2016 was going to be THE year. The year that we were going to
‘jump the shark’ and get in line SO early that we could easily queue through the
WB line twice and possibly be in the front of the Fox line. This was the year we were going into get ALL
of the premier autographs. This year we
were going to rival the ‘Pros’ with our autograph haul.
This year, SDCC offered at LOT of bright shiny treasures for
the bold and adventurous. Cast signings
from Suicide Squad, Wonder Women, Luke Cage, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them, and a Deadpool DVD signed by Ryan Reynolds
With such a source of wealth, it was hard to keep
expectations low. We HAD to score 1 or
more of these highly sought after prizes. We flew into San Diego salivating and
hungry. We were already mentally framing
some of these posters on our walls.
My friends and I struck out on all counts. ComicCon chewed
us up and spit us out like soggy sunflower seeds with all of the salt sucked
off.
I’ve mentioned before that SDCC is an emotional
rollercoaster. Between my friends and I,
I like to think I’m the even keel one. I
try to roll with the punches. I try to remain positive and provide support. I try to keep in mind the successes and the
failures. I know that ComicCon is a marathon and as I get older, it’s tougher
to keep pace with the young ones. I have compensated in several ways to help me
reach my goals. I rarely attend panels. I
don’t spend time tracking down swag. I’ll actually sit to rest and have a ‘real’
lunch.
I must admit, this year, I was quickly disillusioned and actually
said ‘no mas’. By Friday morning, I announced
‘never again’ to my friends and wife.
While I learned that my shoes (covered with a towel borrowed
from the hotel) makes a decent pillow while I slept on the sidewalk, I also
learned that there were more than a 1000 people in front of me when I put my
weary head to rest on those worn loafers.
When we entered the WB line so far back that the ‘good stuff’
was already gone before we reached the end of the line, I realized we didn’t
jump the shark. In fact, we didn’t even
get close to jumping the shark. We might not have kept pace with last year. I lowered my head in defeat. I asked myself what
we needed to do to really jump the shark. I did not like that answer.
The rest of my SDCC weekend was tainted. I was exhausted and
defeated and lamenting the fact I was not coming back. I had some highlights
but I kept focusing on the failures instead of the successes.
Over the years, I have met a few people at ComicCon I see regularly.
Some of them I know their names and we have long chats. Others are nodding
acquaintances and we exchange a few words.
As I was ran into these people, I was saying good bye. I was mentally
divorcing myself from SDCC. When I got
home, I told my non-SDCC friends that it was time to move on.
As I was working on my blog and reliving the week through my
posts, I started to realize, the week wasn’t so bad. I had more successes than I remembered. While I did not score HUGE, I did have 3 very
memorable and very exciting encounters:
American Gods, Fear the Walking Dead, and the Trimbles and the Star Trek
Concordance.
So I have mentally moved from ‘no mas’ to ‘hmm, I wonder how
we can game plan this better next year’.
I can’t claim I will be disappointed if ComicCon rejects me and I don’t
get a badge but I won’t be disappointed if I do go.
Just a few more months before badges are on sale. I’m sure I’ll
be fully committed on attending by then.
AH
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