Finally Back to Comic-Con
It's been a few years since we've been able to go to San Diego Comic-Con, the Worldwide Mecca for Nerds. There was a lot to see this year! Even though it was completely packed, it still felt like there were fewer people than in previous years.
One thing that sucked a bit, but kind of expected was that many of the casts for the big TV shows didn't show up in person, but appeared on giant screens with a live moderator. Probably being for the best since nearly everyone I know who went got Covid. At this point, it just feels like you are almost certain to get it if you join a crowd of large people. Somehow, I managed to stay negative, but we'll see how it goes!
I aways love to have a good look at the amazing busts and sculpts made by Sideshow and Queen Studios. They are absolutely some of the best! They have an uncanny ability to make the work look insanely real. If you stand in front of one of these things and stare them in the face, you start to get the sense that it will eventually lash out at you.
I love the amount of detail they put into the skin texture. The subtleties of the paint work also make all of the difference. I have watched 
I have a special affinity with the Egyptian gods. When I was a kid, I didn't really know anything about them, but for some reason I had recurring dreams that I was living in ancient Egypt, and was an alien directing powerful machinery to levitate stones and create the pyramids. In the 90s, I remember watching the Stargate movie for the first time and literally had an anxiety attack because it gave me dejavu from the dreams. How crazy!
The Marvel characters are pretty spot on. I feel like they did a really good job capturing the likeness of the various characters. You would be horrified by some of the hack jobs you see at the Con. Well, I must admit, the standards have come up dramatically over the last couple of Cons. Especially walking around Artist Alley. There used to be all levels of ability back in the day, but now it is getting much tighter. Sometimes you feel like everything is so good that you can kind of become numb to it. This makes bad artwork stand out like a sore thumb!
We had a great time at SDCC this year. It was a bit more relaxed than in previous years as we just didn't feel like stressing about getting into certain panels or getting any particular swag. This 'chilling out' allowed us to actual have a better time. I suppose it is one of the nice things about getting older. Hopefully you learn to calm the hell down and enjoy things you are doing rather than trying to pack every single moment with activity.