Heyo! Tyler here. It’s been a while since I’ve written for this blog. My last post was actually the last time I attended Fan Expo in Dallas (see my article “Bulbasaur at the Zoo”). I just barely graduated from medical school and have been trying to make the most of my time before I start residency. As part of that, I planned on attending Fan Expo in Dallas this year. However, I later found out that I had a family event that same day. The family event schedule was “perfectly imperfect” such that I would only be able to attend about 2 hours worth of the con if I wanted to get to my family on time.
I considered backing out. But the Fan Expo I had gone to two years ago had been so much fun, and I had missed the con last year due to schooling – who knows the next time I’d be able to go? I suddenly found myself relating my situation to something from my college days. I had a group of geek friends who I would hang out and play video game with. One time, we all watched a speed-run of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This was a game that I had played multiple times throughout my childhood. I was astounded to see the tricks people had figured out to complete the game in record time. As of today of me writing this article, the current world record to complete this game is 3 minutes, 47 seconds, and 900 milliseconds, something unfathomable to me, who spent hours playing through it. This memory then made me ask myself: “Is it possible to speed-run a comic con?”
Granted, there are certain mechanics that only work in a video game due to coding. (Sorry, no wall running or sequence breaking in real life). But what are the principles necessary to “speed-run” a comic con? Here are some of my ideas:
Evaluate Your Limitations
There many different rule sets for speed-runs depending on which game you are playing. For example, that 3m 47 s 900ms Ocarina of Time speed-run only got through the main storyline (called any “Any% speed-run,” not all collectibles required). However, there are other speed-runs that focus on completing every quest, collecting every collectible, achieving a 100% on the game (suitably called a “100% speed-run”). Super Mario 64 is a classic speed-run game to illustrate the difference between Any% and 100% speed-runs. Some people just try to make it to Bowser ASAP. Others only want to beat him after getting every single Star.
You have to figure out your own limitations with what time and resources you have, or just what you constraints you’d like to put on yourself for whatever reasons you have.
Decide Your Priorities
Once you figure out your limitations, decide what is most important to you. What activities would make the experience feel like a success for you? There aren’t IRL “achievements” you unlock like on games, but you can decide for yourself, out of everything, what you want to focus on. Fan Expo runs over the course of 3 days. They pack the place with enough things to do to fill that time – celebrity meet-and-greets, cosplay meet-ups, panels, and so much more. In my case, I had 2 hours. I made the choice that I would focus on a few goals for that time:
- Find something Gardevoir-related for a friend
- Buy something for myself, for memory’s sake
- Find a rubber duck that was advertised as a part of Fan Expo’s scavenger hunt (more on this later)
Make sure you list yours out as well to keep you centered on your purpose.
Beware of Time Sinks
For speed-runners, every millisecond counts. There are slip-ups that are classic for wasting time. Speed-runners have ways of planning around those, or at least minimizing the damage they do. You have to form your own strategy. Traffic, parking, and registration are classic time sinks for comic cons. But there are certainly more depending on what you’re attending. I also think it’s wise to plan to avoid the big time sinks, but learn to stay flexible when unexpected things pop up. For example. I tried to plan for traffic and parking this year, but didn’t do so well at it. I drove in early to park and hopefully get into the con on time. But unfortunately, traffic was a lot more than anticipated. Plus, getting through the lines to get through security and getting my pass ate up a lot of my time. It was a good 45 minutes by the time I actually got settled in. It made me a bit stressed, to be honest. But I had to force myself to remember the next point…
Keep Moving Forward
A time sink that many don’t plan for is discouragement. Speed-running requires precision and basically perfection. However, when you lose time, there is no use in wallowing in self-pity about it. The best speed-runners are resilient and accept that we’re human and mess up sometimes. But they keep focused and keep moving forward in order to avoid losing any more time. So while I did lose 45 minutes right off the bat, I recognized that the most important thing was that I was with people that I cared about, and that very fact would make the experience memorable no matter what else happened.
Have Fun!
Some people think speed-running to be masochist because you are so focused on perfection just for an arbitrary record or goal. Yet, speed-running in general prevails, not because of the pain and effort required to do it, but because there are people who honestly love the endeavor and find some amount of joy in it.
Therefore, my advice if you’re going to speed-run a comic con – don’t come from a place of constraint to perfection. It’s okay to want to optimize the little time that you have there. But don’t let strictness keep you from finding joy in the journey. There are great moments to be had, treasures to be found, and wonderful people to meet. Don’t be so focused on what you wish your experience to be that you miss out on recognizing how great your experience is in reality.
My Fan Expo 2025 Experience
I came away feeling my comic con experience was a success. I so wish I could have done more, but that’s a sign that the organizers did their jobs right. I hope to come back next year, ideally without any other scheduling conflicts so I can stay for a longer time.
I ended up completing all of my personal goals for this comic con this year. I spent time with incredible friends who even helped me fulfill some of my goals! (It’s a lot harder to find something Gardevoir-related on the vendor floor that isn’t “sexualized” than I realized). This con is definitely one for the scrapbook that is my greatest memories.
And as a final explanation: one of my goals was to find a rubber duck. Fan Expo was Back to the Future-themed this year, and they had a rubber duck scavenger hunt throughout the convention hall. My family grew up watching the Back to the Future movies all the time, so I was very eager to find a duck. I looked for the entire time that I was there… could not find one. But literally, on the way out, I found one right beside the exit! It wasn’t quite Back to the Future-themed, but it was still enough for me to say:
“Comic con speedrun: Success!”
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