It’s that time of the year again, when pop culture geeks from around the world make their pilgrimage to California for San Diego Comic Con. There’s no doubt that tons of fun will be had it this year’s convention, and there’s also no doubt that there’s much more than enough for attendees to do. If anything, that’s the biggest problem that Con-goers are likely to encounter: SDCC can quickly become overwhelming. That is, if you come unprepared. In order to assist all the devoted pop culture fans out there who plan to go to this year’s SDCC, here’s a survival guide based on my own experience. This should be able to see you through the convention relatively unscathed.

What to Bring

  • First off, when you’re packing for SDCC, be sure to leave plenty of empty space in your bag. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be spending more money than you should on awesome stuff, and if you buy any toys or toy-like items, that packaging tends to eat up luggage space pretty quickly. There is a little FedEx location on hand at the convention center so you can ship stuff to yourself if necessary, but that costs money, something you’ll probably be low on once you’ve loaded up on material items. So give yourself some leeway.

  • If you plan on picking up any posters or original art specifically, you’ll want to bring along a poster tube of some sort. You have two options here. You can go with the fancy, hard plastic tubes that strap over your shoulder, or you can go the cheap route with a cardboard tube. The plastic ones are convenient in that they have straps so you don’t have to hand-carry them. However, if you don’t plan on getting anything particularly large in this category, a smaller cardboard tube (bought small or cut down by hand) will accommodate most posters and can probably fit in your bag. I cut one down to 17 inches, and this was perfect for an original Invincible page, a print, a signed photo or two, and a couple posters, but obviously that won’t hold anything larger than 17 inches. The other benefit of the smaller tubes is that you can possibly keep it by your side in your carry-on when flying home. I never like to depend on the airlines to make sure my nerd treasures make it home safely.

  • Plenty of cash. Especially if you’re buying something directly from an artist, you’ll be paying for most of your stuff in cash at SDCC. Depending on what you may end up wanting, it’s not unwarranted to carry several hundred dollars on your person. Just make sure you keep close tabs on your wallet.


    • Be prepared for the possibility that you don’t have an oxen-pulled cart to help you bring your spoils home. (image from Bone, by Jeff Smith)

  • If you live in the 21st century, which should be the case if you’re attending SDCC 2011, you’ll probably be bringing an electronic device or two with you to the convention. Cell phones are a given, and if you have an iPad, that is a great way to pass time whether you’re sitting on a plane, waiting between Hall H events, or standing in line for a panel – something you’ll likely be doing a endless amounts of. But use your electronics wisely. Given the large amount of time you’ll be at the convention (twelve hours each day is far from uncommon) combined with the poor cell phone and wi-fi reception you’ll be getting, your cell phone battery is not going to last long. So, turn your phone off during panels (that also has the benefit of being a courteous thing to do), use your iPad or laptop instead of your phone whenever possible, and bring a power cord just in case you happen to find the opportunity to plug into a wall for a few minutes. Also, if you can charge your phone from your laptop, that’s a great way to keep your battery up throughout the day.

  • So, you’re probably bringing at least one item in the book/laptop/tablet category to keep you occupied while waiting for this or that, and you may be bringing some comics to get signed as well. A backpack is common sense in this case. Bring one. If you plan on buying anything, though, you’ll want some sort of tote bag as well (you’ll get a free gigantic one of these at the door, but we’ll discuss those below). I carry an average size backpack and an small-ish leather tote bag, and that works fine for me. Obviously, plan for what kinds of things you plan to buy, but backpack + tote bag of some size is usually the way to go. And if you’re waiting in line super early-morning, the backpack doubles as a pillow!

  • If you plan on getting anything signed, bring two think permanent ink pens. Sharpie is usually the go-to brand, but any permanent ink should do. “Why two?” you ask? You need two different colors: preferably black and silver. I imagine there are few worse feelings than seeing Robert Kirkman or Stan Lee, asking him to autograph your favorite comic book ever written, and discovering that you have only a black pen to sign a mostly black cover. Lucky for you, if you’ve read this article, you’ll have your silver pen for backup. Of course, if you’re at an actual signing, the artists will probably have pens of their own, but you still don’t want to get caught in a situation where you’ve stood in line for an hour only to find that your favorite writer doesn’t have a pen that will show up on whatever it is you’re getting signed.

  • If there’s one thing SDCC is always full of, it’s spectacle. So, bring a camera, an extra battery, and possibly an extra memory stick. The suits don’t like you to take pictures of movie teasers and previews, but just about everything else is fair game, whether it’s an actor up on stage or someone with a KILLER Final Fantasy costume.

What to Wear

  • Pants, a light shirt, and tennis shoes is almost always the way to go at SDCC. They keep that convention center pretty cool, but it is summer, so you don’t want to go to either extreme. On the other hand, when the horde of Saturday hits, no amount of air-conditioning can cool down the exhibition floor. Feel free to wear shorts then. And you’re going to be doing a ton of walking at SDCC (a friend of a friend of mine wore one of those devices that shows how far you’ve walked, and he was reaching an average of 14 miles a day last year), so wear some good walking shoes. Definitely no flip flops. If you don’t have a good pair of walking shoes, get some now, and break them in. Of course, if you’re cosplaying then all rules are out the window.


    • Either cosplay or go practical. No reason to do anything else.

  • Bring a light jacket. Yeah, it is the middle of summer, but San Diego can sometimes be refreshingly moderate this time of year. And if you plan on attending any panel that requires you to wait in line outside at 5 in the morning, you might actually get a little chilly. A light jacket should be all you need to stay warm in these circumstances, and it should easily cram into your bag when you don’t need it anymore.

  • Goggles. Remember the incident last year? You never know when some pen-wielding maniac is going to stab you in the eye at Comic Con. I kid, I kid. In all seriousness, SDCC is historically a very safe place. The truth is, when you get tons of geeks together to celebrate the stuff they love, people are in pretty good spirits. And if you are someone who’s prone to violent outbursts or ocular gore, please just sit this convention out.

What to Eat

  • This is where things get tricky. If you’re at Comic Con, almost 100% of your time will be spent doing three things: sitting in panels, standing in line for panels, or wandering the exhibition floor. That leaves very little time to eat. And if you do have time to eat, you really don’t want to go for the stuff they try to feed you there. Eating grease-laden hot dogs or nachos and then sitting in panels for hours on end doesn’t make your body feel happy. I feel like I almost got this down to a science last year, so try my personal formula. Each day, eat however big a breakfast you can. This might not be much, but that’s okay. Then bring with you the following items: trail mix, a piece of bread, an apple, a Clif bar, and a bottle of water.

    Now, hear me out. I’m a guy who tends to need a lot to eat in any given day, but for the days I don’t have time to sit and eat lunch at SDCC (which is most days), I find that this is just enough to get me through until closing time. Sure, you’ll be pretty darn hungry at the end of the day, but that’s when you go all out and chow down on pizza or enormous sandwiches without having to miss valuable convention time. During the day, I find that the combination of the complex carbs from the apple, the brief sustenance of a piece of bread, the surprisingly long-lasting fill of a single Clif bar, and the on-hand trail mix to stop the ol’ stomach from growling is enough to keep me out of hunger agony and with enough energy to make it around the convention. And if you’re spending all day sitting in Hall H this will be even more satisfactory, as your body doesn’t typically require a ton of fuel for simply sitting down for hours on end.


    • Try not to be like this guy. (image from Swamp Thing, by Alan Moore, et al.)

  • Drink water. I know I already said bring a bottle of water, but this is important. Now, you’ve probably been told “Stay hydrated!” at nauseum, and that is good advice, but you also simply don’t want to be stuck in line and thirsty. That really sucks. Additionally, even if you don’t actually get dehydrated, you’ll really feel like crap at the end of the day if you don’t get enough fluids. So, pack a generously sized water bottle (it doesn’t have to be huge) and plan to fill it up whenever you can.

  • Finally, if you do have a free hour or two in the afternoon, give yourself the opportunity to walk down the street and find a place to eat. This can be a great way to find temporary respite from the hubbub of the convention and to recharge for the rest of the day. Plus: fresh air!

What to Do

  • Give yourself some variety. It would be a waste to spend all day every day in Hall H, even though those tend to be the most popular panels. At the same time, you don’t want to spend all of your time simply browsing the exhibition booths. Mix it up. Go to big panels, go to little panels, buy some sweet collectibles, get some stuff signed, and if you aren’t about to pass out by the end of the day, go to a screening or two. You’ll get a lot more out of the experience this way.

  • Learn something. Go to a panel for something you don’t know much about. Obviously don’t attend anything you know you’re going to hate, but look through the schedule, find something that might interest you, and check it out. The “Spotlight” panels are great for this. Some off-the-cuff suggestions would be the spotlights on Jeff Smith, Anders Nilsen, and Chester Brown, for anyone who is interested in comics but doesn’t have much knowledge of the medium beyond superheroes. When you fall in love with artists or work that you didn’t know about before you came, you’ve added to your own benefit from attending the convention.

  • Do something comic-related. Unfortunately, for a lot of people this is synonymous with the previous point, “Learn something.” It has become a running joke that comics have become the smallest part of Comic Con, with most of the emphasis placed on movies and TV shows nowadays. If it weren’t for comics, though, we wouldn’t have the Comic Con we know and love today. We also wouldn’t have the inspiration for many of the movies and TV shows that have come to dominate the Comic Con scene. So, go to some comic panels. Along with being frequently more interesting and fun than the bigger panels, a lot of these offer the added benefit of taking place in smaller rooms with much more relaxed atmospheres. It’s a nice break from places like Ballroom 20, and for some of these you won’t even have to stand in line for long, if at all. I know that sounds unbelievable, but it’s true.

  • Get something signed. Anyone can buy a Venture Bros. poster. Many fewer fans, however, will have the chance to get that poster signed by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer. Give yourself the chance to go to a signing or two. It’s a great chance to meet writers and artists face-to-face, and you’ll leave with something that relatively few fans get to own: an autograph. Alternatively, buy an original piece of art from an artist. This can be a page out of something like Savage Dragon or a work from an unknown indie artist. Either way, you’ll leave with something unique.

  • Meet the artists. This kinda goes along with the previous point, but outside of signing events, there are a lot of artists on the exhibition floor throughout the whole convention. If you’re into comics, especially those outside of DC and Marvel, there’s a good chance some of your favorite artists will be at their publishers’ booths. A lot of them will be drawing sketches, but rarely do they mind if fans come up to say Hi and briefly express their appreciation of the artist’s work. You don’t have to tell them your life story or try to become best friends, but a quick, “I’ve been a huge fan since issue 1,” is a great way to be able to say, “I got to meet [insert your favorite artist here] at Comic Con!” Just try really hard not to gush too much, or you’ll probably leave slightly embarrassed. I say this from personal experience.


    • Ask artists to scribble all over your stuff! (image from Invincible, by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, et. al)

  • Make friends. I know, that sounds a little cheesy, but simply meeting other fans and making friends can be one of the most fun things about going to Comic Con. The reality is you’re probably going to be standing in line next to people you don’t know for a large portion of the convention. Why not strike up conversation and make a new acquaintance? If you need something to talk about, you automatically know you have something in common: your appreciation of whatever it is you’re standing in line for.

  • Have a plan. If you don’t make a schedule of the panels you want to go to ahead of time, you’re in big trouble. There is so much going on simultaneously that to go to one panel almost inevitably means you’re missing out on something else that you have at least some interest in. So, map out your time, determine your priorities, and have a backup plan in case you miss something. For the bigger panels, plan to get in line at least an hour ahead of time. Hall H is its own beast. Since people tend to stay in there all day long, you’ll need to get there extremely early if you plan on seeing anything at all. In order to make it into the first Hall H panels of the day, it’s pretty standard timing to show up at 5 or 6 in the morning.

  • Have a meet-up place and time with whoever you’re attending with. If you and your friends split up to go to different events, you might otherwise have difficulty finding each other later on. You’ll have your phones, sure, but reception becomes particularly unreliable when a hundred or so thousand people in the same vicinity are all trying to make calls at the same time.

What to Avoid

  • Ditch the humongous complimentary bags. If you haven’t been to SDCC, you might not understand the magnitude of the bags they hand out. All attendees get these enormous tote bags that, after strapping across your torso and over your shoulder, hang from about your midsection to the ground. Yeah, they can hold a lot of stuff, but even the most fiscally precarious Comic Con goer will have trouble acquiring that much stuff. They are uncomfortable and get in the way of everything you do, especially when it comes time to squeeze through rows of tightly arranged seats to find a spot at a panel.

    The only time it makes sense to keep one of these with you is if you plan on showing up super early for one of the big events. I say this with no sarcasm whatsoever: the bags actually make for adequate sleeping bags in a pinch. So if you show up at 5 a.m. and your body just says No, then get in line, pull out your bag, and if you curl up in it, it will cover you up most of the way, assuming you’re shorter than 6 1/2 feet. They’re also good to sit on when the grass is all wet. If you do bring one with you for this purpose, though, don’t hang it on your shoulder. Just fold it up as tightly as you can and carry it in a smaller bag.

  • Stay away from convention food. As mentioned, the greasy stuff you can get at the convention isn’t just bad; it’s going to come back to haunt you after either walking around endlessly or sitting in place for hours.

  • Finally, avoid packing your schedule too tightly. It is important to schedule things out in order to be an efficient Comic Con attendee, but leave yourself some room to wander around and do whatever, especially to browse the exhibition floor. Failure to do so is sure to result in burnout by the end of the day. Plus, there are tons of companies and artists here showing off their stuff, so even if you’ve planned out your booth visits, you’re always going to come across something intriguing that you didn’t anticipate. Give yourself a chance to come back and just look around.

Last But Not Least

  • If you plan on returning to SDCC in 2012, register while you’re at the convention. You’re probably aware of how difficult it was for Comic Con goers to get their tickets this year. Attendance to the event is in such high demand that the venders’ servers couldn’t handle the internet traffic of the hordes of pop culture fans trying to get tickets, making the ticket-buying process a nightmare. If you simply register for next year’s event while you’re there, however, you get to skip out on the madness.

  • Look for me. If you have some spare time and want to me your dear editor in chief of The Sci-Fi Block, hit me up on our Twitter account. It’s always fun to meet fellow sci-fi fanatics.

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