San Diego Comic Con 2024: Welcome Back!
Skilled crowd navigation is an absolute requirement at San Diego Comic Con.
This year’s San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) is in the rearview mirror now, and once again, it was (as usual) another grand, exhausting celebration of pop culture. As a now 20-year veteran of SDCC, I do not camp out all night in lines hoping to get seats to the ‘big ticket’ events (like those held in the 6,100-seat Hall H). I usually spend most of my time attending secondary events in smaller venues, meeting celebrities, or taking pics of cosplayers; leaving enough wiggle room in my day for random encounters with the unexpected. What you don’t plan for at SDCC often turns out to be the most rewarding.
The Dealer Hall
Once again, the movie studios and publishing houses, as well as various personal vendors, retailers, artists, charities and small press authors put out their best wares for SDCC. Paramount+, Marvel, DC, Nickelodeon and BBC all had walk-thru exhibits with screen-used costumes, props and even interactive displays. The elbowing of strangers, and the din of thousands means you have to constantly watch your step, keep moving forward, and throw your voice most of the time; even to the person standing right next to you. It’s not for the timid.
Some attendees at SDCC, like myself, are still wearing COVID masks, too (over the past 20 years, I’ve caught some nasty bugs at this event, so it’s not unwise or paranoid). Navigating the immense Dealer Hall from one end to the other with thousands of bodies in any direction around you is challenging, and even after five days of SDCC you can’t possibly see it all. At my age, a walk through the entirety of the Dealer Hall can also be exhausting, and I sometimes find myself wanting a nap afterward. Nevertheless, I am happy to present my condensed experience (free of fatigue) for your perusal…
For their Dealer Hall booth, they set up an “ALIENS” themed photo-op, with visitors posing inside of Ripley’s famous power loader, while a xenomorph Queen menaces from above. Needless to say, it was very popular; wish I tried it!
BBC (and Disney) had an interactive “Doctor Who” booth, which allowed visitors to take photo ops inside a beautiful TARDIS mockup; I tried to have my own pic taken inside of it, but apparently it was by appointment only, and I just didn’t have time to wait for them to text me, so that I could come running over to the booth. A nice idea stymied by overzealous queue management.
The “Star Trek Menagerie” (get it?) is an interactive ‘museum’ featuring lifeforms from all over the Star Trek galaxy.
A symbiont from the planet Trill; these seemingly grotesque parasitic creatures exist within humanoid Trill host bodies for a mutually beneficial symbiosis (see: Dax from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”)
The metallic skull and snapped spinal cord of the dead Borg Queen, from “Star Trek: First Contact” (1996).
The tribbles from the classic TOS episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” and DS9’s “Trials and Tribble-ations.”
The nasty, ear-drilling, will-draining Ceti eels from Ceti Alpha V, as seen in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982).
I loved the classic Gorn, but I’m not quite so fond of these uninspired ALIEN ripoffs; my reasons why are here:“The Gore Identity”; Star Trek’s revision of an iconic alien species…
The Factory booth featured gorgeous miniatures of the Star Trek’s starships, including the USS Enterprise-E (“Star Trek: First Contact,” “Star Trek: Insurrection” and “Star Trek: Nemesis”).
After 45 years, the refit USS Enterprise from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” remains the most beautiful starship ever committed to film. And yes, I stand by that statement. Say what you will about the movie, but the Enterprise never looked better.
A Titan missile is converted into humanity’s first warp capable spaceship, the Phoenix, in “Star Trek: First Contact” (1996).
The booth also featured a 3D replica of The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” from the same-name song and 1968 animated film.
There were, of course, countless other items for sale and on display within the massive Dealer Hall (including some great comics and other books for sale), but these were just a few of the items that caught my eye. I saw a lot more, naturally, and some of those are in the link to my 230-photo Flickr album for San Diego Comic Con 2024 near the bottom of this column. Enjoy!
The Hall H Panels, which I DIDN’T see.
The big ticket Hall H panels are accessible mainly to the hardcore faithful; those who are willing to miss most of the convention (and a lot of sleep) to wait in a massive line for much of their day (or days) in order to catch a glimpse of their favorite celebrities and hear exclusive news an hour or so before it’s plastered all over the news. At my age, I don’t have the willpower (or interest) to waste most of my time at SDCC stuck in long lines, so I’m cheating a bit with this column and offering a few things not taken from my own personal experience.
Marvel Multiverse Panel
By the time you read this, most of the civilized world will have heard the news that Robert Downey Jr., who played the late “Tony Stark” in Marvel’s mega-hit “Avengers” movies, is returning to the Marvel multiverse as the evil genius “Doctor Doom,” in yet another reboot of “The Fantastic Four” (let’s hope they get this one right). To be honest, much of my engagement with the Marvel cinematic universe ended five years ago with “Avengers: Endgame,” but this announcement was arguably the biggest news at the convention (even if it doesn’t tickle my ivories), so I couldn’t ignore it.
The Star Trek Universe Panel
The Star Trek Universe panel, including “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” also had a big draw in Hall H, including the announcement of a new Star Trek action-comedy series, co-created by “Star Trek: Lower Decks” star Tawny Newsome. For full disclosure, as I’ve said before, “Lower Decks” is not my thing at all; I find the humor tiring and the characters unlikable. But it has its fans, and I respect that, so here is the panel for it, as well as the panel for the other current Star Trek series as well (the ones on Paramount+, anyway).
From this truly ridiculous Vulcanized comedy clip from “Strange New Worlds” (SNW) and the announcement of a new action-comedy series, it looks like the Star Trek franchise is warping away from my own personal Star Trek tastes—going for big laughs and broad satire at the expense of honest sci-fi stories. I write those words with more than a little regret, as I’ve been a hardcore Trekkie (Trekker) for most of my 57-year life. To new fans? Enjoy. I’ve got my Blu-Rays of the older shows, as well as earlier SNW to watch. And there is still “Star Trek: Prodigy” on Netflix (more on that one later), so there is plenty of Star Trek for everyone’s tastes.
The Panels I Did See.
A word of advice from a 20+ year veteran of San Diego Comic Con? If you want to maximize your SDCC experience, try not to stay in any single place for too long, and that includes long lines for Hall H and Ballroom 20; the two biggest venues on site. Yes, those big-ticket panels with their high-profile talent can be exciting, but they’re usually standard press junkets—offering a few video clips, with the panelists all saying how wonderful everything went during the shoot, or what an amazing journey it was, etc. The more substantive panels are the smaller ones; which are also becoming increasingly difficult to get into these days (SDCC requires skilled human navigation). While not as high-profile or flashy as the stuff in Hall H (which seats 6,100 people) or Ballroom 20 (4,900), the smaller panels in the meeting rooms generally offer more one-on-one time with the panelists; giving attendees a bit more bang for their buck. Here are the smaller panels I did manage to attend…
Hard Case Crime Comes to SDCC
1984: Greatest Geek Year Too: Big Brother was watching you!
This movie lovers’ panel celebrated the 40th anniversary of the year that gave us such films as “The Terminator,” “Dune,” “Ghostbusters,” “The Last Starfighter,” “Star Trek III: The Search For Spock,” “Starman,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Red Dawn,” “Buckaroo Banzai,” “Splash,” “Cloak & Dagger,” “Repo Man,” “Night of the Comet,” and, of course, “1984.” The panelists were Ashley E. Miller (screenwriter “X-Men: First Class,” “Sarah Connor Chronicles,” co-host, The 4:30 Movie podcast), moderator Mark A. Altman (cowriter of the movie “Free Enterprise,” TV producer, and co-host of The 4:30 Movie podcast), along with Isaac Altman (son of Mark) and Caden Miller (son of Ashley); the co-hosts of The Kids Stay In The Podcast. Rounding out the panel was the hilarious Dan Vebber (writer, “The Simpsons”). When Mark Altman asked the audience for suggestions of good 1984 films, I chimed in with 1984’s “Iceman”, a personal favorite of mine. Mark Altman’s coproduced documentary series “1982: the Greatest Geek Year Ever,” is coming to Blu-Ray later this year .
Audibles: The Safe Man
A panel for an Audibles original audio book, “The Safe Man,” written by Michael Connelly, and starring Jack Quaid (“Star Trek: Lower Decks,” and son of actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan). The story concerns a young man whose currently imprisoned father is a professional safe cracker; a skill his son (Quaid) has inherited, and for which he tries to use for more positive deeds, such as saving people trapped in burning buildings, etc. There’s also a conspiracy and a ghost story in the mix as well. Being an Audibles fan (I listen to audiobooks when I go for my weekly 4-mile walks), this story sounds like it might be worth checking out.
Star Trek: Prodigy
Despite my mixed feelings for the rest of the current Star Trek crop, I do very much enjoy Nickelodeon, CBS and Netflix’s “Star Trek: Prodigy;” the animated Trek series that Paramount+ unceremoniously blew out the airlock. The Star Trek: Prodigy panel at SDCC, which took place in one of the larger meeting rooms, is one panel at the convention I did line up for.
Settling in for the panel for “Star Trek: Prodigy,” which was moderated by Ryan Britt (writer, NYT Times), with guests Kate Mulgrew (“Admiral Janeway,” “Hologram Janeway”) and Brett Gray (“Dal R’El”), along with cowriters/showrunners/creators (and brothers) Kevin and Dan Hageman, who’ve done a brilliant job with this so-called ‘children’s series,’ which is my favorite post-2017 Star Trek series. Here’s hoping it gets a third season on Netflix.
Seeing Stars
While I didn’t meet too many celebrities at this particular SDCC, I did take time to seek out a couple of them. Two of the celebrities I met (Mary McDonnell, Michael Biehn) are virtual legends (McDonnell is an Oscar-nominee), and I’ve been a fan of theirs for around forty years or so. The third (Jackie Dallas) is a kind, hardworking actress my wife and I befriended at earlier conventions who’s working her way up!
Biehn is able to straddle the line between hero and villain effortlessly. We talked about his role in 1981’s “The Fan” (with Lauren Bacall) where he played an obsessed stalker, and how that role led directly to writer/director James Cameron auditioning him for “The Terminator,” which almost starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kyle Reese (Arnold got the titular role instead). Biehn said his character Reese got stuck with all the exposition, but I assured him he made that horrific future Reese spoke of very believable with his haunted delivery. After our five minute chat, we shook hands. Michael Biehn is a real class act. His wife graciously handled the business end of her husband’s convention duties, and was very patient.
After meeting Jackie at many conventions over the years, she’s become Instagram friends with my wife and I. Jackie is a solid actress, and has worked alongside a lot of heavyweights, including Morgan Freeman (!). Here’s hoping she becomes a household name someday, and I wish her all the best! Can’t wait to say, “I knew her when…”
The Cosplay
One of my favorite aspects of sci-fi/fantasy/comics conventions is, of course, the cosplay. As I’ve said before, and will say again (my column, my rules), cosplayers are the hearts and souls of these conventions. And while there weren’t as many cosplayers visible this year than at past SDCCs, many of the cosplayers I saw did not disappoint.
These folks did a WONDERFUL job as the entire Flintstones cast; Wilma, Fred, Barney and Betty. I love the guys’ foot shoes, too; wish I had a pair when I do Fred! I tip my hat to all of them; they looked great. Yabba Dabba Dooooooo!!!
A Star Trek crossover with the HBO series “The Last of Us,” based on the popular video game. They stayed in character, too.
Left: Willy Wonka (from the prequel “Wonka”) spends a day with one of his Oompa Loompas. Right: Another Oompa Loompa (“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”) says ‘hi’ on her way to work as captain of the chocolate river boat…
Right: Meanwhile, “Beetlejuice”‘s Lydia Deetz is wearing red for her unwanted wedding night…
Right: R2-D2 looks washed and waxed for the throne room scene of “Star Wars.”
My Wife Delivers the Fireworks…
My wife Julia has been my SDCC partner for these past 20 years, and she had previously attended SDCC in 1998 when we were dating (I couldn’t make it back then; I had to work), so she knows the ropes of the convention. She also follows SDCC blogs on social media, as well. For SDCC 2024, she lucked out and happened to catch a huge drone/fireworks show over Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres baseball team) as she was heading back to her shuttle for our hotel on Friday night.
Noticing that everyone exiting the Deadpool panel was gazing upward, she whipped out her phone and captured nearly the entire “Deadpool & Wolverine” drone/fireworks show on her iPhone, which she quickly uploaded to her YouTube Channel SacredGeometry as she was rode the shuttle back to our hotel! With thanks to her quick thinking and excellent camera skills, I present to you the Petco Park “Deadpool & Wolverine” fireworks and drone show, courtesy of my wife, Julia…
The 11-minute drone show used 2,396 drones to form the images of Deadpool and Wolverine, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by drones. My wife only had one complaint; the accompanying fireworks obscured some of the drones. Nevertheless, this is a SDCC moment for the history books, and my wife was there to catch it.
Extended Edition
If this long-winded, photo-heavy column of SDCC 2024 isn’t quite enough, then the rest of my Flickr photos from the five-day event can be found in the link below:
All 231 of my San Diego Comic Con 2024 pics are right here. Enjoy!
My wife and I aren’t sure if we will be able to attend next year’s San Diego Comic Con, due to conflicting plans. However, we should be able to attend SDCC in 2026, barring any unforeseen events. Until then, I will continue covering other local conventions, such as WonderCon in Anaheim, as well as the Inland Empire’s CreepIECon and Comic Con Revolution. Take care!
WOW, I love how you cover these events and how awesome SDCC2024 looked! All those great deals and merchandise and props to see. I’d have been like a kid in a sweet shiop! Love those huge models of the Enterprise as well. I remember we had something similar in the Science Museum here years ago with the different ships and costumes on display and some of the bridge sets / captains chairs. Wonderful panels and guest. Cool you met a lot of people, especial Michael Biehn. Brilliant cosplay shots as well, how cool was that Iron-Bat and the Rocketeer family. Thanks for such fantastic coverage of events we can only really dream of here in the UK. Maybe one day I’ll get there 🙂
Thanks Paul, and I’d love to see you here someday! 😉
I appreciate that you showed some photos of cosplayers doing older sf such as the Cylon, the Rocketeer, the Rollerball player, etc. That kind of thing doesn’t seem to be represented very often based on what I’ve seen from more recent Comicons and Worldcons. A friend and I did a little bit of costuming in the early 1980s (I think that was before it was called cosplay) and the pair of police robots we did from THX1138 seemed to be popular, especially at the 1984 LA Worldcon. We used the same type of police gear that Lucas used with the same modifications, and vac formed and chromed our own masks. I haven’t done any costuming since then, but I’ve recently had a hankerin’ to do the moon suits from Destination Moon as authentically as possible.
That sounds really cool! I don’t suppose you have pics you could share? I’d love to see those THX chrome-cop costumes and Destination Moon suits (when the latter are completed, of course).
And yes, as I say in most of my convention columns, cosplay is my favorite part of convention-going.
I’ll have to do some digging, but I’ll look! Frankly, I’m impressed with the overall level of the costuming craft that has developed the last 10 or 20 years. Advances in technology and its ready availability have helped (CAD, 3D printing, etc), but there seems to be more of a polished professionalism that one didn’t see quite as often in the 70s and 80s. Some of the fan made work I’ve seen is astonishing, such as General Grievous,Transformer robots, Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet), etc. “Impressive, most impressive.”
I see what you did there (hehe). In addition to improvements in fabrication technology, there’s also time; unlike studios that churn out new costumes on a weekly basis, many of these cosplayers work on these for months or even years, so they have time to perfect them.
I’ve seen a lot of screen-used costumes and props up close, and in many cases, the fan made pieces are better.
This is indeed true! Good point. A bit of technology coupled with enthusiasm, time (usually) and some imagination is unstoppable.
Fully agree on the screen used props. I haven’t seen many, but what I have seen is often rougher than I would have thought. They will be at the minimum level needed for the camera resolution and the type of shots they will be used in and no more. As a contrast, I’ve sometimes seen fan made props of the same items that are works of art.
My first and only SDCC attendance was in 2011.
Hope you return someday. 🙂