Diary of a Denver Comic Con Newb: Day One
Day 1, Saturday
5:38am Wake in panic, thinking I have overslept. No. This is Saturday, not a work day. Roll over, attempt to go back to sleep for another hour and a half.
5:47am Get up. Shower. Breathing treatment. Chastise self for getting sick the week of Comic Con. Eat ramen noodles for breakfast. Get stuff ready to go. Worry about stupid things: What if I do something wrong? What if I can’t get into anything I wanted to see? What if everyone can tell it was my first time? What if I ask a question in a panel and everyone laughs at me… in a bad way? What if it sucks and I hate every minute of it?
7:45am Wake 13-year-old son. Allow him five more minutes. It is the weekend, after all.
8:00am Check bag for passes.
8:10am Run upstairs for iPhone charger.
8:14am Realize son never found his lost phone. Will have to borrow husband’s. Run upstairs for husband’s iPhone.
8:17am Run back upstairs for husband’s iPhone charger.
8:22am Check bag for passes.
8:27am Get in car. Check bag for passes.
8:34am Parents’ house up the street. Pick up printed out photo op ticket for son’s photo with Manu Bennett, the guy who plays Deathstroke in Arrow. And something in The Hobbit films. I’m not listening. I’m checking the bag for passes again.
8:48am McDonald’s drive thru. Order two hash browns for teenager. “Just the hash browns, ma’am? Nothing else?” Just the hash browns.
8:52am Car smells like hash browns. Is too early in the morning for smell of McDonald’s hash browns.
9:00am Arrive at Light Rail station. Everyone in parking lot is in costume. See entire team of assassins from Assassin’s Creed; most of the Avengers; a handful of Pokemon; and a whole family dressed as Doctor Who characters, including a 3-year-old 11th Doctor. Adorable. Just adorable. Check bag for passes three more times between car and ticket kiosk.
9:02am “Hurry UP, mother. The train is here.”
9:09am Seated on train across from nerd Dad and his 10-year-old rather adorable daughter who is dressed like a Pokemon character. I have no idea which one. Talk about Harry Potter theme park rides entire way to Convention Center. Nerd Dad and I agree that we are getting too old for anything that turns us upside down or spins too much.
9:30am Entire train filled with random characters from various fandoms. These are my people. Except for one guy, who’s looking around like he thinks he might be in a nightmare.
9:39am Train pulls into Convention Center stop. Line to get in is wrapped around the entire building. Silently thank all the gods that Carolyn had the good sense to apply for media passes. Say goodbye to new friends. Wander around looking for media entrance. Refrain from slapping older teenage boy who suggests that a young woman cosplaying as Daenerys Targaryen should be “more naked”.
9:42am Locate media entrance. Meet up with Megan and Carolyn. Wander into exhibition hall to look at stuff. Is nice in here with no one else around. Bathrooms are empty. No lines for the concession stand. No one blocking my view of various Funko Pop toys for sale. This will not last.
10:00am Send son off to his first panel. Spend next two hours wandering around with Megan and Carolyn, talking to artists, squee-ing over super cool and amazing artwork. Meet a woman who creates punk rock versions of all our favorite characters. Buy all of the things ever. Have her sign her little book. She draws me a quick Ginny Weasley cartoon. I swoon. Buy more books. Books are heavy. I did not wear the right shoes for this.
1:00pm Wander towards panel room, marveling at cosplayers. Briefly wish I didn’t loathe dressing in costume. Take it back. Have always loathed dressing in costume. Realize this is terrible attitude. Love seeing everyone else in costume, though.
1:20pm Finally sit down in first panel of the day: What Teen Girls Really Want to Read. Entire panel is made up of actual teen girls and woman authors who write YA fantasy. Have never been so glad to sit down in my entire life. I did not wear the right shoes for this at all. Learn that teen girls want to read about realistic characters and don’t hate reading fanfic, as long as things are spelled properly. Librarian stands up and asks how she can get boys to read more. One of the teen girls completely schools her and gets panel back to talking about girls.
2:30pm Meet up with son for King of the Nerds Cast Reunion. Find him onstage with cast, having photos taken. All of the cast members look like totally normal nerdy people. Son is in awe. I am just impressed by how nice they all are. Panel is fun. Except for the annoying guy in a clown costume sitting behind us. Son asks best question of the panel: “What were some of your favorite challenges during the show?”
3:30pm Hungry son is hungry. Head back up to Exhibition Hall. Buy snacks. Wander around, looking at all of the fake swords in the entire world. Fake swords are expensive. If ever spend $350 on replica of Jon Snow’s sword, want to be able to behead someone with it. Son tries on replica of Joffrey’s crown. Am horrified. “Take it off! Take it OFF!” Son finds this funny; tries crown on four more times throughout remainder of weekend.
4:35pm One last panel to finish out the day. Something Star Wars related. People talking about Star Wars. Main question seems to be “Will Disney ruin Star Wars?” Am bored by this line of discourse. Sneak out long before panel ends.
4:58pm Catch train home. Train crowded with cranky Rockies fans. Old lady sneers at cosplayers and says, “There’s no accounting for taste.” These are NOT my people.
To learn more about Denver Comic Con and their partnership with Pop Culture Classroom, check out their websites here: Denver Comic Con Pop Culture Classroom