You’re right!  It’s mid-July and time again to enter that fantastical world of Comic-Con which will overtake the San Diego Convention Center and spill over into all of downtown.  The trekkies, transformers, and anime-junkies are about to come alive as they head to America’s Finest City from all parts of the world.  Over 150,000 people will collect in San Diego for this gigantic pop-culture event.  We locals can dread these upcoming days (July 17th through the 21st) but if we are cautious, calm, and curious, Comic-Con will be a savory experience for us in our journey to “live long and prosper”.

“All the tickets are sold out”….If you REALLY wanted to go but you’re not going to Comic-Con, don’t worry.  Every entertainment and news station will be in San Diego broadcasting and you can attend vicariously by watching the daily highlights on TV and visiting Comic-Con’s Facebook page.

“Driving downtown is impossible”….. If you have to drive, don’t drive downtown.   Watch out for the many shuttle busses carting Romulan-like entities back and forth from their hotels.  Don’t jay-walk either.

“I hate crowds”….. Be patient if venturing to Gaslamp restaurants, bars, and other local businesses since Comic-Con attendees have most-likely been standing out in the sun for hours waiting to get into their perfect panel discussions and are famished and dehydrated.   Definitely go and do some serious people-watching, however.  Sit alfresco at one of our local favorite restaurants and you’ll be in a sea of monsters, zombies, and other colorful characters in this pseudo Mardi Gras of the macabre.

“How do I get tickets?”  Tickets are officially sold out but you can check on Craig’s List to see if you can score some.  Sometimes vendors even hire locals to man their booths in the Exhibition Hall so check Craig’s List for temp. jobs.

“What famous people might I see walking around?”  Aside from fairies, Superman, Batman, Captain Jack Sparrow, Chubaka, and Admiral Akbar, you might catch a glimpse of Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny from X-Files, James Spader , Kevin Bacon, or Seth Green from Family Guy and Robot Chicken making their way out of the Hard Rock Hotel.  WOW!

In all, smile, make some new friends, appreciate the creativity in all of the great costumes, and be happy that Comic-Con is bringing in a regional economic impact of $180 million.