It’s the most wonderful time of the year. When over 125,000 flock to San Diego, California from around the world for the mecca of all things pop culture: the San Diego Comic Con. From July 22 through 29, 2026, the San Diego Convention Center, and pretty much the rest of downtown San Diego to be honest, was flooded with an endless sea of humanity to celebrate geek culture and fandom. From comic books to movies to animation to television to video games and just about everything else in-between. All gathered under the sweltering summer sun.

Last year kinda sorta seemed a little more quiet than usual due to the lack of a major presence from some of the top entertainment studios. It could be argued that an apparent quiet streak continued into this year. While Marvel Studios arrived to set up shop, a lot of the others were still absent. No Sony Pictures, no real DC Universe presentation besides the announcement of Lanterns, Doctor Who was shelved indefinitely, nothing scheduled for Hall H or Ballroom 20 on the last day. Heck, there wasn’t even any Critical Role program this year!

But while there was a feeling that content might have been light, the convention as a whole was no less exciting. If any thing, it just made the event feel much more packed and crowded as folks were scrambling to line up or get into rooms as early as possible to ensure a spot in whatever key programs they wished to attend. And there were still plenty of major talents across all entertainment mediums showing up to promote upcoming projects, still lots of dazzling exclusive experiences offered, and enough surprises to blow everyone away.

As the studio behind Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank, Insomniac Games had emerged as a beloved developer of quality video games. Not long after being reacquired by Sony as a first-party PlayStation Studio, they made the highly acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man series. The critical and commercial success allowed for them to turn their attention on another Marvel property to work on. It wasn’t long before Marvel’s Wolverine was regarded as one of the most highly anticipated video game titles. Big enough for a presentation to be held in Hall H.

I initially wasn’t going to try Hall H this year. But when it was clear I wasn’t getting into a program I planned to attend Thursday morning, I took a chance at the last minute. While I arrived late, I was able to find a seat without issue. The panel consisted of creative director Marcus Smith, narrative director Walt Williams, project director Jess Reiner-Reed, game director Mike Daly, executive producer Eric Monacelli, and stars Liam McIntyre (Wolverine) and Krizia Bajos (Jean Grey). Gaming personality Naomi Kyle was moderator.

With all that was happening in the gaming landscape and the direction Sony would apparently be taking, it was nice that the audience was respectful to the developers all weekend and focused on learning about the games PlayStation presented. The heart of the discussion was on the bold direction of the narrative, set within the same continuity as the Spider-Man games and yet introducing a world where there were no X-Men to protect mutants. Some fascinating ideas were explained and the audience seemed just as intrigued with how it would play out.

Beyond a brief story trailer and a sample of the “Logan” theme by composer David Fleming, there wasn’t too much else shown from the game itself. In a way, I rather liked that the panel had the confidence to be able to talk about the game’s narrative in a way that would fascinate the audience. It helped that McIntyre and Bajos were just as enthusiastic about the story and how they were allowed to apply their own take on the iconic characters they played. A good panel through and through. Marvel’s Wolverine slices onto the PlayStation 5 on September 15.

Marvel’s partnership with Capcom brought about a successful series of fighting games that were among the most popular titles ever. However, this ended following the commercial and critical disappointment of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Since then, Sony was looking at returning to the genre and enticed Marvel to rejoin the fight. To do so, they teamed with this generation’s top developer, Arc System Works. The result would be Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, the first 4v4 tag fighter and one of the most highly anticipated video games of the year.

Following after Marvel’s Wolverine in Hall H, the panel for Marvel Tōkon would feature game producer Takeshi Yamanaka, localization director Amber Seitz, Marvel Comics artist Mike Deodato (Amazing Spider-Man), Marvel Games senior product development Michael Francisco, and voice actor Josh Keaton (Spider-Man and Iron Man). Serving as moderator would be content creator Sajam. Sony was also running an open beta during Comic Con, so the Marvel Games Lounge at the Marriott Marquis would offer attendees who weren’t home a chance to play.

With the final game launching a couple weeks after Comic Con, the focus was on providing insight to the creative direction Arc System Works went with, applying their acclaimed anime-style visuals. The narrative mode, in particular, would be played out as comic pages. Deodato was one of the narrative illustrators and noted the challenge of drawing for right to left as how books were read in Japan. Keaton further added the difficulty in how, working with Seitz, to best translate the Japanese dialogue in ways that would connect with American audiences.

The panel would also screen the opening cinematic for the first time publicly and later reveal the first DLC character in Phoenix Cyclops with a video message from voice actor Ray Chase. On the whole, it was a nice preview of the game for excited fans and the approach to storytelling and localization was fascinating to hear. Nevertheless, I was feeling it would’ve been nice to show some gameplay, even with the open beta taking place at the time. Players can accept the challenge of playing Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls now on the PlayStation 5 and PC.

Upon premiering on Nickelodeon on February 21, 2005, Avatar: The Last Airbender became a milestone in television animation. The highly acclaimed series won the hearts of audiences of all generations and all cultures with deep storytelling, delightful characters, and top-notch animation. In Feburary 2021, creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino launched Avatar Studios with a renewed focus on expanding the franchise. And it would begin with what would be the highly anticipated animated feature in Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.

With a large fan-base, it seemed a given that a panel previewing Avatar Aang would be held in Hall H. Sure enough, nearly 6,500 gathered to hear from Konietzko and DiMartino alongside director Lauren Montgomery and stars Dionne Quan (Toph), Román Zaragoza (Sokka), Jessica Matten (Katara), Eric Nam (Aang), and Dave Bautista (Tagah). Serving as moderator would be The Legend of Korra star Janet Varney (Korra). The fans were very welcoming of the new voices to the characters they loved and the cast, in turn, were very appreciative of the support.

Konietzko and DiMartino noted the challenge of telling a story with the original characters while being mindful of what had since been introduced in The Legend of Korra. Quan got to express excitement in voicing Toph, having been a fan while she had been working on Rugrats (Kimi) and The Fairly OddParents (Trixie). Bautista gave praise to Montgomery as director, leading to him and Nam to talk about being directed on screaming. Nam would also talk about the emotional and psychological depth he hoped to add to the narrative in voicing Aang.

The panel also included franchise updates such as announcing The Legend of Korra in Concert tour, Tagah being added to the Avatar Legends fighting game, all of the original series soundtracks finally getting released, and the first trailer to new series Avatar: Seven Havens. It was a really good panel to get fans excited for the film. It helped that Varney did a fine job as moderator, adding flavor to the proceedings to help hype it further and letting the panel feel relaxed. Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is now streaming on Paramount+.

2026 was turning into an amazing year in honoring the great Jack “King” Kirby. A section of Essex Street in New York was rechristened Jack Kirby Way. Art exhibitions of Kirby’s work were ran in Los Angeles and New York. An animated series on Mister Miracle and a feature-length documentary Kirbyvision were entering the latter stages of production. A stage play King Kirby would run in Brooklyn. And at least 14 Kirby creations would be featured in Avengers: Doomsday. So of course Comic Con would further celebrate “The King” in grand fashion.

One of many panels dedicated to Kirby, this would feature Kirby’s grandchildren Jeremy and Tracy participating in the festivities. They were joined by comic book favorites Phillip Kennedy Johnson (The Incredible Hulk), Mark Waid (Kingdom Come), Tom King (Mister Miracle), and Nick Dragotta (Absolute Batman). Serving as moderator would be Roy Schwartz, a pop culture historian who was instrumental in the Jack Kirby Way campaign. The panel took place on the first day in Room 6DE and everyone was delighted that it was packed with interested fans.

The panel kicked off with the first viewing of a trailer for Kirbyvision, with Schwartz claiming they had just received it five minutes beforehand. Everyone took a moment to note when they first truly encountered Kirby’s work, with Jeremy and Dragotta both noting, as kids, being surprised to see Kirby’s name in the animated series Thundarr the Barbarian. Getting to hear from Jeremy and Tracy was a joy as they got to tell some lovely stories like how whenever Tracy had trouble sleeping she would head into his studio and watch her grandfather draw.

They had time for Q&A and I got to ask about any interesting encounters Kirby might have had, in relation to hearing about Paul McCartney being a big Kirby fan. Jeremy and Tracy explained how Kirby and his wife opened their home to so many people that other family members tried to get their address removed from the phone book. Out of this came hilarious notations of visits from the likes of original Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig and babysitting Mark Hamill’s kids. Overall, a very nice panel to sit through and one that turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Established in 2000, UDON Entertainment had since become a very popular publisher of art books and comics. Utilizing North American talent who were heavily inspired by Japanese animation and manga, they were just as well known for the care and respect they had for the properties they worked on, beginning with the Street Fighter franchise in 2003. Their presence at Comic Con over the years included a packed booth that got progressively bigger and, more recently, running live illustration demos featuring their artists as well as some renowned guest talent.

Holding court in the packed Room 5AB would be UDON founder and chief of operations Erik Ko. For this year, the artists participating in the demo would be Reiq, Edwin Huang, and Mikan. The special guest would be legendary character artist Shinkiro. The UDON artists would draw a specified character within a time limit while Shinkiro would spend the whole presentation merely drawing Ryu (Street Fighter), which would be displayed on screen. All the while, Ko would call up fans in groups and run them through trivia questions for pin prizes.

Getting to witness Shinkiro illustrate, whose art aesthetic could be described as applying realism to conventional anime features, was undeniably the big draw and was truly mesmerizing to watch in real time. But the UDON artists were no slouches, as even under time constraints they could produce some lovely illustrations. Based on fan suggestions in the first couple of rounds, they each drew Chun-Li (Street Fighter) in ten minutes and Felicia (Darkstalkers) in fifteen before Ko threw them a curve ball by giving them one minute to draw Ryu.

There would be a different panel to attend for those looking to news and updates on UDON. This panel, on the other hand, was all about having fun. Artists were drawing live with their work being appreciated, in particular being able to watch how Shinkiro illustrated his beautiful work, while Ko played silly games with the fans for prizes. Added to the excitement was that all the illustrations would be up for purchase in a silent charity auction that ran through the weekend. It was a great time to be had and a wonderful showcase of what UDON offered.

Since launching on December 6, 2024, Marvel Rivals had been one of the most popular massive multiplayer online (MMO) video games active. Over 50 million players from around the world have jumped into the hero shooter to control a beloved Marvel super hero or villain, with nearly 55 characters playable to date and expected to grow. The characters themselves had contributed to the lasting appeal of the game, developed with the personality and depth that made them enduring. And they would be bolstered with an ensemble cast of voice actors.

Like last year, Room 6BCF, the third largest room at the convention center itself after Hall H and Ballroom 20, paid host to a gathering of some of the voice talent behind the heroes in the game. This year’s roster consisted of Laura Post (Emma Frost), Hakeem Ysaguirre (Cloak), Lenore Zann (Rogue), Bill Millsap (Punisher), Brittany Cox (Angela), and Erik Braa (Moon Knight) with Jennifer Sun Bell (White Fox), Josh Keaton (Iron Man), and Chris Okawa (Kingpin) joining later. Serving as moderators were content creators Dylan Carter and Maggie Roscher.

Topics discussed included Zann adjusting to how Rogue was developed in X-Men ’97 to how she was in Marvel Rivals. How voicing Cloak served as Ysaguirre’s proper introduction to voice acting while being a musician. Millsap purposely avoided listening to previous performances of Punisher so as not to be influenced over how he felt the character sounded. Braa actively played the game and was quite familiar with the fan community. Cox noted her husband was surprisingly unaware that Angela, originally created in Spawn, was now in Marvel.

Of course, the big appeal to this panel was to hear the actors say some of their quotable lines, in particular the beloved ult (or ultimate) lines. To mix it up this year, they were also given a chance afterward to try their hands at other characters’ ult lines, with Emma Frost’s “Kneel, peasants!” being a particular favorite among the other women voice actors. It was quite clear the actors were having a fun time whenever they did this kind of panel, talking about working on the game and interacting with fans who took enjoyment from hearing them.

For a year-and-a-half since first releasing on December 6, 2024, the massive multiplayer online (MMO) hero shooter video game Marvel Rivals had continued to thrive as one of the most popular ongoing titles to date. Managing to average between 80,000 to 100,000 active players on a daily basis, it was a testament to developer NetEase Games and their ability to update the game regularly through careful tweaking of gameplay mechanics and increasing the roster of heroes and villains with unique characters for fans to try their hands at.

Like last year, a second Marvel Rivals panel would be held in Room 6BCF and offered insight into making and updating the game. Executive producer Danny Koo served as moderator and was joined by Yachen Bian (marketing lead), Dino Ma (art director), Dan LaDuca (senior art director), Weitai Luo (principal environment artist), Peilin Zhong (lead character concept artist), Zhen Li (principal 3D character artist), Jinghua Duan (lead narrative designer), Donger Gan (narrative designer), and Dakota Maysonet (creative development manager).

The present development team decided to be more prepared for this year’s presentation, as evident by the mostly Chinese panelists reading all their comments in English and not be reliant on a translator. They discussed the approach to the summer activities that were introduced and its influence on the creation of character skins and settings. With Season 9 having just launched, they spent time talking about their approach to newly introduced Jubilee and crafting how she played and what her narrative in the game’s universe would be.

They would give a brief preview of the Season 9.5 content coming out the following week, including a look at introducing The Hood and the limited-time player versus environment event based on Avengers: Age of Ultron as part of their run-up to Avengers: Doomsday. The panel finished with a look at some upcoming merchandise, the ones getting big reactions being a Jeff The Land Shark plushie and a Galacta figure from Hot Toys. Some nice information presented by the development team and enough to keep fans pumped for continued play of the game.

Since first launching in 1981 as My Pretty Pony, My Little Pony would become one of the most recognizable franchises as among the few targeted to young girls and their parents that flourished. Then came the fourth generation series, Friendship is Magic, becoming an unexpected pop culture phenomena that superseded gender, age, race, and more. Comic Con panels during this era were among the most popular and packed. While the fifth generation series didn’t capture the same success, the franchise continued to thrive beyond imagination.

A panel on My Little Pony would be taking place in Room 5AB, which was much smaller than the rooms that held the panels during the run of Friendship is Magic. So it could be assumed that expectations were low of how many fans would want in. Instead, there was four rows of an extremely long line waiting and only a fraction would be able to get in, depending on how many were already in the room sitting in on the panel running beforehand. As such, it was packed beyond capacity with excited fans wanting to hear about what was coming up for the franchise.

Moderating would be Cort Lane (VP of original content, entertainment producer) and on the panel were Cassidy Boyd (director of global brand marketing and strategy), Lauren Faust (developer of Friendship is Magic), Gretchen Mallorie (head writer), and Tayhan Mustafa (senior creative producer). The first part of the panel went over the franchise continuing to grow in merchandising, most notably the incredibly hot KAYOU cards, and Faust talking a little about her fandom as a kid and how it led to her approach in developing Friendship is Magic.

But of course, the big thing to come out of the panel was the official announcement of the sixth generation series, Forever Friendship. Mustafa did a fine enough job to ease fan concerns by noting that it was not a re-imagining of Friendship is Magic, rather a new series that utilized old and new characters, assured that Applejack and Rarity would return, and played a video introducing the new cast. All in all, the energy from past panels had returned in spades, resulting in a fun time to be had. Forever Friendship will gallop onto YouTube in early 2027.

The God of War series developed by Santa Monica Studios had been one of the crown jewel franchises for Sony and the PlayStation consoles since the first game released in 2005. An action-adventure that originally explored Greek mythology, the 2018 title garnered greater success as it ventured into Norse mythology while giving the vengeful Kratos a new family life. As the series progressed, it brought to mind the kind of woman who would marry Kratos and how powerful she herself could be. This resulted in the development of God of War Laufey.

Fans filled Ballroom 20 for the third and final PlayStation panel at Comic Con this year. Serving as moderator would be Santa Monica Studios’ Cory Barlog (head of creative) and included Ariel Lawrence (game director) and cast members Deborah Ann Woll (Faye), Christopher Judge (Kratos), Perlina Lau (Rue), and Jack Quaid (Phranque). They played a brief narrative trailer at the beginning, which was essentially all of the footage they would show for the rest of the panel, presumably to avoid showing any spoilers. The panel was all talk from then on.

The focus of discussion was explaining, as much as they could without revealing too much, the development of the Laufey (or Faye) character and the narrative journey she would be undertaking that ran parallel with the events of the 2018 God of War. Barlog and Lawrence spoke a lot about how they they worked to differentiate Faye from Kratos in gameplay. Woll and Judge would go into crafting the chemistry that bolstered the emotional arc. Lau and Quaid noted their fascination with adding to a dramatic narrative despite playing sentient objects.

The actors would also bring up anecdotes in filming motion-capture. Quaid did bring up bits and pieces about playing a cosmic cube and the special wiring he had to wear. Woll told of her first day shooting using a particularly famous prop from The Last of Us with great results both in the account and in the crowd reaction. It might have been a more interesting panel if they had more gameplay footage to show. But the discussions they had were charming and fascinating to hear. God of War Laufey bursts onto the PlayStation 5 on February 16, 2027.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender was originally scheduled for a theatrical release. But after a number of delays, Paramount Pictures moved it to streaming. Then the full film was leaked online, creating a chaotic scramble. In the end, the film would receive a limited theatrical run in two theaters in Los Angeles and New York to qualify for awards consideration. At the same time, a special screening of the film in full would take place at Comic Con ahead of the Paramount+ launch. And to the cast and crew, this would be regarded as the world premiere.

Ballroom 20 was packed with excited fans looking forward to a big screen viewing of the film. It would be introduced by the previous day’s panelists, minus Bautista, with Montgomery and Nam providing some words of thanks and appreciation to those who had supported the film receiving a moment like this. It seemed like they, or at least other memebers of the production crew, managed to slip into the audience as the film played for when the house lights went up they were receiving a well-deserved standing ovation while they were making their exit.

Dan’s Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the original Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series and even liked The Legend of Korra. So I was quite interested in Avatar Aang and was treated to a visual feast. The beautiful animation was some of the best I can recall seeing this generation and it was bolstered by a phenomenal score by Jeremy Zuckerman, an emotional narrative, and a great cast that I felt did just fine taking on the iconic characters. There was lack of depth to everyone outside of Aang and Tagah, but otherwise the film was a wonderful experience.

Yoichi Nishikawa was attending art school when he noticed a post from Studio Ghibli on the job recruitment board. After passing their test, he joined the company and would serve as a background artist on Howl’s Moving Castle. Nishikawa would be a background artist on every Studio Ghibli film since, becoming highly regarded enough to earn the nickname “the painter of clouds” from Hayao Miyazaki. Nishikawa’s work would be widely admired that there would be numerous art exhibitions taking place around the world displaying his beautiful paintings.

A spotlight panel would be set up for Nishikawa, who had been named a Special Guest for this year, in Room 7AB. While not one of the biggest rooms at the convention center, it was fortunately big enough to accommodate a great number of fans who had formed a huge line an hour before. The first sign of just how popular anything related to Studio Ghibli was at Comic Con that such panels would have massive lines and full houses. And to start the panel, a Comic Con representative awarded Nishikawa the convention’s Inkpot Award to great fanfare.

The panel itself didn’t seem to have been prepared as well as they had probably hoped. Much could be attributed to the translator they had enlisted not being quite as attentive as he should have been, resulting in multiple occasions where a member of the audience literally shouted for him to speak up as well as instances of having trouble with things Nishikawa was saying. It ended up falling on Ben Zhu, CEO and Gallery Director of Gallery Nucleus, to do some of the talking in going over Nishikawa’s career and accomplishments in and out of Studio Ghibli.

The moments in which Nishikawa’s speaking was translated clear enough to be understood, he did talk a bit about some of his approach to developing a background using his Instagram posts for visual aid. There was a Q&A with the audience and an interesting point was brought up with regards to how much creative input he had on a film. Nishikawa responded, “I am just a background artist. The director’s vision is everything.” It was a curious panel to say the least from how disjointed it seemed, but it had moments of being nice enough to sit in on.

Released on August 2, 1986, Castle in the Sky was the first official release from Studio Ghibli following its founding the year before. An original fantasy adventure from Hayao Miyazaki, it told of the pursuit of an orphan and her crystal necklace in the belief that they were the key to accessing a mythological flying castle called Lupita. While the film under-performed on its initial release, it would be through numerous re-releases that would turn it into a beloved classic that continued to inspire audiences and creators to this day.

When Nishikawa’s panel ended, fans immediately made their way over to line up for the Castle in the Sky panel to be in Room 6A. The line got so long it went outdoors. Fortunately, the room would be a big one, so those who got in line quickly enough would have no trouble getting in. But to their surprise, former Studio Ghibli production coordinator Hirokatsu Kihara, who would be running the panel, came out to greet folks. With his regular translator alongside him, Kihara briefly interacted with fans about whatever struck his fancy and taking pictures.

In the panel proper, Kihara would tell tidbits and stories about the development of the film while showing off production art. Among the more interesting anecdotes told include the name of the robot being Alpha 171, leading to a discovery in the Avengers: Age of Ultron film. Speaking of the robots, their design was inspired by those from the Fleischer Superman cartoons, notably The Mechanical Monsters. The studio as a whole were also big fans of the artist Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, and were influenced by him in designing Castle in the Sky.

While he didn’t work at Studio Ghibli until two decades after the film’s release, Nishikawa joined the panel to help explain how it served as the starting point for the studio’s interest in evolving how they designed clouds. His presence also added to a moment where he and Kihara discussed the studio’s long reluctance to eventually utilize digital in their work. Much of the joy of these Studio Ghibli presentations was Kihara, whose personality was as delightful as it was informative. Everyone had a good time hearing from him about a Studio Ghibli film.

Billy West had only started being a voice actor three years prior when he suddenly broke through and voiced main characters in two of the first three Nickelodeon original animated series Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show in 1991. Since then, he would go on to voice the likes of Bugs Bunny, Popeye The Sailor Man, Woody Woodpecker, and, perhaps most well-known, most of the main characters in Futurama, as well as around 120 other unique characters for nearly 40 years. But as he would reveal in his memoir, the journey was anything but easy.

Fans filled Room 6A on Sunday morning out of admiration and appreciation of West and his filmography. West would be joined as moderators the newly married couple of Futurama producer Lee Supercinski and comedian Kristina Wong. And the panel would serve as a bit of a supplement to his recently released memoir Voice-A-Versa: Finding My Voice(s) Behind the Mic, with some of the discussion early on was West explaining further his belief that his late diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum would elucidate his upbringing was as difficult as it was.

While he did talk a good deal about that, the panel was also meant as a means of celebrating his career in voice acting. A goofy moment early on was how he envisioned Doug Funnie and Roger Klotz grown up with different lives as well as how Larry of The Three Stooges would set up a profile on a dating app. But of course, it was Futurama that most folks were excited to hear and he gladly improvised a three-way conversation between Fry, Profressor Farnsworth, and Zoidberg to everyone’s delight as well as throwing in Zapp Brannigan for kicks.

An interesting tidbit West brought up was that, when he was auditioning for Futurama, he was most concerned about competing with Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Ryan Stiles for a part. He explained the origin of his Richard Nixon impersonation and learning the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum play his clips on loop. He would also tell a heartfelt story of meeting Phil Hartman. For an hour, everyone was enraptured hearing from West, whether he was making voices or telling stories. It really was a wonderful celebration of a beloved figure.

One of the institutions of the San Diego Comic Con for decades had been the Cartoon Voices panel. On Saturday and Sunday, Mark Evanier, who had been to Comic Con since the first year and had done everything from being Jack Kirby’s assistant to developing the original Dungeons & Dragons animated series to producing and voice directing The Garfield Show, would gather together a number of talented voice actors and let them loose in sharing anecdotes and telling stories before performing a blind reading of a terrible script to hilarious results.

The Sunday Cartoon Voices panel would generally happen before a packed house in Room 6A. This year’s participants for the day were Kaitlyn Robrock (Minnie Mouse), Kimoy Lee (Rooster Fighter), Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche (Pinky and the Brain), Roxana Ortega (The Casagrandes), and Fred Tatsciore (The Hulk). Paulsen and LaMarche, who were essentially the elder statesmen on the panel, were taken aback at newcomer Lee’s natural speaking voice, jokingly wondering how she hadn’t already been in the business for years making bank off it.

Among the many stories and anecdotes shared at the beginning included the origin of LaMarche’s burp and demonstrated his ability to keep it going for fifteen seconds. Robrock’s story of having met and looked up to Minnie Mouse predecessor Russi Taylor while working at Disneyland led to Paulsen remarking on Taylor having been married to Mickey Mouse voice actor Wayne Allwine and asking them about whether or not they did the voices at home. He also related to his “going sideways” with a director for their behavior on The Legend of Prince Valiant.

When it came time for the terrible script reading, Evanier chose an old Snow White script he used before and added long-time freind and colleague Gegg Berger (Odie) to the proceedings. Generally, the voice actors were free to improvise and change up their voice however they wished to make the performance funnier, which made for a delightful time for the audience to have listening. If anything, one could always count on having a good time attending pretty much any one of the Cartoon Voices panel at Comic Con. It’s certain to be downright hilarious.

This being the San Diego Comic Con, I did try to make an effort to attend at least one panel focused on comic books. To ensure my spot in a desired presentation, I also sat in on panels that proceed them and might discover something that piqued my interest. Ahead of the Jack Kirby panel was Black Hammer: 10th Anniversary Celebration. The panel featured creator Jeff Lemire and others looking back at his book that subverted the superhero archetype into a Twilight Zone thriller. It was interesting to listen to and did elicit curiosity in the title.

Ahead of the Art of Anime and Video Games panel was Inglorious Treksperts Live! The podcast served as a means for fans of Star Trek to explore the franchise. 2026 marked the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, so this ended up being a special recording for hosts Mark A. Atlman (author of The Fifty-Year Mission) and Daren Dochterman (illustrator on Star Trek: Voyager) along with others to talk about what Star Trek meant to them and how current programs since JJ Abrams’ films were disappointing. It was what it was, which wasn’t a bad thing.

To ensure my spot in the Avatar Aang screening, I spent half of Friday in Ballroom 20 and sat through the programs that were scheduled ahead. One was Collider’s Showrunners on Showrunning, where Collider editor-in-chief Steven Weintraub sat with Greg Daniels (The Office), Katie Dippold (Widow’s Bay), and Damon Lindelof (Lost) to discuss what it means to be a showrunner. There were some interesting stories, such as how JJ Abrams left Lindelof to be the sole showrunner on Lost and Dippold previously working under Daniels on The Office.

Also in Ballroom 20 would be Kirkman, McFarlane, Liefeld, Silvestri, Stephenson: Image Comics Legends Together on One Stage. A get-together of five important figures in the history of Image Comics in Todd McFarlane (Co-Founder, President), Rob Liefeld (Co-Founder), Marc Silvestri (Co-Founder, CEO), Robert Kirkman (COO), and Eric Stephenson (Publisher, CCO) as they talked stories of the biggest independent comic book publishing company. With McFarlane holding court, it was a fun time to be had as they all shared a lot of great fond memories.

One panel I did want to attend was the Gerry Conway Celebration in Room 3 on Saturday night. Moderated by former DC Comics President Paul Levitz, it was a quiet affair as family, friends, and colleagues gathered to honor and remember the late comic creator who had passed away earlier in the year. It was nice being able to listen to the stories told about him, with the ones told by Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows writer Jody Houser being the most delightful to hear. Levitz did have a touching little line, “When you’re a writer, you live on beyond your time.”

There were a few interesting panels I caught the tail-end of. In Ballroom 20 was the horror feature Buddy from adult swim mainstay Casper Kelly that seemed bizarre enough for fans to enjoy. Prior to the Castle in the Sky panel was the Marvel Fanfare, from which I managed to catch them playing a hilarious video of new editor-in-chief Stephen Wacker’s failed attempt at auditioning for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. And before the Gerry Conway Celebration was what seemed like a really nice presentation on graphic designers in film and television.

It wouldn’t be Comic Con without the opportunity to interact with some famous names willing to mingle with fans. Over the decades, celebrities of all forms would venture to San Diego in July to do more than just promote an upcoming project in panels and presentations. Many of them would spend some time to sign autographs and take pictures with the masses. While the price could get pretty steep and the wait time fairly long depending on how famous the celebrity was, chances to meet them were few and far between, so it’s often worth it.

Hanging out in the WETA Workshop booth the entire weekend would be John Rhys-Davies (Gimli, The Lord of the Rings). The veteran actor was someone I wanted to meet for a good while and managed to catch an opening on Preview Night. At least on this night, he was in a spirited mood. Enough to hilariously mess with me as we were getting photos taken. I did bring up enjoying his body of work, most notably voicing Macbeth in Disney’s Gargoyles. He responded positively that it was one of the more unique characters he got to play. So much fun to meet.

I generally didn’t venture outside the convention center all that much, unless the schedule was such that I could give something a shot. That managed to happen on Saturday morning, as it was free enough for me to venture to the IT’SUGAR shop on Fifth Avenue. Serving as a pop-up for Youtooz, they would be hosting some signings. The one that caught my eye was with Barrett Wilbert Weed (Octavia, Helluva Boss) and decided to meet her. She was a warm person to meet, and not just because of the summer heat, enjoying her time interacting with fans.

A big program planned was a retrospective on Mad TV. In addition to a major panel, some of the cast members of the late night sketch comedy series would be in the Sails Pavilion signing autographs the whole weekend. Ever since I mentioned being a fan of the “Ices on Ice” sketch, Phil LaMarr had tasked me to meet Orlando Jones and mention it. It took some years, but I finally got to meet Jones. While we only talked about “Ices on Ice” briefly, we had a great time reminiscing about the first season as a whole. This was a big highlight for me this year.

Another original cast member of Mad TV I’d been wanting to meet was Nicole Sullivan. While I enjoyed watching her on Mad TV back in the day, it was for her voice work over the years that made me a fan. Something she knew very well as she was at the ready to sign just about anything related to fan favorite Shego from Kim Possible. Sullivan was quite relaxed by the time I met her and she was clearly enjoying her time with fans. She noted one thing she enjoyed about being a voice actor was the greater diversity of characters she got the play.

Additional folks I got to meet where Shinkiro and Hirokatsu Kihara. For Shinkiro, I had to head to the UDON Entertainment booth as soon as the doors opened on Preview Night so I could make enough purchases to secure a spot in one of his signings. He seemed rather astonished at the fanfare he received. For Kihara, it was during his visit of the line for the Castle in the Sky panel that he just straight up walked over to me to do the selfie, I was not expecting or prepared for that. Still a fun, pleasant experience and made me that much more of a fan.

Collecting illustrations from artists was a tradition of mine. Initially, I would have them sketch in my Artists Sketchbook. In recent years, though, it was becoming harder for artists to do so, often because of time and availability. So I’ve started turning to pre-ordering commissions from those offering to do so ahead of time and pick them up during the convention. I really liked the commissions I got last year that I decided to get some more this year. It was about a month before Comic Con I realized I spent half my budget on commissions.

The first commission I picked up was from Austin “Daxiong” Guo, a renowned illustrator of Chinese and European comics such as Chinese Ghost Stories and Demi Gods and Semi Devils. I caught wind of him through a previous illustration of Jubilee he had done, so I commissioned him to do another Jubilee piece, this time of her with her son Shogo. It turned out absolutely amazing, to say the least. He hadn’t drawn Shogo before and he had rather enjoyed being able to illustrate Jubilee in a new light, so to speak. Definitely one of my favorite pieces.

Next was James Silvani, best known for illustrating the Darkwing Duck comics during the 2010s. I was interested in seeing him try something unique and decided on how he would do drawing Monoco from the popular video game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It turned out fantastic. Silvani mentioned having a fun time drawing the character and did try to play around from the references he looked up. He wanted to try having Monoco lick the foot he obtained, but couldn’t find any visual of him having a tongue. It was still a great piece nonetheless.

Naoko Mullally was a fan favorite artist at Comic Con. A freelance toy designer who had worked on the likes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and RWBY, her illustrations were very popular. Enough that commission slots get filled up within a day or two. I managed to secure a spot this year and asked her to illustrate baby Mayday Parker as seen in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It turned out exactly as I had imagined, arguably the cutest illustration I received to date. It was so cute it elicited awes from folks who were packing her booth.

I’ve probably made mention a number times of my good friend Scott Lost. A former professional wrestler turned comic book artist, I always made time to check in with him every year and see how business had been. He did commissions this year and I decided to see how he would do in illustrating Morgana from the video game The House in Fata Morgana. Not only did I like how the illustration came out, but Lost mentioned he had a good time with commissions this year as he tackled a variety of art styles. Always great to see him take his art to another level.

The commissions I got from Fan Yang “Jiuge” last year were so good that I wanted more from her. She had been drawing more covers over the past year, such as the Jubilee: Deadly Reunion one-shot, so she was getting busier. I went big and asked for two romantic pieces: Cloud and Aerith as Alfred and Rosa from the “Loveless” play in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Spider-Man and Mary Jane doing the famed upside-down kiss, but with MJ in a wedding dress. Both were absolutely beautiful and I even got to watch her finish up the Spider-Man and MJ piece.

The other commission I got last year was from Dan Veesenmeyer. The former story artist on X-Men: The Animated Series did an awesome job that I hoped to get another from him. This time, I asked for Jubilee and Robin (Tim Drake) kissing from the late 90s DC vs. Marvel series, but with them in their animated designs: Jubes from X-Men ’97 and Tim from The New Batman Adventures made older. It turned out to be absolutely phenomenal and the bonus that the pink outlines had blacklighting made it all the more fun and another favorite from Veesenmeyer.

The last commission I got this year was from Mikan. I liked the idea of getting another cute illustration and her chibi designs were loads of fun to look at, having graced many covers of UDON Entertainment titles. I asked her to draw Cammy White in her Street Fighter 6 attire and it turned out delightfully cute. Picking up the piece was done the day after The Art of Anime and Video Games panel, so we got to have a nice little chat about having to draw live and under time constraints. We particularly enjoyed how her one-minute Ryu doodle came out.

It wouldn’t be a fan convention without cosplay. Having become essentially an integral tradition of just about any convention, it could be expected that about half of attendees would show up dressed as characters they admired. More often than not, the costumes themselves would be a grand spectacle to behold due to the impressive craftsmanship that would go into their creation. While I’m not one to dress up myself, as I carry things around with me, I do take time to look in awe at some of the more stunning costumes that were out on the move.

Interestingly, I found myself having trouble encountering some really striking cosplay this year. I saw a lot, but not quite as much that would cause me to run after them to get a picture if I didn’t already have my camera at the ready. One set that did have me jumping out of line was a group dressed up as characters from Total Drama Island. It’s super rare to see any Total Drama cosplay at Comic Con, so I went running to get a picture of them as soon as I saw them. And as a fan of the series, I could say that the costumes were genuinely delightful.

Another was a really good looking Junko Enoshima from Danganronpa. I was just going down the escalator when I spotted her. Fortunately, when I went back up I managed to catch up to her in the Sails Pavilion for a picture. Most of the time, though, I just hoped to be in the right place, at the right time with the camera at the ready. One such instance was catching someone as Stacey Rockford from the video game Mixtape. It’s also how I ended up getting another Junko earlier on Preview Night as well as Park Ranger Jessica Rabbit from the Trail Mix-Up short.

Going outside the convention center did allow for me to spot some nifty cosplay out and about on the streets of San Diego. I liked a trio dressed as characters from Critical Role as well as seeing a Samus Aran from the Metroid series, Fizzarolli from Helluva Boss, and multiples of Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII and Cammy White from Street Fighter. Probably my favorite, though, was this cute couple in humanoid dragon costumes carrying around their infant in a baby carrier decorated to look like they were hatching out of a dragon egg.

Though I had spent half my budget on commissions, I still had enough to make purchases this year. A necessity to get into signings for Shinkiro and Barrett Wilbert Weed. But even if I hadn’t bought anything, I could always count on snagging a few freebies. Often times it merely required attendance in a panel to obtain a freebie, either receiving it at the door or being given a ticket to be brought to the Redemption Room at the back of the Manchester Grand Hyatt a block away. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to receive something as neat as a poster for free?

As this was Comic Con, I did managed to get a couple of comic book freebies this year. For attending the Jack Kirby panel, I got an exclusive reprint of The Fantastic Four #5, which marked the first appearance of Doctor Doom. And while I only sat in during the tail-end of the Marvel Fanfare, I was still given a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #337 with an exclusive variant cover by longtime Spider-Man artist Humberto Ramos. Both comics were handed out sealed with boards, further enhancing their value as collector’s items even if they weren’t the originals.

My one trip to the Redemption Room was the result of sitting in on the Black Hammer panel. From it, I obtained an anniversary poster. While I was in there, I spotted what the freebie was for those who were fortunate enough to attend the Spaceballs: The New One panel, that being a teaser poster. What’s interesting was that I managed to get that poster by happening upon a group of Spaceballs who were in the streets downtown promoting the film. All I had to do was stand in a certain spot and get a picture with them. I wondered why that spot…

Like last year, the Marvel Rivals developers panel provided a poster based on the year’s summer theme. Attending the My Little Pony panel would provide a random convention exclusive KAYOU promo card from a set that had already sold out by the time of the panel. In fact, folks were doing trades once they were outside the room. A few of us managed to get a couple sealed packs as bonuses. And the most mysterious freebie was from the God of War Laufey panel, as we received a pouch containing a tarot card that seemingly had lore importance to the game.

On my way over to meet up with Scott Lost on Preview Night, I passed through the Marvel booth. It was already packed enough as it was displaying costumes from Avengers: Doomsday like the Latverian Witch. But I noticed it was a bit more crowded on a separate side. Turned out there was a capped line to obtain a convention exclusive toy replica of Wolverine’s claws in promotion of the Wolverine video game. What wasn’t expected was the game’s star Liam McIntyre surprising those getting the claws with free photo ops. Lucky!

I’ve always made it a point to drop by Chris Sanders’ booth to see if he had anything new this year that would be of interest. Once again, I swung by when he wasn’t around and his daughter Nicole was manning the booth. I recall there was a new art print, but the real notable item of interest was more copies of the From Pitch to Stitch book that apparently included a new chapter, which I believe would be in relation to the live-action features. I’m kinda still waiting to see if he and his wife managed to find time to continue their Rescue Sirens books.

Barrett Wilbert Weed wasn’t the only Helluva Boss cast member signing at the IT’SUGAR shop. She would be joined by Morgana Ignis (Sallie May). With two cast members signing, there would surely be a large number of fans lined up outside the store. But even with so many people, virtually everyone failed to take notice minutes before the signing Tom Kenny slipping into the shop. Youtooz had some SpongeBob SquarePants items and Kenny managed to hang out in the store for a minute and walk out with fans none the wiser of his presence.

Word traveled fast about Johnny Depp’s surprise appearance to promote the upcoming Ebenezer film in character. Among those was at the “Scrooge and Marley” installation on Fifth Avenue on Preview Night. What wasn’t talked about was that the installation did, on occasion, some curious improvisation performances throughout the weekend of Victorian London characters interacting with fans on the street. Folks stuck around expecting Depp to show up at the end of these, but he didn’t much to their frustration. All they ended up getting was a promo bag.

Hirokatsu Kihara was just a really popular man this year as he seemed to be all over the place spending so much time interacting with folks. Meeting fans in line for the Castle in the Sky panel apparently wasn’t enough as his autograph signing in the Sails Pavilion later that afternoon had a completely packed line. And even later in the evening, I caught him right outside of the convention center being interviewed. He was all smiles and clearly having the time of his life talking with fans. Definitely the most enjoyable person to hang out with this year.

As part of the festivities of Comic Con, much of San Diego would get dressed up as well. From the Gaslamp Quarter sign getting taken over by Avengers: Doomsday to the Omni San Diego Hotel having a gigantic display of the Wolverine video game, San Diego truly was a haven of geekdom. When Comic Con was finished, everything would get taken down in short order. Yet as of writing, more than a month had passed and some trolley cars still had Crunchyroll decorations up. So San Diego could still see Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle being promoted on the trolley.

This year’s Comic Con bags featured Fox and Hulu animated programs themed as the covers to classic 8-bit video games.

Fans pack the Sails Pavilion awaiting entry into the Exhibit Hall on Preview Night.

The Marvel booth was packed all weekend long with fans checking out previews of Avengers: Doomsday through the display of costumes and screenings of teaser scenes.

A first look at the Latverian Witch costume to be seen in Avengers: Doomsday at the Marvel booth.

Fan Yang “Jiuge” at her booth putting the finishing touches to one of Dan’s commissions on Preview Night.

“And remember… only you can prevent forest fires.” (Jessica Rabbit, Trail Mix-Up)

A decapitated Sentinel head right outisde the Omni San Diego Hotel as part of the Marvel’s Wolverine offsite installation.

“Freedom. Boundless, terrifying freedom. Like a great, never-ending sky.” (Aerith Gainsborough, Final Fantasy VII)

Ahead of the game’s release a couple weeks later, the Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls panel in Hall H preview in-game illustrations by comic artists like Mike Deodato.

Fans were mesmerized watching Shinkiro draw Ryu (Street Fighter) during The Art of Anime and Video Games panel in Room 5AB.

The quality of Shinkiro’s illustration of Ryu done in thirty minutes was astonishing to behold during The Art of Anime and Video Games panel in Room 5AB.

“Westley, what about the R.O.U.S.’s?” “Rodents of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.” (Westley and Buttercup, The Princess Bride)

“Someone holds me safe and warm, Horses prance through a silver storm, Figures dancing gracefully, Across my memory.” (Anya, Anastasia)

Concept illustrations displayed for recently added hero Jubilee in Marvel Rivals during the developers panel in Room 6BCF.

Executive producer Danny Koo showing off the newly announced Galacta figure from Hot Toys during the Marvel Rivals developers panel in Room 6BCF.

The line of folks wanting to get into the My Little Pony panel in Room 5AB became four rows deep, way beyond the room’s capacity.

Fans were immediately going about making trades of the My Little Pony KAYOU cards received for attending the My Little Pony panel in Room 5AB.

“Nothing stands in the way of my mission.” (Cammy White, Street Fighter)

For a brief moment, Dan held the power that was “The End of the Line” sign for one the Shinkiro signings at the UDON Entertainment booth.

Shinkiro would be signing one of two shikishi boards of his artwork at the UDON Entertainment booth. One of Morrigan Aensland of Darkstalkers, another of Mai Shiranui of Fatal Fury.

“But I’m supposed to do it.” “No one will know the difference, son. Who cares as long as the work gets done?” (Merlin and Wart, The Sword in the Stone)

“I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the hear of Te Fiti.” (Moana)

“Well, I’ve departed, escaped, been forced to flee so many times… yet I always returned. You ought to be used to it by now.” (Ciri, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt)

The Collider’s Showrunners on Showrunning panel in Ballroom 20 featured Greg Daniels (The Office), Katie Dippold (Widow’s Bay), and Damon Lindelof (Lost).

Image Comics co-founder and CEO Marc Silvestri still taken back seeing the first Witchblade Image Founders figure from Todd McFarlane during the Image Comics Legends panel in Ballroom 20.

The cast and crew of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender introducing a special screening of the film before a full house in Ballroom 20.

The Cabbage Merchant sneaking into a group photo of Team Avatar with something important to say. (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Avengers: Doomsday taking over the historic Gaslamp Quarter sign throughout the weekend.

The boy cosplaying as Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) was such a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender that he wanted a picture with a couple folks cosplaying as Toph and Katara.

The “Scrooge and Marley” (Ebenezer) installation on Fifth Avenue looking quite out of place in the San Diego summer.

Combing the streets of San Diego, Dan couldn’t find spit alongside a troop of Spaceballs.

“I’m the one and only Fizzarolli. Some of you might recognize this dashing clown face from my numerous toy-botic replicas across the rings of Hell. Gloriously designed by the big man himself, and uh… ribbed for your pleasure tonight.” (Fizzarolli, Helluva Boss)

Barrett Wilbert Weed (Octavia) and Morgana Ignis (Sallie May) having a Helluva Boss signing at IT’SUGAR store on Fifth Avenue as part of the Youtooz pop-up.

“Don’t worry… I’ll end this. Once and for all.” (Samus Aran, Metroid)

“Time for a glow up!” (Jubilee, X-Men)

Hirokatsu Kihara was very impressed with a fan’s cosplay of Padmé Amidala (Star Wars) while visiting the line for the Castle in the Sky panel.

Perhaps the Baguette outfits were Clea’s idea. Perhaps… (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

The Marvel Fanfare panel in Room 6A ended by playing a hilarious video of new editor-in-chief Stephen Wacker’s failed attempt at auditioning for the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark stage musical.

“That was the very first design that we came up with. She was blonde! And then this is what we came up with next. … Princess Leia… So when we heard, ‘Okay, she looks like Princess Leia, though.’ And they’re like, ‘Okay, then we can’t use that.’ So [Hayao] Miyazaki asked me, ‘What do you think? Isn’t she cute?’ ‘No! [It’s] Princess Leia!’ So then we decided, ‘Okay, let’s make her a short-haired girl.’ That’s one of the versions that we came up with of Sheeta. But we realized is if she had short hair we can’t show her movement in the wind, which is an important thing to the movie.” (Hirokatsu Kihara)

“Something inside me has always been there, but now it’s awake and I’m afraid.” (Rey, Star Wars)

“Always make a soundtrack. Because pretty soon, you won’t be listening to music. You’ll be listening to who you were.” (Stacey Rockford, Mixtape)

It’s quite the triple threat to encounter Silk, Jubilee, and a gender-bent Doctor Strange. Probably best to just run away.

“I think, even when you’re just sitting around that table playing games with friends, Gerry [Conway] was one of the people who wanted to just make sure it was a really damn good story.” (Jody Houser)

“To this very day, in the Nixon Library is a continuous loop that runs all day, people see it, and it’s all in Nixon stuff I did on Futurama. So I won!” (Billy West)

“Part of our job is to be vocal stunts. You know, you’re gonna kill yourself doing these things. Cause how many times can you die?” (Fred Tatsciore)

“A beautiful body has precisely as much muscle as it needs. My apologies if I’m too beautiful.” (Junko Enoshima, Danganronpa)

Monoco from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by James Silvani

Morgana from The House in Fata Morgana by Scott Lost

Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson by Fan Yang “Jiuge”

Autographs from Nicole Sullivan (Shego, Kim Possible) and Barrett Wilbert Weed (Octavia, Helluva Boss)