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Comic-Con Wraps After 4 Days Of Pop-Art Indulgence

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
(L-R) Author Stephenie Meyer, Actors Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Mackenzie Foy and Kristen Stewart (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Lionsgate)

 
SAN DIEGO (CBS SF/AP) - This year's 43rd annual Comic-Con festival may be over but die-hard fans of the pop-culture celebration already have their minds on next year's show.

"There's no more pre-registration," lamented Chris Herrera, 26, of Los Angeles, who was attending his sixth consecutive Comic-Con. "Now you have to register online, and that website always crashes."

Fans used to be able to register onsite for the following year's convention, but organizers eliminated that option this year for the 2013 convention, set for July 18-21.

The event has become so popular that organizers have capped attendance at around 130,000 and implemented the digital-registration system to reduce long lines onsite (there are enough of those already) and to prevent ticket brokers from buying blocks of admission badges for resale.

"It seems more and more crowded every year," Herrera said of the festival, which has become as much a marketing mecca for movie studios and TV networks as a celebration of comic books, which is how it all began.

Lines stretched around the San Diego Convention Center this year as fans camped out overnight to attend the most popular panels, including an appearance Saturday by the cast of the HBO vampire drama, "True Blood."

Expect similar lines at Wondercon, Comic-Con's sister event, usually held in San Francisco. However in 2012, the event was moved to the Anaheim Convention Center due to Moscone Center renovations. Dates and locations has not been finalized by Wondercon organizers for 2013.

Panels for "Big Bang Theory," "The Walking Dead," "Game of Thrones," and the final "Twilight" film drew overnight lineups, too. One "Twilight" fan who had been camped out days in advance was fatally injured by a car as she dashed across a street in front of the main convention hall.

A book signing by the author of the erotic romance sensation "Fifty Shades of Grey" also attracted overnight waits.

Other popular events included panels from The CW's new shows "Cult" and DC Comic's "Arrow," previews of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Guillermo del Toro's massive-monsters-versus-robots adventure "Pacific Rim," Marvel's "Iron Man 3" and a new "Godzilla" film is in the works.

This year's conventioneers can pre-register for Comic-Con 2013 next month. Aspiring first-timers have to wait until later to sign up for the 44th annual Con.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
 

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