Stephanie, Camille, Bruno, Meta and me.
Sorry for the delay in getting this to you all – after the sensational time that was Comic Con I spent some extra days in Los Angeles enjoying a holiday (my first trip overseas!) so I am just getting to write this down now!
So, let me begin at the beginning. As the others like to say, coming from Oz I am pretty adept at time travel, so to put my Thursday into perspective for you just picture this – I left Melbourne airport at 11am on Thursday, July 18 and arrived at LAX at 8am on Thursday, July 18. Freaky! I got off the plane full of excitement and headed straight for Comic Con with Tiffany. To this day I still have absolutely no clue how I lasted until 10pm that night after only having 1-2 tiny catnaps on the plane (which was a 14 and a half hour flight).
We hooked up with Ciara first at our accommodation, which was a meeting I’ll never forget! I won’t repeat what I said but coming up the stairs I tripped and let out a swear word and the next thing I hear is Ciara calling out “That must be Tash!” Hahah! 
After that Ciara, Tiffany and I headed straight to the convention centre and weaved through the crowds to pick up our badges before making a beeline to the Lionsgate booth to prepare for Thursday’s meet and greet.
The Lionsgate booth at San Diego Comic Con 2013.
The buzz around the Lionsgate booth was amazing. After being cleared by security we actually got to stand inside the booth as Lionsgate staff busily got out posters and prepared for the fans to walk through. Whilst waiting Camille joined us right before signing started, then to my amazement after the signings started we saw Erin in line with a wristband! After she was finished she was let into the booth to wait with us for our meet and greet with the cast members afterwards. We all spent this time taking various photos, including Tiffany getting right up inside the booth next to Meta! It was during this time that Bruno also turned to give us a wink (which we gladly returned!!) and then a little later a salute, alongside that famous trademark wide grin of his
After the signing was finished it was time to head upstairs for our meet and greet with Bruno, Meta and Stephanie and the one word I have to describe that experience is “incredible.” All three of them were so amazingly nice and nothing was a hard ask – I’m sure their arms were killing them after just signing 150 posters but they all happily signed a poster and books for each of us as well as posing for photos and taking the time to chat with us. All were very excited about the film and couldn’t wait for us to see it, with all agreeing that the arena scenes will be “amazing”. Bruno was just fantastic to talk to, he really took the time to listen to our questions and then answer in that hilarious way he has. As Ciara and I chatted with him he told us not to worry and that “Francis really knows what he’s doing”. By far the highlight for me was receiving a hug from Bruno – I thanked him for taking the time to come to Comic Con for fans and for chatting to us and then he gave me a hug! The best way I can describe the hug is that he is so strong and it was so full of warmth that it felt like my internal organs were being crushed in the most sensational way! Then Ciara asked him for a hug too and he happily obliged I can vouch for the fact that his arms are huge in person!
At this point in time my whole trip was more than worth it and it wasn’t even the end of day one! Getting to spend it with my sensational Mockingjay friends, who are more like family to me, made it even more special. It was then time to head to the cocktail reception (big thanks to Lionsgate!) which was a fantastic time and such a great way to unwind and catch up with the girls. It was here that I got to meet Crystal and Kimmy in person as well as the Welcome to District 12 girls Courtney and Tiffany and their friend Denise, who are all absolutely hilarious! We all hung out until about 10 before heading back to get some sleep and gear up for Friday.
Unfortunately none of us were successful in the autograph lotto for Game of Thrones despite the early wake-up, so the day was spent wandering the floor as well as checking out what was going on outside the convention centre. If you haven’t been to Comic Con before just imagine that giant convention centre FULL of stalls and people, then they all spill out onto the surrounding streets as various hotels around the area have other events going on, such as the huge Enders Game tent outside, gaming in the Marriot, a huge area of jumping castles and a ship for Assassin’s Creed, or the Game of Thrones or Walking Dead experiences to name just a few. Even over 4 days I think I would have been lucky to have seen half of what was going on, it is just that big. The highlight of Friday was getting very close to the Game of Thrones cast as they walked to and from their signing, which was pretty cool. I also used this day to get some shopping done and to grab as many freebies as possible
Come Friday night it was time to camp out for Hall H and the Lionsgate panel happening on Saturday. We weren’t the only keen fans, despite being there from the early evening there were around 100-150 people in front of us (but it was a big day of panels, with Warner Bros, Fox and Marvel also on the agenda). Camping is certainly an ‘experience’, you try and get some sleep if you can, which is made pretty impossible by the fact that there are lights on, other groups of campers talking and a huge party with loud music happening across the street. Needless to say I was one of those Tiffany mentioned dancing in their sleeping bag!! Every time I tried to nod off they would play something I liked… Around 4:30am I got up and went over to the Hotel Hilton to change my t-shirt and have a “shower in a can” and wasn’t back long before they decided to condense the line at 5am.
Erin and I waiting in line for Hall H on Saturday morning.
Finally just before 9am we were let inside Hall H and I was one of many who joined in the “whoop!” cries as we went inside! I could not believe the size of the place, I knew from reading online that Hall H could hold 6,500 people, but seeing it was different entirely. Thanks to camping we were right within the first section, about 8 rows from the stage, which was a great view of all of the panels. Even though I knew hardly anything about the Warner Bros movies I found myself enjoying every panel, Chris Hardwick was a sensational moderator and I found all of the cast to have interesting answers. Highlights were Seventh Son (with Jeff Bridges and Kit Harrington!), the hilarity of the LEGO panel (especially when that kid dropped the mic and walked off!), Bryan Cranston, Sandra Bullock, Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise – I could not believe I was in the same room as these people. I must say too that even though I’m not a huge Superman or Batman fan, experiencing that announcement delivered by Zack Snyder was just phenomenal and the reactions of the people around me were so amazing to be a part of – I saw one guy pacing back and forth on the phone describing it to a friend and another guy who was hugging his wife so tightly as they consoled each other. Sharing Erin’s excitement afterwards about the World of Warcraft announcement was also fantastic
Then finally, finally it was time for Lionsgate! Although we had to sit through I, Frankenstein first (which doesn’t look too bad) and a horrible scary trailer for You’re Next lol The energy in the room was just electric, as soon as the I, Frankenstein cast left the stage (sorry guys!) you could just feel the tension and excitement lift a notch when the Catching Fire logo came up on the big screen. Watching the trailer on that giant screen was beyond sensational, I broke out in goosebumps straight away and tried not to jump out of my seat. I’m sure my eyes were as wide as saucers as I just tried to take everything in – opening with the Victor’s Village and Katniss and Prim talking sent a shiver up my spine as I realised what they were foreshadowing. Everything about it was sensational, I loved Cinna asking Katniss if she was “ready to go to work”, I cried when I saw Effie’s face at the reaping for the first time, the training centre was amazing and I am pretty sure I squealed when I saw Johanna with her axe and then Katniss coming out of the tube, my god. I felt amazing because her face was pretty much everything I had written about in one of our last By the Book pieces. Needless to say my confidence skyrocketed again when I saw that trailer
The cast all got a rousing reception as they were introduced one by one and it was so exciting to be in the same room and so close to them. All were fantastic and their usual funny selves, with Jen and Josh constantly joking with each other and sharing plenty of funny stories – including that one about the snot kiss! It felt like the panel was over all too soon though as they left the stage and played the trailer again. I turned around and looked at Ciara, Camille and Tiffany and I’m pretty sure we all had the same goofy grin on our faces! Here is where the ‘hard’ part of Comic Con came for me, I would have loved to have stayed in Hall H to see the Fox and Marvel panels later in the day but it was time to go to our next meet and greet, which was a fantastic experience.
On the Saturday it was absolute bedlam at the Lionsgate booth as Jena, Jeffrey and Willow signed autographs. We couldn’t stay inside the booth this time and Comic Con security shooed us away any time we tried to stand somewhere, so we decided to walk around the booth and give out our groovy Mockingjay.net bookmarks which were snapped up in a hurry! We each took turns in going upstairs this time (where I met Beth too!), looking out over the convention centre floor it was clear that Saturday was a lot more packed than Thursday. Meeting Jena was amazing, she was really nice and chatted away about all sorts of topics, including her passion for photography. She also had the most amazing killer heels on! Jeffrey Wright was lovely also as he asked us all why we are interested in the books – beyond the usual themes for me I have to say the series has been a life changer (a bit like Erin’s experience) – for example in the last 12 months I’ve moved house, changed careers and travelled overseas for the first time, all thanks to reading The Hunger Games. My Saturday meet and greet highlight though was Willow, who was very chatty and remembered meeting me at Oz Comic Con last year!
Jeffrey, me, Willow, Erin, Crystal, Beth and Jena.
Again the meet and greet seemed like it was over all too quickly as we gathered our things to head downstairs again. The rest of my time at Comic Con was spent looking around and hanging with the girls, which went by way too fast, but we are all already starting to talk about going back next year which is pretty exciting! As the others have said so far, even though we knew each other online, getting to meet each other in the flesh was the most amazing experience. Each and every one of us is family and Comic Con has by far been one of the best experiences of my life. The accents were also amazing, I thought before I left that I had a pretty strong Aussie accent and even warned the girls as such, little did I know that it was THAT strong! Pretty much everyone commented everywhere I went, which was pretty awesome
Other Comic Con highlights for me included seeing Joss Whedon while I was wandering the floor, meeting some fans who had terrific cosplay outfits, including a dead Rue and Seneca Crane complete with noose!, buying and grabbing various swag and just getting to experience as much as possible. I also felt really chuffed when I visited the Smart Pop Books booth to ask for their badges and they said “Of course, anything for a Mockingjay.net staff member!”
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my Comic Con experience, feel free to leave a comment with any questions – unfortunately I used up a lot of my time travelling ability on the way over so I’ll be absent for a little while on the way back, I fly home tonight (Thursday, August 1) at 11:40pm and don’t land back in Melbourne until 8:30am Saturday! (Australian time) So even though my replies may be a little slow, I will get back to you