A Smaller, Gentler Comic-Con

Got shut out of Comic Con this year? Or maybe you went and you’re starting to get the itch to hang out with fellow nerds and nerdettes discussing the critical
pop culture issues of our day?

Then you’re in luck because this weekend, the Son of Con is happening in San Diego.

Some of the organizers of the original Comic-Con have put together San Diego Comic Fest, a three-day festival this weekend in San Diego that hopes to recapture
the intimate feel of the Comic-Cons of long ago.

San Diego Comic Fest is being held at the Town and County Resort and Convention
Center in Mission Valley and promises just some comic book dealers, a gallery
of science fiction and fantasy art and some small panels on subjects like “Glory
Days of National Lampoon” and “The Best Original Graphic Novels of All Time.”

Organizers are calling it an old-school Comic Con and are hoping to attract no more than 1,000 fans to keep that intimate feeling.

That’s right, no endless lines to get into a massive, dark hall to watch the latest
Hollywood sneak peeks or celebrity-filled panel discussions. No obstacle
course, death marches to get from one side of the sprawling convention floor to
the other.

San Diego Comic Fest is an idea whose time has come. Patch Goes Pop has been going to Comic-Con for nearly 20 years and has grown weary of the Con’s massive explosion and the inevitable problems it has brought with it. Comic-Con will never go back to what it was before, but if you truly love comics and pop culture, a visit to a smaller, more intimate event like Comic Fest is sure to get you all nostalgic for what it was and remind you of simpler times.

Tickets are being sold at the door. For more information, you can visit www.sdcomicfest.org