by Jonathan Marshall
It’s that time again, and if you live in San Diego, it’s “the craziest day of the year to come downtown,” as Les said when he walked into the office. Every July, thousands of rabid fans flock to San Diego for the annual Comic-Con International festival. Enthusiasts come dressed as X-Men, Ninja Turtles, Darth Vader and just about every comic book character you can think of. The enormous Comics and Media Conference, which has evolved beyond its original focus on comic books to encompass blockbuster movies, popular TV shows, hit video games and more, is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary this summer. Although the parking situation downtown is just plain ridiculous, the people-watching definitely makes up for it. We have seen several impressive and detailed costumes excitedly skip by the office on their way to the convention center, and it’s only 10:30am.
I also just found out that Les was one of the designers for the X-Files Collectible card game that was released at GenCon in 1996. That was actually the job that brought him out to California. So he has been to the show about five times, and says it’s a lot of fun, but warns that the fans are intense.
Some friends and I are going to check out the madness on Saturday- more for documenting how ridiculous some people are than anything else, but also so we can finally say we have seen what the fuss is all about. I’m sure it will be an overwhelming display, but for a skeptical comic book outsider like myself, I can almost guarantee I won’t be able to appreciate the sheer power of the event. Wink wink, no sarcasm at all. Stay tuned for pictures from the event next week on Twitter and Facebook.