By the time you see this comic, the conclusion to my five part series of SDCC predictions, the con will technically be over. I will likely be more cognizant and in good health than my illustrated adventures would suggest, but only just barely. I had a revelation about San Diego Comic-Con this year. In the years, […]]]>
By the time you see this comic, the conclusion to my five part series of SDCC predictions, the con will technically be over. I will likely be more cognizant and in good health than my illustrated adventures would suggest, but only just barely. I had a revelation about San Diego Comic-Con this year. In the years, months and weeks leading up to the show I posted some rather negative thoughts about the SDCC exhibitor experience. It’s too big, too poorly organized, too expensive, too not focused on comics… etc, etc. These things are all still true, but most of them are true (in some way) of most North American conventions. I finally realized that there are two contributing factors that make SDCC seem like such a monster by comparison. They are A) The 2 extra days and B) the 100,000 extra people.
Let me explain. Regarding A), most comic conventions are 3 days long, Friday through Sunday. Anime conventions are usually 4 days, but you can easily skip the first day as most anime kids are in school on Thursday. You can also skip the next day as well as the two following days, because most anime conventions are macabre pits of despair and torment. San Diego, on the other hand, is 5 days. 5 ACTUAL days. The show starts properly on Wednesday and there are 10’s of thousands of people there on Wednesday ready to go go go! That means you really need to be there on Tuesday to set up, if not first thing Wednesday morning. Even then, you still might be flying in on Tuesday and either way you’ve committed almost a solid week to this show. This is all compounded by the fact that due to its size and scope, one day at SDCC feels like 4 at any other show. By the time you crawl out of the airplane and back into your own bed, you’ve lost the mental, and emotional equivalent of at least a year. When you break it down, no 1 day of SDCC is that draining or even unpleasant at all. It’s the week that you lose that makes it feel that way.
Concerning B), there is no other comic type convention in the world where 100,000+ people attend the show (ie are walking around on the show floor), and an ADDITIONAL 100,000ish people are just IN SAN DIEGO for some reason. I mean people that don’t have show floor badges, but are still in town for parties, panels, offsite events and shmoozing. This means any time you try to pop outside for a quick lunch, you are immediately sucked up in a veritable sharknado of human beings. A humnado, if you will. The noise and congestion and chaos created by all of these additional bodies makes the streets outside of the convention extremely unwelcoming and tumultuous, especially if you aren’t a huge fan of crowds.
Add to both of these factors that the hotel lottery for SDCC is a fucking nightmare, and the airlines jack up their prices for all San Diego flights for that week and you’ve got a really fantastic, amazing, extremely special event that ends up feeling like a life-sucking, anarchistic struggle for survival. It really isn’t that, though. It’s the former. It’s quite the spectacle and something of a Mecca for geeks, nerds, fans and fun-havers. I’m going to strive to remind myself how lucky I am to get to do things like San Diego Comic-Con for MY ACTUAL JOB, and complain less about the minor inconveniences. I’m also going to stop suggesting people, fans and exhibitors alike, stay away from the show at all cost. It’s a worthy pilgrimage. Even if you only make it once, you should probably make it.
My friend Lar said (repeating something he’d heard during the con), “SDCC is like mowing your front lawn. If you enjoy it, you’re weird, but if you don’t do it for awhile people start to worry about you.” That’s incredibly right, but I am going to try and be more like the weird guy that enjoys it, instead of the guy I am now who probably wishes he could ignore it and make it go away. That said, please don’t hold me to any of this come late June next year.
When this week is over, would anyone be interested in a poster/print of all 5 days on one page?
COMMENTERS: What event/time of year do you both love and dread?
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While I’m at SDCC, I’m posting predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being. Outlook = Probably found in a ditch. Where am I? Only the wind knows. Also I bet gender-bent Jon Snow, despite knowing nothing Jon Snow, knows. […]]]>
While I’m at SDCC, I’m posting predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being. Outlook = Probably found in a ditch.
Where am I? Only the wind knows. Also I bet gender-bent Jon Snow, despite knowing nothing Jon Snow, knows. She was around the booth a bunch earlier and seemed to have a cache of Dragon Glass under her pelt cape. As everyone who’s studied cartoonist lore knows, Dragon Glass is one of the only things that can kill us, along with bullets packed with soil/rocks from the town of our birth and entitled reader comments.
Truth be told, I am having an amazing SDCC experience. I’m spending time with some of my very favorite human beings and I’ll definitely be coming away with a few new favorites to add to the list.
When this week is over, would anyone be interested in a poster/print of all 5 days on one page?
Coming to SDCC? Come see me at the Blind Ferret Booth (#1231) in the Webcomics area. I will have books and shirts, sketches, Lil’ Wil plushies and ??????THE MYSTERY BOX??????!!!! Speaking of books, if you buy HijiNKS ENSUE Vol’s 1 or 2 you’ll get a free mini print featuring my Sharknado sequel posters! More info HERE.
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WongBal · 100 weeks ago
Glad you’re having a good time, Joel! Will we get more of your kickass photo comics once you get home?
Dan · 100 weeks ago
Dear gods but I want Sadburry Eggs to be a real thing…They extremely are a real thing. I invented them in Seattle last year and there is video evidence.An image of all five days on one page would be cool. So would a picture of the 10th Doctor riding a T. rex, fighting Skeletor in a Sailor Moon outfit. Just sayin’…I read this in Hunter S Thompson’s voice from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Laughed my balls off.
lou · 100 weeks ago
Every time I read something by Hunter S. Thompson, I hear it in the voice of General Hunter Gathers from the Venture Brothers.I’m confused … which one of them is wearing the Sailor Moon costume?
Caitlin · 100 weeks ago
I think Skeletor, but I prefer the visual of the t-rex wearing it.Trevor · 99 weeks ago
Is it wrong that I now WANT to see the 10th Doctor riding a T-Rex? That sounds awesome!lou · 99 weeks ago
Joel, we can’t find you. Come in, Joel. Joel? Joel! JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLL!!!->Continue or Exit
MrPlow99 · 99 weeks ago
Anyone else love the fact that the Sunday comic hasn’t been posted yet? It’s seems perfect for the character arc.
Rich Hendricks · 99 weeks ago
I shall demand a picture of a T-Rex riding The Doctor for my next signed copy.
Roborat · 99 weeks ago
Okay, for the next year, everybody ask him for this picture.
Dave · 99 weeks ago
…and Joel was never heard from again.lou · 99 weeks ago
Wow, he’s really sticking to it; he didn’t post a Day 5 strip yet!Should we expect a “man found wandering the streets of San Diego under the influence of some mysterious substance”?__More importantly, should we start a collection to help with your bail money or do you already have that budgetted into your con budget?
Dave · 99 weeks ago
This is pretty fitting. Seems every time I came by at the Con he wasn’t there. Oh well. I bought a print from his daughter (no new books) anyway… but you missed out on your Starbucks Joel!You bought that print one morning when I wasn’t able to get a cab to take me to the show. I was staying 20ish miles away and no cab companies would actually send anyone to pick me. This happened more than once that week.Dave · 99 weeks ago
I came by another time when you were at lunch too. No worries though, I’m not complaining. Dude’s gotta eat, and lord knows that’s tough to do at the Con. I’ve shaken your hand before. I go to the con to support the artists. I don’t HAVE to see you to do that and even buying from someone else at the booth still feels more personal than the online store.
While I’m at SDCC, I’m posting predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being. Outlook = Not So Good. Well that escalated quickly. Despite only being the 2nd real real day of the convention proper, Friday is usually my 3 rd […]]]>
While I’m at SDCC, I’m posting predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being. Outlook = Not So Good.
Well that escalated quickly. Despite only being the 2nd real real day of the convention proper, Friday is usually my 3 rd or 4th consecutive day with no sleep (after 2-3 weeks with little to no sleep), and marks at least a few days of eating like a garbage monster. It’s also begins mere hours after the closing of the largest party I attend each year, w00tstock.
Despite writing this days before the actual event, I can assure with 100% future-man-from-the-past certainty that this years w00tstock was the greatest, the geekiest and the most ridiculously fantastical melding of all of the things I love, all happening in one place, which is a place full of people super excited about loving the same things I do in the same way I do. How do I know this? Because it always is. Every year always tops every previous year. Eventually, in order to top itself, w00tstock will have to be a theater full of blow job robots that fart money.
Coming to SDCC? Come see me at the Blind Ferret Booth (#1231) in the Webcomics area. I will have books and shirts, sketches, Lil’ Wil plushies and ??????THE MYSTERY BOX??????!!!! Speaking of books, if you buy HijiNKS ENSUE Vol’s 1 or 2 you’ll get a free mini print featuring my Sharknado sequel posters! More info HERE.
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The Unknown FB · 100 weeks ago
That’s only a minor hyperbole on Joel’s part: con food be hella pricey.“I saw a Ghostbuster stab a Boba Fett over a cobb salad.”That line made me have a baby. I love you.
Stranger · 100 weeks ago
Its like Lord of The Flies, except con goers are way too fat to crush anyone with a giant boulderIs it possible to get a drawing of these “blow-job robots that fart money” at a future w00tstock that you speak of? This may top my current favorite of Wheaton’s Spicy Dick Milk LOLThen “make it so” and take my money! I can’t wait to see how you imagine such robots would look LOLSeriously though, let me know if there’s an official method for requesting this drawing or if this is good enough
lou · 100 weeks ago
I have to find if The Doctor ever met J.R.R. Tolkien. He’s teamed up with other English literary figures, even before the relaunch.
Mjoellnir · 100 weeks ago
Tolkien intolerable? Kill him with fire!°°His world building and characters are second to none. HIs prose is nearly impenetrable.lou · 100 weeks ago
I thought it was well-known that Tolkien was a linguistics professor first and an author second.
Orf · 100 weeks ago
Do you clear a profit on SDCC? Seems like a horrible crucible of people-flesh and overpriced services.I won’t do a show twice if I dont make a profit. SDCC is a bit of a different animal because there are intangible benefits in terms of super fun time parties, networking, making new friends, etc. I still make a profit but its not as good as other shows.Aw man, i never knew i wanted something and now i want nothing but…
I’m trying something different for this years “while I’m at SDCC” comics. Instead of guest comics, or NO comics like I’ve done in the past, I’ve decided to make predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being. For Day […]]]>
I’m trying something different for this years “while I’m at SDCC” comics. Instead of guest comics, or NO comics like I’ve done in the past, I’ve decided to make predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being.
For Day 2, the first real day of the con, I assume spirits and energy are high despite my undoubted lack of sleep and non-lack of beer the night before at the Farking Wheaton w00tstout launch part at Stone Brewery. I’m sure I’ll have had my typical boost of first day convention energy that causes me to be “ON” far more so than I typically am. Those that visited my booth were probably treated to fits of “playful shouting,” “simulated yelling at high volumes,” “impromptu dance parties” and “actual yelling.” What a lucky bunch they were to see my in my prime before it all went terribly wrong on Day 3.
Coming to SDCC? Come see me at the Blind Ferret Booth (#1231) in the Webcomics area. I will have books and shirts, sketches, Lil’ Wil plushies and ??????THE MYSTERY BOX??????!!!! Speaking of books, if you buy HijiNKS ENSUE Vol’s 1 or 2 you’ll get a free mini print featuring my Sharknado sequel posters! More info HERE.
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Stranger · 100 weeks ago
Wow, conventions sounds like an ordeal. Youre probably going to get the Con Crud on top of itOpie · 100 weeks ago
Con Crud is a small price to pay for the chance to almost meet NPH !!
Bryce · 100 weeks ago
To rip-off an old stand-up joke, ever notice that the more successful self-referential comic writers get the more their strips deal with going to or coming from conventions?That sounds like a dig. If you dont enjoy the content I post here, I suggest you discontine your consumption of it and refrain from commenting.
Mahnarch · 99 weeks ago
Joel, Joel, Joel… *waves Joel over with a drunken swagger* [arm around Joel’s shoulder (more to keep himself up, than Joel)] He said, “More SUCCESSFULL”… MAN!!! I thin’… I think That’s a com.. *hic* ..a comsti .. *hic* consumable,,, man! I’d take it!
HikingViking · 100 weeks ago
Maybe you could steal the disco ball and fancy lights from the Euro-Rave diner, set them up at your booth, and sponsor that break dance competition between Optimus Primes (Primi? Primu?). That would certainly draw a crowd. Plus, if you need to scream, you can just go all James Brown and shout things like “GET DOWN!”, or “HUH!” while the break dancing is happening.The Unknown FB · 100 weeks ago
It is, according to the various incarnations of the shows, books, and graphic novels.From Gawker.com ComiCon post comments:“6-2-1 rule, people. Every damn day, 6-2-1:
6 hours of sleep
2 meals
1 shower”In case this comic ever shows up in a book: sandwich, not sandwhich.The Unknown FB · 100 weeks ago
Wouldn’t it depend on which sand he had in his wich?
And if he was eating at WhichWich or that eurorave restaurant again?
Guest · 52 weeks ago
There aren’t cracker barrels in CaliforniaReally good point. Consider this comic and all jokes contained within invalid. You are doing God’s work, internet pedant.
I’m trying something different for this years “while I’m at SDCC” comics. Instead of guest comics, or NO comics like I’ve done in the past, I’ve decided to make predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being. I’ll have […]]]>
I’m trying something different for this years “while I’m at SDCC” comics. Instead of guest comics, or NO comics like I’ve done in the past, I’ve decided to make predictions as to the toll that SDCC (the con, the parties, the lack of sleep) will have on my physical and mental well being. I’ll have made all 5 days worth of comics in advance, based on the previous 3 years of exhibiting at SDCC and advanced algorithms that can predict exactly how much alcohol I will consume and how little sleep I will get. When I return from SDCC, I will revisit my predictions and let you know how correct they were. SPOILERS: They will be 100% correct because I make the same magical mistakes every year.
I made you a new Lo-Fi comic about iPads and where they go.
Coming to SDCC? Come see me at the Blind Ferret Booth (#1231) in the Webcomics area. I will have books and shirts, sketches, Lil’ Wil plushies and ??????THE MYSTERY BOX??????!!!! Speaking of books, if you buy HijiNKS ENSUE Vol’s 1 or 2 you’ll get a free mini print featuring my Sharknado sequel posters! More info HERE.
Comments (10)
Fren · 100 weeks ago
Mistakes? There are no mistakes. These are merely lessons you refuse to learn because the consequences are too fun. That’s my theory.
seriously · 100 weeks ago
I humbly suggest alcohol induced memory impairment. While the judge may not have bought it, but I still believe it’s a valid excuse.Stranger · 100 weeks ago
That diet is going to have one hell of a backlash right in the middle of the con, isnt it?seriously · 100 weeks ago
And there goes Joel doing his best imitation of the Flash, setting a new land speed record in search of a restroom.Right before he does an imitation of what happens when you add Mentos to a bottle of diet Coke.
seriously · 100 weeks ago
“They will be 100% correct because I make the same magical mistakes every year.”You know, this might explain why I always wake up hung-over on New Years day, and May 6. Next year’s gonna be different, this time I’ll… probably just make the same mistakes I did this year, and last year. Although filling up an empty wine skin with Jose Cuervo was not a good idea.
lou · 100 weeks ago
I like this concept. Each strip could read like a RPG Character Sheet with different stats that change by the day.
Dean · 100 weeks ago
I predict that the final day will see you reduced to a blazing skeleton animated solely by rage and caffeine.
Chaucer59 · 100 weeks ago
Just bring back lots of photos, Joel. It’s been too long since your last photo comic.
I will be at San Diego Comic-Con for the 4th year this week! Come see me at the Blind Ferret Booth (#1231) in the Webcomics area. I will have books and shirts, sketches, Lil’ Wil plushies and ??????THE MYSTERY BOX??????!!!! Speaking of books, if you buy HijiNKS ENSUE Vol’s 1 or 2 you’ll get a free mini print featuring my Sharknado sequel posters!
It looks like this:
I will also have a very limited supply of two of my daughter’s prints. If you buy them, she gets the money. It’s a sort of double edged “TOO CUTE TO COMPREHEND/ Teaching my kid that art has value” sort of thing. You can see the designs and learn more here on my Tumblr.
I will be posting my comings and goings from the booth via Twitter, so check there first before coming by to chat, get a thing, bring me delicious cookies, bring me delicious Starbucks Doubleshots, bring me delicious booze, bring me delicious Starbucks Iced Soy Lattes or BRING ME DELICIOUS BOOZE (which are all things I strongly encourage you to do… a lot).
Other than the convention proper, I will also be at Stone Brewing Hop-Con on Wednesday night, w00tstock on Thursday night and possibly at No Laughs Allowed: Internet Comedy is Serious Sh*t (with Cyanide and Happiness, SMBC and 5 Second Films) on Saturday night. Catch me at any of these events, answer my three riddles correctly and I’ll have to give you me pot’o gold plus safe passage across the Enchanted Bridge.
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Joel is a peach, don’t let that gruff exterior fool you. You really should bring him delicious treats because working that booth all day takes stamina.Stamina that can only be fueled by….whipped cream vodka. It’s his favorite. Just look at his joyful face! Look at all the joooooyyyy….
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNurKOcCIAAyrn9.jpg
lekosis · 100 weeks ago
You’re not kidding, those prints really are too cute to comprehend. eee
Writebastard· 99 weeks ago
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE <HORK>
That is what it seems like to me.
Writebastard· 99 weeks ago
Am I robot?
There is beer.
Josh · 99 weeks ago
Mitch H. · 99 weeks ago
SDCC is probably the event that mostly closely corresponds to Comiket, but we’re still talking about something five times the size of SDCC.
3 replies · active 98 weeks ago
hijinksensue· 99 weeks ago
bowtiesarecool · 99 weeks ago
Lily · 98 weeks ago
Jaydit Skiabe · 99 weeks ago
Courtney · 99 weeks ago
@theelkmechanic · 99 weeks ago
Oh, and “nacho cheese remnants and hot dog water” almost made me lose my breakfast.
@borednihilist · 99 weeks ago
1 reply · active 99 weeks ago
hijinksensue· 99 weeks ago
Dave · 99 weeks ago
For the rest of you folks, here are some tips from an old SDCC vet.
1. Don’t stay in a downtown hotel. Those are for people who are determined to get into Hall H. Those people are crazy. The hotels know this. They know that if you’re willing to get up at 3 AM to get in line you’re willing to pay insane hotel fees to do so. That said, as Joel found out, San Diego doesn’t really have a taxi service you can rely on. Stay at a hotel that has access to the Trolley. There are a few in Mission valley but my favorite is the Double Tree as it is literally on top of a trolley station. Note that this will probably cost you Hall H. The trolley starts running at about 5 am, which means it’ll get you to the Con at 5:30. That’s right on the edge of being able to get into Hall H first thing.
2. Your other option is to rent a car but for the love of god don’t park downtown. You’ll never get in/out during the Con. Park at Qualcomm Stadium (which is free) and take the trolley in. If you must drive downtown don’t park right on top of the convention center, buy parking in the Horton Plaza lot off of 1st street. You’ll have easy in and out access at the expense of walking about 4 or 5 extra blocks (it’s a sacrifice after a day on your feet at the con but you won’t sit in traffic for an hour)
3. Don’t try to eat right near the Con. As Joel said the crowds are insane. Downtown SD is a traditional city grid with numbered streets going north and south and lettered streets going east / west…. with a few named east/west streets in between. The con is centered on 5th street.
Don’t walk down 5th street.
When you leave the con head on over to 4th or 6th. They’ll be busy but you’ll be shocked at how much lighter they are. 3rd and 7th are dead. Flat out dead. You’ve still got to cross the street with the crazy mob and protesters and such, but once you get past that it isn’t that hard to escape the crowd. Lots of restaurants on 3rd or north of Market with no waiting even during prime-time. Hell, there are some places that on normal San Diego weekends are absolutely packed and yet, during the con, are empty because they aren’t close enough to the center and all the locals have been driven off by the geekswarm.
best of luck folks!
1 reply · active 99 weeks ago
@JonS253 · 99 weeks ago
Now if only Seattle had a worthwhile public transit system so I could make it to ECCC (parking in Seattle’s worse than parking in Diego, believe it or not).
leeapeea · 99 weeks ago
CatVonAwesome· 99 weeks ago
By the time I was at my hotel sunday night I had lost all ability to recall thoughts regarding names, times, places, my own name, my family, where I actually live and how I was getting back there. My body was attempting to shut itself down after 5 days of soft pretzels, coffee, cookies and red meat. (Though “meat” is a generous word.) Despite my hotel being in fucking Mordor, they did have a great breakfast so there was a bit of nutrition happening. And the shuttle service from Mordor was wonderful. Frodo should’ve been so lucky.
But, despite all of these things, I’m already blocking off the dates for next year. I can’t stay away. Exhaustion, euphoria and realizing your mere feets away from the beards of The Vikings is better than any drug.
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR! (Threat? Warning? Excitement? All of these things?)
1 reply · active 99 weeks ago
MrPlow99 · 99 weeks ago
Kiltman · 99 weeks ago
(Jennie Breeden, Norm Reedus, Jonathan Frakes, And Wil Wheaton, In Case You Were Wondering…) #Bonusround, Rolled A 2Fer1 & Met Our Joel Watson At The Same Time..#Priceless
1 reply · active 99 weeks ago
hijinksensue· 99 weeks ago
Jonathan Reilly · 99 weeks ago
As a suggestion, why not fly in to Los Angeles the weekend before SDCC and relax a bit before you go head to head with KHAAAAAN. Stay with friends, relax, swim in a pool, enjoy the Stone Beer Garden, maybe even go to Disneyland if that’s your thing (though it’s not terribly relaxing).
Drive down with your friends on Tuesday afternoon- set up your booth and merch and steady yourself for the NERD ULTRA MARATHON. I recommend flasks.
Once the con is over, pack up your stuff on Monday, head back to Los Angeles, take a Silkwood shower to get the Con Crud off and Decompress. Give the PTSDCCSD abate before you get on a plane and take a leisurely flight back on Wednesday, schedule permitting.
Bracketing your con experience with small group, low key social interaction with people you like might help to wash the OVERWHELM out of your psyche.
2 replies · active 99 weeks ago
kerys · 99 weeks ago
hijinksensue· 99 weeks ago
Tom327Cat · 99 weeks ago
Chaucer59 · 99 weeks ago
1 reply · active 99 weeks ago
Candace · 99 weeks ago
Candace · 99 weeks ago
That being said, it’s gotten easier since we convinced the family to just do gifts for the kids, and make charitable donations in honor of the adults. I love wrapping gifts and cooking, but not while ill!
furrbear· 99 weeks ago
*Think the original Tomorrow People – yay low-budget ’70s UK SF!