Can a Comic-Con without the major movie studios, major comic book studios, video game companies and television studios still be a Comic-Con? Well, that depends on what will seem like proof of time travel. If you attended Comic-Con 15 years ago, walking into 2021 Comic-Con Special Edition would have felt like you traveled back to “the good old days.” There were no giant lines, no massive crowds to “swim” through and no fighting with people to get a glimpse of some mega celebrity. Despite the lack of normal craziness, yes, it was still a real Comic-Con.
It felt, dare I say it, comfortable and relaxing. While there was definitely less to see and interact with, there was still a lot to take in. There were lots of cool artists in Artist’s Alley and the rest of the floor (albeit way less floor than a “normal” Comic-Con) was vendors showing off stuff you could buy or preorder. There was the PacMan museum booth with playable games, the Nuclear Blast booth had a playable Godzilla pinball machine and there were several backdrops set up for fans to take cool photos.
Comics, did I mention the comics? There were a lot of the usual vendors and creators present and some were doing signings too. Of particular interest of me was the Z2 Comics booth where they had the King Diamond, Anthrax and Dio graphic novels as well as lots of other cool stuff. Top Cow Comics had four ashcan variants of CyberForce to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the title. Aspen Comics had a Comic-Con exclusive art print of Fathom: The Core #1. There was a lot of other cool things going on for such a “small” Comic-Con.
They also had a very good list of panels covering all kinds of topics. While there was no Hall H madness, the panels offered were well attended. Some reached capacity fairly quickly.
Overall, this was a successful Comic-Con, that felt like Comic-Con 2007 haha. A super-sized thank you to all the people involved in making Comic-Con 2021 Special Edition happen. I know that the happy faces I saw everywhere means that they all thank you too.
I really enjoyed just wandering around taking photos, talking to people at the booths and chatting with fellow attendees. A photo collection of random shots has been uploaded to our FACEBOOK.
Here are some of the photos:
I really enjoyed Comic-Con Special Edition. I have to admit that it felt weird not running around from press interview to press interview all day. I was able to actually spend time on the floor looking at all the cool stuff, enjoying the cosplayers in costume and have a relaxing day. That being said, I cannot wait for Comic-Con 2022 being back to normal and having all of that craziness back again. The studios add a magic element to Comic-Con that elevates from an amazing shopping and exploring experience to something otherworldly.
From what I can tell, any tickets for Comic-Con 2020 are being honored for Comic-Con 2022, so I am not sure if there will be any tickets for sale for Comic-Con 2022. Keep an eye on their website for updates and news.
For those of you that will be going to Comic-Con 2022, I look forward to joining you in July for the most amazing convention I have ever experienced. Comic-Con gets better and better every year. See you then!