was definitely a smaller location but had its charm. I just wish I could have snuck in to see for myself how much the convention had grown.

In 1979, the con reputation had grown enough to now start being held at the San Diego Convention and Performing Arts Center. With the increase of attendance came the realization that this was an important audience for key announcements. In '76, the first glimpses of Star Wars were shown, with the preview for Empire Strikes Back shown in 1979. To this day, movie studios still use Comic-Con as a barometer for last minute tweaking of projects that appeal to geeks. Numerous Hollywood celebrities use the convention center panel rooms to hold court with their fans, showing just how knowledgeable (or clueless) they are with their target audience. All for the price of admission to the convention itself. Not too shabby.

1991 saw it move to the current home, The San Diego Convention Center. This is the place that I associate with the con. I know it like the back of my hand. After nine years and countless times of getting lost looking for a panel room or the snack area, I feel like I have worked there my entire life. Located on the harbor, it showcases a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean right outside the back doors to the place. July or August in San Diego means blue skies and fresh air. In fact, this leads to Tip #1 in your education. Pay attention.

Tip #1: Use the back area by the harbor for a meeting place.

This is an easy tip and one you probably would have figured out yourself. Not only is it convenient, as it is right off of the panel rooms, but has a killer view so you won't mind the wait. And, trust me, if you are in a group, you WILL be splitting off at one point. There is so much to see and do that invariably there will be some sort of scheduling conflict.

Just inside from the outside harbor area is the main set of panel rooms. They range in size from tiny, for those intimite, very specific area panels, to freakin' huge, for stuff like the Tobey Maguire/ Sam Raimi Spider-man 2 panel. Some panels are annual, like QuickDraw, with Sergio Aragones, Scott Shaw!, and a guest, playing a variation of improv comedy for artists. Some are big-time announcement panels, like major movie panels with directors, stars, and such. There is anime running seemingly non-stop running in some of the rooms. Comic announcements... How to publish or create comics... Cult movies... All of it happens up here.

Down the giant escalators and we are at the main hall. This is the meat and potatoes of the San Diego Comic-Con. Their website http://www.comic-con.org/ says that, in 2003, the hall was 460,000 square feet. Last year, they opened a new addition to it. My very rough estimate is that it is over 500,000 square feet. I took a picture last year standing in row 100 and shot down the length of the hall. You can't see the other end. There are vendors and comic companies and film companies and giant displays and... we'll be more in-depth about the main floor in a future column. Suffice to say, pretty much anything you are looking for that is geeky can be found here. Except for that damn dvd rip of Within The Woods...

So there is your basic overview of the San Diego Comic-Con. In future columns, we will focus our eyes on the specifics of each area. Let's just see how much minutiae we can dig up.