Comic-con 2008: Day Zero

The completely sold out Comic-Con International:San Diego (known affectionately just as Comic-Con) is in full swing. Last night, from 6 to 9 p.m., the Con held its preview night, in which those with four-day memberships are permitted first crack at the Dealer's Room. (Or, as they call it, the Exhibit Hall. "Is this the line to the Dealer's Room?" Amy asked one of the security guards. "This is the line to the Exhibit Hall," he corrected her.)

Despite the limit to four-day members, the Dealer's Ro -- er, Exhibit Hall was packed with attendees, with long lines for particular products (such as the new COMIC BOOK TATTOO book from Image, which features comics based on Tori Amos songs. Amos will be at the Con; and the Image booth sold out of the softcover editions of the book and was doing brisk business with the limited edition hardcover.)



The booths we saw (just a fraction of the total ones) were filled with wonders -- the most amazing of which was a full-sized Owl Ship from the WATCHMAN movie in the Warner Brothers booth. The interior was dressed with controls, LED readouts and straps that looked like vintage WWII bomber leftovers; and fans were enthusiastically photographing it inside and out.






Also astounding was the Sideshow Collectibles booth, which featured dazzling statues and busts of comics, movies, and video game characters.




We met up with friends Natalie, Sarah and Elizabeth, and stopped by Colleen Doran's table at the dealer's room, where we relieved her of a remarqued edition of the first volume of ABSOLUTE SANDMAN (featuring a gorgeous color sketch of the main character drawn onto the frontispiece) and she relieved us of some money.