Comic-Con time again, and you know what that means–the traditional escalator shot of the sign.

This year, my con experience started off with Disney Infinity’s preview event. Here, con-goers could take a turn playing the big upcoming Disney Infinity video game, enjoy snacks, and even get character sketches drawn by Disney artists.

D23 members were given special access on Thursday, the first day of the con.

Later in the con, Dan Povenmire and Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh, creators and executive producers of ‘Phineas and Ferb’ stopped by the Disney Infinity space to announce that Phineas and Agent P would be part of the 2nd wave of figures developed for Disney Infinity, and give out a handful of hand-painted figures.

Out on the Exhibitor’s Floor, ABC’s Once Upon A Time (OUAT) was represented with a pirate ship complete with tiny screening area inside, and huge lines outside.

The people managing the lines were, however, fairly familiar to viewers of the show.

Inside the ship, a short trailer showing scenes from the last season was played, after which we were given some small gifts extracted out of one of the Evil Queen’s heart-vault-drawers.

I believe there were four different pins given out altogether, and if you managed to collect all four, you could get a VIP pass to the OUAT panel later that weekend. Given the length of time required to navigate the line however, it was a daunting task.

From the sounds of it, this may be the same pirate ship OUAT will be bringing to D23’s Expo in a few weeks.

As two of the latest Disney acquisitions, Star Wars and Marvel were out in as much force as you’d imagine.

Want to get your car wrapped with stormtroopers? You can get that!

Want sunglasses with light-up lightsaber earpieces? You can get that too!

Over at the Her Universe booth, Star Wars Weekend veteran Ashley Eckstein was working hard moving merchandise…

…but hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for an Imagineer in your booth, such as Jason Surrell.

Meanwhile over at the Marvel booth, displays rotated in and out constantly to promote their huge slate of upcoming films.

Of the many panels Marvel offered this year, one I enjoyed (of the few I was able to get into,) was on the Avengers TV spin-off, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

All the major cast plus several of the writers and creator Joss Whedon were there to answer questions and set up a surprise showing of the complete pilot episode.

Full of action and Joss Whedon’s trademark humor, if the Comic-Con audience was any judge, it should be a huge success. [It is probably also true that if the Comic-Con audience was any judge, Firefly would still be on the air. Caveat Emptor.]

And of course the cosplay. So. Much. Cosplay.

The main difficulty is getting a good look at all the amazing costumes people concoct for themselves amidst all the constantly moving crowds.

So it was one more year of one of the largest, most hectic fan gathering in the world. As fun as it is, however, after a weekend of existing off of no sleep and one carefully rationed bag of M&Ms I grabbed at a screening, it’s usually a comfort to get back to normal life, away from all the fantastical, chaotic elements that have no basis in reality…

…oops.

Comments (1)