Back before people camped out overnight to watch a panel with the cast of Twilight, people used to go to comic book conventions to buy comic books. Crazy, right?
Cal Comic Con is an event for comic book collectors, by comic book collectors. It’s an old school style con in every sense – there are no movie trailers, celebrity panels, video game demos, exclusive toys or cosplayers, just lots and lots of comic books.
The Shortboxed crew decided to take a little road trip and drive down from San Francisco, CA to Orange County, CA to check out this show for ourselves, and it was everything we imagined it would be.
Hosted for one day in the Yorba Linda Community Center, it’s very unassuming and bare bones. It’s technically more of an expo (dealer showroom) than a full blown convention – over 30 dealers filled up 2 rooms and an outdoor patio. Some of the largest and most well-known dealers on the West Coast attend this show, and for good reason – all the attendees are hardcore comic book collectors looking for hard-to-find books or to fill gaps in their collection. This is the best show to buy comic books.