My driver was a great guy, and as soon as he heard I was heading to San Diego Comic-Con, his eyes lit up. But San Diego greeted me with bright sunshine, cool ocean air, and my mom, a resident of the town, waiting at the curb. From there, I swung by the Big Man Comics booth (Booth 1705), the staging ground where Chris Gore and Alan Ng would later be signing Film Threat gear. The San Diego Convention Center is vast, and navigating the dense currents of moving crowds requires getting your bearings ahead of time. San Diego Comic-Con proved that the hunger for true creative independence is real.