Over the weekend, I did something I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do! I attended San Diego Comic-Con!

Ok… sort of… 

Because of the whole Covid/quarantine hellhole we are currently living in, the actual convention was canceled for the first time (I think) in its 50-odd-year history, so the organizers decided to put together a virtual online version they called SDCC @ Home. This is not, of course, groundbreaking – after all, several conventions and even a few academic conferences transitioned to online participation to some extent or another. What WAS a little shocking (to me at least) was that the organizers made it COMPLETELY FREE for all to attend!

Most of the other conventions doing online/virtual versions are still charging SOMETHING, even if it’s somewhat discounted. For instance, World-Con (where the Hugo Awards are held) is going virtual, but you still have to pay for an attending membership (which is $200 USD!), and they didn’t offer even discounts! Now, I understand that even online, it still costs money to run and maintain these things, but OUCH! $200 to sit on a computer and watch some youtube videos and perhaps text on a discord server? NO THANK YOU!

So, yeah…. SDCC @ Home was FREE, and for the first time ever I was able to “attend!” And it was very cool. The SDCC website had printable badges and signs for various halls and things that you could download and print to turn your house/room/whatever into the convention center. (Yes, I did this! Of course I did!)

There was a virtual exhibition hall with links to various artists and retailers and exhibitors that would have had tables at the convention, and some artists and retailers still had SDCC exclusive items or sales going on their websites. There were activity booklets (like coloring sheets and stuff) to download for kids.

And the virtual youtube panels were, for the most part, excellent.

I “attended” a BUNCH: the Star Trek Universe panel, the Orbit Debut Authors panel, the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Retrospective, panels about the upcoming third season of Infinity Train and the Adventure Time specials coming on HBO Max, and the new Phineas and Ferb movie coming on Disney+, etc etc etc….

There were a couple panels that were pretty underwhelming, but for the most part it was pretty great. I couldn’t afford to spend a lot of money, but I did order myself one of the official SDCC pins, and one graphic novel that I saw advertised in the virtual exhibit hall that looked pretty damn cool. All in all, I am very glad I got to attend in this capacity at least. Lord knows I’m probably never going to be able to afford the real thing!