Well, we've come to it at last. The conclusion of the CRAZY Comic Con Countdown 2024... It's never easy to type up this particular post because it more or less means that Con Season is over for me, especially now that Long Beach Comic Con has officially been cancelled (Yeah, I was still mulling over whether I should go or not). But not all hope is lost. The holidays will be here soon enough to keep me and many others preoccupied while we wait for WonderCon, which is less than eight months away! But enough about that. Y'all came for the biggie! The pride of San Diego! The time has come for us to take one last trip back to the San Diego Convention Center for a final lap around the exhibit hall and surrounding offsites. We went big with this post, so hold on to your Batman Underoos and Code Red Mountain Dews, because the CRAZY Comic Con Countdown is set to launch! Enjoy...
I don't know Apollo. You couldn't even take on Ivan Drago!
The DragonBall World Tour returned to the the Marriott Marquee for the fifth straight year! I actually spent the bulk of Preview Night there, collecting swag and taking pics! The lines moves fast at this one and the giveaways are always worth it. Easily among the best run offsites at SDCC. Hopefully they'll keep coming back.
Ultraman had a VERY large presence in the exhibit hall this year with two dedicated booths and several panels on the schedule as the very first Tokusatsu hero has returned to pop culture in grand fashion!
Spongebob is celebrating his 25th Anniversary this year while Nickelodeon celebrates 20 years of bleeding the franchise dry! This sculpture/fountain, which looked for all the world like poor Spongebob is receiving the enema to end all enemas, also doubled as a refill station for water bottles. Incidentally, Nickelodeon itself turns 45 this year.
Speaking of anniversaries, Rainbow Brite turned 40 this year and is still rocking her colors as vibrant as ever! She even gave me some Star Sprinkles! Which I promptly wasted while trying to add color to some old Three Stooges shorts!
The Petco Park Interactive Zone returned with its usual fair of food trucks and fun free experiences! Although I did get to walk around it for a little bit, I sadly didn't have time to try any of the experiences being offered. Was a busy year to say the least.
Abbott Elementary returned to Comic Con this year with a truly fun and efficient offsite that left many smiling! Ava Fest was a carnival complete with a big ass slide, ball pit and swing ride! I was impressed with the line management of this one as they simply let people in (After signing a liability waiver of course) and left everyone to their own device. And wouldn't;t you know it? Crowds moved through fairly quick! Imagine that?
Nice to see Chilindrina and Chavo hanging out again! I'm sure Don Ramon would approve!
The Lounge!!! Paramount+'s infamous offsite that's nearly impossible to get into without a reservation and wasting an entire day away in the standby line. I was determined to try it anyway, so I got there early Friday morning and was shocked to see the standby line so small. As the hours wore on and the line got longer, I remember being thankful I was among the first 15 people in line that day. Even more surprising, the line for people with actual reservations never got any longer than 20 people the entire time I was there. As it came time to open, a lady named Katya walked by and informed the standby line that her friend couldn't make it and she had an extra ticket. One is indeed the loneliest number, but in this case, it served me well because I was the only loner in the standby line and she got me in early! And even better? Within ten minutes, all the people that had been waiting with me in standby were let in too as folks missed their reservations! So we all won! The experience itself was pretty cool with activations from Star Trek, Spongebob and Ninja Turtles among others. I did get some cool swag and some delicious lemonade. Overall though, it's hard to justify missing out on a day in the exhibit hall for an experience that lasted less than an hour. Always weigh the risks and rewards when choosing offsites.
Cliff Vandercave and Sharon Stone! Easily my favorite cosplay of Comic Con this year! I'm a big fan of obscure character cosplay and these two nailed it, choosing the villains of The Flinstones live action movie! They said I was the only person to get it, though I'm sure others figured it out as well as the day went on.
Another huge waste of time on my Comic Con Friday was Hulu's Animayhem activation! Was there cool swag? Yeah. Were the photo ops fun? Yeah. Should it take three hours or more to wait and experience this? HELL NO!!! Flat and simple, there is no reason at all this offsite should take as long as it does, especially considering that several of the shows are either no longer relevant or just plain not popular (Seriously, NOBODY wanted the Solar Opposites swag!). Even worse, my group was never given the donuts we were promised! If it comes back next year, I'll likely skip it.
Batman always come prepared when out surfing with his Batboard, Bat-Trunks and Bat-Shark Repellant!
The FX Lawn. Some loved it, some hated it. Easily the most coveted swag of SDCC this year came from The Bear activation within, with the What We Do In The Shadows umbrellas being a close second. While the experiences inside were fun and immersive, I feel line management could've been much better for this one as well. In the past, they just let people in at their leisure and it all worked out. This year, not so much. I waited two hours just to get in then waited another hour just to get my umbrella! Why was the wait so long? Because some dudes were scribbling your name and a stick figure drawing on the umbrellas with Sharpies! A friggin' kindergartener could done the same deal quicker and just as sloppy (Believe me, these guys aren't gonna be in Artists' Alley anytime soon!)! Still, I made some friends while waiting in line, so it all worked out.
A Tiger and his Boy, out on another adventure!
The Adult Swim lawn was back and bringing the fun as always! I had hoped to get in, but it took so long to get through the FX Lawn that AS became another casualty of my swag hunt. By the time I got there, the line stretched towards the boardwalk. There's always next year...
Strawberry Shortcake loves her some Godzilla!
The cast of Jurassic Park had a heartfelt reunion with their biggest costar!
Another offsite oddity at Comic Con this year, The Penguin Slushy Truck! This pic was taken on Preview Night before it opened, but every time I walked by this thing during the show, there'd be an insanely long line and workers standing inside the truck just looking confused by it all. All they had to do was hand out eight ounce cups of knockoff Slurpees. How friggin' hard is that?
Doctor Who and Star Trek teamed up for a fun little offsite featuring costumes and props from both legendary SciFi series! Nothing too immersive, but still a nice break from the blazing weather outside!
Peanuts returned to their usual spot with a fun museum/shop that looked at the history of their holiday specials and even had a fun photo op in Charlie Brown's kitchen as Snoopy and Woodstock attempt to make Thanksgiving dinner out of toast and popcorn! Just outside the museum, guests could sit in a shaded spot and watch the latest special before being locked away for AppleTV subscribers only!
The very fun and VERY immersive Planet Of The Apes offsite! The line rarely went longer than 20 minutes and the staff just straight had their crap together! I even got to have my picture taken with a live hawk! Easily among the best run offsites at SDCC this year!
Can't really post this without talking about the elephant in the room: The Gaslamp Fire! One of the buildings on 5th Avenue near J Street, where several offsite activations were in full swing, caught on fire. Exactly how it happened is still under investigation as of this writing, but thankfully it was contained fairly quickly, though the staff at the Penguin Lounge offsite did have to be evacuated and the actual show was postponed for several hours. Anything really can happen at Comic Con!
These fine young men came to Comic Con to learn about AI!
Lastly, we'll end the post on a happy note with some folks dressed as happy characters: The Flintstones! Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty were there to promote their amazing new alternative fuel source: FEET!!!
And that was Comic Con 2024! It was a wild time for sure, packed with swag and a few exclusives. I still can't believe I did all the things I did this year! I was pretty exhausted heading into the show. I'd had little rest between SDCC and the show before it, ESRI, while also dealing with a home renovation that was complicated by a sinus infection. By the time Comic Con ended, I was past my physical limits. It ain't easy coming to grips with the fact that I'm not a young man anymore. The day job's taken a toll over the years, and it's really starting to show now. What does this mean for next year? Well, we'll have to wait and see as it's time to re-verify again. It's a process that always rattles me, even more so now as it's all online now, and I'm just not good with tech. I have other ways in, but I'd rather not be that guy, the type that takes advantage of connections. It just doesn't feel right. The form's been submitted, so it's all up to fate now. One way or another, I'll be back and it'll be great!
And thus wraps up the CRAZY Comic Con Countdown 2024!!! I hope you all enjoyed these last ten weeks of looking back at the Cons of recent past! I do enjoy looking back and seeing how things have changed over the years and I promise no matter what happens with my pro status, I will be back next year with another edition of the Countdown, two of them even as WonderCon's not too far off! Be sure to come back next week as Bubble Fox takes center stage with more art celebrating his 10th Anniversary! Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!
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