I ventured down to Long Beach this morning to check out a small comic con at the convention center. Compared to the Goliath San Diego Comic show, it was indeed "small", but that was fine with me. I walked through the entire thing in a couple of hours, picked up a few books and chatted with some friendly dealers. The aisles were crowded but not impenetrable, people were nice, parking was easy and there was a nice selection of restaurants right across the street.
Driving back, I realized that I haven't made any plans to go to this Summer's San Diego comic book show. And there's a fair chance I won't go at all, missing the event for the first time since (gasp) 1983. There was a time when San Diego was a must-do event (for fun and for business, but mostly fun), but this year it's definitely fallen into the "ehh" category. It's not that I hate the show (when I was a guest a couple years ago, the convention people were fantastic), but it's like attending a rock concert at a giant stadium. I'm just gettin' too old for that shit. The sheer effort required to attend the San Diego Con has finally become too much. Hotel rooms are ridiculously expensive (assuming you can find one), the crowds are really massive, it's next to impossible to get into the big rooms for the most popular presentations without waiting for hours... it's just become too much of a good thing.
Oh well... wishy-washy guy that I am, I may change my mind and do the entire four days anyway. But right now, I'm thinking a weekend in Vegas would be cheaper, less stressful and more fun...
