Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk is a weekly column by Kendall Swafford of Up Up Away! in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This week, Kendall talks about his experiences at his first San Diego Comic-Con.

Yes, I missed last week’s column (again). I should be back weekly from now on, I swear.  Anyway, I attended my first Comic-Con this year.  And yes, I’ve been in this business a long time, been to a great many shows, but never to San Diego until this year.  So let’s take a look at Comic-Con from a fresh set of eyes.  I’m gonna alternate between serious retailer and comic book fanboy, so bear with me.

I went into Comic-Con as much a fan of comic books as I did a retailer/professional. I haven’t been to a comic convention in quite some time, so I was really hoping to enjoy it on that level.  I want to continue to love comic books as much as I love selling comic books, and I think my customers appreciate that.  I think the folks in San Diego get an A for effort, and in several cases a much lower grade for execution.

I’ve heard many lament the loss of the 'comic' part of Comic-Con, and that struck me as a load o’ crap.  We’re talking about nearly 500,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit hall space.  My spidey-sense guestimates that 20-25% of that square footage was used by vendors selling the stuff you want and expect to see at a comic book convention.  So that’s at least 100,000 square feet of vendors, not including artists’ alley or publisher/manufacturer booths.  So... take Comic-Con, kick out all the vide game manufacturers and movie studios, television networks and game publishers, and guess what?  You’ve still got on HELL of a comic book convention!  The way I see it, it’s like the naming rights on a sports arena.  It’s a major con with big sponsors that have deep pockets.  Call is Prudential Comic-Con for all I care.

The way the show floor is loosely organized makes it relatively easy to A) find the kinds of booths you’re looking for a B) avoid the ones you don’t want to visit.  Kudos to the convention organizers for that.  I’m not a gamer, so the whole section of booths given over to video game manufacturers is of no interest to me, and easy to ignore.  I don’t mind that they’re there, lots of comic fans play video games, but it doesn’t take anything away from the show either.  Conversely, Legendary Studios is on the floor with Christian Bale’s Dark Knight batsuit, and the Stan Winston Studios had the original Iron Man armors on display.  Those things just make it more of a comic book convention, not less.

Marvel gave away these huge, heavy-duty canvas bags promoting the Iron Man 2 DVD release, and I’m sure they were paid for by Paramount and/or Marvel Films.  The comic book publishers always claim they’re too ‘poor’ to give away such freebies as better POP materials for retailers, let alone the kind of swag that lands at Comic-Con.  But I was thrilled to see DC Comics actually giving away comic books in their booth!  Warner Brothers of course sponsored the ridiculously-large bags when you arrived.  Seriously, my 12-year-old sleeps in a bed smaller than these things!

There are a great many comic book retailers that act like because they’re retailers, meeting and interacting with comic creators is no big deal, or admitting they’re excited about meeting a particular writer or artist is somehow beneath them.  In some ways they’re right, as a retailer I’m a pretty important part of the food chain that is the comic book industry.  But I’m just not that jaded, and I’m happy to still be excited about this industry.  I’ve met many comic book creators over the years, and I came to Comic-Con with no expectations of meeting or speaking with any one creator in particular.  But I gotta get my fanboy hat out when I meet Neal Adams.  Now, I’m 44. I grew up in the 70’s, just behind the main body of Neal’s DC work, but back then it was easy enough to find at local flea markets, so I’ve been a fan for a while.  And since Neal never did a huge body of work, and worked in the business only sporadically in the decades since, he’s become one of those legendary creators of that era that you wish would do more.  Of anything. Like Jim Steranko, Jeff Jones or Barry Windsor-Smith, the body of work just isn’t big enough.  Anyway, I only mention it because I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Neal at length over a couple of days.  He was gracious, funny and genuinely excited to talk about his work, both old and new.  A true pleasure.

I of course talked to a great many creators over the weekend, and honestly everyone seemed to really enjoy being there, even on day four.  So as a fan of comics, I was quite pleased.  As a retailer of comics, I’m pleased to see this many people come together because they’re excited about comics.  I ran into a few of my customers, a few fellow retailers I knew, and made a few new friends as well.

Now on to the nuts and bolts of Comic-Con; what worked and what didn’t.

I think the show organizers should be commended for dealing with the logistics of SO many people; attendees, exhibitors, volunteers, professionals, celebrities, and unfortunately, one felon.  The Comic-Con folks have obviously learned how to shepherd one massive flock, just not always in the name of customer satisfaction.  I mean, it’s a great show if you enjoy long lines for panels you’ll never get into.  There needs to be some way to indicate if you’re gonna get into Hall H by the time the Warner Brothers panel begins.  First panel of the day, we know the initial capacity of the room, so boom!, we can tell you who is and isn’t getting in, that’s all I wanna know.  After that, it becomes nearly impossible to guess, since they don’t dump the room after each panel.  You’re free to camp out all day once you make it in the room.  It’s an untenable situation, and I don’t know the answer.  Ticket each panel?  Might work, but if you want to sit in on consecutive panels, you’ll need separate tickets for each.  I just wanna know when I get in this line, do I have a shot at getting into the panel I want to see.  That’s not impossible.

Now, I get the logistics of long queue lines; if you can keep ten thousand people occupied in this line or that one, you’ve effectively taken them off the show floor and out of the way.  And the Big Bang Theory panel really needed to be in Hall H, as Ballroom 20 wasn’t nearly big enough to accommodate the crowd that wanted in. So now frustration starts to creep in.  Standing in line for a popular roller coaster is one thing, I know eventually I’m gonna get to ride, but attempting to attend any of the larger panels at Comic-Con is simply a waste of time.  The movie studio panels have simply become SO popular that something has to be done.  Is there an arena-sized venue nearby?  Is closed-circuit television broadcasting an option?  And I know the show is at capacity in San Diego, but as comic books continue to become major film franchises, the situation only worsens.  I’m sure I’m stating facts already in evidence, but missing three or four panels while waiting in line, only to not get into the panel I waited for... is a little frustrating to say the least.  But my 16-year old daughter wanted to try, so I was happy to try.

There is literally programming for everyone at Comic-Con.  No matter your tastes or interests, you’ll find a panel that suits you.  Unfortunately, you’ll usually find three or four other panels that suit you, going on at the same time!  But with that many people attending, you need enough compelling programming for everyone, and Comic-Con does a terrific job at arranging panels that are both entertaining and very well-run.

Cosplayers are everywhere of course.  I saw more Wonder Women and Harley Quinns than I’ve ever seen, and the guy dressed as Hitler needed to get punched in the mouth for being so stupid.  And we have an annual Halloween Costume contest at Up Up & Away, so dressing up is all part of the fun.  I just don’t feel like making room for the guy carrying around a gun as big as my car.  This place is crowded enough, thank you.  Interesting fact; AMC hired actors as zombies to promote the new Walking Dead series.  They would stay in character, walking the streets and sidewalks around the convention center.  Oddly, they didn’t exactly stand out in this crowd!  True story.

A few minor peeves; why do Hasbro and Mattel insist on sending me upstairs, a mile away (it seems) to get a ticket to stand in line for the privilege of giving them my money?  I understand exclusive items are limited, therefore desirable, and they have a crowd to manage.  But why send me away from your booth to the other end of the convention center.  I still can’t figure out the purpose in that.  Are they trying to discourage people from getting line?  I don’t get it.  And DC Direct.  I love you guys, but I can’t get the Blackest Night figs you have on display from YOU, I gotta go to Graphitti Designs?  Fine.  No wait, I gotta go upstairs (again) to get a ticket for a drawing for a chance to give you my money?  No thank you very much.  And dealers/vendors/exhibitors that only take cash?  In 2010!?  I can process credit cards on my iPhone!  You have no excuse.  I hate paying exorbitant ATM fees, so I never withdraw cash, so I limited myself to my cash on hand.  I promise you, I would have gladly overspent if given the means to do so.  I can process credit cards on my iPhone!  Get with it or get out.

Kudos to the convention organizers for offsite badge pick-up.  Worked like a charm, no waiting!  And the city of San Diego’s public transit is top-notch, traveling from Mission Bay to downtown was a breeze!  The whole family went, but my wife & 12-year-old only lasted about half-a-day.  Too many people and too little interest.  Kelsey and I were happy to spend every minute there.  See you at the pool when we’re done!

Here's a fact that may amaze only me.  The Monday night redeye on Delta from San Diego to Cincinnati was oversold (amazing for a redeye) and clearly, the vast majority of passengers were con attendees.  None of which I recognized as visitors to my store.  Clearly, I’ve got work to do.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely  those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.