Every year the smelly, bearded men who live in their parents’ basements, the tween hipsters with perfectly coiffed pompadours, and every comic book-loving stereotype in between gather to catch sneak previews of comics, movies, TV, pop culture, and gadgets and gizmos at Comic-Con. For those unfamiliar, Comic-Con is an annual convention in San Diego that brings together animators, writers, producers, and actors from the world of comic books and pop culture. The nearly 40-year-old spectacle spans four days and has attracted more than 625,000 people in the past five years combined. Kicking off Thursday, the convention will last all weekend until its close on Sunday evening.
But the anticipation and frenzy starts before the doors open on the first day. And because most events are first-come first-serve, fanatics wait in line for days before. Unfortunately, the first and only casualty to come from a Comic-Con event occurred Tuesday: as a Twi-hard crossed the street to a line for a Q&A featuring the cast of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, she was struck and killed by an oncoming car. The fan had been waiting since Sunday for the Twilight panel on Thursday. But the Twilight cast event is just one of the spectacles at Comic-Con this year. See our user’s guide for this year’s most buzzed-about events.
By Christy Khoshaba.