Best thing I saw: it's a three-way tie between Ponyo, Tron: Legacy, and Kick-Ass.
Surrealest moment: having a dude dressed in some kind of mechwarrior armor blow past me while I was in line for Iron Man 2, and realizing that the dude was Jimmy Fallon
Best-dressed: I want to say it was the flock of Monarch's henchmen from Venture Brothers. Or the massive steampunk presence, awesome both in every particular case and in aggregate. Or the many, many hopelessly sexy fangirls swanning around getting their cosplay on. But I have to give it up for Hayao Miyazaki. The man can rock a white suit.
Purchase I regret not making: an uncolored production proof of a page from an old Defenders comic
Purchases I don't regret making: the rest of the Penny Arcade books I didn't have, plus a giant Japanese pink octopus.
Best things I missed: Where do I start? Comic-Con is so overscheduled, it's more about missing stuff than seeing stuff. District 9, Avatar, and Iron Man 2 (much of the press got shut out due to a SNAFU). Plus MC Frontalot's show on Saturday night.
Best line: It was in Kick-Ass:
Kick-Ass: How do I get ahold of you?
Hit-Girl [she's 10]: Just contact the mayor's office. He has a signal that shines a light in the sky. It's in the shape of a giant c___. [This was followed by a standing ovation.]
Worst meme: Free hugs.
Most painful irony: By winning, nerd culture has lost. When I was a kid the fact that comics and games and fantasy and whatever were awesome was a secret, and people gave me a hard time about it. Now suddenly everyone's all, hey, no, this stuff is great, Iron Man, woo! Which means instead of being our little secret, now it's all about big corporations selling nerd culture to as many Joe Douchebags as it can pack into the multiplex. And where am I in that transaction? I don't want to be anywhere near it.
Best sign: There was a guy crashed out on the carpet on Sunday afternoon. Before he passed out he had managed to scrawl on a piece of cardboard: TWILIGHT RUINED COMIC-CON.
Coolest, non-corporate over-run entity which your readership continues to encourage you to see, yet which you continue to be ambivalent about to your own nerdly detriment: Oh, f*ck it. At some point trying to convince you that cool things actually are cool is exactly as pointless as trying to enjoy nerd-dom at an event controlled by studios and douchebags.
anon76
Jul. 27, 2009 02:16:am
at 02:16:am
Nerd-dom will never be the same...
ipisking
Jul. 27, 2009 06:52:am
at 06:52:am
Did you go to the Diamond Select Toys party? Looked like fun.
Church
Jul. 27, 2009 09:37:am
at 09:37:am
If you would have stayed home and watched BSG DVD sets over the weekend, you could have reflected on the Emmy snubs and how a certain blogger covering geek culture in a major magazine continues to refuse to watch and comment. Then you would have felt like the outsider with awesome secrets all over again.....
Kemper
Jul. 27, 2009 09:43:am
at 09:43:am
You realize, right, that whereas there was a point in time, in the past, when I might one day have gotten around to BSG, now there is _no_way_ I can ever watch it? It's part of the brand now.
Lev Grossman
Jul. 27, 2009 09:50:am
at 09:50:am
Um, Lev, does that include the BSG prequel, Caprica, mashups, and the original series? What about BSG fan fiction? Can you clarify, please? After you're chlonopin kicks in?
byron12
Jul. 27, 2009 10:29:am
at 10:29:am
Part of the brand? Like "Nerd World - Proudly Ignoring Battlestar Galactica Since 2003!"
Kemper
Jul. 27, 2009 11:11:am
at 11:11:am
Wanted to give you props for not caving on BSG. Yeah you should do it, but it's about the principle now. I for my part am never joining facebook. It's just not going to happen.
tyrantking
Jul. 27, 2009 15:33:pm
at 15:33:pm
[...] Us Around the Web: CollectionDX MaximumPC Frakking TIME MAGAZINE [...]
Henching at San Diego Comic-Con 2009
Jul. 27, 2009 16:13:pm
at 16:13:pm
Psst - Lev - the secret to not watching BSG? Have a Greek mother-in-law who loves the show and watches it religiously... Thus showing you that you actually aren't the target demo... Then happen to be in the room when all the secrets are revealed in the last episode or so. See, I know who's a Cylon, what happened to Earth, etc. Now if I watch the series, I already know all the secrets, so I'll end up getting frustrated by how much they were just making it up as they went along. Far better as a an unseen mystery.
dennitzio
Jul. 27, 2009 16:25:pm
at 16:25:pm
You have your brand, and we have ours....
Church
Jul. 27, 2009 19:35:pm
at 19:35:pm
But part of the brand is also being forced by your employer to endure the monstrosity that comic con has become. Your brand's pleasure-to-pain ratio is in serious misalignment.
As a doctor I prescribe some BSG watching- see if that helps.
anon76
Jul. 27, 2009 20:13:pm
at 20:13:pm
I was forced to join facebook, but I can still one-up you: I do not own, and have never owned, a cellphone. Suck it, modern world!
anon76
Jul. 27, 2009 20:15:pm
at 20:15:pm
[...] via The Best of San Diego Comic-Con, and Goodbye to All That – Nerd World – TIME.com. [...]
Changing Places » Blog Archive » The Best of San Diego Comic-Con, and Goodbye to All That
Jul. 28, 2009 12:43:pm
at 12:43:pm
And I thought I was the only one not to have a cell phone.
tereglith
Jul. 28, 2009 15:17:pm
at 15:17:pm