The Sentinel-Record

Comic-Con returns in full force with costumes, crowds

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SAN DIEGO — The pop culture extravagan­za that is Comic-Con Internatio­nal is back to its old extravagan­ce. Stars, cosplayers and hordes of fans are filling the San Diego Convention Center in full force for the first time since 2019. Here’s a look at this year’s version of the four day festival.

COMIC-CROWDS

The pandemic necessitat­ed virtual versions of Comic-Con in the summers of 2020 and 2021, and a scaled-back in-person version in November, but none were anything like the usual spectacle, with lovers of all things geeky descending from around the globe and arena-sized panels on films and TV shows that resemble sporting events.

It’s not clear whether the convention will draw the estimated 135,000 people who flooded San Diego before the pandemic. But when the doors of the Convention Center opened for Wednesday’s preview night, the fans came in droves, mobbing the floor. As required, nearly all wore masks — the protective kind, not the super-villain kind, though there were plenty of those too — and the excitement amid the crowd was palpable.

“Everybody’s just been cooped up for a while, and they’ve been anticipati­ng this,” said Dinh Truong, 34, who came to Comic-Con for the second time from his hometown of Minneapoli­s. “It’s nice just to see everybody in the same atmosphere. I’m excited to see the program, see what’s going on, see everybody cosplaying and all that, and just getting back to what we used to be.”

Far bigger crowds are expected Thursday, when the events begin in earnest.

COMIC-COSPLAY

It’s likely no one has missed the in-person convention more than the captains, queens and connoisseu­rs of cosplay. Comic-Con is their Met Gala, and no getup is too elaborate.

Lorelei McKelvey, 54, who is from San Diego but now lives in Yokosuka, Japan, was dressed

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as Captain Carter, Captain America’s British, World War II-era counterpar­t.

“I had to do one that I could authentica­lly replicate,” McKelvey said. “I went and did my research and found out what were the authentic British officer leathers worn in World War II, and I found manufactur­ers to actually make those leathers.”

She walked the Convention Center floor in real-as-possible officer cavalry boots and Royal Air Force gauntlets, and carried a 5-pound steel shield.

McKelvey came to Comic-Con and worked a booth for 20 straight years.

This is her first time coming as a cosplayer, and her second time coming as a trans woman, and she’s excited to be reunited with the cherished friends she’s made here.

“My last convention is the first time they’ve seen me as Lorelei,” McKelvey said. “This is their first time to see me four years later and to see how much I’ve grown since then.”

Others wandered the halls Wednesday as “Star Wars” Stormtroop­ers, the Mandaloria­n, Wonder Woman, and Sailor Moon. Chuckie from “Child’s Play” emerged from one cosplayer’s stomach. COMIC-COMING ATTRACTION­S Comic-Con makes most of its news as a venue to show off trailers and footage from forthcomin­g films and TV shows during star-studded mega-panels held in Hall H, which holds some 6,000 people. Announced panels include Warner Bros. and the DC Universe’s “Black Adam.” It will include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who plays the titular antihero, director Jaume Collet-Serra, and the stars playing Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and other members of the Justice Society.

“Get ready, because the hype is real,” Johnson said in pro-wrestler promo mode on Instagram earlier this month. “Guess who’s coming to town, the most electrifyi­ng man in all the DC Universe.”

Warner Bros. will also provide a preview of “Shazam: Fury of the Gods.”

Marvel may hold back its best material for Disney’s forthcomin­g D23 Expo, but is expected to tease its next film, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and the Disney+ TV series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.”

A pair of much-anticipate­d fantasy prequels will also give fans a taste of their worlds. A new trailer dropped Wednesday in advance of a panel from HBO Max that will show off the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon,” set 200 years before the original series.

Amazon is going back in time 2000 years for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” a tale of the emergence of evil among the elves long before Frodo and Bilbo walked Middle Earth. Their panel this year comes 21 years after director Peter Jackson presented footage from the first of the original films at Comic-Con.

 ?? The Associated Press ?? Jay Acey, right, dressed as A-Train from the television series “The Boys,” mingles with Maddox Cruz, 1, of Orange, Calif., outside Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con Internatio­nal at the San Diego Convention Center on Wednesday in San Diego.
The Associated Press Jay Acey, right, dressed as A-Train from the television series “The Boys,” mingles with Maddox Cruz, 1, of Orange, Calif., outside Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con Internatio­nal at the San Diego Convention Center on Wednesday in San Diego.

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