San Diego Comic Con 2026

Comic Con 2026 has come and gone. Once again I attended with family and friends to nerd out over various fandoms. It always takes too long to arrive, but quickly passes by once you’re there. But that’s life isn’t it?

I try to get a panorama of downtown San Diego from the convention center every year.

Outside Comic Con #

It was really hot in San Diego this year. And as usual, I don’t spend that much time outside Comic Con. I did notice that they didn’t have as many building wraps/decorations like previous years. Perhaps there was generally a smaller budget for advertising?

The Avengers: Doomsday setup at the entrance to Gaslamp was amazing.

I saw my first Tesla Cybercabs (two in fact) on the streets of San Diego one night. Tesla doesn’t have the service available in the area yet, so these were likely driven by Tesla employees.

Exhibit Floor #

I noticed that the booths that normally have t-shirts were mostly gone. Instead, they were replaced by mystery box booths spread across the exhibit floor. I’m personally not a fan of mystery boxes– it just seems like an easy way for vendors to dump their junk by dangling a chance to get something valuable.

The Mattel booth is always fun.

The Marvel booth was excellent as usual. This year they heavily promoted the Avengers: Doomsday movie, coming out December 18, 2026.

There was a section that had costumes change every day.

Cosplay #

I didn’t take too many photos of cosplayers this year. I think the best way to get photos of cosplayers is finding out when that fandom is having a group cosplay meetup. But that generally occurs outside behind the convention center in the harsh sun, which is terrible for lighting.

Panels #

I love going to panels. I used to focus on cosplay photography, but since the post-Covid years, I’ve been going to panels more. As much as the big panels, like Hall H, get the hype and attention, I find that the smaller panels are the most interesting, especially if it’s one you wander into and know nothing about!

This year the only lottery I won was a Frank Miller signing on Saturday, just after his spotlight panel. He was heavily promoting his new book: Push the Wall: My Life, Writing, Drawing, and the Art of Storytelling

Another favorite panel was the Spotlight on Jeff Smith panel.

I swear I never get tired of hearing the Image Comics story. There is a great documentary: The Image Revolution (2014), although I don’t think it covers Robert Kirkman. In an old school way, their story is at the heart of a comic book convention.

I really enjoy going to the Collider panels. There were four I attended this year:

1. Collider’s Producers on Producing - Simon Kinberg (The Martian, Logan, Deadpool) and Andrew Form and Brad Fuller (the A Quiet Place franchise, The Purge movie series, Anaconda)
2. Collider’s Directors on Directing - Zach Cregger (director of Barbarian, Weapons, and Resident Evil) and Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (writer/directors, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Game Night, and the upcoming Apple TV+ feature Mayday)
3. Collider’s Showrunners on Showrunning - Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation, King of the Hill), Widow’s Bay creator Katie Dippold, and Damon Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen, The Leftovers)
4. Collider Ladies Night with Perri Nemiroff - Poorna Jagannathan (Lanterns), Lana Condor (Acme vs. Coyote), Aimee Garcia (Walking Dead: Dead City), Jessica Henwick (Silo)

A few things I recall hearing from the Collider panels:

• Producers and directors both say that their role is at times like a therapist, in getting the best out of creatives working for them.
• One of the most expensive budget items are the extras/perks by big name actors. I’m assuming this is private jets, food catering, hotel/trailer accommodations, etc. (From Producers panel)

Book Signings #

I got a few books signed this year by Frank Miller and Jeff Smith.

Room for Improvement #

Now for some things that bug me about Comic Con.

1. ADA Abuse
2. Exclusive Merchandise
3. Hall H Line Management

ADA Abuse #

I’ll start by saying I have no problem with qualifying disabilities and accommodations being made for those people under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). What I take issue with is what seems like widespread abuse or exploitation of it at a venue like Comic Con. There seems to be a huge spike in number of people in wheelchairs and dogs, many of which I think are legitimate. But I think there are illegitimate cases that cause undue stress on the crowds, and cheats those that do have disabilities out of spots. It’s not cool for those to bring pets for fun to a very crowded convention.

I don’t have a clean fix for this. It’s supposed to be an honor system, but with 135,000 attendees, some number of people are inevitably going to abuse it.

Exclusive Merchandise #

Every year, more friends are asking me to grab exclusives toys/merch for them. The best chance is on Wednesday (Preview Night), if I can get tickets for that day. But even then, it can be quite a challenge.

There are scalpers/cheaters that completely buy out the exclusives. The photo taken below is of the Hasbro booth on Friday at 11:25am. The status of most items: Sold out for the day. By Saturday morning, sold out completely.

As I’ve been told, the vendors have two badges, their professional badge, and their personal badge. They use their pro badges to get in early, and then switch to use their personal badge to line up early for exclusives.

I personally don’t go for merch that was manufactured for scarcity. It’s a rigged system. A better way to address this is for more vendors to take part in a lottery/point system directly. This could reduce the long lines and give actual customers a more even playing field.

Hall H Line Management #

There was some controversy over Saturday’s Hall H line. Toucan Blog covered it, but quietly edited the post after it went up. Here’s the current version alongside the original, preserved via the Wayback Machine:

• Hall H Saturday – current, edited version
• Web Archive: Hall H Saturday – original, from 7/26/2026

There were people, possibly in the hundreds, that got wristbands for camping the line 24-48 hours before Saturday’s panel, so essentially Thursday. And by Saturday’s panel, I really mean Marvel’s 5:30pm panel. When you are given a wristband, and are in line by 7:30am, Comic Con will admit those with wristbands, as there are fewer wristbands than there are seats in Hall H. But this year, they couldn’t let in some that camped out and “followed the rules.” Those fans that were denied entry were pretty ticked off.

There was a feedback panel that takes place on Sunday, the last day, every year: SDCC 2026 Talk Back Panel - Feedback on Saturday Hall H Issues.

I heard that there were reserved VIP seats by Marvel this year, maybe 300-400 seats. This right here may be the main reason why they “oversold” the wristbands. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there were counterfeit (fake) wristbands that circulated.

The last time I lined up for a Saturday Hall H panel was in SDCC 2012. This was back in the day when Marvel and Warner Bros (Game of Thrones) was at peak fandom. I think I lined up around 8am and got to within a hundred people before they told us that we were unlikely to get in. So it was a wasted morning.

My take: Even with the wristband system, it’s rather risky and not a guarantee that they don’t screw up the Hall H line management. Things will have to get much worse before they get better.

There’s a history of traffic related incidents at Comic Con. In 2012, a Twilight Fan Struck, Killed Waiting for Comic-Con. In 2014, a deaf motorist drove his car through a Zombie Walk parade and was later found guilty. I’ve seen attendees badly sun-burned from waiting in the Hall H line outside, but no other serious injury or death recently. I think that’s what it’s going to take for something to change or improve.

People have pointed out that Petco Park is nearby and can handle the larger crowds, and that Hall H panels should be moved there. Or that Comic Con should just move to Las Vegas to their much bigger (by 77%) convention center.

I don’t see either happening, and here’s why:

Petco Park is too big. The huge Saturday Hall H lines are really only for Marvel; the other panels would be unlikely to fill to capacity. And most importantly: Marvel wants Hall H to be filled with superfans with every seat occupied. It is part of their marketing.

Photo Source: All the Marvel Studios News from Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con 2026

Las Vegas doesn’t have the charm or history of San Diego. Although Comic Con has outgrown the San Diego Convention Center and maybe even San Diego itself, the growing pains probably aren’t enough to justify moving cities… yet. The likely best option is already happening: have conventions elsewhere to spread the events and fandoms out. There’s D23, New York Comic Con, and Anime Expo to name a few. Personally, I think Marvel at Hall H is just a tease of what’s to come at Disney’s D23 where they have more control and incentive to do things their way.

So when it comes to the crowds and lines, I doubt things will change unless something really terrible happens that makes them address it.

Final Thoughts #

Despite my criticism, I always have fun at Comic Con every year. It feels like a healing event for me to nerd out with others and learn about the creative processes. I try to challenge myself each year and attend a panel that I know little to nothing about. This year, I attended two panels on Webtoons. A few quick thoughts on it:

• I’m glad there’s a place for creatives to express themselves, make money, and find their fans/customers.
• The digital vertical scrolling format is certainly new, and I suppose is to be expected in an increasingly digital society.

A common expression at this year’s Comic Con: If your community or creative project doesn’t exist, go create it. Why not you?

Resources #

• Films That Rock - Great Youtube channel on Hall H recordings.
• /r/SDCC and /r/comiccon - Subreddits on comic cons. There are some Discord communities too.
• SDCC Unofficial Blog and their Youtube - Best resource for Comic Con.
• Comic Con Member Portal - Start here if you want to attend San Diego Comic Con.