San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, United States, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, 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.
According to Forbes, Comic-Con is the "largest convention of its kind in the world". Since 2010, Comic-Con has filled the San Diego Convention Center to capacity with over 130,000 attendees. Comic-Con is home to the Eisner Awards, which recognizes creative achievement in American comic books, often referred to as the comic industry's equivalent to the Academy Awards.
San Diego Comic Convention, doing business as Comic-Con International, is the corporate name of the public-benefit nonprofit corporation behind Comic-Con.
History and organization
The convention was founded in 1970 by Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Ron Graf, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, Scott Shaw, John Pound, Roger Freedman, David Clark, and Greg Bear. Initial comic book and sci-fi club meetings would be held at Krueger's Alert Books in Ocean Beach, where much of the foundation of the early Cons coalesced. In the mid-1960s, Dorf, a Detroit-born comics fan, had mounted the Detroit Triple-Fan Fair, one of the first commercial comics-fan conventions. When he moved to San Diego in 1970, he organized a one-day convention known as San Diego's Golden State Comic-Minicon on March 21, 1970, "as a kind of 'dry run' for the larger convention he hoped to stage". Dorf went on to be associated with the convention as president or manager, variously, for years until becoming estranged from the organization. Alf co-chaired the first convention with Krueger and became chairman in 1971.Following the initial gathering, Dorf's first three-day San Diego comic convention, San Diego Golden State Comic-Con, drew 300 people. The venue was held in the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel, having been secured by Graf, from August 1–3, 1970. The first few Comic-Cons operated under the name San Diego West Coast Comic Convention until 1973, when it changed to San Diego Comic-Con. Other locations in the convention's early years included El Cortez Hotel, the University of California, San Diego, and Golden Hall, before being moved to the San Diego Convention Center in 1991. Richard Alf, chairman in 1971, has noted an early factor in the Con's growth was an effort "to expand the Comic-Con committee base by networking with other fandoms such as the Society for Creative Anachronism and the Mythopoeic Society, among others. ". In a Rolling Stone article about the origins of Comic-Con, it noted the work of Krueger, who handled early business matters, and worked to get the event to be organized by a non-profit organization. By the late 1970s, the show had grown to such an extent that Bob Schreck recalled visiting with his then-boss Gary Berman of Creation Conventions and reflecting, "While kept repeating 'This show's not any bigger than ours!' I was quietly walking the floor stunned and in awe of just how much bigger it really was. I was blown away." From 1984 to, a trade fair called the "San Diego Comic Book Expo" was held in association with San Diego Comic-Con; David Scroggy was the organizer. In 1995, the convention's official name was changed to Comic-Con International: San Diego.
According to Forbes, the convention is the "largest convention of its kind in the world"; Publishers Weekly wrote "Comic-Con International: San Diego is the largest show in North America"; it is also the largest convention held in San Diego. The convention has an estimated annual regional economic impact of more than $140 million. Yet, in 2009, the estimated economic impact was criticized for allegedly negatively impacting seasonal businesses outside of Comic-Con, low individual spending estimates of attendees, that a large number of attendees live in San Diego, and that the impact of the convention was more cultural than financial.
The estimated economic impact of that year's convention was $180 million. In 2014, the estimated impact of that year's convention was $177.8 million. In 2016, the estimated impact of that year's convention was down to $150 million. By 2018, San Diego Comic-Con saw increasing competition from other comic conventions in places such as New York City, and Washington, D.C., which caused it to compete for attendees and companies time and budget; yet San Diego Comic-Con was described by Publishers Weekly as "a must-do".
The convention is organized by a panel of 13 board members, 16 to 20 full-time and part-time workers, and 80 volunteers who assist via committees. Comic-Con International is a non-profit organization, and proceeds of the event go to funding it, as well as SAM: Storytelling Across Media and WonderCon. The convention logo was designed by Richard Bruning and Josh Beatman in 1995. In 2015, working with Lionsgate, a video channel was created to host Comic-Con related content. In 2015, through a limited liability company, Comic-Con International purchased three buildings in Barrio Logan. In 2018 Comic-Con International purchased a office in San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood.
In 2017, the organization acquired a lease to the Federal Building in Balboa Park, originally built for the California Pacific International Exposition and previously occupied by the San Diego Hall of Champions, with the intention of opening the Comic-Con Museum. By October 2017, the organization began to hire staff for the museum. Nearly a year after acquiring the lease, the museum was not yet open. During the 2018 Comic-Con, one reason stated for why the museum had not yet opened was the need for additional funds. Organizers are hoping to raise $25 million with a target opening date of late 2020 or 2022.
On April 17, 2020, the 53rd convention was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California and two stay-at-home orders issued by California governor Gavin Newsom. It was originally scheduled to occur from July 23 to 26, 2020, to coincide with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, which was postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic. An "SDCC@Home" digital streaming event was held during the same time period as a replacement for the 2020 event.
Although plans were made for the convention to possibly return in 2021, it was announced on March 1, 2021, that the convention would be cancelled once again. Despite availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the organizers assessed that it was still premature and unsafe to hold an in-person event at Comic-Con's full scale on the originally-scheduled dates, and that Comic-Con International was exploring the possibility of holding a smaller in-person spin-off event later in the year. SDCC@Home would again be held, but in a downsized form. A smaller in-person event, "San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition" was hosted in November 2021, with proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test required for admission, and face masks being mandatory. The full-scale convention returned in July 2022; once again, face masks and proof of full COVID-19 vaccination was required.
On July 13, 2023, SAG-AFTRA approved a strike after failing to renew its contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, marking the first time that both actors and writers have concurrently been on strike since 1960. As SAG-AFTRA members would be prohibited from participating in promotional work such as panels, multiple major media companies preemptively pulled out of Comic-Con as early as June, including Disney, Netflix, Inc., Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures. Nonetheless, the convention occurred as scheduled with, as later reported, approximately 135,000 attendees and an economic impact of $161.1 million.
In July 2024, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl cited Comic-Con as an exigent circumstance allowing him to bypass a recently enacted privacy law and fast-track the installation of "smart streetlights" and automated license plate readers in the vicinity of the convention. Wahl was unaware of any specific threats but said "that could change at any moment." In December 2024, a lawsuit was filed against the SDPD for improperly deploying the surveillance systems at Comic-Con and at the San Diego Pride Parade without disclosing their locations or the nature of the "exigent circumstances" in violation of the law.
Events
On the Wednesday evening prior to the official opening, professionals, exhibitors, and pre-registered guests for all four days can attend a pre-event, dubbed "Preview Night", to give attendees the opportunity to walk the exhibit hall and see what will be available during the convention.Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with comic book professionals, there are previews of upcoming feature films and portfolio review sessions with top comic book and video game companies. The evenings include events such as awards ceremonies, the annual Masquerade costume contest, and the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, which showcases shorts and feature-length movies that do not have distribution or distribution deals.
Traditional events include an eclectic film program, screening rooms devoted to Japanese animation, gaming, programs such as cartoonist Scott Shaw!'s "Oddball Comics" slide show, Quick Draw! hosted by Mark Evanier with Shaw!, Sergio Aragones and a guest cartoonist responding to improvisational prompts and games, and animation expert Jerry Beck's program featuring TV's "worst cartoons ever", as well as over 350 hours of other programming on all aspects of comic books and pop culture.
Like most comic book conventions, Comic-Con features a large floorspace for exhibitors. These include media companies such as movie studios and TV networks, as well as comic-book dealers and collectibles merchants. And like most comics conventions, Comic-Con includes an autograph area, as well as the Artists' Alley where comics artists can sign autographs and sell or do free sketches. Despite the name, artists' alleys can include writers and even models.
Academics and comic industry professionals annually hold the Comics Arts Conference at Comic-Con, presenting scholarly studies on comics as a medium.
In recent years, the number of television shows that are promoted far outnumber films. During the 2011 convention, at least 80 TV shows were represented, compared to about 35 films. The shows not only promote in the exhibit halls, but also use screenings and panels of various actors, writers, producers, and others from their shows.
Premium cable channels HBO and Showtime have used the con to promote programs like Game of Thrones, Dexter, Shameless and True Blood. Streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, have also had an increased presence at Comic-Con since the late-2010s.
In 2013, there were 1075 total panels held during the convention, the plurality of which were anime-focused, followed by comic-focused panels. The 2013 convention had 1036 vendors.
There are at least 17 separate rooms in the convention center used for panels and screenings, ranging in size from 280 seats to 6,100 seats. The two biggest are Ballroom 20, which seats approximately 4,900; and Hall H, which seats just over 6,100.
The neighboring Hilton Bayfront is also used, with its main ballroom seating up to 2,600. The other neighboring hotel, the Marriott Marquis & Marina, also hosts a lot of Comic-Con activity. Among other things, the hotel serves as the anime headquarters and is where the nighttime films are shown.