Amid fluctuating sales in the publishing world and turmoil in Hollywood, this year’s San Diego Comic-Con provided a much-anticipated opportunity for passionate fans to geek out over beloved characters and brands. What's more, it was a total banger. And amid moments of spectacle (e.g. a Galactus made of drones rising into the sky) and an element of danger (e.g. a fire near a Penguin-themed speakeasy that filled the sky with actual smoke), the event was brimming with major announcements, from new imprints to new formats to new business plans.
Marvel was unquestionably the big winner at this year's Comic-Con. Basking in the record-setting debut of Deadpool & Wolverine, the studio went all out, stunning onlookers with an impressive drone show over Petco Park that set a new bar for activations and teased the arrival of the Fantastic Four to the MCU. A Marvel Studios panel on Saturday brought even more shock and awe with the mask-ripping reveal that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the MCU as Doctor Doom in a future Avengers film.
Marvel’s publishing program was not forgotten in the hoopla, with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige appearing at a panel with Marvel Comics editor in chief C.B. Cebulski to chat about their love of comics and announce a new series about the Time Variance Authority, a sort of temporal police squad popularized in the Disney+ miniseries Loki.
Feige was not the only studio head to boost that company’s comics division. Director James Gunn, CEO of DC Studios, appeared virtually at a panel with DC Comics publisher Jim Lee, introducing a trailer for the upcoming Creature Commandos animated series. Gunn also debuted a “new” DC logo based on Milton Glaser’s classic DC bullet logo.
Feige and Gunn—the most visible reps at their respective studios—personally marketing the comics lines was just one part of a concerted effort to spotlight periodical comics sales. Marvel Entertainment president Dan Buckley also made a rare appearance at Diamond’s annual retailer lunch, promoting programs such as overships and comics for younger readers. Marvel’s partnership with Viz Media also expanded with Ultraman: Along Came a Spider, which teams the popular giant robot with Spider-Man for the first time.
Attempting to reverse recent sales declines, DC Comics had even more on the line with a big push for DC All-In, an October initiative that will give new readers a jumping-on point to DC. They also announced more details about Absolute DC, an imprint presenting new versions of the classic characters, including a Batman who comes from an impoverished background. “An initiative is when the entire company comes together, not around a story itself, but around a moment,” All-In mastermind Scott Snyder told PW. “We’re planting a flag and saying this is who we are. We're inviting everybody in.”
Periodical comics seemed to be holding their own at Image, where the Energon Universe, based on various Hasbro toy lines, continues to sell briskly. The Ghost Machine line, launched by writer Geoff Johns, is also doing well. Retailers were especially interested in The Moon is Following Us, an upcoming fantasy by superstar Daniel Warren Johnson and artist Riley Rossmo.
The future was a bit less certain at Boom! Studios, just acquired by Penguin Random House. Actor Keanu Reeves hit the Hall H stage to promote his Boom! comic series BRZRKR. (Reeves recently teamed with author China Miéville to cowrite a novel, also published by Boom!, based on the series.) Fans lined up for BRZRKR merch at the Boom! booth, and Reeves continued his lifelong good will tour by hitting the show floor to play a game of John Wick pinball.
Other companies debuted new funding and directions. Aspen Comics, a longtime Comic-Con exhibitor that has carried on since the 2008 death of founder Michael Turner, made its biggest splash in years with the launch of Ekos, an expanded story based on some of Turner’s concepts that’s being brought back to life by Marvel Studios founder David Meisel, also an investor in Aspen. Ekos will be a whole universe of characters and will launch as a graphic novel Kickstarter in September. For SDCC, images from the series adorned kiosks that greeted everyone entering the con with a giant banner that hung over the show floor.
Panick Entertainment is yet another new comics line launching with a crowdfunded project, this time a horror series by actor David Dastmalchian, along with comics creators Bart and Michelle Sears, Shannon Eric Denton, and artist Tehani Farr. The team behind Panick includes various former DC Comics execs and screenwriters, with Syzygy founder Chris Ryall as a consultant.
Perhaps the most talked about new company at this year's con is still a mystery: former IDW editor-in-chief Jamie Rich and former Boom! president Filip Sablik, who both left their positions in recent months, and are rumored to be starting a new venture together—but not a whisper of exactly what they’ll be doing reached any reporter’s ears.
Two more comics veterans have definitively returned to the fray with their own imprints. Mad Cave and French comics house Dupuis are partnering for Amazing Comics, an imprint led by former Marvel chief creative officer Joe Quesada that launches with Disciple, a modern take on Hamlet, that he will co-write and draw. Quesada had teased the line with a clever series of potato-themed Idaho Comics promos. And former IDW senior editor Scott Dunbier gave details about his new Act 4 line that will publish oversized archival editions of work from Will Eisner, Dave Stevens, Jim Aparo, Wally Wood, Jason Pearson and Walter Simonson.
While Disney and Marvel flexed their massive budget with the drone show and other spectacles, Warner Bros. Discovery was notable for its bare-bones presence. It wasn’t just Gunn Zooming in—Penguin star Colin Farrell also chose to appear on a panel for his upcoming Max show via video chat. And though DC Studios' debut film Superman is already shooting, WBD elected not to show any footage or even have a panel. The studio is currently struggling with layoffs and budget cuts under CEO David Zaslav, and insiders speculated that the studio just didn’t want to spend the money to compete with Disney.
Many at SDCC could sympathize with WBD: perhaps the most universal complaint among attendees and exhibitors alike was the cost of doing business at the con. Hotels and restaurants seemingly raised prices to take advantage of the con rush, and the limited availability of reasonably priced—a relative term—hotel rooms is part of a new crisis over keeping SDCC in San Diego. At a talkback panel late on Sunday, SDCC chief communication and strategy officer David Glanzer reiterated that they want to stay in San Diego, but urged attendees to contact the city to help put pressure on hotels to make enough rooms available.
With the costs of a full-on booth and programming presence topping six figures, publishers face hard questions about whether attending SDCC is worth it. But as the buzz and excitement of this year’s event demonstrated, being part of the spectacle is both an effective marketing platform and an irresistible thrill.
