“… And that was the last we heard from Tom — until now….”

Man, yesterday was a marathon. 

3:45 a.m. ET:  Up and about, 15 minutes before the alarm.  Getting ready to leave for the airport (45 minutes away), I listen to the NPR station’s BBC broadcast.  I do time-zone math in my head.  In San Diego, Conan O’Brien is still on.

5:00 a.m. ET:  No problems at the airport.  I’m not checking baggage, and the TSA only has a slight interest in my toothbrush’s charger.  I take the airline’s offer of an upgrade to business class.  I won’t regret it.

8:45 a.m. ET:  Waiting to change planes in Atlanta, I ask whether there’s a meal on the flight to San Diego.  There isn’t.  The flight leaves at 9:30, so I don’t have a lot of time to stand in line (this will prove ironic later) and get a couple of muffins and an orange juice. 

9:30 a.m. ET - 11:00 a.m. PT:  I read the bulk of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the plane.  I’m not alone.  I resist the urge to ask the others if they’re going to Comic-Con.  As the plane touches down in San Diego, Harry’s in “King’s Cross” — a crucial part of the ending!  Slow down, plane, slow down!

11:25 a.m. PT (2:25 ET):  I share a shuttle with an older San Diego resident who’s just gotten in from Michigan.  The driver says she doesn’t want to go anywhere near downtown, because of Comic-Con.  “They’re expecting 150,000 people,” the driver says.  My fellow passenger is a bit surprised by this.  I try to think of a good cover story.

12:20 p.m. PT (3:20 ET):  Lunch with the Parkins.  I’m too late for the DC Countdown panel.   I’m not too hungry, but I don’t know when I’ll have the chance to eat again.

1:10 p.m. PT (4:10 ET):  I get in line for the Paramount panel in Hall H at 1:30.  It starts inside and goes outside, snaking around the building and turning back on itself.  It’s very long.

1:20 p.m. PT (4:20 ET):  Turns out it’s not the line for Hall H, just the line to get out of the building.  The line for Hall H is much longer.

1:45 p.m. PT (4:45 ET):  Making good progress in line, but clearly the panel has already started.  A couple of loud stragglers, looking for the end of the line, yell in faux-bravado, “We’re going to get in!  Yeah!!”  I think to myself, I’m not too tired to hurt you.

2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 ET):  The Paramount panel is closed.  JK is covering the Darwyn Cooke panel at 2:30, so I decide to find him.

2:10 p.m. PT (5:10 ET):  First in line for the Darwyn Cooke panel!  And yes, there is a line — in 10 minutes, about 40 people have queued up.  If nothing else, Comic-Con attendees queue up well. 

2:20 p.m. PT (5:20 ET):  Turns out you can just walk into the previous panel, the Matt Wagner spotlight.  I am an idiot.

2:30 - 3:30 p.m. PT (5:30 - 6:30 ET):  I would ask Cooke about what happened to the Flash arc which was supposed to follow Geoff Johns’ run, but he doesn’t seem in a mood to talk about superheroes. 

3:45 - 4:30 p.m. PT (6:45 - 7:30 ET):  Finally get down to the convention floor.  I meet Bully and his best friend John, both of whom are great guys — uh, a great guy and a great little stuffed bull — in person.  Bully’s wearing his Starfleet command-gold uniform!  I also introduce myself to Gail Simone, Dwayne McDuffie, and Alex Segura Jr. at the DC booth, and run into Tim Leong there too.

4:45 p.m. PT (7:45 ET):  I find the end of the line for the Lost panel, in the other big hall, Ballroom 20. 

5:25 p.m. PT (8:25 ET):  The Lost panel fills up 20 feet from Ballroom 20’s doors.

5:30 p.m. PT (8:30 ET):  Ducking into the Marvel panel, in order to wait for the DC Groups panel which follows, I hear a questioner mention her comic shop in Santa Barbara.  It’s the famous Carla Hewitt! 

6:00 - 7:00 p.m. PT (9:00 - 10:00 ET):  Carla sticks around for the DC Groups panel.  I ask a couple of questions — is Batman the Oracle of the new Outsiders; and how was the return of Ice divvied up between Birds of Prey and Checkmate?  (Answer to the second:  the return of Ice was a plot point for BOP, but the reunion was a better fit for Checkmate.)

7:20 p.m. PT (10:20 ET):  Off to the end of the line for the second showing of Superman Doomsday.  That’s right — an hour ahead of time, the 8:30 showing was full.

8:15 p.m. PT (11:15 ET):  Or … maybe not!  I guess there were more chairs in Ballroom 20 than previously thought.  I’m in for the 8:30 showing, which is a very good thing.

10:45 p.m. PT (1:15 a.m. ET):  Leaving the convention center after the panel and the New Frontier preview and — here’s the longest freight train in the world.

11:05 p.m. PT (2:05 a.m. ET):  Back in the room, ready to write the Doomsday review, and I can’t get the wi-fi to work with my handheld.  Luckily, the hotel has a couple of public computers.  Unluckily, they’re both right under the public TV, which blares out Lindsay Lohan news. I haven’t had any food since the Subway at lunch, and not being a coffee drinker, I get a Coke for the caffeine.

1:05 a.m. PT (4:05 a.m. ET):  Finally finished with the review, I wonder whether I should read the last few chapters of Deathly Hallows right away, or wait ’til morning.  Too tired to read, I go to sleep.

Well, maybe not 24 1/2 hours after all, but that was my Thursday.  Today at the show I’ll be wearing the T-shirt that says “I Would Kill Everyone In This Room For A Glass Of Sweet, Sweet Beer.”  At Comic-Con, that’s saying a lot.

 

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2007 at 11:02 am and is filed under Conventions, DC Comics, Fandom, Grumpy Old Fan, Pop Culture, Version 1.0 Blog@. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.