San Diego celebrated the new edition of Comic Con with splendor

It is a carnival that well illustrates the image of a whirlwind that sucks in everything that crosses its path, transforming objects and people into crazy things that it then spits out without rhyme or reason: the retro car of the Fantastic Four crossing the stage of Hall H, at the Convention Center; the adjacent buildings of the Gaslamp District literally “wrapped” from ground floor to terrace in advertising canvases of films and series, such as “Sponge Bob”; imaginative costumes, many indecipherable; homeless people sleeping in precarious tents; stuffed toys the size of a bathroom; deployment of police and volunteers to organize the incessant human anthill; cacophony of sounds; queues for blocks; and a general chaos of smells and colors.

The climax of Comic Con was the presentation of Marvel, a one-hour show at full speed, a mix of rock concert and circus, in which Kevin FeigePresident of Marvel Studios announced the five blockbusters for 2025 and 2026: “Captain America”, “Brave New World, Thunderbolts*” (with an asterisk without explanation for now), “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and the next two “Avengers” – “Doomsday” and “Secret Wars”.

Psychedelic lights, loud music, 6,500 excited fans, the unexpected presence of Harrison Ford and Robert Downey J.r, announced in leading roles. A well-choreographed show, combining clips and brief conversations with the actors, standing on stage, without the panel format.

There was no presentation from DC, the arm of Warner Bros that houses the universe of Batman, Superman and Wonder Womanin Hall H. In financial reorganization since Warner became Warner Discovery in 2022the conglomerate does not seem to have reached cruising speed yet. Nor does Paramount, which spent a fortune advertising papering buildings with the programs of its platform; the company has been the subject of a complicated sale and purchase for several months.

The relationship between Comic Con and Hollywood has a geographical component – ​​Los Angeles, where the industry has been in the forefront, is just 200 kilometres away – and a public relations and marketing component. Since the development of social media in the mid-2000s, it has become clear that the advertising machinery could use this event to massively and globally promote its products.

There have been adjustments over the past decade to counter negative publicity from angry fans and viral content.But it is the disorientation produced by the pandemic between 2020 and 2022, and the general tumult in Hollywood due to changes in production, distribution and exhibition, in addition to the appearance of an accidental adversary such as generative intelligence, which has rethought the relationship.

The success of Comic Con — beyond the buying and selling of comics, graphic novels, the presence of authors and exhibitors in the cavernous Exhibition Hall — is predicated on the collective experience of going to the cinema, instead of individual consumption in a private space. Therefore, as a marketing and advertising tool, Comic Con has to adapt to the changing and unstable reality of Hollywood in the digital age.

A Uruguayan specialist

What hasn’t changed is the consistent and effective way Hollywood absorbs human capital – creative people or people with technological expertise who come from outside, with a portfolio in tune with the global needs of the industry.

That’s why it was interesting to observe how Fede Alvarez, A Uruguayan born in 1978, he is at the peak of his career, fully integrated into the system, speaking without an accent, with gestures, idioms and clothing associated with the “cool” Hollywood directors.

Cool character, with long, somewhat gray hair, with a vague professorial air, Alvarez made the short film “Panic attack. Martians in Montevideo” on a Mac in 2009, which immediately caught the attention of executives in Los Angeles when he uploaded it to YouTube.

Being his specialty genre cinema –suspense and horror, a constant in the industry– Alvarez came to San Diego to present “Alien: Romulus”the latest title in the “Alien” franchise, started in 1979 by Ridley Scott.

The panel he chaired was vibrant, entertaining, including touches of terror – such as the “invasion” of malicious, remote-controlled creatures, and the distribution of these plastic skeletons, with elongated fingers and killer instincts, to the audience in Hall H. (Behind me, a little boy let out a howl of terror.) Ridley Scottthe film’s producer, was present, asking questions in a video recorded for the occasion. A brilliant publicity stunt two weeks before the film’s release.

The Comic Con offering is varied for those who do not want to or cannot wait in the nightly queues to enter Hall H the following day. Cosplay brings together adults and children, and shows the variety and creativity of the offering. There are entire families with a theme, and there is no shortage of newborn babies in costumes. Spider Man, Bumble Bee or mini-warriors of the galaxies; there are even dogs dressed up. Carnival atmosphere and good vibes, despite the Covid outbreak and the summer heat.

You can also take the pulse of popular culture by participating in the panels offered every hour between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., during the five days of the convention. The most interesting part is always the Conference on the Art of Comicswith teachers and experts on all kinds of topics, including manga, anime, international artists, genres, styles, and the state of the publishing industry.

An award-winning Spaniard

The prestigious Inkpot award – an allusion to the cartoonists’ inkwell – was given to the animator and comic and graphic novel artist Juanjo Guarnido, a Spaniard born in 1967 and based in Paris, two of whose publications – the series about the feline detective Blacksad and the sequential illustration of the second part that he invented for the novel “The Buscon” of Quevedo – would deserve to be widely circulated throughout Argentina. Seeing the drawings of “The Buscón in the Indies” –original French version published in 2019, translated by Garnish In Spanish, the influence and homage to Diego de Velazquez.

An important group of panels is dedicated to collecting various aspects of the history of comics in the United States, with prominent figures in the arts and industry, who leave testimony in mini-oral histories of this North American and global cultural phenomenon. There were tributes this time to Batman, in his 85th anniversary; to the series “Sponge Bob”; tributes to Stan Leeorganizer of universe Marvelwho would have turned one hundred years old; to the underground artist Harvey Pekar; to Japanese Osamu Tezukainfluenced by the work of Disney in the 1940s and 1950s, and the writer Isaac Asimov.

American electoral fervour snuck into many panels, with a marked anti-Trump tone. In which he celebrated the Fox series “The Simpson”your Creator Matt Groening presented a clip of Kamala Harrisa recent anointed member of the Democratic Party, from a few years ago, where she is seen quoting a phrase from the series. She received a standing ovation.

Comic Con offers its thousands of participants, curious and enthusiastic about popular culture – that which the Frankfurt school criticized – a kind of anarchic encyclopediawhose disordered structure, fortuitous connections and perplexing corridors would perhaps have delighted Borges.