Pop culture superfans converge on Comic-con
‘Aquaman,’ ‘Halloween’ among event highlights
SAN DIEGO — Comic-con fans know one thing to be true: Where there is fun, there’s usually a line that precedes it. And hours before the annual pop culture convention officially kicked off Wednesday night in San Diego, there were lines everywhere — to get onto the convention floor to buy merchandise at the stroke of 6 p.m., to have the life scared out of them at the DC Universe Swamp Thing “experience,” to gaze at pretty Laika characters, to get into a Hall H panel Thursday morning and even to take a photo with an Andrew Lincoln lookalike.
Over 130,000 pop culture devotees will come to San Diego’s Gaslamp District for the annual four-day comic book convention Comic-con, the big, bright and very heavily branded confab of costumed superfans and the corporate sponsors vying for their attention — and dollars.
Interested in dining at a working replica of the “Demolition
Man” Taco Bell for the movie’s
25th anniversary? Or witnessing a mock court-martial of Star Wars’ Poe Dameron for leading a mutiny in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”? How about a wine and beer tasting with Neil degrasse Tyson? Or a “Ready Player One” experience with retro gaming stations and recreation of Room 237 from “The Shining”? If you like pop culture, it’s highly likely there is something tailor-made for you at Comic-con 2018.
“I’m blown away by everyone, everything,” said first-time attendee Jeffrey Potts, of Los Angeles. “It’s like an amusement park in the middle of town.”
Right outside the convention center, across the train tracks, DC Universe has set up a massive space with props and costumes from various movies and TV shows in DC history, like the giant rubber ducky cart from “Batman Begins,” and some elaborately-staged “experiences” like a menacing Harley Quinn-themed escape room in a paint-splattered asylum.
What started as a 300-person event in 1970 has evolved into a massive operation with events yearround. But San Diego Comic-con is the marquee occasion. Tickets for four-day access plus preview night can set attendees back $276, before hotel, travel costs, food and any souvenirs.
Loicia Ware, a San Diego resident who has been coming to Comic-con for at least 10 years, likes to venture onto the convention center floor right when it opens Wednesday evening for preview night, heading straight for Artists Alley and Small Collections on the 460,000 square foot space. It allows her to focus on panels for the rest of the week.
As it has grown, attendees have come to expect a lot from Comic-con, like exclusive merchandise on the convention center floor, newsy announcements from some of Hollywood’s biggest studios, and screenings of anticipated films and television shows.
This year Warner Bros. is coming armed with stars and footage from “Aquaman,” ”Shazam!,” ”Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” and “The LEGO Movie 2”; Sony is hyping its Spider-man spinoff “Venom”; and Universal Pictures will be teasing “Halloween” and M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass.” On the television side, fans will get a glimpse of new “Doctor Who” star Jodie Whittaker and have a chance to check out “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Riverdale.”