The decision has come down from on high – No San Diego Comic-Con 2020!
I have to admit that, unlike other SDCC-centric blogs, I don’t post much. I don’t need to be a redundant voice telling you the same thing over and over. I’m currently working on other things that this will hopefully be a small part of, acting as a cornerstone for something bigger. I’ll get to that another time…
But with news this big, there is no way I’m going to let it pass without commenting. According to a post on the official site, Comic-Con International has officially cancelled the event, scheduled for July 23-26, 2020. This is HUGE. And this isn’t just about SDCC. This affects WonderCon too. The little sister to Comic-Con, hosted in Anaheim, California, was originally listed as postponed, but now it’s officially cancelled for this year. Comic-Con International will be hosting no conventions this year due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
With other major shows dropping left and right (E3 and Emerald City, just to name a few), San Diego Comic-Con has always been the big one everyone was waiting to see if it would continue or not. While no small effort goes into promoting ANY convention around the world, SDCC is a major touchstone for geek culture fans and multiple forms of media alike (comics, movies, television, video games, cosplay, and so much more). No one could ever have imagined that something like a virus could stop a behemoth like SDCC in its tracks 3 months before it was set to bow.
But as much as I hate to not experience San Diego Comic-Con for the first time in the last 16 years (of its 50 year history), Comic-Con International made the right choice. Quarantined as we are right now, we wanted to know that something big was on the horizon to get us out of our homes, dress us up in elaborate costumes, and put us in the halls and on the streets of our second home in San Diego, sharing the one-of-a-kind experience once again with our geeky families from around the world. But with testing almost non-existent in most of the US and no indication that we’ll have a vaccine anytime soon, there is no way to fully know how many are infected and who could be put at risk with over a hundred thousand fans, creators, exhibitors, and celebrities crammed into one place for a week, even in seemingly far off July.
So for now, we will find other means to connect with the people and the culture we love. Keep your eyes open here for news to come. Stay home, stay safe, wash those hands, and I really hope to see you at San Diego Comic-Con 2021.
By the way, if you get the urge to scope out some cosplay you might be missing from the last 20 years, check out Cosplay a Day, one of my other projects that focuses on cosplayers from all the shows I’ve been to since 1999. No, it’s not focused on sexy, steamy cosplay girls falling out of their costumes (not that there’s anything wrong with that). It’s about all levels of cosplay, all types of people who love to dress up as their favorite characters, and show off their costume crafting skill, whatever that may be. If you’ve cosplayed at conventions around the country, but mostly in California and Nevada, there’s a chance you might be a featured cosplayer of the day. And if not yet, you might be soon. Go ahead and check it out if you’ve already binged everything else on Netflix or scrolled through every post on Facebook. You might be surprised at what you find.
I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in the coming months even without a San Diego Comic-Con to talk about. We’re going to make the best of it and get through this together. See you on the other side!
