Lets talk comic books. You would think that the San Diego Comic Con would have a lot of comics, and you would be right. There are a ton of comics at the Comic Con and the best part…. practically no crowds. 
There are even some comics on display that sell for a pretty penny. Some are expected to fetch the price of a luxury car or house at auction.
At the same time, most of the comics you own are worth much less than when you bought them. And if you want to complete a run of a comic, it will cost you only 70% of the original price. Sweet deal.
Some of the vendors that deal with the comic book collectors are packed up and gone by Sunday ( a clear violation of the rules) and a real comment on how many collectors are left in the building on the last day.
Lets forget comic books for a while and look at one of the other main pastimes at Comic Con. Standing in line. It seems that if you want to do anything , get anything, see anyone, you need to stand in line. There are lines to get the tickets to allow you to stand in line for the booth signings. There are lines to be able to buy the latest special toy, and then there are the lines to get into the panels. 
I love all the end of line signs. They allow the people coming up to the line to know where the end is and it does cut down on the line cutting. Some of those lines are really, really long. Take the next photo for instance. It’s the line for Hall H. Doesn’t look like much until you realize that the line is under those white tents… all of them. Actually you can’t even see all of the tents in this image and when the line got too long for the tents, it went around the convention center and down the road. At least you get to wait in the shade….
If you decide not to stand in the long lines, you can spend your time watching the folks who dress up as their favorite comic, movie, and cartoon characters. This year it seemed that Captain America and Thor were both really popular choices. Wolverine is always represented and the Punisher is usually around because it gives the attendee a great reason to carry a gun.
I really think that Thor was trying to sell these tourists a new summer place in Asgard.
Nice attitude….
It’s not Comic Con until you have seen a Stormtrooper.
The Trio of Evil.. Klingons, Pirates and Starbucks… nothing good comes from this combination.
Seriously…. no idea what this couple was supposed to be.
And my favorite type of image, when you capture the costumed Comic Con attendee just trying to do something normal, like cross the street.
If looking at folks in costume doesn’t do it, then maybe it’s the toys… sorry, “collectables” available. Some of these are really cool and make great subjects for photography.
A couple of final thoughts on the San Diego Comic Con 2013 edition. If you want to go to a panel about actual comic books, it’s easy, they have the shortest lines and the usually no waiting. You can actually get an insight into the comic industry from those running the comic book industry. Here are the heads of DC Comics, Jim Lee and Dan DiDio on a panel about whats up next for DC. Really interesting and no lines.
Then there are the folks outside the convention center who think that they need to spread the bible. And the folks who think it’s fun to mess with the sign waving bible folk. Im pretty sure that Space Ghost here was having the best time.
And one last thing. Walking up Fifth Ave on Sunday afternoon, Comic con behind me both literally and figuratively when I ran across this guy really enjoying himself in his Captain America costume. Not sure if he actually knew the Comic Con was going on…. Didn’t matter, he was having a blast.
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