July 2008…
“Turn here, turn here!”
“Where?”
“Right there, right there, ohmygod you’re gonna miss it!”
Kathy yanked the wheel of our rented PT Cruiser sharply to the right, tires screeching as we drove way too fast through the unfamiliar streets of San Diego. Lynn scowled from the passenger seat, clutching the door handle as the car barely held the turn. In the back seat, Sabrina wisely stayed silent, hoping we’d make it to our destination in one piece.
At 4 am, the massive glass and concrete convention center up ahead was still a dark outline against the sky. We lurched into a spot in the deserted underground parking garage. Easy! We were feeling confident that we’d be first in line as we hurried up three flights of stairs and onto the darkened sidewalk, repeating our mantra of “please let us be the first ones here, please let us be the first ones here.” It was too early for the trolley, too early for the traffic and crowds that would soon clog the streets. We threaded our way through the previous day’s debris – discarded flyers for new television shows, promo cards in the shape of coffins, souvenir buttons, colorful miniposters for upcoming films. Geek garbage.
Our instincts told us that three women in an unfamiliar city at 4 am should be careful, but we silenced the pesky little voice of reason. If we’d had good judgment, we wouldn’t have been in California at all. None of us had the excess money or time to fly 3000 miles across the country, and we knew we were going to pay for it in all sorts of ways. But not right now.
“We did it,” Sabrina whispered to Kathy. Even Lynn –never a morning person let alone a 4 am person – started to smile. Then we turned the corner. Our self congratulatory grins faded. There was already a line.
Welcome to Comic Con
–from Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls
That’s the beginning of ‘Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls’. Our story – our wild and crazy roadtrip through fandom – started at Comic Con. Last week, I returned again to the place it all began. Because there’s nothing like Comic Con. It’s insane and hectic and at times so crowded that you can’t see more than a foot in front of you (or anything other than the back of the very tall man in the Darth Vader costume who’s walking in front of you).
