2020 Comic-Con@Home
Sometimes, watching Disney+ is better than gong to Disneyland. Sometimes, watching Rick Steves' travelogues is better than going to Europe. Sometimes, Thursday and Sunday are better than Friday and Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con. This year, 2020, Comic-Con@Home is going to be better than gong to San Diego Comic-Con IRL.
False.
Whilst, likely, no one has ever uttered said-sentiments, were they uttered, they would be the hallmarks of an optimist. JennyPop likes, and identifies with, the optimists. 2020 is our year. If you've ever wondered how the Spongebob Squarepants of your life would even be used in a dystopia, we exist to remind you of why we need art, culture, imagination, silliness and the superfluous. The absurdly useless is all too useful in these weird times of the virus.
Not to be too Shedon Cooper about it, but the correct Darwinism is "survival of the most adaptable", not "of the fittest". So, whether the wrath of 2020 is solely virus-oriented, or inflamed by protesters and Draconian restrictions, the fact is 2020 bites and whatever you had planned, is cancelled. European travel, summer holidays, Disney vacays, yacht club Xmas parties, family reunions (Oh, darn! The reunion is cancelled? Oh, noooo. I sooooo wanted to go to that!), or whatever you can think of, is not happening. So, as my sis-in-law says, "Suck it up, Buttercup," and plan for an epic 2021. This is where we optimists reign. We can make anything fun, even quarantine. Das ist das and we have to work with what we're afforded this year. Fortunately, some organizations are working harder than ever to bend to 2020's will. The good folks at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) are doing that rather well.
Do you miss the feeling of being physically at Comic-Con with over 135,000 of your closest friends? Do you yearn for the days of navigating your way through the San Diego Convention Center? Will your summer not be complete without a security guard telling you "the end of the line is that way"? Chin up buddy, we've got ya covered!
Most impressivey, SDCC has maintained one of the more popular facets of the Comic-Con diamond: film and TV panels. FXNetworks, Netflix, Adult Swim, FOX and myriad other networks plus showrunners, actors and writers will still be divulging all the secrets, teases, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes geeky goodness of your fave shows and films, sans the bonkers-long lines and sitting for hours next to that awful, iconic, Comic-Con smell. (You know who you are. Put a stick of deodorant in your bag next year.) With an intuitive user-interface, most panels (approx. 400) will be available for streaming via the Comic-Con website, their YouTube channel and IGN. Additionally, Zoom sessions with the likes of The Simpsons panel, Lin Manuel-Mirana and Joss Whedon will afford fans panel experiences like never in SDCC's 51-year history. Similar to brick-and-mortar SDCC, the schedule will be kept to IRL timeframes, with the first panel beginning Wednesday, July 22nd at 3pm PST: Comics in the Classroom. Most panels will remian on SDCC's YT channel after the Con ends on Sunday, July 26th, 2020.
Masquerade rhymes with homemade and if you're aching for the inspiration and spectacle of the Comic-Con Art Show or the sequin-y, featherey, leather-y, glitter-littered ballroom atmos of Masquerade creatives, calm your Maleficent wings. Comic-Con and Tumblr have joined to keep the art and cosplay spirits alive. This year, peruse the Comic-Con Art Show starting Wednesday, July 22nd. Whilst there’s no auction this year, artists have the option to link their sites, enabling you to support your fave artists online. Masquerade competition begins Friday, July 24th: winners announced Saturday, July 25th. Obviously, it's not the same, but gifs, pix and videos of your faves can help you feel like you're gifted, too ... kind of.
If you are an, as of yet, undiscovered creative (join the party), fret not, oh, misunderstood one. SDCC's annual Portfolio Reviews are still available to all artists! Want to experience the simultaneous, bittersweey joy and heartcrush of asking industry insiders to judge your most painfully personal, artistic endeavours? Have at. At least you can cry @Home.
Watch Parties, powered by Scener, will sync your Con home-viewing so you can snark and point out scientific, historical and sartorial inaccuracies with the equally forgiving Comic-Con@Home community. (Note: Many of the titles require subscriptions to streaming services you probably subscribe to already.)
It's not a Con sans games. Check the official schedule to organize your faves via MySCHED (powered by sched.com) on gaming platforms Discord, Facebook Live, Twitch, and YouTube.
Known as the "Oscars" of the comics industry, yet sans the bizarre acceptance manifestos, the Will Eisner Awards strut the digital carpet on Friday, July 24th at 7pm PST.
Shopping! JennyPop's fave Con activity! (Well, shopping, seeing her work pubished in the Official Souvenir Book and partaking in the traditional Day1-martini at Lou & Mickey's in The Gaslamp.) All of your fave vendors, exhibitors and Artists' Alley residents are part of SDCC2020's interactive Online Exhibit Hall: featuring exclusive Con-merch and speciial deals. In the interactive floor plan, just search for your fave folk, click on their booths and present payment method, just like IRL Most vendors, artists and exhibitors have taken advantage of this opportunity to reach far more "attendees" than a normal Con; those whom have not ... why not? Yours Truly was/is set to snag the traditional Loungefly Con-purchase; yet, when link is clicked, your booth reads: Sorry, this exhibitor has not uploaded any products. Missed opp, Loungefly. Now, as for my other Con faves, Bekyoot and Retro-a-Go-Go (where Moi gets most of her trademark, Bettie Page and Rockabilly parasols) ... products uploaded.
With no SDCC, at least we can imagine the the Spandex mayhem whilst reading the souvenir program.
If you know JennyPop, you know she;s all about the Official Comic-Con Souvenir Book. This year, it's being published solely as a free PDF. For 2020, JennyPop maintains her 10-year streak as not only the longest-running contributor, but also the longest name in the book. Ha! But, seriously: Jennifer Susannah Devore. This year's article? Ladies Who Slay: 50 Years of Women and Conan the Barbarian in Comics. Past articles include Hellboy, The Simpsons, Batgirl, Catwoman, The X-Files and Peanuts: the latter earning her a citation in TIME magazine for her expertise in pop culture. Download the entire Souvenir Book at Comci-Con's site - be warned, it's large, at 135MB - or, read JennyPop's article right here on JennyPop.com.
Finally, as any optimist will tell you, life has to be fun, nay, silly. Like drinking guava juice and snacking on macadamia nuts whilst watching Lilo and Stitch, wearing your Louise ears whilst watching Bob's Burgers or sporting your fave Big Bang Theory tee for a D&D/TBBT marathon, it's the details and extra sillies that round out your homemade experience. Comic-Con has all those extra sillies to make your Comic-Con@Home Experience all the more fun. Print your own signage: Currently Attending Comic-Con@Home 2020; Bags, Books and Lanyards; Hall H; Restrooms; Ballroom 20; Concessions; Please knock quietly, I'm watching a panel!, etc. Need sound effects? They've even got official Exhibit Hall announcements for you to play in your room, just to annoy the non-Believers in your household: "Welcome to Comic-Con International!" or "The Exhibit Hall is now open to attendees. Have a great Comic-Con!" or, everybody's least fave, "Thank you for attending Comic-Con! The Exhibit Hall is now closed."
Finally ... sponsorses! Let's all pay some bills. We loveses sponsorses! We needses sponsorses! Comic-Con (and JennyPop ads!!) deserve some geek love. Click on our ads occasionally and help out a fellow dork, especially your fave dorkette, JennyPop!
SYS on the virtual Con-floor, kittens!
2020 bites, no argument. Still, the Darwinian difference is between those whom curl up in an angry, fetal position and those whom open their arms wide and embrace the challenge of trying summat new, be it working at home, schooling at home, exercising at home or even Comic-Con@Home.
Abyssinia @ Home, kittens!
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For a cheeky cosplay curation of Comic-Cons gone-by, visit Twisted Pair Photography, official shutterbug of JennyPop's annual SDCC coverage.
