SDCC 2012: To All the Ghouls I’ve Loved Before

San Diego Comic-Con is unquestioningly one of the largest pop culture events held in the United States. Over 130,000 Zombies, Super Heroes, Soldiers, Aliens, Ponies, Knights, Starship Captains, and Geeks of all ages descended upon the San Diego Convention Center with a single directive – to celebrate their fandom (Well, and to get blasted at the after-hours parties). Never one to be left out in the cold, we sent our own pop-culture Princess into the belly of the beast to bring you the very best from this year’s event. Here’s what she saw…

Super Hero Hijinx
The Supes continued to rule the school this year with Marvel Comics reigning supreme in Hall H. Robert Yeah-I’m-wearing-the-iron-man-glove Jr. was there. We were inundated with new info and footage about Iron Man 3 and we caught passing whispers about Rocket Raccoon and were told Ant Man will be kicking ass at any size. Not to be outdone, DC made sure we saw The Man of Steel take flight and Judge Dredd pronounce sentence. Much to our delight, a giant footprint heralded the arrival of Guillermo del Toro’s giant robot spectacle Pacific Rim!

There was much love for Joss Whedon, the “real” First Avenger. The man who helmed the largest superhero movie this century also hosted the most sentimental Q&A as he talked about Firefly’s 10-Year Reunion and the show’s rabid fans and science fiction legacy.

Small Screen Dreams Big
Now, while we kept looking for the comics we heard were somewhere in San Diego, we couldn’t help but enjoy the other huge Comic-Con presence this year – Television Awesomeness! Staff favorite The Walking Dead had much more than a shambling presence at this year’s event. In fact, to hear Risa tell it, it you couldn’t swing a Horga’hn without hitting a zombie… and don’t even try to grab your peanuts and Cracker Jacks because the whole of PETCO Park was swarming with undead!

That’s right, The Walking Dead Escape let you assume the role of a Survivor or a Zombie (and a spectator if you didn’t have the stomach for survival). They say dead men tell no tales, but if you have been tuning into www.trekradio.net then you know that we do… and we just could not say enough about the epicness of living out our deepest zombie survival fantasies. And did we mention you got to chain up and get your picture taken as one of Michonne’s Pets!? Oh, and the Governor, the prison, and Woodbury! WOODBURY! WOOOOODDBUUURRRRRRY!

Game of Thrones, you may know it as that little mom-and-pop show on the Home Box Office Network, seemed to be the bell of the ball and had a strong showing at their panel as the cast of thousands expanded beyond scorecard capacity!

Where the Fun Is
Apparently you didn’t even need a ticket to enjoy SDCC this year as the Gaslamp District became the unofficial Nerd Mecca with its cyclpoian eye firmly affixed to Nerd HQ, 15,000 square feet of warehouse space with panel rooms, signing tables, lounges, bars (Risa’s favorites), several dozen Xbox 360s, and a main room where the real fun took place.

The Hilton San Diego had an extreme makeover courtesy of Disney and HGTV as Frankenweenie’s Electrifying Garden took shape on the lawn. It was a surreal black and white experience that brought out the inner giddy in all Tim Burton fans.

We witnessed a gorgeous Art Exhibit at Michael J Wolf’s Fine Art Gallery, featuring Comic Book Villains and Heroes. Filled with authentic drawings, paintings and more, it was a MUST-SEE Exhibit. It was also part of a super cool charity project. Wecanbeheros.com/DarknessAndLight. DC Comics artist, Alex Ross had work displayed at the Chuck Jones Gallery that showed just how the line art becomes the painting.

And don’t forget the fun at the Roddenberry party at Club Fluxx! No detail went overlooked, and even the statuettes were dressed in Star Trek shirts. Now, while the details may be blurry (a sign of a great party) we do remember the fun, friends, and micro-skimpy outfits!

by Risa Suraya