What surprises me about San Diego Comic-Con is how little—and yet how much—has changed since my last attendance for a single day in 2017. Virtually every venue was where I remember: Disability services in area A. Major celebrity panels in Ballroom 20 and Hall H. Layout of the exhibitor floor, with artists at the end nearest Hall H and smaller seller booths and gameplay nearer to area A. Everything in the middle, from big Hollywood studios to booksellers, all where they have been previously.
The same can be said for the upstairs pavilion and meeting rooms. In the Mezzanine, nothing really changed. Board games are in the same meeting rooms, and the Medieval fighters gather and joust where they always have, for example.
Badges are different, and the change isn’t recent just a departure from my experience. Looks like they have RFID tags in them now. You scan to enter and exit the venue, which is efficient for diminishing pass fraud. Attendance is fire-code-capped around 130,000 or so. Presumably, the process would allow someone to monitor the number of people present.
That said, the crowd seemed so much larger than I remember. Everywhere. On the showroom floor, upstairs in the corridors around the meeting rooms, and inside them. Congestion is the word. Massively. Busier, too: Areas where in the past I could rely on some calm. No longer.
I saw very few cosplayers, but that likely is more about timing. Day One attracts people looking for things to collect and buy. Thursday is by far the geekiest of the four, too. Cosplayer numbers should be greater tomorrow and greatest on Saturday when the Masquerade ball takes place.
My haul of photos isn’t that impressive, as such. Nevertheless, I will cull and start sharing them tomorrow. Tonight, I ask you to accept steampunk character Commander Vektan. The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Vitals: f/2.9, ISO 25, 1/722 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 1:48 p.m. PDT; composed as captured. She used a selfie-stick attached to a newer model iPhone to shoot photos and/or videos.