The powerful Scarlet Witch has begun to materialize in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter! Is it the heroic Scarlet Witch, member of the Avengers, or the terrifying one who wants to dominate the multiverse?
Well, to find out, one must step inside the Bards and Cards game store on Fifth Avenue. A cool mural is now being created behind the front counter!
I learned there will be three parts to the mural, including imagery that pertains to Dungeons & Dragons.
The artist is Robert Turner (@thewaterthief).
I’ll drop by again on a future walk to photograph the artwork’s progress!
UPDATE!
A couple weeks later I saw a Dungeons & Dragons creature appearing. It’s a beholder…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Today, May 6, was annual national Free Comic Book Day!
Southern California Comics in Kearny Mesa held a big event celebrating the day, and I dropped by to see what I might see. (And to pick up a big bag of free comic books! Later arrivals were allowed to grab 15 comics. I have some reading to do!)
In the parking lot outside the store a number of small vendors were selling all sorts of pop culture collectibles, and independent artists were showcasing their original creations.
I wandered a bit and spoke to some of the friendly artists.
One thing that was obvious is these people are driven by dreams and ambition and a relentless passion to create. As an author of short fiction, I can relate.
No matter what level of success any artist might achieve, it’s good to remember these words by Frida Kahlo: “I paint flowers so they will not die.”
Every artist has the ability to work that magic.
I really like the work of Ruben Rosas. He does illustration and digital art. See some of his stuff here.
I learned there’s a group of artists who call themselves the Comicbook Artists of San Diego. The two guys who greeted me were super friendly. According to their website: CASD was founded with the intention of building a local community of comicbook artists to foster artistic growth and to showcase their artwork. They want to put San Diego on the artistic map!
More cool artists! These smiling humans are two of the creators of Accidental Aliens, a local comic art studio! Check them out here. A description of their 2nd Shift Volume 1 includes: When evil incarnate tears through San Diego, four fledgling superheroes band together…
Oh, look! It’s Horrorgasm! I once saw an exhibition of their art at the Comic-Con Museum here.
It appears Ronald McDonald has traveled to Free Comic Book Day from a galaxy far, far away.
Great cosplay. And an earnest pitch to check out the 60 Pages 14 Creative Teams 1 Big Punk Rock Comic Kickstarter page here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
It’s Sunday, the last day of Comic-Con 2022. Things are beginning to wind down a little bit, but thousands are still enjoying the annual pop culture convention.
In the morning fans were heading to the San Diego Convention Center, and many families had driven in from around the city on what is typically a more family-oriented day.
The offsite lines aren’t as bad as Saturday, but they’re still fairly long. I’m afraid I didn’t have the patience to wait. I like to keep moving. Perhaps I’ll go on one more walk around Comic-Con this afternoon and analyze the situation again.
This is what I saw…
People head in toward the San Diego Convention Center on Sunday, the last day of Comic-Con.Congratulations Rachel Smythe! Eisner Award winner for best webcomic.Cool cosplay!The IMDboat has already wrapped up. Or, I should say, is unwrapping.These friendly folks are launching JAM. It’s a spoken word app for your phone. You can record or listen to mini-podcasts about a minute long! “Your story. Your voice.” Brilliant idea!
Here comes Batman. He forgot to use a grappling wire.Creative steampunk and flames cosplay!UH OH! Looks like the dragon escaped from the House of the Dragon’s castle.No, it’s just friendly T. rex and his buddy.As the morning progressed, the crowd heading toward the convention center grew.Walking during Comic-Con, a few minutes before some of the outdoor activations open.A somewhat longish line at the Abbott Elementary offsite.Minimalist cosplay. Nezuko’s box.Another smaller box, with a head poking out of it.The Dragon Ball offsite gave away lots of great swag!Hela and her small red sidekick.I was tossed a tiny rubber ducky that squeaks!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
As usual, there’s a whole lot of cosplay to enjoy during Comic-Con this year!
Every imaginable character from popular entertainment (movies, television, comic books, video games…) can be seen roaming the streets and sidewalks in downtown San Diego. Most of the outdoor cosplay is found in the Gaslamp or around the convention center.
I passed hundreds of awesome costumes yesterday and this morning. Every so often poses were struck and my camera shutter clicked!
Star Wars cosplay at Comic-Con.Mighty Thor.Maleficent.Good old Captain America.Sailor Moon.Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.Spider-Gwen.Zenitsu Agatsuma of Demon Slayer.A cool Spider-Man family at Comic-Con!Another Cap and Spidey. Two very popular cosplay characters.Chun-Li from Street Fighter.Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!Black Widow and Hawkeye.Princess Peach.Iron Patriot.A very scary Batman.Captain Marvel.MTV astronaut!The second Indiana Jones I’ve seen this year at Comic-Con.Riddler has a diabolical scheme.It isn’t every day you see flappers at a con.Ciel Phantomhive.Squid Game.Dr. Artemus Peepers.The Umbrella Academy cosplay.Uh, oh. I didn’t catch who these folks are. Mad Max? Leave a comment if you know please!Old school Hawkeye.Here’s another one where I need help. Everyone knows Captain Marvel on the right. Who’s that on the left?Jedi and his young Padawan practice using the Force on me. I’m an easy target.How many Lokis are there in the multiverse, anyway?Doctor Strange has been stripped of magic. He’s gonna use his fists.Butterfly Lady of Children International uses her smile superpower to help kids in poverty.Chainsaw Man looking for devils to saw.Cloud Strife.Vision.Doctor Strange casts a magic spell!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
It wouldn’t be Comic-Con without tons of awesome cosplay all over the place!
Today, Friday, it was easy to spot cosplay every which way while walking near the San Diego Convention Center.
When the opportunity arose, and action poses were struck, my camera was clicking away!
This is one of those things that makes walking outside Comic-Con such an adventure every year. The experience is exhilarating, surprising, and you don’t want it to ever end!
Sho’Nuff of The Last Dragon.Plastic Man.Captain America.Hawkeye. (She told me she’d beat Green Arrow, no contest.)The Mandalorian cosplay.Old school Daredevil.Watch out Wonder Women. Joker is sneaking up.Daredevil and Spider-Man combine forces. Villains can’t escape detection given both Spidey sense and Daredevil’s multiple super senses.Imperial Clone Shock Trooper.Look at all the Mario characters!Mysterio is casting an illusion as he stands beside a mesmerized Spider-Man Noir.Why is Mysterio’s helmet opaque? That darned fish bowl fogs up.SCP MTF cosplay.Gandalf and Saruman.Cosplay inspired by The Haunted Mansion, and the Celestial Knight!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Enjoy this collection of cool cosplay photographs that I took today while walking outside Comic-Con 2022!
Which is your favorite?
Two Flashes, Adam Warlock and Star Lord.Princess Zelda and Link.Demon Slayer cosplay.Batgirl.Scarlet Witch.Silver Surfer and silver surfing friend.Nadja of Antipaxos.A guy who is badly pixelated.I assume this is Janice Rand of Star Trek. I’m going by the hairdo.South Park characters.Oh, come on. Everyone knows Spidey!Game of Thrones.Louise Belcher.Looks like a mash-up of Star Wars stormtrooper and Venom.Wonder Woman is here to save the day!And here’s Thor with a very large Mjölnir.Riddler.A Sith Lord and a Jedi. Obi-Wan, perhaps?Namor, the Sub-Mariner.Indiana Jones.Robin.Loki.Zatanna.Dark Magician Girl.How sweet.
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
There’s a modest exhibit at the Comic-Con Museum that previews a much larger exhibition that is coming later this year. Those visiting the museum to see Spider-Man during Comic-Con should head down to the lower level and check out Hemingway in Comics!
I love reading literature, and Hemingway is one of my favorite authors, so I was pleasantly surprised when my curious eyes spied this comic art today.
The styles that are represented are quite varied, and the fictional stories involving the celebrated American author can seem fantastic and implausible, but that is art! And it’s all very cool!
I really look forward to seeing the full exhibition when it opens at the Comic-Con Museum this coming September.
Read the sign below to learn more….
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Local artist Optimus Volts can be found during Comic-Con at the Chuck Jones Pop Up Gallery.
I wandered into the pop up gallery yesterday afternoon, where I met Optimus Volts at a table displaying his work.
In addition to creating several really cool sculptures, he’d painted comic book covers and baseball cards, reimagining them using his own unique vision. Many of the superheroes and baseball players were given sugar skulls and surrounded with imagery associated with Mexico’s Day of the Dead!
Check it out!
Yes, that’s a baseball card of San Diego Padres hero Tony Gwynn!
Optimus Volts and other artists will be meeting the public and selling pieces of their work inside the Chuck Jones Comic-Con Pop Up Gallery through Sunday! The pop up gallery is located at 530 Sixth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter.
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Are you going to Comic-Con this year? If so, prepare to have lots of fun!
I walked around downtown San Diego this morning, Wednesday, the day of Comic-Con Preview Night. Most of the following photos were taken in the vicinity of the San Diego Convention Center or Petco Park.
Most offsites are approaching completion, but it looks like a few are still just setting up in the Interactive Zone at Petco Park. It’s impressive how quickly various activations are assembled and readied for the public with just hours to go.
I’ve already photographed tons of stuff on walks during the past few days. Here’s some new discoveries I noticed this morning…
Krapopolis graphics are now all over the place at the FOX offsite, which includes a big slide!The Bandai offsite near the Marriott Marina now has lots of huge action figures providing awesome Dragon Ball photo opportunities!Comic-Con attendees will be soon be lining up along the bayfront, even camping overnight to get good spots for favorite panels and exclusives.The IMDb boat has returned to Comic-Con. A good place to watch for Hollywood celebrities crossing over from the convention center for interviews.Willard R. Abbott Public School has appeared at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront’s Promenade Plaza! The offsite promotes the ABC mockumentary television series Abbott Elementary.Someone has a swag bag, walking by the big FX offsite. Most offsite activations open tomorrow, Thursday.Here I am walking over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge.The Lexus Premier Lot by Petco Park is filling up with activations for the Interactive Zone. Those campsite tents below are Pinecone Trooper Pete’s Friend Zone. It promotes the CBS show Ghosts.Nintendo Switch will have a lot of cool video games and stuff, too.A cool graphic. Mario Strikers: Battle League.And here’s Kirby and the Forgotten Land.These friendly guys set up by the sidewalk early with great comic books! I got a few!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Cosplayers converged in the Gaslamp this morning, the day of Comic-Con Preview Night, to take part in an MTS press conference.
2022 Comic-Con is right around the corner, and downtown San Diego is abuzz. My camera is now in high gear.
Check out these cosplaying members of the Science Fiction Coalition!
Dude Vader has become a San Diego and Comic-Con fixture over the years. Christopher Canole is a super nice guy, too!It’s Ms. Marvel and Alvin, here to save the day!Arwen Evenstar is joined by an elf friend from Middle Earth.Spider-Man and Moon Knight join forces for a photograph!Supervillains in San Diego better make your escape now.Here comes Ms. Marvel again with a steampunky character.A classic Spidey pose!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!