Wednesday, June 8, 2022

THE CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN: ONWARD AND OUT TO 2012!!!

 

Welcome back CRAZIES!!!  We are less than two months away from the big shindig known as San Diego Comic Con, or SDCC as those on social media call it.  With so much to see and do, one post simply can't cover it all.  Seriously, this is like the ninth post I've done on this particular year alone since the blog started!  What can I say?  I take a LOT of pics when I'm at cons!  But that's neither here nor there.  It's time revisit a con from the not-so-recent past again, as we dial back a full decade to the year 2012!  (Jesus has it really been that long already?!?)  The world didn't end that year, but Comic Con sure happened and it was great!  So strap in and put the lids back on your Slurpees because the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN is on!  Enjoy...

A rare behind the scenes look is offered up here on a load-in day.  It was the year that The Hobbit trilogy started, so Weta Workshop had a lot of goodies set up in their booth, including the trolls that eventually turn to stone.  This was the first year I started setting up video walls and lights for SDCC, and it was an amazing experience.  After years of being jerked around, I'd finally found my niche at my job and I've been at it ever since!  I didn't set up this particular booth, but was just across the aisle at the Walking Dead booth where I'd hung the lights (And sliced finger pretty good too!) and the guys at Weta were kind enough to let us take pics.  It goes without saying that if you ever do get lucky enough to be in the exhibit hall during setup, ALWAYS ask first before pulling out your camera.  Besides being a common courtesy, many of these booths are saving their best for when the doors open and don't want spoilers.

Finn and Fiona!  For about four years, you couldn't go to ANY con without their being about five dozen Finns and Fionas!  Lumpy Space Princess was another popular Adventure Time cosplay.

The legendary Fox booth!  2019 was the year I finally got to set this one up and thank God they FINALLY switched to almost all LED walls for this one!  It simplifies things a lot, but in 2012, it was all LCD monitors and it was a pain in the ass!  My buddy Nate had to actually climb inside the truss and clamp the monitors in from behind as he was the only one of us skinny enough to fit inside!  Never a dull moment at my job!

Leave it to MAD Magazine to accurately depict the general consensus on the Watchmen movie!

It's pretty much an attendee requirement at this point to always get a shot of the SDCC Eye logo peering through one of the circle supports.

Just wouldn't be a post about SDCC 2012 without reminding everyone that the infamous Dawn Of The Con party was a HUGE letdown.  It wasn't so much the atmosphere sucked.  In fact, they had some damn impressive activations and photo ops even.  It was largely in how it was run.  None of these guys seemed to have a clue how to handle such an event.  They were charging $10 for bottles of Kirkland brand water and the supposed celebrity guests either no-showed or were gone as soon as they came, with "Host" Rob Zombie being the most blatant offender here.  That they never did the "Dawn OF The Con" ever again speaks volumes.

What?  You thought rainbows came from clouds?

One of these cosplays is not like the others!

The show Extra and Warner Bros. put on a really cool free offsite for all to enjoy at the Hilton Park in 2012!  With gaming tents, a stage that hosted celebrity interviews during the day and movies at night and every incarnation of the Batmobile up to that point, it was loads of fun to check out!  Between 2010 and 2013, WB hosted the site with Fox/FX taking over from 2014-on.  Now that Disney owns FX, it's hard to say if they'll keep it going, but I'd willing to wager they will.  Most of FX's programming wouldn't be a good fit for the D23 Expo in Anaheim.  

GET OVER HERE!!!

Daphne and Dorothy learn a valuable lesson about SDCC, and cons in general: ALWAYS wear proper footwear!

NOBODY BETTER COME AS THE CROW!!!  Actually, The Crow cosplay is totally cool and welcome, but it's rarely ever done, which is weird given how popular the movie was.

No trip to SDCC is complete without a stop at the Petco Park Interactive Zone!  And nothing says "bring the kids" like a Quentin Tarantino movie activation!  

Nice to see these guys getting along again.  Funny how large sums of money have a way of fixing things!  Talk about ending on a high note, eh?

And that's a wrap on Comic Con 2012!  One of my all-time favorite years at the show, I saw and did a lot!  Between building it and going to it, I got to experience the show from many angles!  There was one unfortunate note about this year.  A woman was sadly killed after being hit by a car while running across the street, fearing she was gonna lose her place in the Hall H line which was being moved from the public sidewalk to the park outside of Hall H.  It was two days prior to show and already had a line going.  Life is fragile and a rash decision can really alter things fast.  Overall though, still a lot of positives about that year's show and the pictures demonstrate!

And that's all for this week, but we'll back soon with more past SDCC as the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN continues!  Until then, stay safe, take care and I'll catch y'all later! 

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