Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012

Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012
Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas at Luche Libre Taco Shop in San Diego, March 2012

Saturday, June 1, 2013

The First Day Of The 2013 Denver Comic-Con

"You know what we should do? We should totally go down to the Convention Center early so we can get a good spot in line."

"What? Why? Stan Lee cancelled and Shatner is not showing until Sunday! Turnout is going to be sparse today man, ain't nobody going to show until Saturday. Let's go down about 1:30, maybe 2:30. We'll walk right in."

"Okay, you're probably right. Are you going to wear your Thor costume?"

"Naw...I put on too much weight over the winter...gotta let out the cape."

Later that same afternoon...


"Hmmm...looks like the line is forming over there by the north entrance. Probably a hundred or so people already here from what I can see."

"Yeah, good thing we didn't show up earlier. I'd feel like such a geek waiting on the steps for a chance to get in five minutes before anybody else."

"Looks like we have to walk down to the end of that barricade. Com'on."
 

"Huh. That's the end of the barricade...end of the line seems to be a little further down."

"Seems to be a lot of Cosplay going on. That girl in the GL costume was kinda hot."

"Did you see that Wonder Woman? Sweet costume."


"Wow, this line is longer than it looked from 14th. Good thing we stopped and picked up some Cheetos."

"Man, there must be 5 or 600 people in line...the line goes almost to the end of Stout street."


"Nah, can't go as far as Speer. It just looks like it because a group of people are bunched up near the end of the line." 

"I don't know...there are a lot of people lined up all the way down the sidewalk. Did you see that Deadpool? That guy did a great job putting that together."


"Lot of people must have taken the day off from work today for this...lot more people than I figured would be here. Didn't they hear that Stan's not going to be showing up?"

"I imagine the organizers got the word out. It was even in the paper last week. Hey, look at those guys. Classic JLA!" 


"Man, that line is really stretching back...maybe we should have come down a little earlier."

"No way. So we'll have to wait twenty minutes to get in. You've waited longer to get a beer at Baker's"


"You're right...wished I'd brought that little soft-sided cooler with a six-pack though. This line is much longer than I thought it'd be. Might be standing around at least a half hour by the looks of it."

"Ah, it's no different than going to a game. The ticket people will be geared up to get everybody in as quick as they can. Heck, they get everybody in Mile High in less than thirty minutes, and that includes a pat down."


Wow...looks like the line is at least halfway down Stout, maybe a little further..Cool Captain America over there."

"Oh yeah, I think that guy was here last year. He put a lot of work into that. Nice shield."


"Dude...I really think the line goes all the way to Speer...maybe you should have brought that six pack."

"Yep. Shoulda woulda coulda. At least we were smart enough to stop for Cheetos."


"Holy Moley! The line does go all the way to Speer! Hey, check out the '40's Wonder Woman! Nice!"

"Damn...this is pretty wild. There must be a couple of thousand people here already...somebody ought to get a hold of the people who sell burritos and water outside the Rockies games, have them come down here."


"Looks like we're going to have to stand out in the sun. I was hoping we would reach the end of the line before we got out from under the overpass."

"Is this an overpass?" I think it's part of the Convention Center. It was built over Stout street so it wouldn't screw up traffic."

"Whatever it is, we've reached the end. Now we have to stand in the sun. Wished I'd brought a hat."


"Uh, looks like the line goes around the Bellco Theater a little. That's going to put us parallel to Speer with the sun to the west. Ugh. I'll fry. Hope I get to stand behind a column."

"Eh, it won't be that bad. Plus, it'll only be for a short while - they'll open the doors at 3:00 and we'll get right in."


"We should have brought some sunscreen, just in case. This line reminds me of the Mile High Music Festival back in 2009."

"Except the people here are not quite as odd looking as some of those Widespread Panic fans. That was a weird bunch."


"Was Widespread Panic there in '09? I don't remember that. I thought Dave Matthews was the headliner - wait, that was the first one, in '08."

"I can't remember either. Wonder whatever happened to that show - that was one of the better festivals. Well run, with a pretty good line up every year."

"Speaking of line ups, did you see that group of kids we passed all dressed like Batman villains? Classic."


"Wow, nice Wookie costume - Dude has to be hotter than hell in there. Nice cosplay though. At least they're distracting everybody from how freaking long this line is."

"Man, I think we're almost to Welton. This line curves all the way around to Welton! That's amazing!"


"Dude, you're right, it does go all the way to Welton. Looks like that's the end at last though." 


"Okay, okay, so it's a long line...least now we've swung around to some shade. Won't have to bake in the sun after all."

"You know, there are a lot more people here than there was last year...I think there has to be at least three thousand people in line. Maybe a little more."

"Not a good day to be wearing a full Darth Vader costume. Or Batman. All those women dressed as Wonder Woman got it made."


"Looks like we're going to end up on the south side of the Convention Center, by the loading docks. Damn, so much for being in the shade."

"That's the fourth Doctor Who we've passed, all of them Tennant. Tom Baker gets no love." 


"Looks like the line ends right at the overhang of the south side of the Convention Center. Maybe we'll get lucky and have some shade after all."

"Do you think that Storm's hair was real? That had to be a wig. I bet she's sweating like a dog under all that hair. Man, this has got to be one of the longest lines I've ever seen. Politest, too."


"Well, yeah, everybody has some common interest to talk about. You're looking at a few thousand people who probably can recite scenes from Dark Knight or the Avengers, in harmony."

"True dat! Man, it's good to be amongst our own kind!"


"Wow...I have to reassess my estimate from earlier...I'm thinking there is closer to four thousand people here...wish I had a hot dog cart. There's a fortune to be made here."

"Yeah there is. I bet we could auction off one of the bags of Cheeto's!"

"Don't even think about it...I'm going to need both of those bags just to make it through this line"


"It's pretty cool how many parents are here with their kids dressed in character. That's parenting done right."

"Those kids are going to look back on this one day and probably cry when they realize how much their parents did for them. 'course right now they all look like they're getting kinda squirrelly from standing in line."


"Geez man, look how far this line goes back...I think it reaches the south entrance to the Convention Center."

"Wow, that's incredible. You're the only person I know in this whole city who knows who Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil are and what they mean to the Batman mythos, and yet look at this freaking line. I think we've passed at least twenty Batmen, not counting kids."


"Nice mosaic along this side of the Convention Center. Must be portraits of Denver Pioneers. Is that guy supposed to be Colonel Ackerson from Halo? He looks like he has a scar drawn all the way around his neck. Huh."

"Must be a fan of the Comic version. Was he beheaded in the game?"

"I don't know, never got that much into it."


"Hey look, found Waldo. All we had to do is spend twenty minutes walking around the Convention Center."

"Nice to see some more older guys here. I was afraid I'd be the only guy here who remembers when John Byrne worked for Charlton Comics."

"Dude, you're one of the only dudes here who remembers John Byrne. Or Charlton Comics."


"Oh my freaking flabby ass. The line goes on forever! I think it might stretch all the way back to 14th!"

"That's nuts. There are over five thousand people here. Have to be. I'm willing to bet there are more people in this line right now than there were at the first five Comic-Cons I attended."

"Probably. You're old, Dude. You went to Cons when they were still just centered around comics."


"Hey, those were some good times. Probably the best times of my youth. I still can't believe my Mom let me spend the whole Con at the El Cortez. Man, she was trusting."

"Eh, those were different times, and those people were all pretty cool. Speaking of which, are you going to go to the second San Diego Comic Fest this year? I know you had a great time last year."

"I want to, but it all depends on my work schedule. Plus, I'll be in S.D. for a week at the end of June, and again in August for Thibs birthday. That may be all of S.D. I can handle for the year." 


"Hey look! I think we're finally at the end of the line! Man, this is crazy. I can't imagine the organizers anticipated this sort of turnout after Stan cancelled. I hope they are prepared to handle it."

"They have to be. I imagine they were expecting more when Stan was the attraction, so this should be easy-breezy. Is that the Fire Department pulling up over there? Wonder what's going on?'

"Eh, can't be anything important or we'd be hearing alarms. Probably doing some PR while they have a captive audience. Hey, reach into the knapsack and get one of those bags of Cheetos out. This line might take awhile." 

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