Maybe the hottest topic at New York Comic Con was ANOTHER comic con: Comic-Con Special Edition planned for November 26-28 in San Diego. Everyone wanted to know who is going and what’s happening.
This “San Diego Lite” has been billed as a smaller show for the locals. However, details on what and who will be there have been scarce; with the event only a month or so away, it’s time to get planning. We do know there will be panels, exhibitors and guests. In fact, the first wave of special guests has been announced.
- Ryan Benjamin, Artist, WildCats, X-Men, Iron Man, Batman Beyond
- Kevin Eastman, Co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Minh Lê, Writer, Lift, Drawn Together, Green Lantern: Legacy
- Sam Maggs, Writer, Marvel Action: Captain Marvel, Rick & Morty, Con Quest!
- Dustin Nguyen, Artist, Descender, Batman
- Alex Niño, Veteran Filipino Artist, DC, Heavy Metal, Warren
- Mimi Pond, Cartoonist, Graphic Novelist, Over Easy, The Customer Is Always Wrong, National Lampoon
- Scott Shaw!, Cartoonist, Captain Carrot, Sonic the Hedgehog, Simpsons Comics
Not overwhelming, but a nice eclectic mix. And if you’re into rare appearances by legendary cartoonists, Alex Niño certainly fits.
Unlike regular Comic-Con, you can still buy a badge for Special Edition — in fact this might be its biggest allure for locals who have always wanted to get inside the show. No fuss, no muss.
With NYCC actually taking place — and being a success on almost every level — people seem to be eager to hit the road again for con season. Special Edition’s timing over the Thanksgiving weekend has been a deterrent, however; most people want to spend time with family after all the hardships of these last months.
Back in July, CCI’s David Glanzer told The Wrap:
I think people are very excited, but I don’t expect that we’ll have a lot of super-huge panels. And maybe we will, I don’t know. But I think it is true that there are a lot of people who do want to spend time with their families. I think one of the fascinating things now is a lot of people have been spending time with their families because a lot of the restrictions in a lot of states have been lifted or reduced. But Thanksgiving is still a big time, so I’m not sure. We’ve been pinged by a variety of people and a lot of that stuff, typically, believe it or not, happens a little bit closer to the show because a studio or network or even a publisher may commit and then it’s up to the talent whether or not they can make it. So I think we’re not sweating that. Again, we expect a smaller show, maybe a little more intimate show, but it’ll be a great opportunity to meet up with our friends who we haven’t seen, after we didn’t have these two conventions, in two years.
All signs point to Special Edition being a smaller, laid back show, but again, for turkey-bloated locals, that may just be what they need.
