Despite cancelled flights, tornados, and other travel travails, it seems that the tribes have successfully gathered here at San Diego for this year’s Comic-Con. The day kicked off with the press conference announcing that SDCC would be in San Diego for another three years. The announcement by Mayor Todd Gloria still left some lingering questions:
- Will the con be able to keep hotel room costs down? That is absolutely the thing on many people’s mind, as cramming more people into a $500 a night room doesn’t seem feasible.
- How is the mayor’s dog in a Minion costume so DAMNED cute?
Apparently the mayor often dresses up his dog? NYC has a cool mayor, but not THAT cool.
I haven’t been to Preview Night in a while, as I don’t like crowds But the stars aligned for this one, and guess what? It is still crowded! The crowds in the toy and comics publishers area were as thick as you’ll ever see at SDCC, and exhibitors can make 30-40% of their total take at Preview Night alone.
I didn’t get a chance to see the whole floor, but many new booths are debuting, including a whole revamped DC booth, and a whole new layout for Dark Horse, with a photo montage celebrating 40 years, and a kind of … Walk of Fame, I guess you night say.
Rocketship debuted an IMPRESSIVE led backdrop that shows animations, film clips, ads and more. They won’t be celebrating their 10th anniversary until 2028, so who knows what they’ll unleash then.
The Ignition Press Pavilion was also impressive—a two story affair with an art display, a mini artists alley (of HIGH calibre!)—so you can get coffee, cocktails and comics all in one spot. Useful!
My preview night ended with the Kickstarter party which featured empanadas (food! yes!) and just the right mix of retailers, publishers, and press. No pictures because I was having too good a time talking about the show and this and that and all the other things that you wait a whole year to talk about.
Speaking of talk about, BarCon planning is always a hot topic. For 2026, The Marriott’s main bar is under renovation, leaving the group that made this their base of operations looking for a new place to hang. While closing the bar during the biggest event of the year might seem counterintuitive, San Diego has shows coming in constantly so missing a few weeks of bar tabs is inevitable during renovation for the big hotels.
Another topic on people’s minds: the CBLDF party, which is being held in its usual time and place but with a new format: a $40 entry fee which includes an unknown number of drink tickets. While it’s a no brainer to donate to support the CBLDF at a time when the First Amendment is being challenged like never before, $40 is a big psychological hill for some comics folks, from what we’re hearing, even with drinks included. Developing.
Every year my photos get worse and worse. But here they are anyway.
The Ignition Pavilion is really awesome! But I only got a picture of an intriguing art “gallery show” that has a backstory you’ll need to read in the comic.
Sideshow is BACK! And they have a lot of neat stuff.
Viz Naruto headpiece giveaway. I spent a couple hours walking around trying to protect this thing. Why? You just do.
DC Reunion at Dark Horse: Thats Dark Horse EIC David Marshall in the middle and he told me after all the recent reorganization he is still in the same job and doing his thing.
The new Dark Horse booth Walk of Fame.
OMG the D&Q booth has so much cute Moomin stuff! Moomin knit beanie. I mean, come ON. Perfect for the mayor’s dog. Or maybe me.
Danny Fingeroth, Jerry Beck, Michael Uslan, and Maggie Thompson. Pretty much the entirety of nerd history between them.
Wow the banner are getting taller and taller! Matt Pizzolo of BlackMask.
Meanwhile back in the Gaslamp, a Doomsday display is taking shape, with the famed Welcome to the Gaslamp sign getting a cover! The new gothic pillars are a nice touch though.
More later.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from SDCC ’26.
