Is this Heaven?!? No, it's Comic Con!!!

It’s that time of year again. To all my fellow nerds out there you know what I’m talking about. It’s time to get ready to pack up your favorite Cosplay and dork t-shirts and descend upon San Diego to worship at the High Temple of all that’s Nerdy and Cool.

For those of you who have NO idea what I’m talking about...

REALLY?!?

Where have you been? And you think we are the ones who only come out of the basements once a year.

Comic-Con International gets underway here in San Diego next week. This year marks the 45^th anniversary of the show, making it the longest, and largest continuously-run comics and popular arts convention in the country.

The Convention has changed a lot over the years. Much like a Comic Book Superhero, Comic-Con has a humble origin story too. In 1970, the event drew about 300 people its first year. If you’ve experienced the madness that is The Con these days that’s hard to believe, but it’s true. This year, more than 130,000 comic book, movie, television, gamers, and Cosplayers are expected to pack into the San Diego Convention Center’s 615,701 square feet of exhibit space. If you’re interested in taking a closer look at Comic Con’s history, here’s a video that breaks it down.

As a life-long Nerd, and long-time attendee of The Con, I have mixed feelings about how big it’s gotten the past several years. I’ll save that for another time. Besides, everything changes. Even after all these years, the opportunity to experience Comic-Con and all it’s craziness first-hand is a gift.

If you haven’t gotten to experience it for yourself, it’s hard to describe, but I'll try. Imagine being surrounded by tens of thousands of people. People from all over the world, and from all walks of life. But they’re your people. They speak your language. They get you.

I was covering Comic-Con last year and got stuck trying to make my way across the gauntlet of the main exhibit hall floor to Hall H. Attention, newbies - that happens a lot. I didn’t understand what was causing the jam. Was The Big Bang Theory cast on the floor signing autographs? I was getting really irritated because I there was NO way I was going to get to Hall H in time to line up for a panel I was probably not going to get into anyway but I wanted to try... and then I looked up. I saw what why the floor had come to a stand still. Star Wars: Episode IV was playing on the big screens hanging above throughout that part of the Exhibit Hall. It was trench run scene. You know the one. Gold Leader had just gone down. Even though I have a feeling we'd all probably seen that scene a few times... everyone was just standing there. Watching. Reciting the lines together. And cheering when Luke turns off his guidance computer and uses the Force to make that impossible shot.

When the Death Star exploded the applause and cheers were deafening. Trekkies were high-fiving Jedis. Marvel fans were hugging DC fans. You get the idea. It was AWESOME!!! I missed my panel. But that's okay. Because moments like that are what make Comic-Con so special for me, and I'll keep coming back to worship at the High Temple of all that's Nerdy and Cool each time I'm able to secure those coveted passes. 

My name is Marena and I'm a Nerd. I'm getting ready for church and I'm not afraid to let my Geek flag FLY!!! For the record... the Stormtrooper asked to take a picture with me. ;-)