Comic-Con Countdown: Can Peter Parker pick the proper panels?

Jim Hill

15 years ago

It’s the classic Comic-Con conundrum.

In this corner, you have some of the biggest names in modern
animation coming together to pay tribute to Walt Stanchfield. We’re talking
about Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, Tom Sito and Rubén Procopio all in the same
room at the same time, taking part in a panel that will then be moderated by
Don Hahn.

And over in this corner, you have the cast and creative team
behind ABC Family’s cult hit from last summer, “The Middleman. “ With Matt
Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Mary Gleason, Brit Morgan and Jake Smollett doing a
table read of this show’s never-produced 13^th episode, “The Doomsday
Armageddon Apocalypse.”

So what’s the problem? Welcome to the pop culture equivalent
of “Sophie’s Choice.” How so? “The Middleman” panel is scheduled to run from
11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 23^rdin Room 6A at the
San Diego Convention Center. While the celebration of Walt Stanchfield’s life
and career is being held on that exact same day from 12 noon to 1 p.m. on the
other side of the convention center in Room 32AB.

Now picture this sort of thing happening for four days
straight. With two and three panels that you’d really love to attend continually
being scheduled directly opposite one another. What’s worse, these events are always
being presented at the exact same time in opposite ends of this cavernous
convention center.

Even if you had Spider-Man’s ability to cross great
distances by swinging on a strand of web, you’d then still have to decide which simultaneously
scheduled Comic-Con programming event would
be most fun to attend. In short, which panel should Peter Parker pick?

Which sounds silly, I know. But I actually have a longtime acquaintance who cites Comic-Con’s over-stuffed
schedule as the reason that he no longer travels to San Diego. “They try and
cram six days worth of programming into four days worth of show,” said one
un-named IGN vet. “It’s just not worth the aggravation.”

Whereas me … Maybe I was dropped as a child. But I have to
admit that I kind of enjoy the challenges that Comic-Con constantly throws your
way. Spending four full days (four-and-a-half if you also attend Preview Night)
continually swimming upstream through a sea of humanity. Mapping out some sort
of flexible strategy that will then allow you to attend most of the shows &
panels that you really want to see.

That (to my way of thinking, anyway) is the real key to
having a good time at Comic-Con. You have to be flexible. And patient. More
importantly, you have to walk into the San Diego Convention Center each morning
with realistic expectations. Which means knowing that you’re never going to be
able to do it all.

And once you accept this reality (and lower your
expectations a little bit), Comic-Con can be an awful lot of fun. Especially if
you plan ahead. And by planning ahead, I mean knowing before you come on the
floor each day which panels & programming events you’d really like to try
and attend.

Now please notice that I used the word “try.” Because
sometimes – in spite of your best efforts (i.e. lining up an hour or more in
advance outside of a hall) – you still won’t be able to get into a
particular panel.

Now some people – when faced with an unfortunate situation
like that – will then shift into tantrum mode. They immediately begin berating the
Comic-Con staffers who control access to the halls, insisting that this is the
greatest tragedy that has ever occurred in their young lives.

Me? When I don’t make it into a particular panel, I don’t waste
any energy on getting upset. I just move on down my list of alternatives. Looking
through the show schedule for other Comic-Con programming events that are
scheduled for later on that same day that I still have a shot of getting into.

You see, that’s the thing to remember about Comic-Con. There
are over 400 different events that are scheduled to take place over the course
of this four-day-long show. So if you miss out on something truly extraordinary
… Not to worry. Something that’s
probably equally extraordinary will be happening just across the way in a half
hour or so.

Of course, if there’s some panel / piece of programming that
you absolutely positively must see while you’re at Comic-Con … Well, you then
have to be willing to make the sacrifices necessary in order to gain access to that event. Which – in some cases – means camping
out in that hall hours ahead of when that panel is actually scheduled to get
underway.

I won’t lie to you, folks. Doing this for four days straight
can take a real toll on your head, heart and soul. By the time Sunday night
rolls around, you’ll be both mentally and physically exhausted. But the upside
is that your brain will now be full with all sort of pop culture factoids.
Which – if you’re an info geek like me – you can then turn into fodder for your
website.

Now as for advance planning … While the folks at Comic-Con
International have yet to release the official programming schedule for their
2009 event, the full first day’s worth
of events should be announced by the end of this week. With the other three+
days worth of programming being released a day or so after that.

Which could offer some real challenges to those of us who
are already struggling with Thursday’s should-I-attend-that-Middleman-panel-or-the-Walt-Stanchfield-celebration
conundrum. Given that there’s a rumor already making the rounds that Thursday
will be 3D Day in Hall H. Meaning that Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Studios
will be showcasing all of the 3D films that they have in the works for 2010 and
beyond on that date.

And given the way my luck runs, what do you want to bet that
Disney Studios will be showing footage from Tim Burton’s new “Alice in
Wonderland” movie as well as “Tron 2.0” on Thursday afternoon between
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.?

Which is why I hope that this “Star Wars Spectacular!” that
G4 and Lucasfilm are teaming up to televise on Saturday, July 25^th
is the start of a new Comic-Con trend. It would be terrific if some of these
San Diego shows (which often only get seen by the hundred or so people who actually
make it into that hall) could then be preserved for replay on the Web. That way
… Well, it wouldn’t be just us weenies who actually travel all the way down to
San Diego who then get to savor all of that Comic-Con goodness. Geeks around
the world would be able to get in on the fun.

Speaking of which … If you’re a San Diego Comic-Con vet,
what do you do each year that then helps make this show enjoyable? Or – at the
very least – survivable?

Your thoughts?

P.S.

Remember, we’re still in the process of putting together the
official JHM Comic-Con International cheat sheet. So if you’re an artist or an
author who wants to let this site’s readers know where they can find you in that huge building, please pass that info along ASAP.