The San Diego Comicon is the biggest comic convention in the US. Many comic creators and fans attend this convention every year, almost as a ritual. Living in Italy, I had no chance of going there, and was resign at the idea that I would be reading about SCC, but never being there.
Fate was on my side in 1997 though. My family decided to visit friends and family in California, around July. I did not plan to go to San Diego, but I mentioned it to my mother. When we got there, my brother and I got the opportunity to spend one day in SCC, and I was very excited
Not having planned the trip, we had to queue to get tickets, and it was a long and hot time. But I was so excited that I wasn’t too bothered by it. At that time my english was not very good, especially speaking/listening. So what I was most interested in was getting hold of old comics that I could never find in Italy. And I did. I spent most of my time in the dealers area, looking for some very old back issues, or an obscure TPB from the 80′. I knew I would buy a lot of stuff, so I brought a backpack with me. Obviously it wasn’t enough…
I don’t exactly remember everything that I bought, but I do remember getting old John Byrne runs on Marvel series Namor, Alpha Flight, She-Hulk, at 25 cents each!! Yes, they were not in perfect condition, but I just wanted to read those stories.
I also saw many comics writer/artists: Claremont, Peter David, Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Warren Ellis, Jeff Smith etc… The queues to get signatures were too long, so I only went to a few (don’t remember which), but I was just glad to see them in person. I wouldn’t have been able to say much to them anyway.
After the initial rush in the dealers area and the publishers booth, I took a look at the panel schedule in search of something I could understand and enjoy (not to mention sit down and rest my poor legs and feet!). I tried some of the more popular ones, but I couldn’t get in. So I just went to a room where they were showing some anime (Tenchi Muyo if I remeber correctly). I just wanted to sit down, take a look a my puchases and rest a bit.
After a while I went back to the con floor, and wandered around looking at stuff. I lost sight of my brother as soon as we got in, and couldn’t find him at all for several hours afterwards, even though I knew we were both in the con floor (it just shows you how big that convention is, and how sore my feet were afterwards). I bumped into my bro not long before we left, but I think it was for the best. We were both free to look at things we were interested in, without having to wait for each other.
Even though my experience of SCC was different from anyone else’s, I had a blast there. I spent the next several months reading comics I bought there, which I would never have been able to buy in Italy.
I am now living in China, married and with a baby, so the probability of another visit to SCC are even slimmer, but if for some unexpected reason I ended up there again in my lifetime (maybe bringing my kids?), I would do it completely differently. I would first go to panels, trying to talk to people, queue for some sketches, and then going around dealers area during free time. But I am dreaming, I am never going there again…