Tucked deeply into a corner of the San Diego Convention Center's huge main hall, just across the way from a neon “Exit” sign and far from the center-of-the-action tumult of the major movie studios and TV networks' gaudy displays, Matt Ashland, a small businessman from Corvallis, Ore., was straightening his modest booth of comic books and action figures.
He and a couple of associates loaded up a moving van with collectible cards, T-shirts and Marvel HeroClix toy figures and drove down to San Diego, spending $700 on gasoline. It's the 14th year for Matt's Cavalcade of Comics at Comic-Con, offering items for as little as a dollar (small action figures) and as much as $500 (a DC Comic from 1961 in which The Atom appeared for the first time).
Ashland has watched the event explode. “It's gotten almost too big,” he said, “too many people; you can't move.”
As the annual ShoWest extravaganza in Las Vegas is for movie exhibitors, Comic-Con is for fans – an orgy of posters and piles of freebies, a rare chance to see in person the heroes from “Heroes” and the stars of next year's potential blockbuster like “Watchmen.”
Andrew Rezende and Justin Lundgren, both 18, were outside in the sunshine waiting for the doors to open on this prized “Preview Night.” The friends had taken the train down from Corona and were here for the weekend, Comic-Con every day and ready to spend a few hundred dollars on just the kind of items Ashland peddles. They're both collectors of Marvel Comics.
“It's the epicenter of pop culture,” said Lundgren, who has ambitions as a film producer or director. “And the people here are really nice.”
Inside, carpet was still being nailed and displays being dusted an hour before the doors swung open. At the “Star Wars” pavilion, Mary Franklin, events manager for LucasFilm, was hovering over a Formula 1 racing car hidden under a gray tarp and driven in the new, animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (opening Aug. 15). It was unveiled last night.
“Comic-Con for us,” she said, “is the place to be.”
It's also the place to be for Mat Falls, a partner in Sideshow Collectibles, making its 10th appearance at Comic-Con. The Thousand Oaks company sells metal replicas of characters from such films as “The Mummy” ($199) to likenesses of Bruce Lee ($250) and Elvis Presley ($299). “Comic-Con is the flagship show for our kind of product,” said Falls, “film-related items, not toys, but collectibles for those who really love the movies.”
And it's the love of the movies and pop culture that brought Montenegro siblings Tristan, 24; Ashten, 22; and Justin, 16, of Spring Valley, together on the concrete steps outside the Convention Center, waiting for the action to begin. Said Ashten, on her Comic-Con goals, “I'm trying to meet celebrities.” A favorite? Robert Pattinson, who's starring in the new vampire film “Twilight” (opening in December). “Twilight” will be featured on a panel today along with other films in the locale for all things movies, the 6,500-seat Hall H.
“Comic-Con,” said Tristan, “is just a good time. We do it as a family.”
