Comic-Con 2024: What to expect as the convention returns to San Diego

Most comic book conventions occur during a weekend, with events scheduled between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. Saturday is typically the busiest day, as most fans must return home on Sunday. Comic-Con International also runs the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Awards, an annual event featured at the San Diego convention that allows fans to nominate their favorite comic book stores from around the world. The prestigious award goes to those retailers who have done an outstanding job of supporting the comics medium, both in the community and within the industry at large. Visionary comic creator Will Eisner approached Comic-Con in the mid-1990s with the idea for this award. It’s designed to acknowledge and celebrate the incredible contribution retailers make to the comic book industry by providing that crucial link between creator and reader in getting comics into the hands of the public.

Programming

In 2016, WonderCon moved to Los Angeles for one year while the Anaheim Convention Center was undergoing construction on a new building. The show returned to Anaheim in 2017, and in 2018, 66,000 fans packed the newly expanded Anaheim Convention Center from all over the globe. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions. Stars of some of the biggest TV shows and films will arrive in San Diego this month for the annual return of Comic-Con International. The list includes names such as Jason Derulo, Chris Hemsworth, Keegan-Michael Key, Ronda Rousey and Bella Thorne.

Saturday at Comic-Con

Over the years, comic book stores from across the United States and around the globe—including Australia, Canada, Holland, Israel, and Spain—have won the award. It was the first U.S. city to host a convention (the 1964 “Tri-State Con”), but was poorly served for conventions from the late 1980s until the mid-to-late 1990s – despite both major mainstream comic publishers, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, being headquartered in New York during that time. Presently, New York is flush with comic book conventions, with at least five annual shows being produced. L.A. Comic Con is a three-day multi-genre convention2 held annually in downtown Los Angeles, California. L.A. Comic Con is one of the largest independent conventions in the United States3 and encompasses several categories, including comic, horror, sci-fi, anime, gaming, and pop culture, with a particular focus on the local Los Angeles community.

They feature a wide variety of activities and panels, with a larger number of attendees participating with cosplay than for most other types of fan conventions. Comic book conventions are also used as a method by which publishers, distributors, and retailers represent their comic-related COMIC CON SCOTLAND releases. Comic book conventions may be considered derivatives of science-fiction conventions, which began during the late 1930s. The Con has grown in size every year, starting with 35,000 attendees in 201110 and expanding to over 123,000 attendees in 2019.311 The convention has drawn big names to match its big crowds, with celebrities like Elijah Wood,12 Ron Perlman,12 Gabriel Iglesias,13 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,14 and Gerard Way15 attending in years’ past. The event has seen an amazing array of comics and book publishers in its Exhibit Hall over the years.

Alley Talley and other gatherings of 1964

Tickets/badges are on sale now, though Thursday and Sunday tickets only are left. The weather will be hot and sticky Wednesday when Comic-Con gets under way in downtown San Diego. But temperatures will become cooler going into the weekend, and a soothing sea breeze is likely to kick in, the National Weather Service says. Marvel, the producer of Avengers, Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy, will be back after missing last year due to the actor and writer strikes. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is known for making big announcements at the convention and bringing out tons of movie stars.

San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California. Originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fantasy media, Comic-Con has grown to include a large range of pop culture and entertainment elements across virtually all genres. Comic-Con International became involved with APE in its second year and has ran the show until 2014, maintaining the basic concept and feel that Dan Vado created. In 2000, it moved from San Jose to San Francisco, where it was held until 2014. Under Comic-Con, APE was on the forefront of the self-publishing movement. The 2014 event featured over 350 exhibitors, including some of the leading independent comics publishers, plus hundreds of creators and self-publishers, and over 5,500 attendees.

You can also sync your favorites with the Official Comic-Con App, available for both iOS and Android devices. San Diego Comic-Con International will be a star-studded affair again after a year with no actors. The biggest pop culture film outfit of them all — Marvel Studios — will be on hand and some of the world’s biggest movie stars, like Ryan Reynolds, are confirmed to attend. The final day of Comic-Con International on Sunday will feature activities for younger attendees and the animated “X-Men ’97” show will get two panels. The main draw is seeing the convention floor without it being so packed that you can’t walk as easily between the booths and exhibits. Meanwhile, also in 1966, the first Southwesterncon was held in Dallas, Texas.