Last Comic-Con post, I mean it

I've been a bit waylaid by the infamous "Con Crud" - a sore throat and vague sinus troubles that are the inevitable result of cramming 100,000 people in a relatively small area and recirculating the air endlessly. But here are my thoughts, favorite things, and a few last pictures from this year's Con.

• Lots of good cosplayers this year. There seems to be much more variety in the costumes and that's a good thing. The point of this event should be to geek out about the things that are dear to you, not to dress up like something just because every other nerd will be doing it.
• Lines are never fun but at least in the lines I was in, people took things in stride, were cheerful and friendly. Karen and I had a nice chitchat with Deadpool Waldo (see my entry from a few days ago), talking about movies and TV, and introducing him to the Castle tie-in books. 
• Con is way too crowded. Seriously. There should be no reason for people to camp out all night to get into Hall H. I'd heard that unless you were there at 3 in the morning, there was no way to get into the hall, and that is just ridiculous. Unfortunately, I don't see SDCC cutting back on the crowds, because if you build it, they will come, and that means more profit.
• The upside of this is that maybe more people will check out smaller panels. Aside from our day of Ballroom 20 and Agents of SHIELD, we tended to stick with the medium-to-small events and had a great time. The Roger Rabbit anniversary panel gave good insight into the making of the movie and what an amazing technical achievement it was, and the Spike and Mike animation show was very entertaining. 
• Props once again go to Zachary Levi's Nerd HQ. This time the HQ took over a portion of Petco Park and I think it should stay there. Panels were held in a small, intimate location (only 250 seats) and rest of HQ was a pleasant getaway with comfy couches and video games aplenty. Best of all was the night-time showing of Serenity, out on the grass of Petco Park - just fans with their blankets out on the grass. Only way we could top that is to make it a pajama party. 

And now here are a last round of photos. Enjoy!

A prop from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea 

The gun used in publicity shots by Sean Connery as James Bond 

Nerd HQ in Petco Park gets ready for the evening showing of Serenity 

One of the best cosplays - Big Tall Headless Dude 

Inside Nerd HQ - a great place to relax for a while 

At Nerd HQ, lots of video games - you could choose from the latest ones or old school arcade games like Centipede and Galaga 

Alan Tudyk introduces Nathan Fillion's Nerd HQ panel. 

Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion at Nerd HQ (same for all the rest below)

 

Might get a few more pictures in from friends, but you can probably tell that it was a pretty good time!