Understanding What San Diego Comic-Con Is and What It's Not

 29 JULY 2024

Now that we're all home, laundry done, comics and Funkos unpacked, pets reunited with, it's time to summarize the Great Return of San Diego Comic-Con 2024!

Or, for me, it'll be that time tomorrow. Right now I want to address a bugaboo that's bothered me for a few days now: a misunderstanding of what SDCC promises you.

I addressed this in a diatribe about offsites last week. I'll now address it again because I keep hearing sentiments such as:

~ This event packs in too many people without enough to do. I feel ripped off.

~ I didn't travel this far and pay this much money to stand in line most of the time. I feel ripped off.

~ I waited 4 hours to get into this offsite and all I got was a baseball hat. I feel ripped off.

This is apparently the inevitable and unpleasant conclusion of the cascading attendee obsession with offsites. Over the last 12 years, offsite activations have gotten more numerous and more elaborate while attendees have become more monomaniacal about them. Now they are the point for some attendees, whose vicious case of FOMO has convinced them their life is incomplete if they can't spend 4 minutes inside a marketing diorama. I know it's partly about posting it on social to make their friends envious, partly about a sense of union with their favorite fandom, and other murky factors. 

But is it actually Comic-Con? In the larger sense of the concept, yes. But literally? No, and I think that's where people are getting confused. 

Or to put it more bluntly: the convention center is full of half-empty panels and screenings. You know, the actual SDCC programming.

Shifting SDCC Math

I would never try to persuade people to like the nerdier stuff if they don't - you like what you like. But you can't buy a badge for an event that you're largely ignoring and then complain it didn't offer enough to entertain you. 

In other words, if you're disinterested in panels and tournaments and film festivals, if you really are 90% motivated by offsites and parties, maybe this isn't the Con for you. I know it seems like it is at first glance. But considering the thousands of people who spent hours in line for offsites and then complained it wasn't worth it - maybe a reassessment is in order. 

Numerically speaking, the number of badges sold is massive compared to the number of attendees accommodated by offsites and Funko Fridays and the Fandom party and IMDB boat. You might get some access to those experiences but not all of them. They were never intended to accommodate every person with a badge. Make your peace with those limitations and stop complaining or move on. 

I'll admit I'm a little biased because I've attended so many nerdy panels featuring brilliant writers and artists who had to look out at rows of empty chairs. It's depressing to go to a spotlight panel for a world-famous comic artist and see that just 17 people showed up for it at San Diego Comic-Con. There are plenty of people who'd love to attend those panels, of course. But it's hard for them to get a badge when they are drowned out by the massive crowd of combatants who are mostly looking to get a selfie with a celebrity.

I know this sounds judgmental and it's not intended to be. But this year, I heard more complaints than ever about how unfair it was that attendees couldn't simply go from offsite to offsite like bees pollinating flowers. Some of them called SDCC boring and said there wasn't enough to do. If you genuinely feel that way, then SDCC isn't for you. You are not one of us. Go forth and find your people, your fun, because this isn't it.

Again, not judging those interests - I quite understand the allure of a well-done offsite. But you do have to make your peace with the odds of getting tickets, the amount of time in line, and the reality that every offsite is a roll of the dice - maybe it's great, maybe it's a snore. 

And please stop saying that CCI failed you by not giving you more to do. There is plenty to do. Maybe next year you can spend more time inside the convention center. You might be surprised by what you find.