Comic-Con 2012: 'Watchmen' and 'Indiana Jones' Props and Costumes

Friday of San Diego Comic-Con has flown by in a blur. Though Thursday was certainly a busy day and plenty of panels were happening, the hammer didn’t seem to come down until Friday. By noon, it was a challenge to push through the crush of people roaming the exhibit hall. It seriously gets to the point where it's difficult to move.

It's all too easy to lose patience in the exhibit hall. A lot of Comic-Con is about trying to get from place to place as quickly as possible. You need to get to a certain booth for an exclusive; there's a signing in the autograph area or at a booth at a specific time; all the panels are on a schedule and the lines form hours in advance; you have to go pick up a commission from an artist; and countless other happenings.

That all really settles in on Friday and reaches its high point on Saturday. If you have to go anywhere in the exhibit hall, leave yourself plenty of time, and try to keep your cool. I did take the time to slow down and absorb some of the neatest displays and objects on the exhibit floor though!

Comic publishers, movie studios, and toy and collectible companies often pull out all the stops for their booths at the convention. It's worth attending the circus that is Comic-Con just to see them. Marvel Entertainment has a line up of different "Iron Man" suits of armor; DC Comics has costumes from the movie “Watchmen;” Lucasfilm has a live pit of snakes to celebrate the release of “Indiana Jones” on Blu-ray; and Weta Workshop takes the cake with life size trolls from “The Hobbit.” They also sculpted their booth to look like a cave, complete with fake moss.

Surprisingly, I didn't notice a ton of costumes today. Because of the “Firefly” panel I saw several Malcolm Reynolds (of both genders) and a handful of Kaylees. I spied Merida from “Brave” and Katniss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games.” Part of me really hopes that some ambitious cosplayers team up for an archery group cosplay for an upcoming convention. The masquerade is tomorrow night, and I know of at least two steampunk superhero groups that will be making their debut.