A Geek Girl’s Musings on San Diego Comic Con 2010

July 30, 2010 - By Bryony Mackey

Lately I’ve seen a few articles aimed at women regarding SDCC. Let me just say that the word condescending does not even begin to cover them. It’s more than a little sad that in the year 2010 many people still swing that wide brush which paints any girls at a comic/sci-fi convention as just tagging along with a guy. It reminds me of when I showed up to an employee’s desk to fix a computer issue one time. He said ‘Oh, er, um…Are you like the ‘unofficial’ IT person? All the guys are busy right now?’ I was so taken aback all I could say at first was ‘Are you serious?’ (which was 100% more profanity-free and less violent than what ran through my head) Oh yes, he was completely serious. People really are amazed when they discover I read comic books, wanted a Death Star cake at my wedding, and that I prefer technology to people. So when I was asked to do a write-up on my time at Comic Con, I thought that maybe, just maybe I can convince at least one person that the mythical geek girl does exist. And doesn’t always dwell in her parent’s basement.

This was my second year at SDCC. Due to traumatic events post-SDCC 2009 and other assorted factors, I only purchased a Friday pass this year. Which let me tell you, one day will exhaust you. I guarantee it! One thing I stress to anyone going to a con, regardless if it’s Comic Con in San Diego, Dragon*Con in Atlanta, or Starfest in Denver, is do some planning! Plan, plan, plan! I had poured over the schedule as soon as it was released, deciding which panels I absolutely had to see. I entered all of the pertinent information into my trusty Google Calendar and ensured it was sync’d with my trusty Blackberry so I would know where I was every step of the way. I also toyed with the idea of dressing up because my husband had helped me build a truly shiny Dark Helmet costume for Halloween last year (Slave Leia’s EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT!). Then I remembered how hot the costume was, how hot Comic Con was, and how hard it was to see in that helmet. So civvies it was.

Luckily enough for me, all of my ‘must see’ panels were being held in Ballroom 20, one of the largest rooms at the San Diego Convention Center. I knew from my experience in 2009 what to expect line-wise. Therefore I was not surprised after registration when I rushed to join a mob that was behind the mob that was waiting behind the line to get in line for Ballroom 20. Basically, there’s a large terrace/balcony where they set up snaky chains to maximize the line. (I have the worst skills in judging distance, but I’m pretty sure if you straightened out the snakies in that line it would be about 232 miles long.) So my mob and I are all waiting to get outside and get in Snakyline 2010, when rumors start flying about the fire marshal being on his way and how they were going to kick us all out of that area! At one point a dude who looked reasonably in charge said he was going to take our mob around to another line location where we’d be in a real line to get into snakyline. About half the mob and I followed the reasonably-in-charge-looking-man until he took us down the escalator. I asked myself, “The line to get in line is downstairs?” Since I was pretty sure he was full of Sith-spit, I bailed on the half-mob, taking a quick tour through the vendor floor and making my way back up to Ballroom 20, where….

…there is a new mob! And now the Fire Marshal really is there, and they’re all trying to figure out what to do. So I think someone had some sort of epiphany and just opened the doors to let us all go get into snakyline 2010. Weird! The moral of that story is….that you should probably just stay put, wait it out, and hope good things happen.

Many rows back, BOO!

The first panel that morning was for Stargate Universe. I’ve always loved the Stargate movie, but I must confess that I never really got into the shows. I knew a lot of Stargate SG-1 groups that made the con circuit in Denver. They’re nice people. Surprisingly, the panel did pique my interest, and SGU is now on my ‘to watch’ list. Ming Na, in particular, was very personable.

Moved up a few rows, WHOO!

Next up was Caprica. I loved-loved-loved-loved Battlestar Galactica in a completely unhealthy fashion, so I was a bit apprehensive when I heard plans for a prequel named Caprica. Luckily, Caprica delivers. It’s dramatic and gritty and intense and oh-so-different from BSG, being set 58 years in the past. The Caprica panel featured Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone), Sasha Roiz (Sam Adama), Ronald D. Moore (co-creator/executive producer), David Eick (executive producer), Magda Apanowicz (Lacy Rand) and was moderated by Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times. The cast had a fairly good rapport with one another which is always nice to see. My favorite parts of this panel had to be listening to Ron Moore speak. He’s an infinitely fascinating man and he and David Eick seem to have a very comfortable relationship, which I think translates into a great show.

Moved up about 15 rows, WHOO!

The Big Bang Theory was next, and it seemed that most people had sat through the first two panels just for this. (No one was stabbed for it, luckily) Con workers were making some adjustments on stage as they do, when we noticed there were instruments being tuned on stage. Instruments? I’m pretty sure Johnny Galecki really does play some large stringed instrument (Shockingly I was not a music major) but there was a…accordion? So my row-mates and I started to extrapolate on what that could possibly mean! An accordion? That’s crazy! A few moments later some paper came down the rows and we found ourselves looking at lyrics to TBBT’s theme song! Yay, a sing-along! A short time later, Wil Wheaton comes onstage and informs us that we will be having a sing-along…with THE BARENAKED LADIES!!! The crowd goes totally nuts. That was a really nice treat to give the fans, and they sounded fantastic!! This panel had Chuck Lorre (Creator/producer) and Bill Prady (Creator/producer), as well as series stars Johnny Galecki (Leonard), Jim Parsons (Sheldon), Kaley Cuoco (Penny), Simon Helberg (Howard), and Kunal Nayyar (Raj). The best parts of this panel had to be Chuck Lorre busting Wil Wheaton’s…chops. Chuck is a funny, funny man. Another funny one is Simon Helberg who cracked joke after joke, proving that he’s completely hysterical. It is always a bit disappointing when you realize that the actors are not even close to being geeks themselves, but such is life.

Moved up a couple more rows, YAY!

After Big Bang was the Bones panel. I actually sat through that panel in 2009 while waiting for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse panel. I remember being really surprised that Bones had a panel at SDCC. I watch it occasionally and enjoy it, but don’t really keep up with it. Hart Hanson (creator/producer), David Boreanaz (Seeley Booth), and Emily Deschanel (Temperance Brennan) were all on hand for this panel which was moderated by some TV Guide Bones fan guy who moderated last year. I found him annoyingly smiley. Kathy Reichs, the author of the Bones books was a surprise guest, and everyone who attended got a copy of her new book, 206 Bones. (Haven’t read it yet.) This panel was alright. I got the distinct feeling that David and Emily do not particularly like each other. They were smiling and ‘joking’ but it was almost as if they were trying to annoy each other, a bit like the way I imagine newscasters who hate each other act.

Moved up to the FRONT ROW!!!!

(But no yay, because I was on the complete right-hand side. Bad move on my part. *Sadface*)

So now, the panel I was waiting for had finally begun…The Joss Whedon Experience!! I love Joss. I love anything that man has his hands in. Astonishing X-Men is my favorite comic series. I read the Buffy, Runaway Kids, Angel and Fray comics. I love all of his shows, and it really is awesome to hear him talk. Unfortunately, people tend to *always* ask him the same questions, it seems. “Why do you like strong female characters?” etc, but I try not to let that bother me. About halfway through, I noticed some people walk out from behind stage (remember, I’m on the faaaaaaaaaar right, by the wall and the stage entrance). And with regard to one of the guys, I thought to myself, “Nice disguise, dude.” The guy was wearing a white (golf?) hat, a big black mustache and sunglasses. Well I forgot about him until someone went up to the mic and asked, “Who’s your favorite actor?” Joss didn’t even hesitate and said, “Nathan Fillion.” The crowd went nuts, and Joss says, “No, you don’t understand (*points at the guy on the mic*), it’s Nathan Fillion.” It was, indeed, Nathan out there which was both awesome and a lot of fun.

Hitting the vendor floor for some shopping action

I really very much wanted to stay for the Entertainment Weekly: Girls Who Kick Ass: A New Generation of Heroines because it was so up my alley. There’s nothing I absolutely love quite as much as when women are not portrayed as stereotypical ‘women’. However I knew I had shopping to do, and the vendor floor is entirely unforgiving and HUGE. Also I had been sitting in that Ballroom for about 6 hours, and some people at SDCC have questionable hygiene. And someone was…excuse the details…passing gas. You know who you are, and I’m here to inform you there is a special place in Hades for you, right alongside the people who talk in the theatre and bring babies to Comic Con. (Yes, there are people who seriously brought babies.)

So I decided to make my way down to the vendor floor to check out all the goodies. Now, it seemed that many booths were in the exact same place as last year. I know a few of them moved, but for the most part a lot of the displays were the same which was mildly disappointing. Hasbro seemed to have a larger presence and brought a real-pony-sized My Little Pony (it was huge awesomeness), as well as a gynormous statue of He-Man! Which I totally squealed at because I loved He-Man and She-Ra. I think that’s where most of my kick-assedness comes from. She-Ra kicked tons!! My little-girl memories show me a woman who carried a blade and beat people up. My hero. One exciting point on the floor was was when I saw Misha Collins (Castiel from Supernatural) being interviewed on the second floor of the WB booth. We made eye contact and totally had a moment. (Not really.) He’s totally adorable and a very tiny man, in real life.

I made my purchases of a Darth Vader belt (a belt with him on it, not like his belt with all the buttons. I already have that belt), a Rebel Alliance (actually it’s the Alliance to Restore the Republic) symbol buckle, an angry grizzly shirt from artist Ben Walker (highly recommend his stuff if you share my sense of humor. There may not be much that’s more awesome than a bear with guns.), a super soft Star Wars T from Her Universe (amazing shirt!), my 4-day Comic Con pass for next year, and finally a skull and crossbones from my favorite Goth booth there. After that I was feeling pretty exhausted and crowd-weary, so I made my way to Jolt’n’Joes for the GeekGirls Tweet-up.

The GeekGirls Tweet-up

The Tweet-Up was a lot of fun. I actually met (in person) a lot of Twitter friends there which was very cool. Grant and Kari from Mythbusters showed up and were both super nice people, who were very gracious to everyone. However, it was incredibly hard to get an adult beverage, which was less than thrilling.

All good Comic Cons must come to an end

Finally, loaded down with my loot, I made my way to the Santa Fe Train Depot where I apparently missed the train back to Cardiff, despite having arrived 10 minutes before its scheduled departure time. I had to call my non-geeky husband to come pick me up before I had to trade my Star Wars shirt to a hobo for sidewalk space.

I already can’t wait for next year’s SDCC, and in case you’re still wondering what it’s all about…

Most of us are not surrounded at all times by people who share our geeky passions. My husband good-naturedly tolerates mine and finds my obsession with most of it endearing, rather than frightening. I generally tend to scare people when they find out I have a Lord of the Rings tattoo or that I know Hermione’s birthday and read Star Wars books. Comic Con may be noisy. It may be crowded. And some people may be smelly. It is, though, a place where we’re not weird. It’s a place you may catch snatches of a conversation being held in Klingon, and it’s not considered out of the ordinary. It’s a place where I could wear my ‘Hentai Inside’ shirt, and people laugh and say, “Nice shirt,” instead of “huh?” Why? It’s because, at Comic Con, you are hanging out with 125,000 people who “get it”. And, as surprising as it may seem, a lot of those who “get it,” like me, are girls.

Oh, because I’m sure you’re all wondering, I did not win the battle to have a Death Star cake at my wedding, although my husband and I did compromise. I made a custom cake-topper with R2-D2’s (they lit up and had sound-effects!), Padme and Anakin.