Source: SDCC International
This year SDCC is going to still be at the San Diego Convention Center. The San Diego Comic Con will be from Thursday July 18th to Sunday July 21st, 2019. The doors will open 9:30am. There is a preview night on Wednesday July 17th from 6pm to 9pm. There is even child care available on site.
In years past I have heard about comic cons. I never gave a whole lot of thought to them until my younger daughter became interested in them. Unfortunately I didn’t have the means to go. Then I started working for TGON and really wanted to go but I live in Washington state now and not close to the city San Diego. I have been able to make it to the Emerald City Comic Con and that has been exciting every year I have attended. Let me tell you a little about SDCC. San Diego Comic Con started in 1970 when fans of comics, movies and science fiction banded together to put on a minicon, a one day event, in order to raise funds for a larger three day affair so that fans can come and geek out together. It was held at the U.S. Grant Hotel and guests visitors were Ray Bradbury, A. E. van Vogt and Jack Kirby. It had the programs and panels and film screenings that today’s Comic Cons do and is still the model for current Comic Cons. Over three hundred people attended the minicon. The founders set out to offer a venue not only to their beloved comic books but also to include pop culture they enjoyed and wanted to bring attention to. The Comic Con moved from the El Cortez Hotel to the Convention and Preforming Arts Center to it current home The San Diego Convention Center. With the attendance being over 130,000 people in recent years, the convention has had to incorporate satellite locations.
Now on to this years festivities! There are so many things going on. There is of course screenings and special guests. There are also autographs, art show, a children’s film festival as well as a regular film festival. There is also games and a masquerade and merchandise. Oh man the merchandise.
They will have special guests, everyone from Neal Adams to Phil Yeh. Some of the guests that piqued my interest are Todd McFarlane, John Pound of the Garbage Pail Kids and Kevin Smith. I am bummed though that Jason Mews won’t be accompanying Kevin Smith.
Anime screenings are taking place in the Marriott Grand Ballrooms 1,2,3 and 4 which are adjacent to the lobby. Due to some screenings having mature content ones after 10pm are for 18 and up unless the child has a parent or legal guardian with him or her. Some of the animes that are scheduled to be screened are Love Lab, Galaxy Angel, Please Twins, Hunter X Hunter, ReLIFE, Inu Yasha: The Final Act and Master of Ragarok and Blesser of Einherjar. Those are just a drop in the bucket. There are so many more being screened.
Autographs take place Thursday through Saturday 10am to 7pm and Sunday 10am to 5pm The cast from the Netflix show The Order will be there as will cast memebers from Van Helsing. The Impractical Jokers will be signing autographs. Frank Miller has been cancelled. The original Incredible Hulk Lou Ferrigno will be in attendance. Ben Browder who played John Crichton in Farscape and Lt. Colonel Mitchell in the Stargate Universe is also lined up to be there. Best of all is Bruce Campbell. I am so jealous that he will be there and not my husband or myself! There are many other people set to be their doing autographs.
The Art Show will be located in the Grand Hyatt in the Grand Hall CD in the Lobby Level 9am to 9pm for Thursday and Friday. Saturday it will be from 9am to 6 pm and Sunday 12pm to 7pm. You’ll be able to find drawings, painting, jewelry and other odds and ands.
Sunday will showcase the Children’s Film Festival. This it’s 13th year running. The film festival will be in Room 9 on the upper level of the convention center. Not only will they be showing shorts for children but they will be talking about how kids can make their own movies and how to get into the business. For the regular film festival the judges are Sean Rourke, Nick Murphy and Valerie Perez. It will take place in Grand Ballroom 6. Thursday through Sunday it will start at 10am. There will be a mix of genres shown.
Games will be afoot at SDCC. They will be on the Mezzanine Level from 9am to 9pm all four days. They will also be at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Hotel in Pacific Ballrooms 20, 21 and 22. There will be of course Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering as well as Fanboy Gaming and Heroclix as well as others.
The Masquerade is a contest to showoff your best costumes and cosplay. The awards are enviable. Some prizes are monetary awards. Others are statues or jewelry and still others are subscriptions to awesome publications. Tickets are required for Ballroom 20. Pictures without flash are permitted and is not allowed to be used for sales.
It sounds like SDCC is going to be the hottest place to be the weekend of July 18th through the 21st, 2019. Be there or be square as they say. Are you going? What is it you are looking forward to? Let me know in the comments below. Have fun and be safe!
