Free Nose Trimmers, Matching Underoos: A Lookback at an Unusual SD Comic-Con

Comic-Con 2023 is a wrap, so let’s take a look back at the sights and sounds of an unusual Con.

⦁ “I’m ready for the happiness,” said a fan walking toward the San Diego Convention Center on the first day.

⦁ Fans love Comic-Con for the freebies. This year, fans at a panel featuring people in the entertainment industry rushed to collect “I Stand with the WGA” buttons being handed out by a panelist to support the Writers Guild of America strike.

⦁ Speaking of freebies, the prize for most unusual was the nose hair trimmer given out by Conair. No, not the movie starring Nicolas Cage. The small appliance and personal care company.

⦁ “Privately, between us, it does match my Underoos today.” — Comic book historian Michael Uslan on his Stan Lee shirt that he wore at a Comic-Con Museum panel.

⦁ Much was made of Comic-Con being diminished because of a lack of big Hollywood stars and studios. And there were some noticeable side effects. The convention floor seemed much more crowded as people were not sitting in celebrity filled panels. Smaller panels got bigger audiences.  And downtown locations that in the past had hosted large installations and activities were empty of those sites.

 But for folks at the Con, their enjoyment was not dampened. Adolfo Estandarte, a  Chicago fan who has attended 13 Cons, put it in perspective. “Even though it’s  somewhat of a muted Con, when we had COVID, we had no Con. It’s still fun.”

A majority of speakers at the annual “Comic-Con Talk Back” panel complimented  organizers putting on an excellent event, despite the challenges.

⦁ As usual, the outside installations from studios and companies were very impressive. Among the best was the indoor East Village site celebrating the 30th anniversary of “Jurassic Park.” Fans walked through a series of sites on dinasour-filled Isla Nublar, replicating scenes from the movie. At the end, they were given Dino chicken nuggets as a reward.

The FX site for the upcoming “Shogun” series was beautiful, featuring cherry blossom trees in an outdoor setting and a fake koi pond that reflected your face in a samurai outfit. And the most interactive installation was that for the television show “Quantum Leap.” Fans were  “leaped” into other television shows and asked to complete a task to save the timeline.

⦁ The best view of the Con came from the boat rented by IMDb, the website that tracks movies and actors. The boat was once again docked behind the Convention Center and offered visitors drinks and snacks, plus an opportunity to play with Legos and compete in entertainment trivia.

⦁ Who said there’d be no celebrities at the Con? Music superstar John Legend appeared via video to announce a partnership with Neopets, a virtual pet website. Legend and his family are big fans of Neopet and he will become the company’s ambassador.

⦁ Finally, we end with this quote from a perplexed fan that sums up Comic-Con: “There’s a line for a line?”