This follows a rough stretch for SDCC that began with the pandemic. And then there are the studios that mostly chose to sit this year out before the actors strike even hit, like Marvel, Netflix, Universal, and Sony, among others. It’s hard to keep track of how many panels have been cancelled or altered as a result of the strikes, but big-name titles like Dune: Part Two and The Boys spin-off Gen V have fled the interview, while others are getting hobbled presentations like the Star Trek TV shows, which will still be present at the con to screen new footage of episodes, but with none of the star power usually associated with a convention slot. (Indeed, the ascension of both seem inextricably tied together.) Chances are even your mom has a vague understanding of what a “comic con” is.īut will that rise to prominence persist after these last few tumultuous years for the show? With Hollywood’s actors and writers on strike, a major part of the studios’ standard op at San Diego has been shut down. Still, it’s only been since nerdism became mainstream that SDCC did the same. And yes, of course big movies and shows have had a presence at the con over the decades – we all know about how the original Star Wars was there in 1976 before it even came out. Maybe to get a copy of Thor #337 signed, even.Īll of which is to say, Comic-Con was significantly changed by the arrival of Hollywood, as the studios discovered it could serve as a beat on the promotional tour for whatever they were promoting at the time. I remember seeing the many fans standing outside, hoping for a chance – never to come – to get into that abomination of crowded clubbiness and Los Angeles daytrippers who didn’t know John Buscema from John Cena… if only those fans knew they were better off going back to Artists Alley. This phenomenon has had its ebbs and flows since then, but perhaps the nadir came during those couple of years when Playboy would host a party that was, dare I say it, the douchiest event ever held in the same city where Stan Lee was an honored guest. But the fact is, Hollywood took over San Diego Comic-Con at some point – let’s call it the early 2000s – and it hasn’t been the same since. I take no pleasure in the ghettoization of comic books at their own con as I sit here typing, my signed copy of Walt Simonson’s Thor #337 is within reach of my desk. Of course, it’s always been ironic that ever since SDCC became the mainstream touchpoint of geek fandom that it is today, comics have been seemingly pushed to the side – to those dark halls where only the likes of the original Battlestar Galactica cast dare to visit for autograph sessions. What’s a Comic-Con without famous actors and creators, after all? You mean we actually have to talk about… comics at Comic-Con? So it comes as no surprise that the annual nerdathon that is Comic-Con, which takes place this week from July 19 to 23, would be facing – after the lean Covid years – yet another crisis of its own.
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