Long lines to see Stan Lee, Norman Reedus plague Motor City Comic Con Saturday

Legendary comic book writer Stan Lee addresses about 1,000 people
 that assembled to see him during a panel discussion
 Saturday at the Motor City Comic Con. (Photo by Dave Herndon.)

Novi – Hurry up and wait, that’s what nearly everyone had to do Saturday at the Motor City Comic Con.
The pop culture convention celebrated its 24th year with a bang, though it was one that the facility and staff were unable to handle quickly according to fans in attendance. The convention played host to both legendary comic book writer Stan Lee, the creator behind Spider-Man, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and many others and also to Norman Reedus, who stars as Daryl Dixon on the popular AMC television show “The Walking Dead.”
SLIDESHOW: Photos from day two at the Motor City Comic Con.

Warehouse 13 panel.

The draw of those two, along with more than 150 other comic book writers, creators and artists, along with popular professional wrestlers, models and both television and film stars brought fans in droves. Lines stretched around two sides of the Suburban Collection Showplace with wait times of up to two hours just to get in the parking lot, fans then waited another 1-4 hours to get in the doors. Due to the building hosting two other events, and the construction of a large on-site hotel, parking was also an issue. Some fans said that they parked as much as a mile away and walked to the convention, only to be faced with the line to get in. Traffic was backed up for miles along I-96 near Beck Road, the exit for the convention center.
New this year was a “pre-order” ticket sales approach, which offered fans the chance to pay extra to pre-order a ticket and not have to wait in line. Do to some snafu, even fans with preordered tickets had to wait in line to get in.
“Bought advance tickets,” Patrick Green wrote on the conventions Facebook wall. “I waited over two hours just to get in the door. Poor planning, management, and crowd control. Just ridiculous.”
Once inside, fans were faced with record crowds, and once again – long lines to see the stars with the biggest draw.
“I gotta say this was indeed the worst con experience I've ever had,” wrote Andrea Chilkiewicz.
Not all of the fans were upset though, some were happy just to have had the chance to meet Lee.
“I know everyone is complaining about the lines,” Rebekah Prist wrote. “I waited about 3 hours from start to finish to get my picture and an autograph with Stan Lee. However, what you gave me was a memory.
“My 5 year old asked him if Spiderman was real. Stan told him yes he is, and he is a good guy too. Thank you for the wonderful memory.”
Another fan was just happy to be in the room with Reedus, she was gushing to someone on the other end of the phone that she could see him and about how “cute” he was. She was more than 2 hours away from getting close enough to talk with him.
Aside from the crowd control and parking issues the rest of the convention carried on as planned.
The convention will re-open at 10:30 a.m. and run through 5 p.m. Crowds are expected to lessen since Lee’s appearance was for Saturday only. Reedus and the rest of the guests are all scheduled to return.
RELATED: Photos from day one at the Motor City Comic Con.