At 800PG News, we cover all things comedy and stand-up comics. But this past weekend, the tables turned as we turned our focus onto a different type of comics.
Every year, fans of all things pop culture head to the Mecca that is Comic Con in San Diego. If there is ever a pop culture convention you want to be at, it’s this one, as it’s where all the stops are pulled out. This year, the same could be said, even when it was dealt a difficult hand.
A big mainstay of the convention in the past 15 years has been the biggest names in entertainment, and big panels promoting projects from those big names. Sadly, in the wake of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, a big concession was writers and actors were forbidden from promoting their work for the big studios. As a result, most major panels were pulled from the lineup, as those in the industry stood in solidarity.
Still, the show wound up going on, and there was tons of stuff to see. And we were on-hand for it all. Check out our recap below of some of the best things to do at Comic Con 2023!
The Off-Site Pop-Ups
The bigger Comic Con has gotten, the harder it’s been to stay contained within the confines of the convention center. As a result, there’s more and more things you can do outside the convention, all for free. Just so long as you’re willing to wait in insane lines.
First up was the Adult Swim event. They took over a courtyard right behind the convention center, where fans could see concerts, DJ’s, ride a mechanical hotdog, get free swag, play carnival games, and more! Sadly, one of the big attractions of the setup - which included a live performance of The Eric Andre Show - was canceled due to the strike.
Right next door was Hulu’s Animayhem exhibit. The large popup literally put you into the world of some of your favorite animated Fox/Hulu shows including Family Guy, The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Archer, Solar Opposites, and more! Much like everything else at Comic Con, the line to get in was in the 3-4 hour ballpark. Despite this, they were fully occupied at all times!
For the second year in a row, Kevin Smith took over Tin Roof for his Mooby’s pop-up. It’s like stepping inside the View Askewniverse, as you’ve got references to his films throughout the entire restaurant. Smith was on-hand here for most of the convention, and did various podcasts, signings, photo-ops, and more!
Other shows and films represented with outdoor exhibitions included Only Murders in the Building, What We Do in the Shadows, Jurassic Park, That 70’s Show, Dazed and Confused, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and so much more. Even if you couldn’t get a pass to go into the convention center, you weren’t going to leave San Diego empty handed!
Inside the Convention
Once you make it into the convention center itself, you find yourself surrounded by basically every type of IP you can think of, thanks to cosplay. While the early days of Comic Con may have featured more superheroes - which were still present, don’t get us wrong - now it’s more of a healthy mix of any type of genre you could think of. Films, TV shows, and beyond are all well represented. As you can imagine, the most popular cosplay this year was Barbie. As Barbie was dominating the box office, she was simultaneously dominating Comic Con.
With so many panels canceled, the exhibit floor was way more crowded this year than in years past. While it’s never easy to navigate, the lack of big studio panels didn’t make it any easier this year. Still, the studios were there in full force on the floor, transforming every corner of the room into a pop culture fan’s dream. From Star Wars to Good Burger to Marvel to Blockbuster, there was no lack of things to see on the floor.
Also, no lack of things to buy. If you’ve never been to Comic Con, you’re going to want to budget for it. If you’ve got that voice in your head telling you that you need something that you probably don’t - like we do -, you’re going to want to make sure you prep for it.
We managed to keep our stories updated all weekend long with everything we saw at Comic Con. To see more, head over to our Instagram!