Long months after the San Diego Comic Con is over, shockwaves are felt throughout fandom. Buzz will continue to spread for projects that fans are excited about. The negative feedback from fans will require creators to go back to the drawing board and rethink their projects. And new discoveries will enjoy a wider audience. So it goes every year at Comic Con.

The ones lucky enough to attend have earned their bragging rights for the next year as they correct their less-than-informed friends about what upcoming comics, TV shows and movies are really cool. And they will be doing it wearing a t-shirt you’ll never get to buy. It’s sometimes like a geek Easter egg hunt in search of what’s next in the world of fandom.

While the panels for major movie projects got most of the mainstream buzz (within minutes of occurring) that news tends to fade quickly. The real human stories from the con will endure, such as the struggles of artists such as Tommy Wiseau, Drew Pearce, Spike, R. Black, DJ Sucklord and painter Ray Sumser who came to show off his amazingly detailed canvas of a Comic Con vista to passersby.

There was so much to see beyond the looming displays from Sony, Hasbro and ABC. If you could pry yourself away from those enormous booths, you might have found the lines for stars from a distant past or encounter a friendly female face and you might have even found geek love . And there’s always those costumed fans that make fans and non-fans smile… or cower in fear.

There were the big events and the presence of a new breed of fan… the young geek girl. Twilight dominated the con and had girls waiting 24 hours just to get close to the stars of the Twilight Saga . I don’t think that Twilight fans ruined Comic Con, but many geeks were forced to learn how a girl might feel at a pantie raid… a little violated. These younger female fans figured out how to get into the clubhouse door… and they are not going away anytime soon, so get used to it. There were also events that almost went unnoticed like monster wrestling and the annual fetish party known as Sanguin . What everyone in downtown San Diego had no choice to experience was the zombie walk through the gaslamp . The number of undead fans who participated proves that zombies walking through downtown will become an annual tradition.

And while prepping  for Comic Con can be a chore , there is always the joy in returning home not only filled with stories of geek glory, but treasures discovered at the con.

Those who attended Comic Con may have complained at the time about the smell of greasy convention food and body odor. But now it just smells like… “Victory!”

Words by Chris Gore, photos by Dustin Downing