Pictures from the 2017 Comic-Con International, part 2: Wednesday, 7/19

Wednesday night of Comic-Con is only open to those who have four-day passes to the show, and it's titled "preview night", but it's really just a mad dash and a frenzied rush as attendees get a head start on the convention. I have to think that in years to come, hours will expand for this day and it'll become something closer to a full day in most other regards, too. This year, the show floor opened at 5:30, a half hour before the advertised time, so maybe we're slowly getting there.

I showed up a few hours early to finish setting up the booth and to take a stroll around the floor before the doors opened. One of the first in line at the rear entrance was this guy:

I talked to him for a minute and learned that he was a writer for the Bleeding Cool website. His Tick paraphernalia came from the offsite location, which was open to press only on Wednesday. I was, of course, stunned to see all of the gear - he gave me a pair of antennae, which was a nice gesture. The voice of Comic-Con spoke out at the end of our conversation, announcing that the hall was open, but the security guards at the doors didn't seem to hear it and held up this line from entering for a solid minute, which I'm sure drove everyone waiting absolutely crazy.

I grabbed a few things at the starting bell and made it onto social media as a result:

1st ever sale of The Tick Pixel Party toy radly went to The Tick writer @JeffMcClelland! Get yours at booth 1234.#TheTick #SDCC #sdcc2017 pic.twitter.com/XoDemSbSe0

— PIXEL PARTY (@PixelPartyOn) July 20, 2017

The first booth I visited was the Pixel Party booth, where I bought their new Tick pixelated action figure, which I think is really great. I got a chance to talk to a few of the people at the company - all great guys who are excited about The Tick.

Also can't forget to thank the first person to swing by and get a pack of Comic Book All Star Trading Cards! Drop by booth 2547 & get yours! pic.twitter.com/6jJKWGkF47

— comiXology (@comiXology) July 20, 2017

Next I hit up the ComiXology booth to get the third set of comic book creator trading cards (which is as absurd as it sounds). I would go to great lengths to get my face on one of their cards, just saying.

Almost as soon as the doors opened, the place was swamped with backpacked individuals.

I saw Andrew Aydin, artist on the "March" series, at the IDW booth!

Lockjaw made an appearance promoting the new Inhumans show.

...there were more crowds of people...

Near the end of the night, I saw Luke McGarry and got my first Thing sketch of Comic-Con 2017 (in the new Thing sketchbook)! McGarry is probably best known for "Sad Chewie", but I knew him because he drew Weird Al in a Festival Supreme 2016 poster - which I was also able to buy at the booth. I got some great Thing sketches this time around.

Preview night ended up being 3.5 hours this year, which never feels like enough, but I managed to get a good amount done in that time. After walking through the Gaslamp District and getting some pizza, I called it a night.

That's it for Wednesday. I'll post pictures for Thursday soon!

Pictures from the 2015 Comic-Con International, part 5: Saturday (Game of Thrones, March, Nerd HQ and more!)

Well, two things have been established regarding this blog, I think: first, I can't stay away. Second, I will always have pictures from Comic-Con to post. Here are some more, even though it's January and I told myself (and Larry) that I wouldn't do this again this year. So much for that! Here are some pictures from the Saturday of the show, the busiest day of the event.

Let's start off with some Game of Thrones characters.

And follow that up with some more Game of Throne characters.

And finally, more from Game of Thrones. This last one is great. If they need a stand-in for Petyr Baelish, I hope they call this guy.

I managed to luck my way into line for a signing by the creative team behind the incredible graphic novel series "March", including Congressman John Lewis. This was one of the highlights of my trip to be sure.

These guys did a really nice job. They added in a few other references as well, which I appreciated.

Look, it's Wonder Woman, and...someone else! Wait...is that Rocket Raccoon? Yes, I believe it is.

C-3PO did a great job with this costume. There was a real live person in side and he even had a voice modulator to talk in the character's voice. Really incredible.

The Tick and Arthur came to the NEC booth. Townsend Coleman (voice of The Tick in the animated series) is in the center.

I, of course, had to get my picture with them before they left. I learned that these guys are actually from Pittsburgh. How is it that I don't know them already?

Jubilee and Captain America. I like this. That is all.

I got tickets to the Nerd HQ "Mystery Panel" this year. There were six guests from different ABC shows and Zach Levi.

The person in the middle was probably the only one I recognized? She played in "House" and was also Captain Kirk's mom in the 2009 Star Trek movie.

It was a fun hour.

I still need to watch...SOMETHING that Zach Levi is in. He does such a good job at putting this together every year, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Wait, I guess I did watch the Thor sequel. So there's that!

Taking a break after a long day at the convention.

Comic-Con after hours.

Weird things happen on the streets of Comic-Con after the show ends. I'm not sure how much is obvious from this picture, but there was a group dressed up like Buddhist monks (maybe they were actual monks? You can never tell at Comic-Con) dancing in a circle. Plenty of people joined in.

It was back to Nerd HQ to finish up the evening. Plenty of photo opportunities there, including this one of my butt.

I jumped into this picture at the last second. I don't know who anyone else is. But they were all pretty cool.

These folks danced around in these raptor half costumes for quite a while. It's a shame that they had to compete with this:

That's a full-size Chewbacca costume, complete with lifts or stilts or something. The guy in this danced for hours and must have lost ten pounds over the course of the evening. Every once in a while he'd take the head off and you'd see him sweating profusely. But he was a real trooper (haw) and kept at it. He got invited to the VIP section after a while. He worked for it.

Here's more Weird Al vandalism. I admit no guilt.

I hit a bit of a wall early on Saturday, and I don't think I took as many pictures as I did on other days. Comic-Con hours take their toll and I really felt it this day. But my second wind finally came during the afternoon and Sunday finished up strong.

Are there more pictures? YES! Will it be another three months before you see any? Hopefully not! See you soon!