This is it. One more day until the official start of Comic-Con. As you read this, thousands of comic book professionals and fans the world over are boarding flights heading in to San Diego. They’re locking down signing schedules and confirming dinner reservations. Why? Well, if you’ve been to Comic-Con before, you know preparation is key. And the heart of preparing for Comic-Con is to have some sort of strategy.

There’s a reason why so many people love Comic-Con. It really does have something for everyone. However, because of that, it can all feel very overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’ve never been to Comic-Con before, let us offer you one final suggestion: Decide right now what you want to get out of it. Are you going to Comic-Con primarily because you want to get sketches from all of your favorite comic book artists? Are you heading to San Diego because you want to check out never-before-seen trailers and clips from some of the biggest upcoming movies? Is your goal to snag the best free swag available on the show floor? Are you an aspiring comic book writer, looking to find an artist to collaborate with?

It may be one of the above goals, or something entirely different. But regardless, the difference between a successful Comic-Con experience and a frustrating one will be staying committed to it. For example, some of the best swag actually requires some action on your part—often a scavenger hunt or completing some objective. That takes time, which you’re not going to have if you’re spending most of the convention sitting in portfolio review lines. Decide on your top two or three goals for this trip and make those your focus. Everything else you happen to have time for is just gravy.

Of course, regardless of what that strategy is, we hope you’ll swing by the DC booth. We’ll have swag. We’ll have nonstop creator signings. We’ll have some of our best artists drawing live in our booth while fielding your questions. We’ll have portfolio reviews and panels. Props and costumes from DC movies and TV shows. Art from MAD Magazine. And much, much more.

And if you’re not going to be in San Diego, we’ll be bringing the best of the con to you right here on DCComics.com, so check back all throughout the weekend. After all, it’s Comic-Con—you never know what you might see!