Their 5-year-old daughter, Arya, was decked out as Mileena, the mask-wearing female “Mortal Kombat” ninja. Moss and his wife, Brittany, 33, waited with their 6-month-old son, Memphis, a pandemic baby attending his first Comic-Con, and 4-year-old son Raiden, dressed as his namesake “Mortal Kombat” character, Raiden the god of thunder. “It’s just nice to come back,” said Dequane Moss, 34, a self-described “big nerd” from San Diego, as he stood in line with his family.
#Plaid hat games pandemic verification#
Kayden Phoenix, an award-winning Chicana writer and director from Boyle Heights, discusses her A La Brava universe of Latina comic book characters.Īs hundreds of people queued outside the vaccine verification tent - a scene that would have seemed dystopian not all that long ago - the sun shone, and temperatures were summer-like, in the mid-70s. Kayden Phoenix says it’s past time for a Latina team of superheroes But by the hammer of Thor, it did not change the self-proclaimed geeks, many of whom were still endearingly shy and awkward as they appeared in public in their eye-catching garb after so much time had passed. Everyone had to wear a face mask, which could not be covered by, well, a superhero mask. The big events are coming back now that about 64% of Californians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.Īt Comic-Con Special Edition, attendees had to prove they were fully vaccinated or had tested negative for the virus within the previous three days.
And if you hear euphoric screaming this week from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, it’s probably because the powerhouse South Korean boy band BTS is returning to the stage there.
The Los Angeles Marathon hit the streets last month. This weekend’s gathering, which organizers expected to draw between 40,000 and 50,000 attendees, took place as large-scale events are making a comeback in California.Īfter a year of creepy cardboard cutouts, human fans returned to the stands at Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres games. The virtual event returned this summer as coronavirus case numbers were rising with the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta variant. The in-person event was so deeply mourned that fans set up an altar for it near the convention center, with flowers, memorabilia and handwritten messages: “I Love You. In 2020, the annual pop-culture behemoth was held virtually as as the pandemic forced the first cancellation of the live gathering since its launch in 1970.
I think everyone is relieved to be returning to a sense of normal, even if it is a somewhat smaller version of the typical Comic-Con event,” said David Glanzer, a Comic-Con spokesman. “There seems to be a general sense of excitement among attendees, volunteers, exhibitors and all involved. The scaled-down, three-day Comic-Con Special Edition at the waterfront San Diego Convention Center did not bring the usual crush of summer crowds - estimated to top 160,000 in past years - but superfans rejoiced at the return of the first in-person gathering since 2019. But where are the comic book sellers?Īfter a COVID-19-forced hiatus, San Diego comic book store owners are looking forward to the return of an IRL Comic-Con - even if they won’t attend. Comic-Con returns this weekend to San Diego.