San Diego Comic Con 2022
Last weekend saw the return of the first full, in-person, four day San Diego Comic-Con since pre-pandemic. With tens of thousands of attendees over the long weekend, comics and entertainment guests from across the globe, and tons of off-site experiences, there is a reason that SDCC is known as the biggest and best con in the world.
With reduced numbers of tickets available this year compared to pre-pandemic, and a strict mask policy, San Diego Comic Con 2022 was taking no chances in visitor safety. This had the added bonus of leaving more room for con-goers to move about, take photos, and generally have some space, and didn’t lessen the experience at all.
Showfloor
There might have been fewer visitors than in previous years, but that did not stop the big sellers bringing their A-game to the show. Lego were out in force with a giant animatronic Bowser photo op, Marvel hosted a $25 million Infinity Gauntlet (rather proving that money doesn’t buy taste), and Disney brought a selection of costumes for fans to ogle.
There were plenty of big name comic creators about to keep fans happy, whether based in Artist Alley, camping out with publishers on their booths, or floating about between panels and gamely signing books when collared by eager fans.
Funko Pop took over a lot of space on the showfloor, which didn’t stop them having a queue at all times, but toy fans also had access to show exclusives from Sideshow, Hasbro and Mondo. Almost every fandom you can think of was covered in some way at SDCC 2022, with the bulk of toys being comics-based for fairly obvious reasons, but with a whole range of other options available.
Cosplay
Having had more time than usual to work on ideas, the cosplayers were out in force this year. From the traditional herd of Deadpools, a healthy selection of Spideys (Spider-men? Spider-mans? Spider-people?!), and the usual giant-sword-wielding manga characters, to a seven foot tall Chewbacca with a retinue of Stormtroopers, an inflatable dragon riding Daenerys Targaryen and a remote control Wall-E. There were more Hellfire Club t-shirts than you could shake a stick at, with Stranger Things clearly this years biggest hit so far. It was a good year to see and be seen, and the lower visitor numbers meant that there was plenty of opportunity to congratulate and photograph those who had dressed up.
Panels
San Diego offers a huge variety of panels and workshops over the course of the weekend, from career retrospectives and specialist subjects, through to banned books and previews of upcoming titles. Some, like the DC Comics are for Everyone, featured a range of content – from the trailer for Batwheels to a guest appearance from movie legend Bruce Campbell. The latter may not have gotten the memo about the title of that specific panel mind, as his comments on his new Sgt Rock Vs Army of the Dead were not exactly family friendly…! All credit to moderator Katie Kubert for trying to steer him back onto the right path though. Despite the shenanigans, seeing a stack of new middle-grade, YA and all ages titles being announced was a great reminder that comics really are for everyone.
Another affirming panel was the Lucasfilm: Publishing Star Wars panel, with a wealth of talent present – fitting eight writers in a 45 minute panel deserves an award – and more new title announcements. Star Wars often gets a bad rap for its toxic fandom, but there was nothing but positivity on show at the panel, with the audience going wild with every new announcement, and deafening cheers whenever fan-favourite characters got name dropped – yes Jaxxon fans, we’re talking about you.
Hall H
The famed Hall H is the location of many of the big panels, screenings and announcements, and this year was no exception. With appearances from The Rock, Keanu Reeves and a huge percentage of the MCU, Hall H was the place to be – if you didn’t mind camping in the queue for several days!
With previews of both Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and Black Adam – with The Rock reportedly giving away a cinema ticket for the latter to every panel attendee – DC were out in force. They’ve not had the best luck with their recent cinematic endeavours, so obviously wanted to make the most of the captive SDCC audience. The fans lapped it up, and despite erroneous reports that Henry Cavill was going to make a surprise announcement, no-one was disappointed in their previews and stars they saw.
Not to be outdone, Marvel outlined virtually their entire movie and TV slate for the next few years, with a slew of announcements and the long-awaited Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer being their biggest drop of the weekend. Plus in true MCU style they saved a couple of announcements for after the panel – have to have their post-credits scene after all! Stay tuned for a recap of everything Marvel announced – coming soon.
Off-site experiences
For those fans who didn’t fancy the show floor there was plenty to do off-site as well, as SDCC took over not just the convention centre but a lot of space in the local area as well. From an immersive House of the Dragon experience, to a pop up Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves tavern, you didn’t need to go far to get your nerd on. Buildings around town were plastered in adverts for new and upcoming shows, with The Rookie: Feds covering several floors of one in a giant Nathan Fillion, and Star Trek covering a number of hotels with Picard, Pike and more.
Where else in the world can you take a photo with a 12 foot tall Cookie Monster, then walk twenty paces and do the same with an inflatable Ozzy Osbourne? San Diego Comic Con has its own brand of weird and the fans love it.
2023…?
Following what was undoubtedly a triumphant return, fans are already hoping for more of the same from next year. After two years of online programming, and a small return to an in-person event over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2022, this event just went to show that it is possible to hold a safe event at a major venue.
