A Recap: San Diego Comic-Con International 2010

It has officially been one full day since Comic Con has ended. The dust is only now beginning to settle in our fair city. Hollywood has up and left, and San Diego is back to being that summer vacation destination underrated by the rest of the US, and all that is left are tweets and Facebook updates from every superhero and pop culture fan who already misses #sdcc.

This year, by far, was the biggest Comic-Con turnout EVER. Not only taking over the Convention Center and adjoining hotels, but spilling out onto the streets of the Gaslamp as well. In true local Comic-Con fan fashion, I had bought my pass last minute and was only able to attend the actual convention for one day. However, thanks to off-site events, after parties, and activities I was still able to enjoy all five days of Comic-Con madness.

Aside from all of the awesome panels fans buzzed over (Dexter, Chuck, Salt, Expendables, Tron, etc) and special Comic-Con exclusives – the best part about Comic-Con was the experience itself. Seeing old faces, meeting new people, partying and going super Otaku for five days straight (see our Comic-Con guide if you still don’t know what “Otaku” means) – I don’t know anyone who got a full-nights rest! Writing this is probably one of my highlights because I get to relive it all over again. Reminisce and relive with me the highlights and low (but very amusing) lights of Comic-Con 2010.

Highlights:

Hasselhoff Flash Mob

The first official day of Comic Con started off with a huge bang! Promoting their new show, The Hasselhoffs, David Hasselhoff and his daughters took over the streets and treated fans to cheesy music and everything Hoff-related. KITT cars from Knight Rider, men and women in Baywatch gear dancing choreographed moves, a marching band, fans wielding David Hasselhoff stick masks – it was complete madness and Mr. Hasselhoff even sang a couple of numbers atop a party bus! If I could remember 1989, I’m sure this might have been what it was like – minus all of the politics of course.

Comic-Con Fans Vs Westboro Baptist Church Protesters

What huge event doesn’t have it’s share of controversy? Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church decided to protest Comic-Con, insisting that we should all conform to their beliefs and quit idolizing super heroes and vampires. In pure witty fashion, the Comic-Con geeks retaliated with protest signs of their own - Comic-Con-related of course! My favorites? “God Needs a Spaceship,” “Superman Died for Our Sins,” and Bender from Futurama holding his “Kill All Humans” sign (OK so he’s there every year – but it went REALLY well!)

Off-site Events

This year was HUGE for off-site events and activities. From Cartoon Network temporarily buying out Ciro’s Pizza to the 5-Star Parking Lot behind Stingaree being taken over by the cast of Machete and Jackass. Scott Pilgrim vs. Comic Con was a huge winner with their “Scott Pilgrim Experience,” where cast members of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World screen-printed t-shirts for eager fanboys and fangirls. Seriously, those t-shirts were super adorable! And who did not love the random ice-cream trucks going around passing out free Rocket-poppeteers and Ben & Jerry’s? If you were lucky enough (ahem, me) someone from Adult Swim handed you your ice cream. Seth Green was seen around, the voices of Aqua Teen Hunger Force handed me my tub of Strawberry Cheesecake. Yes, celebrities really do make a freebie that much better.

Lowlights:

Daft Punk Rumor

Word had been spreading like wildfire that Daft Punk was going to play a secret performance for Tron fans, and why wouldn’t they? Disney has been pumping up this movie for the past two years, and what better way to blow away minds than to have Daft Punk perform? They did, after all, provide tracks for the film. It was confirmed that Petco Park had been bought out for Saturday night, but no one knew exactly what for. A secret performance only seemed logical. Much to the disappointment of Tron and electronic music fans alike – nothing but silence could be heard. And so, another Daft Punk rumor comes and goes. But hey – Daft Punk was at Comic-Con... in toy form…

Ballroom 20 Line

While Hall H is known to be booming w/celebrities and massive lines, no one expected the insanity and disorganization of Ballroom 20. It was said that the line reached up to three miles long – all for the sake of sitting in on panels for TV favorites Dexter, Big Bang Theory, True Blood, Glee and more. Back in the olden golden days, fans would wait at most one hour to get into Ballroom 20 – sometimes not even that! This year, I sat in line for 15 minutes before realizing 1.) I’m late for everything & 2.) This is pointless. Time to go wait in another line!
Still not understanding the insanity of the Ballroom 20 line? One fan said she was in line for Big Bang Theory at 3am, along with about 50 other people!

Fan Stabbing

And perhaps the BIGGEST story of Comic-Con is the infamous pen stabbing. When word spread that a stabbing occurred at Hall H, Comic-Con goers and spectators alike gasped and wondered aloud “Who would do such a thing?! This is a family event!” But when more news bits were released, you could literally hear the tone drop as everyone uttered “Really?” Apparently there was a squabble over a seat within Hall H, and when needs were not met, a male clad in a Harry Potter shirt decided to take matters into his own hands… or pen I should say. And in came the horrible but “Har-Har” worthy puns “I think if Comic Con proved anything this year it was definitely that the pen is mightier than the sword!” You can thank @nickjfrost on Twitter for that one!

By: Eileen Blancas
PROTEST PHOTO By: Mark Yturralde
FAN PHOTO By: Chelsea Penyak