Home from SDCC

Comics: Community and Connection

We are home from five days at the “happiest place on Earth,” no, not the Mouse's house, some place much, much better.

San Diego Comic Con.

David, Tristan and I have been going for over 25 years. I'll never forget what Tristan said as a young boy, “I've found my people.”

To many of us, it's a place that fosters community. It's like-minded people gathering in a space where one is encouraged to create, to dream big, and to share these dreams and visions with those around them. To create, to build something better.

It's people chanting, “Let Thor in!” (a Thor cosplayer, waiting with thousands of others, all trying to get into Hall H for the first Avengers panel many years ago. Only this year, we heard, “Let Phil (LaMarr) in!” (they capped the room for the Blerd panel as he was waiting outside…and there was an empty seat next to me.)

It's the human manning Alison Bechdel's line at Prism Comics saying, “I've volunteered for Prism for years. I've never seen a line like this here.”

For us, it's a space in which to meet and spend time with some of our favorite creative humans. Artists like Craig Thompson at Drawn & Quarterly.

Graphic designer Chip Kidd had a fantastic reaction when I commented that he was the second person to sign our copy of McCarthy's The Road, Viggo Mortensen being the first. He also is a collector.

Matt Groening flipping through our sketchbook collected over the years, admiring the work of other artists. Yet, another collector and supporter of comic book artists. He has frequented comic book festivals for years and can be seen wandering the halls with bags of zines, comics, and graphic novels.

Seeing friends like Emil Ferris at Fantagraphics signing our copy of My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book Two. David and I first met Emil Ferris at her Blab show in LA at Copro Gallery eight years ago. It's always nice to spend time with humans you deeply respect and admire. Ferris is one of my “favorite monsters!”

Here Merci sits waiting to see George Lucas

Speaking of favorite Monsters, fellow collectors, and good humans, I didn't get a video of it, but I'll never forget it, Guillermo del Toro rolling down his window while exiting Hall H, waving and smiling at fans who were yelling his name. While George Lucas did not do that, Guillermo del Toro is always kind to his fans. Another collector, fan, and creative human.

SDCC can also be an art museum, a space to view the work of creatives such as Bernie Wrightson (“Swamp Thing.”)

SDCC encourages people to come as they are or to build and design costumes (cosplay) such as Galactus or the hitchhiking ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, or our neighbors from Sesame Street:

SDCC is a place to watch artists in action painting live, fixing costumes, creating special make-up effects on someone's face… here is the Holbein booth (yes, always a must visit for me. Um, sometimes more than once! I even bring a list!)

We watched people cheer strangers on as they played games or parading in their cosplay. Hearing, “excuse me or I'm sorry.” many, many times as you moved through the exhibit hall.

Every year, it's sad to leave that space. We try to bring the spirit of SDCC with us all year round, to encourage community, to dream bigger, to create what we want to see in the world around us.

Before I end, I'll share one experience I had. A man knocked into me (it is very crowded in the exhibit hall), he tripped over someone else and started to fall. I reached out my hand, grabbed him (preventing him from falling), and pulled him back up onto his feet. My back, arm, and shoulder hurt like hell doing it and still hurt today, but this is what the world should be. People reaching out, supporting each other, and dreaming big as they work towards something better. For all of us.

See you again in 2026, San Diego!