Comic Con, Anyone?

[on:]

Hello All,
Did anyone manage to make it to the International Comic Convention in San Diego?
I was, but, to make a l-o-o-n-g story short, I couldn't get there soon enough, or stay long enough, to get at any of the really good stuff.
But I do have a convention program the size of a college class-schedule!
...and a Futurama #14 comic for my trouble...
So did anyone else make it?
 

[Reply #1 on:]

futurama comic 14?! how is it? (byw i didnt make it)

edit: could you please make a scan of the cover

[Reply #2 on:]

Where to start... where to start...


I've been planning to go to comic-con ever since last year's con (which I also missed).  So there's been a lot of planning involved with this years con (which was today).

First off, about 8 people were going to be in my group (FrysGIRL's group), but one by one, the group started dying.  Nina couldn't make it to the con, and once you see what happened, she'll be glad she wasnt able to make it.  So anyway, the group is me, Randi (futurefreak), Ben (TLZK) and Randi's friendp Matt (Aclosetfan)...  Randi Ben and Matt are taking one car, and I'm being taken by my mom... Anyway, I stay up most of the night getting ready for the con (last night) and wake up at 6:40 to shower and get more things ready.  I rush this rush that and we finally leave at 8:30, a half hour behind schedule.

Fast forward an hour or so and it's 11:00 and I'm in HEAVEY HEAVEY traffic...  And the traffic just doesnt seem to end. Randi and the gang are ahead of us and already at the convention center, and I'm still about 20 minutes away and it's almost 12:00 (when Futurama starts).  Anyway, I get dropped off at the main entrance at comic-con while my mom finds parking.  It's already 12:25 and I've been missing the futurama panel, and I'm guessing everyone else is already at the panel (randi, ect ect)... So I try going upstairs where the tickets are sold, but get told to wait in the line outside... Which is about the time I nearly yelled out loud in horror... the line was huge, but only about 500 people... so I cut the line, and get yelled at by someone... so I cut the line by another 10 feet and get a cell call from randi... turns out, this is the last 20% of the line that I'm in, and they're in the other 80%, which goes back about a mile (yes, a mile line for tickets to get into comic con)... So I tell them to come up to the spot where I am, so we can all cut the line together... so I meet up with them, and we cut the line, and get yelled at very loudly by someone: "We've been waiting in this line for 2 hours, go to the END OF THE LINE"... So we move out of that, and I start bribing people in the line: "do you like futurama?" "no" "do you like simpsons?" "no"... next person:"wanna be my friend?" "no" "wanna be my friend for futurama or simpsons stuff?" "no"... By then, we give up.  it's already 12:45, and the futurama panel is already over basically.  And even if we were able to cut the line where we wanted to, we'd have to wait at least another hour just for the line inside comic-con.  So we screw the whole thing, and go eat at wendy's.  Later, we go to some mall like 10 minutes away. 


All in all, this was a horrible, horrible day.  On top of all this, we drove basically 6+ hours to do nothing... total waste of a day.  And it was DAMN HOT today too.  But we just couldnt wait in line for 3 hours, pay 125 dollars, just to see the bongo booth, cause thats basically all there would be for us to do.

[Reply #3 on:]

Clool, comic #14 sounds awesome from what I've heard      I wish I could have been there intead of being stuck in this crappy country.

Also, does anyone know if/what new Futurama ep aired at the comic con?  Actually, it's alright, I just found out it was 'Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV' 

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that Jon, what a disapointment.

[Reply #4 on:]

 

Originally posted by dr_Dean_in _Oz:
futurama comic 14?! how is it? (byw i didnt make it)

edit: could you please make a scan of the cover

itll be out in one week anyway

[Reply #5 on:]

Wow Jon, I feel so bad for you  .  That surely was an absolutely horrible time for you.  All that for nothing.  That's so terrible. 

[Reply #6 on:]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Jon, I, too was surprised at how much traffic there was everyday just getting to the dang show so I can sympathize with you in that respect. I, however, pre-registered so no standing in long lines to get in and get in I did. Hopefully I won't be making you feel guilty about not getting in to the show but Saturday was a big day for Futurama stuff.
Just before the Futurama panel there was a Justice League signing featuring Phil LaMarr (I missed that too because of traffic). An everyday occurance at the Bongo Comics booth was a raffle with some pretty nice prizes and that was held at 5pm on Saturday. Fox Animation Art in conjunction with Adult Swim held autograph sessions with Maurice LaMarche (by way of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Large), John DiMaggio and Billy West. Had you decided to come in you would have been able to go to those as each signed for at least an hour and none are very crowded at all. The only one you would not have made would have been Billy West as he pulled a no-show. This upset many of us who had been waiting patiently in line for him.
Other than that it was a good show. I am just heading out the door for the last day of festivities and should have a full report on all 4 days up at my website starting towards the end of this week. I will let you all know when I start getting that posted.
RM

[Reply #7 on:]

Damn. First, no Farscape announcement, and now Jon can't give us a Futurama report. This was the worst comicon ever.

[Reply #8 on:]

I hate everyone who went to this because I didn't, and the panelists.

[Reply #9 on:]

The Chicago Wizardworld is coming soon, and I'll be there.  I'll definitely be checking out the Bongo booth (if there is one -- I'm still not sure).  I'll give you guys a report or whatever you want, just ask.

[Reply #10 on:]

Just got the CGEF report on it uploaded: http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/Articles/ComicCon_2003/

Includes pictures, Q & A summary and 4ACV06 spoilers.

[Reply #11 on:]

Sounds like a great day (except for you Jon, bummer!). I'd love to have been there to see the "sabotage" impressions.

[Reply #12 on:]

My report on the first two days at Comic Con are now up with the final two days (as well as the all important third day) are to follow shortly. Possibly by the end of the week.
 http://members.cox.net/futurama2/SDCC2003a.html
RM

[Reply #13 on:]

Oooooh, that was so much fun to read, and the pictures were so cool!  I can't wait till you post days three and four!

[Reply #14 on:]

Bendo, nice read.  I enjoyed it.  But the html's for the two pages themselves are really screwy... You need text borders and to use thumbnails for the images (that and you cant click the images)

right now, you're using original images and using HTML tags to downsize them, that makes the page load really slow, and nearly crashed IE and opera for me.  I like downsizing images to about 100/100 or so and downsample them with compression to 70% using irfranview. 

Also, when you finish this report, I'll update CGEF and Collectorama linking to you.

[Reply #15 on:]

For the sake of getting the pages up in a timely manner I skipped over creating thumbnails of the included photos for the first go around. After I get all four days up I had intended to go back and do some tweaking of the pages. As part of that tweaking was to create thumbnails and link to the full size picture instead of resizing them within the page. Since it is causing you some problems (and I assume other people as well) I will probably go ahead and do that tonight and repost the pages. It will probably push the next update back another day or so but I would rather people be able to enjoy it rather than be frustrated by it.
I checked it out with both Netscape and IE before posting and I did not run into any problems so I figured it would be OK. Anyone else running into the same problems as bart182? In addition as I have mentioned before I am in no way a programming genius so I am sure many of my webpages come out screwy. OK, I am sure all of my pages come out screwy. 
Thanks for the input and be sure to check back on the second page as some of those photos are clickable to larger size images. Eventually they will all be clickable but like I said I really just wanted to get it posted in a timely manner.
RM

[Reply #16 on:]

I'm not sure how fixed the page is now, but when I viewed it, everything seemed fine. bart182's just bitter because he couldn't make it to the con. Now hurry up and get the rest of the sexy details up.

[Reply #17 on:]

Hm, I had absolutely no problems with the page whatsoever, and I use IE.  I can't tell you if it took too long to load, though, because I have cable internet.

[Reply #18 on:]

Day 3 is a go but still no panel transcript. That is still being worked on plus a few more pics from the panel. Day 4 to follow in the next day or so.
Just for the record I have not updated the previous two day pages so if you are having problems still let me know.
RM

[Reply #19 on:]

Your report really rules, it's so insightful, and the next best thing to actually being there. It's appreciated 

[Reply #20 on:]

Yeah, your account of the 4 day event ROCKS!  It's so descriptive that you even get a feel for the atmosphere at the Comic Con.

[Reply #21 on:]

 

Originally posted by dr_Dean_in _Oz:
futurama comic 14?! how is it? (byw i didnt make it)

edit: could you please make a scan of the cover

First, let me apologize for taking so long to answer your question: I've been bound and gagged for a few days, but [-mArc-] just corrected my PEEL access (Thanks [-mArc-]!)
Alas I have no access to a scanner, and posting such images infringes on certain laws. As, very shortly, Futurama comics will be the primary (read only) fresh Futurama around I don't want to do anything to step on Bongo Comic's toes. Besides, the issue has probably already hit the stands.

[Reply #22 on:]

I'd think the cover would be fine, just don't scan interior pages.

[Reply #23 on:]

There's a pic of the cover on Bendo's site anyway 

[Reply #24 on:]

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback. It has been really helpfull to know that it is beneficial for those who could not make it out to the event. Since all four days are now up I am going to take a little bit of a break. It has been a pretty hectic two weeks with the Con and getting all this stuff together for the website. The next big project is the transcript of the panel. I know many people are really looking forward to it so I will do my best to get it together in a timely manner. Plus, I have about 6-8 more photos just from that that I am looking forward to posting so be on the lookout for that.
Special thanks to Otis who always seems to give heaps of praise. It is appreciated my good man.
RM

[Reply #25 on:]

Cool!  I sure can't wait till you have the remaining Comic Con stuff up!  The thing I'm most looking forward to is indeed the transcript.  But the additional pictures will also be great.  Anyway, thanks for putting together the account of the 4 days so fast. 

[Reply #26 on:]

I attended this year. I sat third row back from the stage during the Futurama show(so I could see the episode on the screen) It was hillarious, much better than the Simpsons meeting. They aired a great ep that had not been seen yet. John Dimaggio (sp?) and Billy West were hillarious, I have pics, some better than others, I could send of hte panel? either way, it was really great. They basically just talked about how fox (jerks) has cancelled the show and they want to keep doing it but the only channels that air Futurama repeats, (TBS and Cartoon Network) don't have the cash to make Futurama. So that was sad. But the guys were funny and I met Matt Groening which was the best part of Con for me. Anyway, you did miss out, but maybe we'll get lucky, fox will change their minds and the guys will be back for a panel next year??

[Reply #27 on:]

I would kill to meet Matt Groening and company.  You have absolutely no idea how lucky you are.  Hey, could you post your pics online?  That'd be awesome if you did!