I have attended every Comic-Con International since 2006, save for one, and have seen the event dedicated to all things pop culture evolve considerably over the years.
Of course, the biggest difference has been the sheer size of the convention. Back then, you could still buy badges at the door and waltz right into the famed Hall H (reserved for the biggest panels) on Saturday minutes before a presentation. No longer is that the case.
As ever more popular franchises show up, so too do the masses.
Comic-Con International takes place annually in my hometown of San Diego, California, running from a Thursday through Sunday every July. A Wednesday preview night also makes the exhibit floor available ahead of time to a select number who can snag access. Generally, four-day-with-preview-night badges are the first to sell out, then four-day without, Saturday-only, Friday-only, Thursday-only and lastly Sunday-only.
On Thursday, I was still around to line up for Hall H and see the 20th Century Fox, Netflix and Nerdist panels. As one of the least busy days, I only arrived a couple hours early to enter the relatively short queue. In fact, the day was so delightfully void of presentation crowds that I was able to leave the hall after the morning and return later in the afternoon.
Earlier along the waterfront line, it was fun to see that TBS had rented out a barge to promote its comedy series "Wrecked." Adults could party among appropriately thematic plane wreckage from one of my regular shows, a parody of my all-time favorite "LOST."
[CALLOUT]
Admittedly, the 20th Century Fox panel was not as amazing as I had hoped.
It might have included "The Predator," "X-Men: Dark Phoenix," "X-Men: The New Mutants" and "Deadpool 2" but instead only showcased the sequel "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," the first of which I have not yet seen.
Still, the movie does look rather cool from the previewed footage, and all attendees remain in shock that Halle Berry chugged a pint of bourbon on stage. The 6,500 present also each received a welcome swag bag with a branded T-shirt and fidget spinner.
Afterward, I enjoyed breaking away for a much smaller room filled with a couple of hundred versus thousands to check out the poster art of Mondo. Some of the art even takes inspiration from travel.
[READMORE]READ MORE: 10 Biggest Panels at Comic-Con International 2017[/READMORE]
Meanwhile, back in Hall H, Netflix was soon in the house to share two films the distributor-turned-producer is working on. "Death Note" opened as a thriller adapting a Japanese manga where those who write down a person's name in a magical book will soon see said person killed in whichever means is also written down. It's an intriguing, albeit creepy concept, especially with Willem Dafoe voicing Ryuk.
More mainstream and altogether appealing is "Bright" with Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry and Edgar Ramirez from director David Ayer.
It's a gritty racially-charged action cop drama set in a metropolitan world of humans, orcs, elves and fairies that proves Netflix has large coffers from which to fund big-budget blockbusters. Now I'm only hoping it will be broadcast in 4K Ultra HD come December 2017.
Chris Hardwick at the Nerdist panel was a great comedic sendoff for Thursday as I flew to San Jose and my cousin prepared to wait it out for Friday and Saturday for high-profile television panels like "The Big Bang Theory," "The Walking Dead" and "Fear the Walking Dead." (However, as a bit of a let down to my cousin, the former did not include the entire cast but only Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar and Kevin Sussman.)
[READMORE]READ MORE: Reviewing Disney's D23 Expo 2017[/READMORE]
For her, the biggest panels worthy of camping out for were on Saturday: Warner Bros. Pictures and Marvel Studios. Saturdays in the past have also featured another two major presentations of great interest. It also turned out that the WB panel inexplicably ran 30 minutes short of its allocated two hours. Still, "Ready Player One" and "Blade Runner 2049" look really good as does "Justice League" and "Aquaman."
Still, the highlight was seeing the cast and crew preview "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Black Panther" while getting some news about upcoming "Ant-Man and the Wasp" and "Captain Marvel." Otherwise, "Avengers: Infinity War" footage was mostly a rehash of what we saw at D23 Expo 2017.
Personally, I was surprised no additional announcements were made in regards to the planned Marvel-themed attractions set to come to Disney California Adventure as I anticipated they would be.
Beyond all of that, Sunday was a relaxing day for me to catch up on Comic-Con International 2017 by merely exploring the exhibit floor and doing some shopping. It was a pleasure to meet the wonderful artist Noah and have him personally sign a print I purchased at his booth. Now, I cannot wait until next year when I will try my hardest to again procure a four-day badge with preview night to enjoy the event in its entirety.
Topics From This Article to Explore
