2008 San Diego Comic Con: A Day in Pictures

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Photos courtesy of Larry Berger

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For those fans who haven't had the opportunity to experience the madness that is the San Diego Comic Convention, I decided to post a photo essay that will give you a sneak peek into a day at Comic Con. Just think of this as a National Geographic special: Nerds in the Wild. (I was there so I count myself as part of that aforementioned group.)


Over the course of four days, the convention sees over 125,000 visitors, all of which seem to be roaming the exhibit floor at a single time. This photo captures just a small section of the exhibit floor and the crowd. (If you are thinking 'All this for comics?', comics are only a portion of the show. The convention in its own words "celebrates the popular arts." So toys, movies, television, video games, books as well as comics display their wares at the convention. You can go from seeing the latest in video games to walking over to the next aisle and seeing your favorite television stars signing autographs.) Here is another shot of a different section of the exhibit floor.


One of the major aspects of weirdness at the convention is the vast amount of people who dress up. Some of the costumes are pretty slick and professional looking too. (I guess they have a whole year in between conventions to work on it.) So here's a little tasty-taste of some of the costumes seen on the floor.


It's a convention, so you know that Star Wars nerdery will abound. Here we have some very unfriendly characters (they must not be residents of San Diego). Where is a Jedi knight when you need one?


Oh, it so happens that the Jedi knights are only a few feet away. Here they are protecting a man from being ushered in to watch "The Phantom Menace". (No one should have to be subjugated to that indignity!)


Here old-school Batman tries to convince us that Christian Bale has nothing on him. Failing at that, he tries to distract us with the nerdiness that is Robin. There are just some things I cannot unsee. What we need now is to cleanse the visual palate.


This should do the trick. It may be a bit of a surprise, but there are actually women at the convention. (Nerdery knows no gender boundaries.) Many of these women participate in a little known convention contest: "Who Can Wear the Least Amount of Clothing!" Here we have Elektra showing off her entry.


Not to be upstaged by Elektra, Ariel is looking like a strong candidate for the contest too. These Disney girls traveled down Interstate 5 to show San Diego that while the convention may be fun, Disneyland is the "Magical Kingdom".


These weren't the only ones traveling down from the Los Angeles area as some of the residents of Hollywood were seen lurking around. Here we have a signing by the stars of "Kyle XY".


And here we have actor Richard Dreyfuss trying to convince author Peter David that he indeed won an Oscar. ("The Goodbye Girl" in 1977) There was no truth to the rumor that Richard has someone play the Jaws theme when he walks around the room.


It wouldn't be the San Diego Comic Convention without an appearance by Elvira, a convention staple. Here she grins eagerly as she spots her next victim in the crowd.


Everyone goes to the convention for different things. Being an avid book collector, I go to meet the authors. Here we have a author panel signing with William C. Dietz on the far left, Ann Aguirre in the middle, and Charlie Stross on the right.


On the same panel, we had Tobias Buckell signing with Alan Dean Foster (in blue) next to him greeting his fans.


Here Robert J. Sawyer is being kind enough to sign my books as we engage in a little friendly chit-chat.


Karen Traviss braves her legion of Star Wars fans as she signs at the Del Rey booth.


The amazingly nice and extremely popular Naomi Novik signs and draws a dragon on her latest book, "Victory of Eagles". There is no one out there who is nicer to their fans than Naomi.


The legendary bestselling author Dean R. Koontz shows that he is a "good guy" by signing a first edition of "Watchers" while taking the time to pose for a picture.


The always gracious and massively entertaining Jim Butcher smiles for the camera while author Chris Evans on Jim's right promotes his recently released debut "A Darkness Forged in Fire".


Finally, Joe Hill (foreground) and Max Brooks (to Joe's left) participate in a panel signing. They must have put the famous genetics on one side of the table as Joe is the son of Stephen King, while Max is the son of actor Mel Brooks and actress Anne Bancroft. Both are turning into extremely popular horror writers as evidenced by the large crowds waiting to see them. And could Joe be signing a paperback copy of "Heart-Shaped Box" for a Blood of the Muse giveaway. Stick around to find out!