Comic-Con 2023: Was It Worth It?

It’s taken me over a week to process the whole of my experience at Comic-Con 2023. Was it fun? Yes. Exhausting? Yes. Was it worth going? A qualified ‘yes,’ though this is likely my last time at Comic-Con in San Diego.

Mini-Atomic Junk Shop Meetup

As you can tell from when the earlier posts stopped, the overwhelming nature of Comic-Con got to me about mid-day on Friday, just after the Jurassic Park experience. I ate after almost being devoured by dinosaurs at the Mission Cafe on J Street. It wasn’t quite lunchtime yet but my rule for SDCC is that if it’s near time to eat and there’s a restaurant with no line, EAT. Great pancakes. 10/10 would recommend.

Then there was the Atomic Junk Shop informal meet-up, otherwise known as Jim MacQuarrie and myself grabbing a sandwich, talking about comic stuff, and Jim introducing me to friends of his who were vending at the con. I bought the Batwoman/Batgirl poster from renowned comic artist Bill Morrison, best known as the creative director for Bongo Comics. At Jim’s prompting, Morrison told the story of how an overworked artist on deadline was transformed via the rumor mill into an artist intending to stick it to Disney by inserting a penis into the Little Mermaid box cover art.

I wandered after that, hitting the Stern Pinball room and the Comic-Con Merch store over at the Marriott where it was less crowded and quieter. It allowed me a chance to catch my mind up until I attended the Neopets rooftop party that night.

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Note: I still suck at Skee Ball.

John Legend was announced as Neopets’ new brand ambassador, so go Millennials! Looks like Neopets will be around for quite a while.

A Babylon 5 Day

I only scheduled one formal press event for the entire Comic-Con: the Babylon 5: The Road Home press roundtable on Saturday. Originally, the entire cast as well as series creator J. Michael Straczynski were scheduled tbut the writer and actor’s strike nixed all of them save JMS and animated movie director Matt Peters.

JMS emphasizes a point about Babylon 5: The Road Home. photo copyright Corrina Lawson,

“I wanted to look at how different it might have gone,” JMS said of the journey that Sheridan takes in The Road Home, a journey through time and space, with glimpses of what could have happened.

The creator of the entire universe of Babylon 5  said what he wanted most with the animated movie was to make a “joyful noise.” Both he and Peters called the new movie a love letter to fans. JMS also addressed the casting for the members of the original show who have since passed away.

“I went to the cast and said if one person says we won’t do this [working with actors who replaced their departed friends], then we won’t.” He also said once the new actors came on board that they “all understood the magnitude of the replacement.”

The press room was followed by a public screening of the animated movie. I was apprehensive about it, especially with the missing actors, but the bottom line is that JMS described it exactly: a love letter to fans. There’s one scene—you’ll know it when you see it—that makes it worthwhile all by itself.

My one niggle is that the animated style limited the expressiveness of the character’s movements, and I missed the live-action actors. Otherwise, everything looked wonderful and the ending offers a glimpse into what might happen next for the world, if there are more animated movies or that live-action reboot ever gets off the ground.

The night ended with a quick but not quick enough stop at the X-Men Hellfire Gala hosted at an off-site nightclub by D23, Disney’s fan club.

The long version: the space was far too crowded, I couldn’t see any of the X-Men decorations because so many people were jammed inside, I could hardly navigate between rooms, and the bar was about twenty people deep, so good luck getting the drink that came with admission. Also, the music was pumping so loud it was impossible to have a conversation. I navigated to an exit (maybe not the one I was supposed to use) and left as soon as humanely possible.

The short version: I’m too old for this ***.

Farewell to Comic-Con?

Sunday ended up being a fun day, as I attended the Beau Smith (of Wynonna Earp Fame) Spotlight and he received the Inkpot Award from the con organizers, a surprise to him and the audience. I spent time chatting with Beau’s wonderful wife, and we discovered an “it’s a small world” family connection.

The spotlight focused on a retrospective of Beau’s career. It seems one of the ways to break into comics in the 1970s was being a prolific letter writer. (Featured in the slideshow was a group photo that also included T.M. Maple.) In other words, the spotlight, besides being about Beau’s history and his persistence that helped him break into writing comics, the panel was also a fascinating history of comics from the mid-1970s.

That left one final panel: Steve Ditko. Having spent so much time exploring Jack Kirby, I wanted to give some time to Ditko as well. This panel was less about Ditko’s art and more about Ditko the person, featuring tales told by his family members. A glimpse into the human side of Ditko was terrific, as he remains a mystery to most of the outside world.

The final treat of the trip was dinner with an old friend before taking the red-eye home to the East Coast.

Comic-Con: Will I Go Again?

I’ve no idea what more I can experience at future Comic-Cons that I haven’t already. I’ve met some fascinating people, attended some great press roundtables (I’ll be forever grateful for the chance to interview Kevin Conroy), bought some really cool stuff, and hung out with the most incredible friends.

But with all that comes crowds, crowds, crowds, a noise level to wake the dead, and, to be honest, panels that I could also experience at New York Comic Con, which is in my backyard. NYCC has another big advantage for me over SDCC: you can pre-register for panels. Last year at NYCC, I finally was able to attend the big entertainment panels I’d skipped in previous years when there was no pre-registration.

Downtown San Diego in July is much nicer than Manhattan near the Jacob Javits Convention Center in October but that advantage is mitigated by the fact it’s much easier to find hotels within walking distance to NYCC.

And yet…there’s something about the vibe of SDCC. I will never say never.