Overview

San Diego Comic-Con International is an annual pop culture and comic convention held in July at the San Diego Convention Center in California. Since its inception in 1970, the scope of the conference has grown to include fantasy and science-fiction television shows and movies, as well as cosplay couture. The Comic-Con is attended by more than 130,000 people per year, including many celebrities of both fandom and mainstream culture.

Background

San Diego Comic-Con International^[1] was created by a group of comic enthusiasts, with the first one-day event taking place under the name Golden State Comic Book Convention on March 21st, 1970. The first three-day convention was held from August 1st to 3rd, 1970, at the U.S. Grant Hotel. The convention moved to its current location, San Diego Convention Center, in 1991. In 1974, the event organizers added their first Masquerade ball as an opportunity for cosplayers to show off their costumes.

Past Comic-Con Logos

The Comic-Con began to sell out in 2007 and has filled the San Diego Convention Center to capacity in every year since. In 2010, they began expanding the conference to nearby hotels.

The Eisner Awards

Since 1988, one of the main events at the San Diego Comic-Con is the distribution of that year's Eisner Awards, the most prestigious award in comics. There are currently 31 main categories of awards, including Best Comic and Best Writer. In 2005, the Eisner Awards began distributing an award for Best Digital Comic or Webcomic. The award has been given to many popular comics, including The Oatmeal and Battlepug.^[18][19]

The Eisner Awards

The Eisner Awards do not maintain an online presence separate to that of the Comic-Con as a whole.^[20]

Notable Developments

Many film studios, comic publishers, and other entertainment companies use the Comic-Con to preview or announce new movies, series, or other types of comic and cosplay-related products, like toys. No comprehensive history of these announcements exists. Here's a limited selection from our archives and research, beginning in 2003.

Incidents

As is to be expected during an event as large as Comic-Con, there have been a variety of violent accidents or other types of incidents during the convention. In 2010, a Harry Potter fan stabbed another fan with a pen.^[21] In 2012, a Twilight fan was hit by a car and killed outside the convention center.^[22] In 2013, a Comic-Con attendee attempted suicide from a hotel balcony and was saved from falling by several stunt-men.^[23] In 2014, a deaf family with small children was attempting to drive through the area of a Zombie Walk happening during the Comic-Con, and hit a 64 year-old woman dressed as a zombie and other passerby.^[24] Also in 2014, a man was arrested after a teenage cosplayer was found unconscious and bloody on the side of a San Diego road; he was later charged with giving alcohol to a minor and sexual misconduct.^[25]

Online Presence

On September 29th, 2006, San Diego Comic-Con created its official YouTube channel;^[4] as of July 2014, the channel has gained over 11,000 subscribers. The channel features videos of panels which were held at past cons, interviews with famous con guests and interviews with ordinary attendees. As of July 2014, the most viewed video, which was uploaded on July 28th, 2009, is titled "Peter Jackson Sets the Record Straight on The Hobbit" which featured the Lord of the Rings director discussing the then upcoming Hobbit film. The video has gained over 90,000 views.

San Diego Comic-Con's official Twitter account^[2] was created in October 2008, as of July 2014 it has gained over 500,000 followers, and Its Facebook page^[3] has gained over 780,000 likes. The official Comic-Con subreddit was created on June 2nd, 2009 has more than 7,000 readers as of July 2015.

Media Coverage

On August 5th, 2007, one of the first in-depth news articles about the convention was published by the New York Times^[5], titled “We’re All Geeks Here.” On September 17th, 2007, The Laughing Squid^[6] published a post titled “1982 San Diego Comic-Con Photos by Alan Light” which featured vintage photographs from a 1980s Comic-Con event.

In 2008, the convention was profiled by the New York Times^[7] again, and on June 15th, 2009, io9^[8] published an article titled “San Diego Comic-Con: Not Really For Girls?” which discussed sexism at the convention. In 2010, several sites published guides to the convention including Jezebel^[9] and The Huffington Post.^[10] The following year, several sites posted photo galleries from the convention including Hollywood Reporter^[12] and Mashable.^[11] In 2012, a number of major U.S news sites featured women attending the convention, including Entertainment Weekly^[13] and NPR.^[14] In 2013, many websites ran live coverage of the convention, including The Verge^[15] and IGN.^[16]

Related Memes & People

Pan Pizza/Rebel Taxi Annual Comic-Con episodes.

Pan-Pizza is an online cartoon and occasional video game reviewer and driver of the RebelTaxi. Every year, he creates a series of videos after attending San Diego Comic-Con. He uses these videos to recap upcoming stuff to people who weren't able to attend Comic-Con, while also giving editorial opinions.

Jessica Nigri

Jessica Nigri is a celebrity cosplayer and promotional model known for her appearances at conventions like Comic-Con and DragonCon. At the San Diego Comic-Con in 2009, Nigri cosplayed as the Pokemon Pikachu (shown below). According to an interview with Cosplay in America, Nigri saw photos of herself from the convention posted online, which peaked her interest in cosplay.

Mishapocalyse

Mishapocalypse is an online flash mob event that took place across Tumblr on April 1st, 2013, in which hundreds of bloggers changed their profile avatars to a photograph of Supernatural actor Misha Collins originally taken during a panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con.^[1]

Search Interest

Search interest for San Diego Comic-Con spikes every July when the conference is held.

External References