SAN DIEGO – Comic-Con International, the world’s largest comic book and popular arts convention, returns to America’s Finest City this week. Downtown will be crammed with thousands of people wearing costumes and headdress of their favorite characters.

Restaurants and bars are stocked up, prepared for the revelry. Hotels are overbooked, and on the Internet there are visitors begging to rent your spare bedroom because they cannot find an empty room from here to Orange County.