25 Best Things We Saw at San Diego Comic Con 2018
We may be a year away from the San Diego Comic Con’s 50th anniversary, which is likely to see a massive blowout for the annual gathering of geek/pop culture I.P’s, creators and fans. Still, there was definitely a void in the SDCC ecosystem in 2018, with traditional heavy hitters like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Game of Thrones were AWOL. But that also meant, however, other voices could fill the gap and seize the chance to cut through the usual hype while promoting more forceful messages. The Black Heroes Matter gathering returned to highlight African-American representations in comics; the Eisner Awards saw Marjorie Liu become the first woman ever to win for Best Writer; and panels throughout the event tackled non-commercial topics ranging from Afrofuturism to debunking the idea of “fake geek girls” to how to best battle online trolls.
“We see a surge in peoples’ ability to recognize their own rights,” said Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Chase Masterson, who led an independent rally after the convention immigrant rights advocates and groups like the ACLU. “We see people empowered on a daily basis in the intersection we draw between human rights and pop culture.”
All that said, Comic Con was still Comic Con. On the first day, we picked up a convention bingo card created by Oni Press to promote The Long Con, a new comic about people trapped at a fan convention when the apocalypse happens. By Sunday, we’d crossed 75-percent of it off with sightings of utilikilts, giant vinyl bags, costumed service dogs and by having several of those “Wait, was that … that guy? From that thing? OMG, I think it was!” moments. (No, really, we’re pretty sure that was Navid Negahban who plays the Shadow King on Legion!) So from the socially-minded to the schwifty, we present the 2018 edition of our Top 25 Things We Saw at the San Diego Comic Con.
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The 13th ‘Doctor Who’ Is In
Image Credit: Chris Delmas/AFP/Getty Images Before her first Comic-Con appearance as the new star of Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker told reporters, “I had been told Hall H only fit 1,600 people.” She was welcomed, instead, by a roaring capacity crowd of 6,000-plus fans that immediately accepted her as the 13th Doctor – and the first woman to lead the British sci-fi institution. And Whittaker was well aware of her moment as well, telling the audience that “I hope we as friends are what young kids can now look up and say, “Ma, I wanna do that‘ – well, you can.” The upcoming season’s trailer doesn’t reveal much, but showrunner Chris Chibnall did confirm that Whittaker’s Doctor and her companions would face a new batch of bad guys and beasts this fall: “We’re two weeks away from finishing and I haven’t seen any Daleks yet,” he quipped. AG
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‘Aquaman’ Jason Momoa Makes a Splash
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment were counting on the former Game of Thrones star to keep up the momentum Wonder Woman generated in 2017. The ambitious first trailer for Aquaman sure seems to have done the trick, further replacing Zack Snyder’s gloomy visual style with a vibrant undersea world. Still, director James Wan gave the Justice League director his due: “One of the best things Zack did was cast Jason in that role,” Wan said during a cast appearance on Conan. For his part, the actor continued to be the affable big man on the Comic Con campus, jokingly referring to himself as “the Native Mr. T” for his choice of jewelry and passing rounds of Guinness out. One thing fans did miss out on, though: That come-hither poster of Momoa in the title role? “I tried to get him to do it pantsless!” the filmmaker revealed. AG
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Tig Notaro Hijacks the Starship ‘Discovery’
Image Credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock The moderator of a panel makes all the difference. In a feat of genius (or foolishness), CBS decided that Star Trek: Discovery‘s second appearance at Comic Con should be in the control of stand-up comic Tig Notaro, who has joined the cast as Chief Engineer Denise Reno. She immediately started in on the comedy, issuing semi-spoilers and putting cast members on the spot. Mary Wiseman, who plays Ensign Sylvia Tilly, was forced to answer questions in the style of an athlete at a press conference. Later, Notaro recited a chunk of her own dialogue to prove how good she can space-speak. While fans did get some real reveals (like the fact that Rebecca Romjin’s joining the cast), the main takeaway from the panel is that the eventual behind-the-scenes BluRay extras are going to be hilarious. DM
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DC Offers an Alternate Universe
Image Credit: Dave Maass With DC Universe, the comics company is making a move to cut out the middleman with its own streaming service, which promises to give fans access to films, TV shows and comics through a single app. As part of the play, they snatched the prime off-site real estate across from the convention center previously occupied by Netflix and built an entire compound of elaborate exhibits and walkthroughs to keep fans busy for hours. It included a Swamp Thing bayou adventure, a Dick Grayson escape room and an immersive, actor-fueled version of the classic Batman storyline “The Court of Owls.” One of the best executed stations was a version of Harley Quinn’s blood-spattered asylum cell, which doubled as an interactive rage room where participants were handed a bat and encouraged to go berserk. DM
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Check-In: The ‘Castle Rock B&B
Image Credit: Araya Diaz/Getty Only San Diego residents can fully appreciate how much the city is transformed by Comic Con. Take the Children’s Park: One day everything’s idyllic … the next day a family sedan has crashed vertically into the fountain and someone’s built a two-story New England Bed & Breakfast across the street. That was all part of Hulu’s promotion of Castle Rock, the new horror series from Stephen King and J.J. Abrams. The hotel was an immersive haunted house experience, which starts with two way-too cheery hosts giving you a room key. From there you’re assigned to a hotel room; soon, a series of creepy scenes from the show play out, culminating in an execution chamber where you’re forced to watch a botched lethal injection. And like a ghost, by Monday, the whole thing will have eerily vanished. DM
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Trading at the Space Gnome Mercantile
Image Credit: Dave Maass Not everything has to be Godzilla-sized to be amazing. In the lead up to Comic Con, installation artist and illustrator Shing Yin Khor announced that she’d be launching “Space Gnome Mercantile” at her booth in the small press area. She would trade special merch (including a sick enamel pin) for any of the following: a cool rock, a story about a roadside statue, a handmade ceramic vessel or a compliment in iambic pentameter or limerick form. Over the course of the con, dozens and dozens of people – often other creators – stopped by to trade and fill out intake forms; Khor then posted the pictures to social media. And as if karma was coming around, she went on to share an Eisner Award for her work co-editing Elements: Fire, A Comic Anthology by Creators of Color. DM
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‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Lives to See Another Comic-Con
Image Credit: Jerod Harris/Getty The sitcom was killed by Fox and resurrected by NBC in May; cut to Comic Con circa right now, when 2,600 fans screaming “NINE-NINE!” in unison as the cast took the stage. Somehow, the show has become one of the most socially conscious programs on TV and its impact became deeply apparent as audience members’ outpouring brought tears to the actors’ eyes. Fans thanked them for Latina representation, for making bisexuality visible, for Terry Crews’ role in the #MeToo movement. And somehow, the performers still found the time to play the “name of your sex tape” game. For the record, the best were: “One Minute We’re Soft, the Next Hard,” “Sex-Crime Christmas Party” and “Full-Fat Greek with a Touch of Honey.” DM
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RZA Brings the Ninth Ward to Hall H
Image Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Categorize it as a heist film if you must, RZA said after he rolled in San Diego, but his upcoming movie Cut Throat City is ultimately about the battle between “aspiration versus desperation” in NOLA’s Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina. And while some may wonder why he chose Comic Con’s Hall H of all places to debut the trailer – which doesn’t seen remotely geeky – he’s quick to point out that his protagonist is a graphic novelist struggling under the most difficult circumstances. Also, the Wu-Tang member is a total nerd who loves SDCC; it doesn’t take much prodding to get a pop culture history lesson about how Wesley Snipes, who stars in his new film, heralded Marvel’s current cinematic boom when he played the vampire hunter Blade. We just hope he was able to break away long enough to indulge his newfound love for Deadpool. DM
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Syfy Conjures Up a ‘Harry Potter’ Wizarding World
To close out the convention, the Syfy network took over the New Children’s Museum in downtown for a Harry Potter-themed soiree that fit right into the winding building, which can come off to the uninitiated like something out of a Moving Stairs scene. You could catch American Gods‘ Orlando Jones, who was in town working with Syfy on identifying and honoring fan creators during the weekend, mingling with guests as cover band Saved By The ’90s entertained on the main stage. Some visitors tried their luck on the network’s Human Claw Machine, which dipped them into a pit full of surprises for those with the best grip. But the biggest crowd we gathered around a wall with markers, simply writing down what the Potter franchise has meant to them. AG
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The ‘Rick and Morty’ Silent Listening Party
Hundreds of Rick and Morty fans were invited to Adult Swim’s faux state park campgrounds on the bay side of the convention center late Saturday night … but they weren’t give any information beyond that. On arrival, they were issued wireless headsets and an assortment of plastic character masks, and were instructed to sit cross-legged in the grass. Then creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, joined by series regular Cassie Steele, got drunk and improvised a morning zoo-style radio show from space while playing through selections from the Sub Pop double-LP soundtrack hitting shelves this fall. Rick, Morty and a slew of randomly booze-generated characters (mostly voiced by Roiland) joined the show until the team couldn’t keep it together anymore. Two hours later, fans still weren’t sure what they’d experienced. But they knew they loved it. DM
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The ‘Real Pee Tape’ Trolls Trump
Image Credit: Dave Maass Once you entered the Comic Con bubble, current events drifted away – or at least they did until a giant yellow VHS cassette marked “Real Pee Tape” danced up and gave you a hug. In May, comics website The Nib released a two-minute short animation that imagines the Russians really do have footage of Donald Trump paying prostitutes to pee on a hotel bed once slept in by the Obamas. They commissioned costume designer Yvette Helin (Rugrats Live) to build the outfit, put a professional mascot inside and hired a bodyguard to keep him safe from MAGA thugs. The walking Pee Tape was ubiquitous both inside and outside the convention center, receiving dozens of high fives and posing with multiple groups of small children while their parents took photos. DM
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‘Ready Player One’ OASIS Party
Image Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Though the movie adaptation of Ernest Cline’s book has been out since March, Ready Player One still had a footprint in Comic Con country. The Omni hotel near the convention hosted an installation that tested visitors’ 1980s trivia skills and featured The Shining‘s infamous Room 237. And on the Wednesday prior to the con’s opening, the Fluxx nightclub downtown was transformed into its own version of the OASIS, the virtual playground replete with retro geek chic. The crowd enjoyed stepping into Bill & Ted’s phone booth, “mixed reality” gaming offerings and cover sets by L.A. tribute bands the Library Bards and the Flux Capacitors. Plus Farscape star Gigi Edgley marked the U.S. debut of her Wanderland project in a black super-villainesque number alongside her brother Jake Edgley. AG
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Black Mask Draws the Resistance
LA-based anti-establishment comics company Black Mask Studios kicked off Comic Con with the announcement they’ll produce an official Mr. Robot prequel penned by the show’s writing team. “I feel like Mr. Robot has that punk vibe to it, so we thought an indie publisher would fit nicely with that,” showrunner Sam Esmail said. But fsociety isn’t the only way the Black Mask is drop-kicking fascism: They ran a voter registration drive on the convention floor and debuted a one-off issue, CALEXIT: All Systems San Diego (a riff on the Rocket from the Crypt album), about a young woman fighting DHS internment camps through pirate radio. The publisher also dedicated precious panel time to amplify brand new work from subversive creators such as Vita Ayala (The Wilds) and Kwanza Osajyefo (Black [AF]). DM
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Rallying for Rose
When Last Jedi star Kelly Marie Tran was harassed online to the point of leaving Instagram, blogger and podcaster Keith Chow and his team organized a rally showing public support toward the actress and her character Rose Tico. The Rally for Rose, as it was called, attracted enough attention online that director Rian Johnson himself sent love on Twitter. “We wanted to show that there is no room for hate in fandom,” Chow said later. Later that day, the eighth annual Super Asian America panel provided an opportunity for fans and creators to discuss the changing pop culture landscape and call out shenanigans like Marvel executive Jeph Loeb’s “Karate Kid” outfit, which drew loud groans from the audience. AG
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‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ Prepares for Its Last Song-and-Dance
Image Credit: Smallz & Raskind/Getty “We have to protect our voices,” star/co-creator Rachel Bloom told the crowd midway through her show’s live performance at the Balboa Theatre. “Because we’re about to film Season Four.” Still, the 80-minute set didn’t skimp on the fun; the cast took the stage cosplaying as each other’s characters (she donned hunky Josh’s tank top and board shorts; actor Vincent Rodriguez donned a blue pin-up worthy dress as Bloom’s character Rebecca Bunch) before dipping into Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s extensive songbook. Though she noted that while the crowd favorite “Let’s Generalize About Men” started out tongue-in-cheek, “[then] last year happened … and it’s not that tongue-in-cheek anymore.” Still, the show whetted fans’ appetite for its 18-episode swan song – and perhaps even more tours to come. AG
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New Spider-Men (and One Woman) Swing Through
Image Credit: Karl Walter/Variety/REX/Shutterstock Ever since Spider-Man himself was left … indisposed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, speculation has mounted how the upcoming movie Venom would establish a link to him. The footage shown in Hall H didn’t offer any clues on that front – but folks did get their first full-body look at Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, in the grip of the bloodthirsty symbiote. Would the bulky actor himself be willing to tangle with Tom Holland’s Spidey? “I’ll have a go, yeah,” he offered. On the lighter side, Into The Spider-Verse stars Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld were excited to make their animated debuts as Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen, two characters assuming Peter’s mantle in their respective worlds. But fans instantly buzzed when that trailer revealed that John Mulaney would voice Peter Porker – better known as Spider-Ham, a scene-stealer in the making. AG
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Falling Under the Spell of ‘Disenchantment’
Image Credit: Daniel Knighton/FilmMagic.com With his new Netflix show Disenchantment, Matt Groening joins the ranks of showrunners breaking free from the shackles of network television; his team can keep those extra jokes and animated vistas that would’ve been cut to make room for a soap commercial. “This show is so visually rich it makes Futurama look like The Simpsons,” Groening told his fans. The series also departs from the usual static sitcom plotlines to pursue an epic two-season story arc following Princess Bean (Broad City‘s Abbi Jacobson) as she searches for meaning in the patriarchal kingdom of Dreamland. One thing that hasn’t changed: The TV animation godhead brought the cast of Futurama to Netflix (and to Comic Con) to populate this new world, and the live previews of those voices were as fantastic as the extended clip that was screened. DM
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‘Mayans MC’ Junks the Muffler
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty When we found the cast of FX’s upcoming Mayans MC in their hotel lobby, we mentioned that it was odd to have the Sons of Anarchy spin-off take Hall H on Sunday, i.e. traditionally a children’s day. Actor Raoul Trujillo smiled and answered, “Well, if they’re old enough to smoke and drink …” An hour and a half later, showrunner Kurt Sutter made a road wreck of the kid-friendly policy with his F-bomb fueled panel and 13-minute preview, which revolved around the motorcycle clubs’ operation smuggling drugs in Quinceañera dresses. Sutter’s new drama is out to push envelopes and pursuing authenticity: Almost all of the cast members who joined him on stage acknowledge their performances are driven by personal experience with gang life. DM
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Pay Less, ‘Purge’ More
Image Credit: Cindy Robichaud/Geisler-Fotopres/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images “Welcome. And how do you plan to celebrate Purge Night?” The friendly salesperson greeted folks as they picked up a shopping basket inside what looked like a party supply store – it was actually an elaborate promotion for The Purge film franchise’s move to television. If someone answered that they planned to slaughter their neighbors in accordance with the 28th Amendment, they’d direct customers to a display of bats, masks and blood cleaning supplies. Or if a person wanted to bunker down at home, they’d show folks where they keep the barbed wire and armor for your family dog. With $20 in free “Purge Dollars” to spend on T-shirts, pins and other collectibles, Purge City was widely mentioned among attendees as the best giveaway experience of Comic Con. DM
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Meet the New ‘Mad’ Magazine
Image Credit: Dave Maass Legendary co-founder of Bongo Comics Bill Morrison had two missions at Comic-Con: sell his brand new graphic novelization of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and prove to the world that his reboot of Mad Magazine won’t suck. The first task was cake: His Fab Four project is a gorgeous, faithful adaptation of a beloved film. The second goal wasn’t so easy, based on the montage of mean tweets they ran at the beginning of their panel. So the team went full variety show, with editor Allie Goertz grabbing a guitar and singing a satirical response to a planted audience troll. Then long-time contributor Sergio Aragones hit Morrison in the face with a pie. And they previewed the next issue’s true-to-spirit cover where Alfred E. Neuman is whac-a-moling Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, Roseanne Barr and Harvey Weinstein. DM
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Arte Popular: Rey Mysterio, Chicano-Con and Mexican-American Representation
Image Credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty A San Diego native, pro-wrestling star Rey Mysterio remembers the days when you could walk up to the convention any given morning and pick up a ticket without any sort of line. This year he was in a different position: the first star of a new line from Chido Comics featuring lucha libre performers. “Wrestling is really big right now – it’s something that can really take off when you mix wrestling and non-fictional characters. For me to be the first one opening this world is a blessing,” he said. Several miles away, the Fourth Annual Chicano-Con brought more Latinx artists and creators into Barrio Logan (site of the historic Chicano Park) to fill in what co-founder David Favela describes as a representation gap: “While Comic Con is an incredible event, there really isn’t one place for all the Latino/Chicano artists to connect and inspire each other.” AG
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Her Universe’s Geek Couture Celebration
Image Credit: Mark Edwards Besides marking its own fifth anniversary, Ashley Eckstein’s geek couture celebration also recognized milestones for The Nightmare Before Christmas (25th), The Powerpuff Girls (20th) and the 10th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (Just hours before, the latter had just revealed to fans that it would be returning, meaning that Eckstein would once again voice fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano.) “I would never have started Her Universe if it wasn’t for Ahsoka and The Clone Wars,” said Eckstein, wearing a dress adorned with 500 Funko Jack Skellington heads. This year’s fashions were just as far-reaching, with designers drawing upon influence ranging from Wakanda to Miyazaki. All three winners – Kristi Siedow-Thompson (fan vote), Cynthia Kirlan (judges’ vote), and Jane Burson (Singer Sewing award) – will now go on to design a collection inspired by the next Avengers film. AG
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Jack Ryan’s Virtual Patriot Game
A lot of Amazon Prime Video’s promotional resources this year went toward the Aug. 31st debut of John Krasinski as Tom Clancy’s reluctant spy hero. Not only did they sponsor IGN’s annual rooftop party at the Andaz Hotel, they also put together an activation where visitors could seek out information and take part in two adventures of their own: a “Black Ops” escape room where Ryan communicated with them via walkie-talkie; and a three-story high virtual reality “training course” where would-be “analysts” tested their mettle jumping from choppers, avoiding gunfire and walking precariously across a decaying 28-foot-high plank. Oh, and did we mention the dashing (both virtually and physically) across a zipline to safety in full view of both the crowd and Twitch video streamers? Krasinski himself, however, was not on hand; he’s already filming the show’s second season. AG
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Yvette Nicole Brown Knocks ‘Em All ‘Dead’
Image Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty Comic Con provided definitive evidence that AMC’s Talking Dead won’t skip a beat with the former Community star at the helm. The celebrity superfan went from a regular guest on the postmortem talk show to leading the preview panels for both The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead without missing a beat. And Brown didn’t just provide some much-needed diversity to the Hall H hosting ranks – her encyclopedic knowledge of both TWD and its spinoff shone through. She also kept things light hosting panels for both Glass and Halloween, where she told the crowd, “I told you we were going to church” after Curtis’ emotional fan encounter. AG
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Jamie Lee Curtis Saves a Life – Literally
Image Credit: Karl Walter/Variety/REX/Shutterstock The panel for Halloween – a direct sequel to the 1978 horror classic – packed an emotional punch that nobody in the Hall H crowd could have seen coming. Jamie Lee Curtis commanded the arena from the opening, explaining why it was important that heroine Laurie Strode isn’t just back, but ready to finish off MIchael Myers once and for all: “There comes a point when you say, ‘I am not my trauma. The narrative of my life is that I am not a victim.'” Bringing the lesson home, a fan revealed during the Q&A that he escaped an invasion of his own home by following Laurie’s actions in the original movie. He was ushered toward the stage, where Curtis met him with an embrace. After the panel a woman asked, “When are we getting a Women Who Kick Ass panel with Jamie Lee Curtis?” she asked. “We just did,” her male companion replied. AG