San Diego Comic Con, better known as SDCC is the most well known and arguably the largest comic convention around. People literally camp out for the infamous Hall H panels. It’s a very important weekend in the world of Nerds. You may he asking yourself, why is it such a big deal? Has it always been this popular? What the biggest attendance on record? And most of all, can I attend this nerd extravaganza?

SDCC crowd in 1982. Photo via Wikimedia Commons curtesy of Alan Light.

I have some answers to these questions and maybe some you didn’t even think of. There will be some history for you history nerds, trivia for you trivia nerds, and finally some info on this year’s SDCC. Shall we get started?

The con we know today as SDCC was founded in 1970 by a group of San Diego nerds under the name Golden State Comic Book Convention. It was then changed once more to San Diego’s West Coast Comic Convention before finally being named San Diego Comic Con in 1973 for it’s fourth annual event. In fact, the very first con was a mini convention held in March 1970 to raise funding for the larger convention. The mini con had less than 100 attendees. The larger con held in August was attended by about 300. By 1980 attendance to the con was at 5,000 and in 1990 it reached 13,000 attendees. In 2018 that number had reach over ten times that. The large numbers of people going to SDCC each year has earned the convention several Guiness World Records for Largest Annual Pop Culture Convention.

While no one can say why this convention took off. It seems to me that it had to do with the guests, the set up of how the convention was run, and expansion into larger pop culture areas. It began as mainly a Comic book and sci-fi related film and memorabilia and since has expanded to include elements from all genres. We’d love to hear your SDCC stories, if you’ve attended leave a comment below about why you think this convention has become the place to be each year for nerds everywhere. We interrupt the regularly scheduled article for some fast facts and trivia.

Did you know that?

Exhibition floor 2013 SDCC. Image via Flickr, taken by Gage Skidmore.

– Currently the convention has a 450,000 square foot exhibit hall.
– There are a large number of event programming. In 2014 there were close to 700.
– There have only been two times that SDCC was canceled. In 2020 and 2021, due to COVID.
– There has been one death and several injuries of attendees.
– Each year vendors sell Comic Con exclusive collectables, only available at the convention.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Welcome back! It’s no doubt that all nerd eyes will be on SDCC. Especially since this will be it’s first year back in person since covid hit. The anticipation is buzzing and I’m sure the excitement will be palpable.

Unfortunately as of now all badges have been sold. There is good news, though. SDCC has eBay auctions for some badges. There are several listings open now through July 3rd!

It’s very safe to say the founders of this event have changed the landscape of comic conventions and had a lasting impact on nerds everywhere. Stay tuned to our website and socials for SDCC updates! We will have coverage of the con and its guests.