Surviving Comic Con

I can finally discuss it.

After having returned nearly a week ago, my brain is finally to the point where I can share my experiences at the largest 4-day geek fest in the history of the Universe; San Diego Comic Con.

I was there in the capacity of representing my company and particularly my two brands, HeroClix and Halo ActionClix. As simple as that may sound, the event and the weeks leading up to it were fraught with anxiety, bad planning, late deadlines, pissing off at least two major licensors, some death-defying stupidity, and a helluva lotta luck. All in all, it was a great show for us.

Notable Highlights:

- Going an entire day not eating until a two-hour old In-And-Out burger was delivered to me by my comrades at 11pm. The burger was great, the fries not so much.
- Having Gene Simmons walk into my booth looking for me and standing my ground. One of his camera men tried to push me aside as they poured in. I told him it was my booth and I wasn't to be pushed.
- Bumping into Stan Lee and Len Wein in the elevator. Very cool. We also had dinner at the table next to Marvin Hamlisch, but I'll admit that I wasn't the one who realized this.
- The booth for Grindhouse. Dear God in Heaven. Someone is going to Hell for this. I'm not sure who, but I doubt it will be me..
- Whipping several hundred people into a frenzy as I prepared to reveal our Halo 3 Scarab "miniature". Security was fighting through the crowd to shut me down as I pulled the cloth. Booyah!
- HOSTING only the second panel I'd ever been to at Comic Con. It featured us, Topps, and Marvel. No one else had the emcee experience to do it. Of course, I thought it was going to be a meeting room. What I didn't expect was a thousand-plus full house ballroom. Good thing I'm not afraid of public speaking.
- At the same panel, someone asking Brian Michael Bendis is he was going to "make Master Chief a Skrull as well". Priceless.
- Seeing Trevor, Jason, Justin B., Mike, Dan, Scott, Evan and Kyle. As bad as our experiences were at "the Company", it's always great to see these guys, competitors or no. Trevor, you owe me about 2 dragons worth of 24 cards, you know. ;)

I also got lots of swag. I brought back a bunch of Superman toys for the boy, some Bella Sara cards for my baby (thanks Sean!) and some really nice artwork from David Finch, Ryan Sook and Leniel Yu. My desk is brimming with Captain America goodness right now.

The Iron Man trailer was just outstanding as was the casting announcement for the upcoming Star Trek film for 2008. By the way, I got to see the last 20 minutes or so of Superman Doomsday. Whoa. Very vicious but very cool. Not for the kids though. Everyone really seemed to bring their "A" game to the show. If you're a fan of the geeky, fanboy stuff that permeates the industry I work in, this is going to be a very good year if Comic Con is any indication.