Comic-con 2013 Sunday with photos

It seemed as though I had just fallen asleep when I was being shaken awake and told it was already 2 AM and we had missed our planned wake up time of 1 AM. But a glance at the clock confirmed we had merely misread the numbers and it was 11:56 PM, not 1:56 AM. Since we were awake we got dressed and went down to get in line for Hall H. We were there by 1:15 AM and it was amazing how many hundreds upon hundreds of people were already in line. I had doubts that we're going to make it inside the 6500 seat hall. I had just settled down to sleep on the grass and was dozing when suddenly all of the sprinklers turned on. It's funnier the more distance I have from it but at the time it was annoying.

All told we waited in line over 8 1/2 hours but we made it into Hall H. Starting off the morning was Supernatural, and their annual gag reel presentation brought some much-needed energy to the crowd. Series stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki were on hand as well as series regular Misha Collins and recurring guest star Mark A. Sheppard. Surprising the boys was Felicia Day, who plays Charlie, and she announced that she would be returning for season nine.

Breaking Bad was next and we got to see an exclusive preview of the final set of episodes. Bryan Cranston entertained the audience with a Walter mask. One of the main reasons for people to be in line for the better part of a day was to attend the next panel which was the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary. We were treated to an extended preview and got to hear current Doctor Matt Smith and his companion Jenna Coleman talk about their characters and where they think the series will go. We learned the 50th anniversary special will not only feature Matt Smith but also 10th Doctor David Tennant and to no one's surprise the Daleks. Exterminate!

Knowing nothing could top the panels we'd seen, plus being so very exhausted, we decided to leave and spend our last few hours walking the Exhibit Hall floor as well as eating. Community and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are shows we don't watch so we felt it was karmic goodness to let someone else have our seats.

Comic-con 2013 Saturday with photos

Today we spent our time over at the Hilton Indigo Ballroom as opposed to waiting for the Hall H panels like so many other people. We started off with the Machinima panel during which we learned about some upcoming videos including a new offering from the guy who brought us YouTube sensation Hughes the Force.

Next up was the Geek & Sundry Panel, one of the reasons we were in line for the day. We heard Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day talk about some of the upcoming vloggers for the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel.

The next panel was our motivating force for skipping the convention center panels-- the one and only How I Met Your Mother panel. We were treated to a Robin Sparkles sing-along, a very humorous clip, and Neil Patrick Harris running down the aisles in order to give a fan the highest of fives.

A panel for the CW's The Originals, a spinoff of the highly popular The Vampire Diaries, was next and while The Vampire Diaries isn't a show I currently watch the presentation for The Originals certainly made its case well for me to watch it.

Following The Originals was the panel for The Awesomes, a Hulu plus cartoon show created by Seth Meyers. We got to watch the pilot and were treated to some trading cards. It was genuinely funny and seems to have a lot of places they can go with it.

Our final panel of the day was The Nerdist, led by the poster boy for workaholics, Chris Hardwick, who was cosplaying as his favorite The Walking Dead character. He was joined by Matt Mira and Jonah Ray, and the trio threw their support behind a movie called Zero Charisma they are helping to distribute. We got to see the trailer and could see why the gang is so excited.

Comic-con 2013 Friday with photos

Today is a long day so only a summary of events I'm at which are within the Holy Grail of the Convention Center, Hall H. Please feel free to ask questions if you've got 'em, I'll reply ASAP!

World's End Panel: hilarious interactions between Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. The trailer and a mash-up are among the treats.

Veronica Mars: An incredibly grateful cast led by Kristen Bell takes over Hall H and treat fans to clips, Q&As, and the first footage of the forthcoming movie.

Kick-Ass 2/Riddick: Jim Carrey is a no-show and Chloe Grace Moretz appears via satellite. The combination of this panel with Riddick means only time for some clips and a few questions but the audience appreciates the clips. Riddick sees Katee Sackoff and Vin Diesel entertaining the crowd with Diesel being especially verbose.

The Walking Dead: teasers of season four and a large number of the cast are present including fan favorite Norman Reedus. the audience demands a Rick/Michelle pairing and the creators are amused.

Game of Thrones: Winter may be a way off still but the King of the North, his mother, the mother of dragons, Jon Snow and his lady love, Sam, and Tyrion Lannister are here and receive an enthusiastic reception to say the least. An "In Memorium" compilation is the perfect way to begin the panel.

Sony Pictures: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, Robocop, Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and the Amazing Spider Man 2 are the mini-panels within this block. Clips and teasers are shown for all but the guests are the highlights. Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Andrew Garfield, and Jamie Foxx are the most whoop-worthy.

Metallica: Lucky fans get free tickets to the group's performance tonight.

I'm exhausted for the best reason I can think of (while massively sleep deprived) so I am off to catnap.

Comic-con 2013 Thursday with photos

Here we are once again at San Diego and Line-con...er I mean Comic-con! So far all my time is being spent waiting with brief moments of movement (#thelineismoving). Mix in a dash of disappointment as I see things being sold out (I'm looking at you Nerd HQ) and you can imagine you're with me! I hope to get in to see the Psych panel later today and will update if I do!

So as promised here is my update after the panels of day one. I'm happy to report getting in to see not only my beloved Psych panel but also Intelligence, a new CBS drama starring Josh Holloway and Marge Helgenberger, Star-Crossed, a new CW show starring Matt Lanter of 90210 fame and Beauty and the Beast, making its second appearance at Comic-con.

Intelligence seems at first look like a typical spy procedural, with the hook being a chip which instantly downloads all of the world's digitized data into Holloway's Gabriel's brain. There's the typical will they are won't they dilemma, a tough boss who secretly understands more about the characters than we are led to believe,  and two lead characters who are ruled more often by their hearts than their heads. It's a successful formula which works well in a show like Alias and more recently Covert Affairs, only time will tell whether or not Intelligence lives up to the genre. The panel was very engaging, especially Holloway, whom the crowd adores.

It's not surprising first day bugs pushed the panels back 15 minutes, meaning there wasn't time for Q&As with some shows like Star-Crossed. The Beauty and the Beast panel boasted one of the funniest gag reels I've seen in awhile, and Star-Crossed elicited a definite emotional connection to the material from the target audience members in the crowd.

But the highlight of the day is definitely Psych. The entire cast was on hand and seemed genuinely excited to be interacting with the crowd, many of whom got a chance to see the cast members the night before for an exclusive engagement wherein the upcoming musical episode was shown at local theaters. As a special treat for audience members who missed the chance to see the musical, James Roday and Dule Hill treated the panel to an acapella performance of one of their songs. It was a special treat to have Cary Elwes moderate the panel, as he is a fan favorite not only from his iconic role in The Princess Bride, but also his role on Psych as criminal master mind Despereaux. Psych also is the first panel of the convention to give me swag in the form of a free t-shirt which is always appreciated.

I skipped out on the rest of the panels in order to spend my remaining time walking the floor of the exhibit hall in order to try and obtain as many of the exclusives on my list as I could.  I can report about 80 percent in my possession as we speak. One of the things I know from today is I'm going to wake up at an even more insane single digit hour in the morning so until tomorrow I bid you all a fond farewell.

The stars of Intelligence

Dule Hill previews an upcoming episode of Psych

The stars of Star-Crossed