Comic-Con 2012: Costumes, Comics, and Goodbyes

Day four of San Diego Comic-Con is always entertaining. Though some people are only arriving for their first and only day at the convention, many attendees have been there since Wednesday or Thursday. Those ones are easy to spot. Their eyes are glazed; they walk with a zombie-like shuffle; and they look run down and defeated. Most of them are still trying to have fun, but I ran into more than a few folks that were just going through the motions.

I decided that despite my complete exhaustion, I would embrace the fun of the last day of the convention. I’m sad when it comes to a close, and I didn’t want to spend my last day letting weariness keep me from enjoyment.

I dressed up as Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. She’s a somewhat obscure character from DC Comics in the early 80s. I’ve only recently stumbled across the issues featuring her. However, she’s making a comeback in the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network. Only a handful of people recognized the character, but it’s so fun to play dress-up that I didn’t mind. Plus, I got to meet the co-creator of the character (Dan Mishkin), and he approved of the costume. That was enough to make my day.

My costume was comfortable enough to walk around in, which is not always the case, but I decided to change back to street clothes with just an hour and a half of the convention to go. (I wanted to get in last minute shopping, and it’s easier to dash around the crowded exhibit hall floor without worrying about your tiara falling off.) Sunday is known as one of the slower days of the convention but not this year. Near the middle of the exhibit hall, where many studios have giant displays and giveaways, it was just as impossible to move as it was on Saturday afternoon.

I raced to Small Press where independent publishers have books and stories you can’t find at your comic bookstore. I love to browse through the aisles and find new artists and authors to follow. I also visited Artists’ Alley for the same reason. It’s a great place to track down your favorite comic book artists and look for original pages or ask for commissions. (You have to do that early in the convention, though.)

I had 10 minutes left in the hall, and I felt like I was competing against time. Even with four days there, I didn’t see all the things I wanted to see. I made one final stop to look at Weta Workshop’s trolls and one final purchase from Gentle Giant and stumbled out of the exhibit hall. The bummed feeling of the convention ending sunk in right away. Until next time, San Diego!