Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Comic-Con sideshows: the $6 million yacht, the preacher, the cigarette bummer

Why follow a fantasy?

Raymond picked Batman “because he’s the antihero.”
Raymond picked Batman “because he’s the antihero.”

Mark came to Comic-Con from Laguna aboard his friend’s 85-foot, $6 million yacht Motown, a sleek gray vessel tied up alongside the Embarcadero just south of the convention center. “I’ve been here every year for the last ten years,” he says. “I bring my son and his buddies from all over the place; I enjoy watching them have a good time. He’s been into writing his whole life, and he goes to the breakout sessions about that. Usually, we’re at it from early in the morning to late at night. But this is our first time coming on the boat, so I’ve spent a little more time relaxing.”

“Anybody got a cigarette with them?"

Just now, the boys are stretched out in the sun on Motown’s decks, within sight of the thousands of people hiding from that same sun under the hundreds of tents that make up the line for Saturday’s Hall H presentation from Marvel studios. They are here for proximity and priority: to be near the screen gods and goddesses who grace the Hall H stage, and to hear the good news of what’s to come a few minutes before the rest of the webbed-up world. Inside one, a father pours water over his infant son’s head to keep him cool; across the sidewalk from him, cool kids play cards and drink bourbon inside another.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Jeff from Lake Murray Church is here preaching at the corner of Fifth and Harbor because “This is my parish, and these are my parishoners. It’s a hard crowd. But we proclaim the Gospel message that God was in Christ making the peace with the world, and he says to the world, ‘Make peace with me.’ Look at that massive amount of people. They’re all eternal beings. They all have an eternal destiny. Our exhortation to them is, ‘Why follow something that is a fantasy when you can know the living God?’”

Older marrieds Raymond and Julie are here dressed as Batman Begins–era Batman and Batman Returns–era Catwoman. This is their fifth visit, but only their second in costume. “The kids get a kick out of it,” says Raymond as Julie lifts a bead of sweat off his chin. “They smile, want their photo taken. It’s fun to make a little kid’s day.”

“And it’s a little for us,” says Julie. Last year, she came as Captain Marvel because the heroine is “badass and tough.” (She got the costume custom-made through Etsy.) This year, Raymond picked Batman, “because he’s the antihero.”

The Chairman is here at the corner of Fifth and Island because, as he mutters to himself, “A lot of people out and about today.” He plants his wheelchair expertly in the middle of the sidewalk; the stream of Comic-Conners parts effortlessly around him. He wears no shirt; his skin is cracked leather, broken below the elbow. “Anybody got a cigarette with them? Anybody got a fucking cigarette? Any of you fuckers got a cigarette? Fucking faggots.”

Fifty feet away, Batman and Wonder Woman pose for a photo.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Next Article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Raymond picked Batman “because he’s the antihero.”
Raymond picked Batman “because he’s the antihero.”

Mark came to Comic-Con from Laguna aboard his friend’s 85-foot, $6 million yacht Motown, a sleek gray vessel tied up alongside the Embarcadero just south of the convention center. “I’ve been here every year for the last ten years,” he says. “I bring my son and his buddies from all over the place; I enjoy watching them have a good time. He’s been into writing his whole life, and he goes to the breakout sessions about that. Usually, we’re at it from early in the morning to late at night. But this is our first time coming on the boat, so I’ve spent a little more time relaxing.”

“Anybody got a cigarette with them?"

Just now, the boys are stretched out in the sun on Motown’s decks, within sight of the thousands of people hiding from that same sun under the hundreds of tents that make up the line for Saturday’s Hall H presentation from Marvel studios. They are here for proximity and priority: to be near the screen gods and goddesses who grace the Hall H stage, and to hear the good news of what’s to come a few minutes before the rest of the webbed-up world. Inside one, a father pours water over his infant son’s head to keep him cool; across the sidewalk from him, cool kids play cards and drink bourbon inside another.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Jeff from Lake Murray Church is here preaching at the corner of Fifth and Harbor because “This is my parish, and these are my parishoners. It’s a hard crowd. But we proclaim the Gospel message that God was in Christ making the peace with the world, and he says to the world, ‘Make peace with me.’ Look at that massive amount of people. They’re all eternal beings. They all have an eternal destiny. Our exhortation to them is, ‘Why follow something that is a fantasy when you can know the living God?’”

Older marrieds Raymond and Julie are here dressed as Batman Begins–era Batman and Batman Returns–era Catwoman. This is their fifth visit, but only their second in costume. “The kids get a kick out of it,” says Raymond as Julie lifts a bead of sweat off his chin. “They smile, want their photo taken. It’s fun to make a little kid’s day.”

“And it’s a little for us,” says Julie. Last year, she came as Captain Marvel because the heroine is “badass and tough.” (She got the costume custom-made through Etsy.) This year, Raymond picked Batman, “because he’s the antihero.”

The Chairman is here at the corner of Fifth and Island because, as he mutters to himself, “A lot of people out and about today.” He plants his wheelchair expertly in the middle of the sidewalk; the stream of Comic-Conners parts effortlessly around him. He wears no shirt; his skin is cracked leather, broken below the elbow. “Anybody got a cigarette with them? Anybody got a fucking cigarette? Any of you fuckers got a cigarette? Fucking faggots.”

Fifty feet away, Batman and Wonder Woman pose for a photo.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Next Article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader