San Diego Comic Con 2008

I was lucky enough to attend the fantastic San Diego Comic Con again this year, second year in a row, and what an event it was! On the 21st of July (two days before the Con started) I flew out on a very long 11 and a half hour straight flight into San Diego airport. After settling into my questionable hotel and having some dinner my colleague Becky and I went to see Dark Knight (a few days before the UK had their opening night). A stunning but extremely long film it was (I have to take into account how tired we were from the flight of course) but well worth the wait. The reviewers were right for a change and it was an epic achievement, made all the better by Heath Ledger's gripping performance (the same as everyone else has said but it's true).
The second day saw a bit of sunbathing, a trip to San Diego Zoo and some retail therapy in Downtown SD in the labyrinthine Horton Plaza shopping centre followed by Hellboy II in the cinema (which was a bit of a letdown for me and far too "jokey" compared to the first film). Wednesday was some more retail therapy and Wall-E at the cinema followed by Comic Con preview night. I tell you this now; it was sold out and pure chaos in it's purest incarnation. Thousands of uber-geeks screaming round the unfathomably huge Conference Centre like rabid dogs hunting the freebies and Con Exclusives littered around the hundreds of stands. I managed to fight my way through and spend a small fortune that night, and knew (down to my military planning I'm so famous for) where I was going and what I was looking for. I swear my arms are two inches longer from carrying home almost my own body weight is products that night...
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were a mix of short work meetings, long queues for guest talks, unlimited browsing, limited buying and fast-food eating. It was a long old week and so busy I could have seriously gone postal and killed a few rude overweight Americans (there were more than I expected and that's being VERY kind). I'd walked almost continually from 8:30am to 7pm every day and I was shattered every evening. I'm still suffering exhaustion even now!
Below are some pictures I put together to show you all what I bought and who I met in SD. It's not a complete list and especially when it comes to the famous people as it was difficult to snap some of the "passers by" when your jaw hits the ground and you mumble like a drunk caveman in awe. You may not recognise half the people in the second lot of images so I've given a list underneath to highlight who they are and how I saw/ met them. I actually took over 850 pictures during the time I was there so this is just a tiny amount of what I've got! Let it be known that I hate myself in pictures and some of these are cringe-worthy. One day I will learn to shave off my attempt at a goatee and suck in my gut...

Click on the pics for a larger version.

THE ITEMS I BOUGHT:


SOME OF THE PEOPLE I SAW AND MET:

Row by row from top left:

JOHN BARROWMAN (TORCHWOOD/ DR.WHO) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
CHYNA (WWE) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
RANDY COUTURE (UFC) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
SAM J JONES (FLASH GORDON HIMSELF!) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
GIRLS DRESSED AS TEELA AND EVIL LYNN (HE-MAN) ON MATTEL BOOTH
RICHARD HATCH (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA OLD AND NEW) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
THOMAS JANE (THE MIST/ THE PUNISHER) INTERVIEW NEAR STALL
NICOLE DE BOER (STAR TREK DS9) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
ERIN GRAY (BUCK ROGERS) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
SAMUEL L JACKSON (YOU KNOW THE MAN!) AFRO SAMURAI 2 TALK
AVERY BROOKS & CIRROC LOFTON (STAR TREK DS9) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
HOT GIRL DRESSED AS WONDER WOMAN!
COREY FELDMAN (GOONIES/ LOST BOYS) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
WHOLE CAST OF STARGATE SG-1 FOR CONTINUUM TALK
GIGI EDGELY (FARSCAPE) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
JULIET AUBREY & KARL THEOBOLD (PRIMEVAL) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN, CARLA GUGINO & JACKIE EARL HALEY (WATCHMEN)-AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
EDGAR WRIGHT, SIMON PEGG & JESSICA HYNES (SPACED) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
RICHARD DREYFUSS (JAWS/ CLOSE ENCOUNTERS) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
CLIFF SIMON (STARGATE SG-1) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
KEIFER SUTHERLAND (LOST BOYS/ 24) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
JONATHAN FRAKES & ROBERT PICARDO (STAR TREK) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
TRIUMPH THE HAND PUPPET DOG AND ROBERT SMIGEL (GOD KNOWS!)
SETH GREEN (AUSTIN POWERS/ ROBOT CHICKEN) BROWSING MATTEL
MATT GROENING (SIMPSONS/ FUTURAMA CREATOR) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
MIKE MIGNOLA (HELLBOY CREATOR) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
BRUCE TIMM (ANIMATED BATMAN/ JUSTICE LEAGUE CREATOR) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
TIFFANY TAYLOR (PLAYBOY MODEL) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
ME (JUST PLAIN OLD ME) AS A CYBERMAN ON OUR BBC AMERICA STAND
TIFFANY TAYLOR AGAIN
HOT GIRL DRESSED AS POWERGIRL!
LOU FERRIGNO (INCREDIBLE HULK-OLD SERIES) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
HOT GIRL IN MILITARY OUTFIT!
GIRL DRESSED AS LEIA IN HER GOLD BIKINI WITH JABBA STATUE


People that I saw or met that aren't pictured:

ROB VAN DAM (WWE) STANDING AROUND AT THE CON
LUKE GOSS (BROS/ BLADE II/ HELLBOY II) WALKED PAST ME
CARMEN ELECTRA (MODEL/ ACTRESS) WALKING BY
GARETH DAVID-LLOYD (TORCHWOOD) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
NAOKI MORI (TORCHWOOD) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
LEVAR BURTON (STAR TREK TNG) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
SETH MCFARLANE (CREATOR OF FAMILY GUY) AUTOGRAPH SIGNING

And loads more!