So, if, comme Moi, you're a somewhat frivolous Con-goer, you're happy to play dress-up, grab some Starbucks and roam aimlessly around the Con floor in search of merchandise, fun pix and always have an eye on the horizon: a night of cocktails and good cheer, all in costume, in The Gaslamp or on the Harbour.
If, however, you are panel folk, Comic-Con is serious business. There's no time to shop for Ewok wallets and Yelp which pub has both Guinness AND Stone on draught. Panel folk have work to do and there are not enough hours in a Con-day to attend everything they desire. Hoping for a seat in a Hall H event? Well, there's your whole day, maybe even an overnight, grass-sleep: one event, one long line and a lot of stinky Captain America tees.
What's the big deal about panels, JennyPop?
Excellent query, fair reader! It depends upon your pop culture fetishes, yet panels number in the hundreds and cater to every possible fetish and inclination. Some, like the 4-day Comic-Con Law School actually qualify for MCLE continuing education units. Besides panels, there are also autograph booths (bring money), film festivals, artist conferences, Portfolio Review and gaming tourneys. The Big Daddies all land, however, at Hall H: the largest venue at 6,500 seats with the grandest events and most celebrated names. (A nice facet of SDCC? It's not about only celebrity thespians; everyone involved with fave productions gets star-status! Yea, writers, directors, costume designers, set designers and producers!)
- Witness a random smattering of panels, screenings and Q&A sessions:
Warner Bros. film premiere: Deception
Once Upon a Time
Lucifer
Disney Manga
Comic-Con Film School
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 2oth Anniversary
Cosplay Makeup
My Little Pony
- Coveted Hall H events for 2017 include the following behemoths:
The Big Bang Theory: 10th Anniversary
Fear The Walking Dead
Game of Thrones
Westworld
Stranger Things
Twin Peaks
Doctor Who
With a finite number of hours, and days, in which to play, you need a rock-solid plan. If you scan the Comic-Con Programming Schedule and find you only want to attend the panel Hey Arnold!: From Hillwood to the Jungle (Friday July 21, 2017 11:45am - 12:45pm, Rm 6A) it's a good bet you'll recall where to be and when to head that way. Move it, football head!
However, if you're a panel-obsessive, you'll need dedication, comfortable shoes (like running-to-catch-your-flight-at-a-changed-gate comfortable) and the official Comic-Con My Schedule app (MySched).
Besides laying out your personally designed schedule, MySched allows you to send the schedule to your preferred calendar-software, sends push notifications so you know when to start sprinting to the next ballroom, enables sharing so you can coordinate with fellow dorks, and synchronizes across multiple platforms and devices. To boot, you can filter and search within the app via celebrity names, show titles, company names, artists, writers, etc. If you miss a panel, it's nobody's fault but your own, kitten.
As a program reminder, if you are going to Preview Night (Wednesday, July 19th), you'll want to head straight to Ballroom 20 when the Con doors open. From 6:00p - 10:00p, Warner Bros. and SDCC will continue their tradition of PrevNight screenings. This year fans will see the pilot-screening of ABC's new crime-drama Deception, a new episode of Cartoon Network's Teen Titans Go! and sneak peeks of new TV series Krypton and Black Lightning.
Now, off you go, Earthlings! One week to go! Spit-spot, chop-chop, lots to do!
Make a fun night this weekend of cosplay dress-rehearsal for your significant other, or your cat: no loose strings or tatty corsets, unless you're going as a zombie. If you wear makeup, get quality lipstick, mascara and blotting papers; you can't be touching up all day. Get in your possession a nice stainless steel water bottle; plastic bottles are wasteful and nobody wants to wait in line for $5 water. Purchase or make your own water mister, using only quality water like Fiji or Evian; the occasional, cooling spritz on your face just might ward off your own Baby down! temper tantrum. Buy that travel deodorant for your bag (Do it!). Set aside those extra shoes and, finally, load MySched and the Comic-Con Official Mobile App on your phone ... both are free and avail for Android and iOS!
Abyssinia on the Con floor, kittens!
Can't make it to Comic-Con? Don't be sad! JennyPop's got you covered! All the dorky fun rages July 19 - July 23, 2017. For full posts, detailed accounts and, possibly, her Souvenir Book article, bookmark @JennyPopCom Twitter and Insta for all the in-depth, geeky, good times.
For up-to-the-moment action, Con-floor pix, JennyPop's IMHO snippets and this year's cosplay with cohort Eslilay Evoreday (as Archer's Lana Kane and Pam Poovey) follow @JennyPopCom on both Twitter and Insta! This is how you get ants!
Aside: Will JennyPop's seventh official SDCC Souvenir Book article be published? We shall see! Past published pieces include The Simpsons, Catwoman, Hellboy, Peanuts, Tarzan and Archie Comics. Read them all here!
Follow @JennyPopCom Twitter and Insta
