Comic-Con returns in full force with costumes, crowds
Newslooks- SAN DIEGO (AP)
The pop culture extravaganza that is Comic-Con International is back to its old extravagance. Stars, cosplayers and hordes of fans are filling the San Diego Convention Center in full force for the first time since 2019. Here’s a look at this year’s version of the four day festival.
Flynn Carter, 10, of San Diego, dressed as Boba Fett, attends day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)Keith Foster, of San Diego, dressed as The Pumpkin Knight, attends day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)
COMIC-CROWDS
The pandemic necessitated virtual versions of Comic-Con in the summers of 2020 and 2021, and a scaled-back in-person version in November, but none were anything like the usual spectacle, with lovers of all things geeky descending from around the globe and arena-sized panels on films and TV shows that resemble sporting events.
Nathan Turner, left, of San Diego, dressed as the comic-book character The Rocketeer, poses for a photo with his friend Tracy Doering before Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)Mario Alcaraz of Los Angeles, dressed as Spider-Punk, attends day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)
It’s not clear whether the convention will draw the estimated 135,000 people who flooded San Diego before the pandemic.
But thousands of fans came in droves on Thursday for the convention’s first day. As required, nearly all wore masks — the protective kind, not the super-villain kind, though there were plenty of those too — and the excitement amid the crowd was palpable.
Monica Radin of San Diego, dressed as the Raven character in the animated television series “Teen Titans,” walks outside Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)Jay Acey, right, dressed as A-Train from the television series “The Boys,” mingles with Maddox Cruz, 1, of Orange, Calif., outside Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
“Everybody’s just been cooped up for a while, and they’ve been anticipating this,” said Minneapolis resident Dinh Truong, 34, who came to Comic-Con for the second time and attended Wednesday’s preview night. “It’s nice just to see everybody in the same atmosphere. I’m excited to see the program, see what’s going on, see everybody cosplaying and all that, and just getting back to what we used to be.”
Renee Lanswick, dressed as Do-S from One Punch Man, attends day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)Kevin Uribe of West Orange, N.J., dressed as the writer/director/actor Kevin Smith, waits for Preview Night to start at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
COMIC-COSPLAY
It’s likely no one has missed the in-person convention more than the captains, queens and connoisseurs of cosplay. Comic-Con is their Met Gala, and no getup is too elaborate.
Mario Alcaraz of Los Angeles, dressed as Spider-Punk, attends day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)
Lorelei McKelvey, 54, who is from San Diego but now lives in Yokosuka, Japan, was dressed as Captain Carter, Captain America’s British, World War II-era counterpart.
New Jersey residents Cristian Tirado, as Venom Punk, from left, Jose Tirado as Eddie Rock Punk, Letticia Tirado as Queen Punk and Gabriel Tirado as Carnage Punk, attend day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)
“I had to do one that I could authentically replicate,” McKelvey said. “I went and did my research and found out what were the authentic British officer leathers worn in World War II, and I found manufacturers to actually make those leathers.”
Rebecca Eusey, of San Diego, dressed as “Lady Beetlejuice of the Carousel,” poses outside Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
She walked the Convention Center floor in real-as-possible officer cavalry boots and Royal Air Force gauntlets, and carried a 5-pound steel shield.
San Diego residents Sam Youth, as Port, from left, Mike Lever as Chewy Chewbacca, and Katie Lever, as Hans Solo, characters from “Star Wars,” attends day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)
McKelvey came to Comic-Con and worked a booth for 20 straight years. This is her first time coming as a cosplayer, and her second time coming as a trans woman, and she’s excited to be reunited with the cherished friends she’s made here.
Santa Ana, Calif. residents Jake Garabedian, left, dressed as Star-Lord, and Griffin Reina, as Thor, attend day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in San Diego. (Christy Radecic/Invision/AP)
“My last convention is the first time they’ve seen me as Lorelei,” McKelvey said. “This is their first time to see me four years later and to see how much I’ve grown since then.”
Calvin Alvarez, 4, of Los Angeles, peers over his shoulder at dinosaur models based on the “Jurassic” Park film franchise during Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Others wandered the halls as “Star Wars” Stormtroopers, the Mandalorian, Wonder Woman, Thor and Sailor Moon. Chuckie from “Child’s Play” emerged from one cosplayer’s stomach.
A Comic-Con attendee looks at small-scale statues of the movie characters Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed from the “Rocky” film franchise, at the PCS Premium Collectibles Studio stall during Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
COMIC-COMING ATTRACTIONS
Chelsea Mullen, of San Francisco, dressed as Garangolm in the video game “Monster Hunter,” poses outside Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Comic-Con makes most of its news as a venue to show off trailers and footage from forthcoming films and TV shows during star-studded mega-panels held in Hall H, which holds some 6,000 people. Announced panels include Warner Bros. and the DC Universe’s “Black Adam.” It will include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who plays the titular antihero, director Jaume Collet-Serra, and the stars playing Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and other members of the Justice Society.
Comic-Con attendees peruse the aisles of the convention show floor during Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Aiden Molter, left, and Monica Radin, both of San Diego, wear masks as they wait for Preview Night to start at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. Radin is dressed as the Raven character in the animated television series “Teen Titans.” (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Warner Bros. will also provide a preview of “Shazam: Fury of the Gods.”
Jay Acey, left, dressed as A-Train from the television series “The Boys,” Faeren Adams, center, dressed as Marvel superhero Doctor Strange, and Derek Shackleton, dressed as Marvel superhero Moon Knight, walk together outside Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Marvel may hold back its best material for Disney’s forthcoming D23 Expo, but is expected to tease its next film, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and the Disney+ TV series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.”
Leslie Acosta, of Escondido, Calif., poses alongside the Patrick Star character from the animated television series “SpongeBob Squarepants” during Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
A pair of much-anticipated fantasy prequels will also give fans a taste of their worlds. A new trailer dropped Wednesday in advance of a panel from HBO Max that will show off the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon,” set 200 years before the original series.
C.B. Cebulski attends Marvel’s Spider – Man induction into the Comic-Con Museum on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at the Comic-Con Museum in San Diego. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Amazon is going back in time 2000 years for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” a tale of the emergence of evil among the elves long before Frodo and Bilbo walked Middle Earth. Their panel this year comes 21 years after director Peter Jackson presented footage from the first of the original films at Comic-Con.
A Comic-Con attendee walks past a life-size model of the creature from the “Alien” movie franchise during Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)Jenn Brown of CFX (Composite Effects) adjusts a silicon mask based on Pinhead from the movie franchise “Hellraiser” in their stall during Preview Night at the 2022 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
