We’re Comic-Con Comic-kazes: First Impressions of This Year’s Festivities

So we’ve landed in sunny San Diego — a cool respite from the muggy near-100 degrees temps in New York City — for the event that defines summer amongst comic book and sci-fi fans: Comic-Con International. My arrival at Comic-Con is usually preceded by a panic attack. With panels stacked upon panels stacked upon signings stacked upon photo-ops, how on earth will we cover everything? And what about all the people, the equivalent of a mid-sized U.S. city within one small place?

But then you get there, and you feel the love and the joy emanating from pretty much everyone. Plus, there are the roaming gangs of scantily clad slave Leias — which makes my colleague/photographer very happy.

This year’s extra-exciting for BBC America devotees, and really, anyone who loves quality sci-fi TV. Doctor Who stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are both here for the very first time, and the anticipation for their panel on Sunday is ramping up. At the BBC America booth, the network is feting the Doctor and Amy’s inaugural Con appearance with an absolutely GINORMOUS video wall that towers about the exhibition floor, cycling through important moments from the past two seasons of Who. From the looks of it, this year’s Con promises to be bigger in scope than ever, and I couldn’t be more enthused.

Off to the TV Guide Fan Favorites panel, which is being headlined by none other than Matt Smith (alongside Johnny Galecki, Zachary Levi, and Joe Manganiello and others)…will have a recap of that coming later today.