San Diego Fever! - Comic Con 2015 Part.1

Its that time of year again... San Diego Comic Con. If you dont know what this is, let me give you the short of it. San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC or Comic con) is exactly what it sounds like. A comic book convention in San Diego. Yup.... it is that dorky. You will hear "comic con" for short and that can refer to any comic book convention around the world. However, San Diego is THE comic con. It is the biggest one every year and the one that everyone looks forward to.

SDCC is an annual convention and started sometime in the early 70's. It was a big dork fest. Comic book fans would come and gather for several days and trade and buy their favorite periodicals. The stereotype of the nerdy, basement dweller, who smelled and was woman adverse was largely true. These fans loved their comics and loved congregating with like minded fans. This was especially important in the pre-internet days because how else would you meet people who were fans of the same stuff you liked? The important take away here is that this used to be about the "love" of the medium and sharing in that fandom with one another.

My first SDCC comic con was in 1994. I remember it to this day. I went with my friend's family and they graciously took me along. I was 12 years old and maybe had $50 with me. We show up and my head literally wanted to explode. There was STUFF EVERYWHERE. Tons of free swag. Tons of people dressed up. Most importantly, everyone there was a fan of something and you were going to either find someone who liked what you did or someone that was going to introduce you to something new.

My fondest memory of that first time going was that while i only had so much cash, I had fun. I bought a couple of souvenirs and just had a blast walking around. Free posters, comics, etc, was amazing to someone on a limited budget. You could meet your favorite artist and get your comic signed. He might even draw you a sketch if time permitted. You could see all sort of fun knick knacks from around the world. All of those "rare" items you read about in magazines, you could see in person. Again... before the internet, conventions were a place where myths became true. Today, it is so easy to "google" an image or an article. But in the 90's, things did not exist unless you read it in a magazine or saw it person. This was the true beauty of SDCC and any convention... discovery of those things that you never knew existed. It started a love affair with San Diego that would continue on for years to come. I didn't know when I would be back, I just knew that I had to come back....

This is what the old logo used to look like:

I would not be back until 1999 and have not missed a year since... 

Until next time...