Today, Friday, is the first day of Comic-Con Special Edition in San Diego!
Early this morning I walked through downtown San Diego to see what’s going on. I took photos of the three Comic-Con offsites near the convention center and anything else interesting that caught my eye!
Enjoy!
A cool smile at NBC’s La Brea offsite! It’s very early–just after sunrise. No fans yet!I spotted more cool chalk art in front of Blarney Stone Pub as I walked down Fifth Avenue through the Gaslamp Quarter.Looks like a work in progress.There’s a Peacemaker van parked near the HBO Max activation that promotes their show!It looks like fans will walk through Peacemaker’s trailer before reaching the obstacle course, which is behind the fence. It opens today at noon.Take your selfie here at the Peacemaker Proving Ground!Guy with Marvel t-shirt poses on steps of Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge.The Freak Brothers bus is parked on the grass in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel.The show on Tubi features stoners with the munchies–and their cat.Some exhibitors are arriving! Who’s that guy taking photos?Must be an artist!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Comic-Con Special Edition, during this Thanksgiving weekend, will be featuring a few cool offsite activations in and around San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. They are free and open to the public.
I walked along Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade this morning and saw a big new Peacemaker display and workers readying an offsite that promotes Tubi’s new show The Freak Brothers. (UPDATE—possibly The Freak Brothers! It might actually be the Peacemaker Proving Ground. We’ll have to see Friday!)
NBC will also be promoting La Brea in Gaslamp Square next to the Tin Fish, across from the San Diego Convention Center. I took updated photos of that offsite yesterday, which you can see here.
A security guard told me a homeless person tried to rip off the plastic wrapping, breaking the Peacemaker sign below.
Here’s a photo of the big Peacemaker building wrap on the Marriott Marquis. Peacemaker is a show about the DC Comics character, who appeared in the latest Suicide Squad movie. The new series will be on HBO Max.
Here come more pics from this Thanksgiving morning. It looks like (maybe) The Freak Brothers will be living in a trailer. The animated Tubi show satirizes both the drug counter-culture and the establishment. It’s based on an underground comic about stoner characters and their crazy exploits.
The Garden of Peace sign makes me wonder if this isn’t actually the Peacemaker Proving Ground, referenced here. We’ll find out!
UPDATE!
Turns out I was wrong! What I thought might be The Freak Brothers activation is actually the Peacemaker Proving Ground. That would explain the obstacle course I photographed earlier.
A bus promoting The Freak Brothers will be parked by the Hilton San Diego Bayfront!
I’ll have to check that out this weekend!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Preparations are now underway in downtown San Diego for this Thanksgiving weekend’s big Comic-Con Special Edition!
I walked around the Gaslamp Quarter this morning and spotted a building wrap on the Marriott Marquis. In the evening, after dark, I saw workers setting up a couple of Comic-Con offsites!
One offsite, by the Tin Fish, promotes NBC’s television show La Brea. The premise, I learned, is a sinkhole opens up in Los Angeles, swallowing modern people and depositing them in a mysterious subterranean world–where their smartphones don’t work! What will they do when they encounter dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures? The La Brea offsite will be giving away premium swag to all visitors!
The other offsite I spotted is on some grass by Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade, where Deadquarters has been located the last couple Comic-Cons. Workers were setting up an obstacle course. One person I spoke to thinks this offsite promotes a show on Tubi. Possibly The Freak Brothers. I’ll be providing updates with more photos and info. Stay tuned!
Comic-Con Special Edition banner at one end of the San Diego Convention Center.These workers confided they’re getting stuff ready for the big pop culture event!More banners on the convention center along Harbor Drive.Comic-Con International banners on posts by the convention center. Celebrating the popular arts.A Peacemaker building wrap on the Marriott Marquis. The television series concerning a DC Comics character will be on streaming service HBO Max.Setting up an offsite in the dark. The workers didn’t know what it was–except it’s for Comic-Con.Part of the same offsite, which includes an obstacle course. Someone surmised it promotes a show on Tubi.The NBC La Brea offsite by the Tin Fish.Looks like mammoth tusks! Visitors will walk through here to an ambulance where cool swag will be obtained!Looks like Syfy will also be represented outside Comic-Con Special Edition!La Brea ads are all over the place.Stay tuned for more pics later this week!
UPDATE!
I walked all around the Gaslamp and convention center early Wednesday morning. This is what I saw…
First, some large banners have been on the Hilton San Diego Bayfront’s parking structure for a few weeks now. They promote local rapidly growing tech company ClickUp, which is headquartered in the Gaslamp!
Next, I took a pic of exhibitors lined up behind the convention center, waiting to unload trucks.
I took some pics of construction of what I think might be The Freak Brothers offsite near the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter. (UPDATE! Now I’m thinking this might be the Peacemaker Proving Ground–we’ll see on Friday!)
And finally some daylight pics of the La Brea activation.
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Dude Vader, Hawkeye and Captain America with actors from The Supernatural University, a television series now in development.
Fans of popular culture have converged today in Escondido for the first ever Fandom Invasion!
This big family-friendly event, which is being held at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, features lots of exhibitors, panelists, video gaming, storytelling, celebrities, cosplay, and even a play zone with Batman bounce houses for kids!
Fandom Invasion was conceived by the San Diego cosplay group Science Fiction Coalition, whose costumed members have become a common sight at events all around the city.
I arrived at Fandom Invasion as it opened, and I walked around the sizable exhibit hall where there were booths overflowing with awesome stuff. And awesome people, too!
For a while I listened to the Geek in the Streets Podcast panel, where there was a detailed discussion concerning cosplay.
Indeed, cosplay was everywhere I turned! As you can see from the upcoming photos.
Perhaps the coolest thing about Fandom Invasion was its focus on kids and their creativity. There were more than a few tables with young artists and makers and cosplayers!
Hopefully this is the beginning of a fun annual tradition.
Check it out!
Cosplayers wearing Mandalorian armor pose in front of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Conference Center.Hulk welcomes visitors at the Science Fiction Coalition table. I think he just arrived from Planet Hulk.Oh, man! Look at all this super cool nerdy stuff!Many local Star Wars groups were present, including the 501st Legion.R2-D2 and friend were created by Droid Builders. Author Janet Racciato has written novels for different age groups. Her heroine Julie grew up in Oceanside and can teleport. She told me writing comes easily to her.Dr. Artemus Peepers and Wonder Woman pose for a cosplay photo.Look at all the cool pop culture patches at one vendor table. What’s Yoda doing over there on the right?And check this out! All these awesome creations are from the Gears & Roebuck Rusty Junk Emporium.Star Wars Corn Flakes and Godzilla!And here’s an angry Lord Vader himself! No, I didn’t call you corny or a flake! That box contains cereal!The happy Addams Family.Future artist Gavin Richter. Future? More like present!Young artist Zeke of Swirl Waffle at work.Lots of comic books, naturally. But it’s hard not to look at a phone.Whoa! Ultra-cool helmet by CostumeBiz!Now it looks like I’m in trouble!Ian and Arielle discuss cosplay in the Large Panel Room.Miss Ellie Honeybee posed for a cool cosplay photograph!David L. Drake and Katherine L. Morse, San Diego-based authors of The Adventures of Drake and McTrowell, read their book.Gamora and Star Lord are outside by a face painter!Cars from the animated movie Cars! They were brought to Fandom Invasion by Dr. Justin Wu, of the Healing Little Heroes Foundation.Cosplay everywhere!Even Hawkman showed up in Escondido, all the way from the planet Thanagar.It seems Wolverine was a bit late, however.
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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!
In 2021 lovers of San Diego Comic-Con are enjoying an online experience of the international pop culture convention at home. But that hasn’t stopped fans in San Diego from having fun in the Gaslamp Quarter!
This afternoon I took a bunch of photographs of cosplay at the San Diego Causeplayer Community Shrine by the Tin Fish Restaurant.
At one o’clock the cosplayers started up Fifth Avenue in a big parade! Diners along the street and those watching from the sidewalk were in for a treat!
I followed the parade as superheroes and supervillains passed a simulated torch from one to the other. The costumed characters finally gathered at the parade’s end for an amazing group photo!
Check it out!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
The San Diego Causeplayer Community Shrine is kicking off in the Gaslamp Quarter by the Tin Fish restaurant this morning. What was referred to in 2020 as the Comic-Con Shrine has grown for 2021 into a full-fledged event!
Today through the weekend, the Causeplayer Community Shrine will feature chalk art, cosplay (including afternoon parades up Fifth Avenue), 91X FM dance parties, and, most importantly, a big blood drive by the San Diego Blood Bank! Everyone is invited to swing by and add their own words and Comic-Con memories to the shrine, this second year that San Diego Comic-Con was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I captured these photos this morning as I walked by the shrine!
The SDCC Causeplayer Community Shrine has many memories from past San Diego Comic-Cons.It’s Dude Vader and Lightning McQueen!Dude Vader chalk art.I met my girlfriend at SDCC.Look at all the Funkos!Free Funko for every blood donor!Thor holds up her hammer at the 2021 Causeplayer Community Shrine!
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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!
Black Widow of Marvel’s Avengers made an appearance this afternoon outside the San Diego Convention Center!
She passed me in a big hurry, no doubt pursuing a crafty supervillain, but was nice enough to pose a few seconds for my camera.
I noticed that Black Widow is wearing her white costume in San Diego, so I’m assuming she recently arrived in the Avengers Quinjet from snowy Russia.
Yes, Black Widow’s upcoming movie features this white costume, so I’ve concluded that in her rush to intercept some despicable villain she probably didn’t have time for a change. As for the Quinjet–perhaps she landed it atop the Convention Center. I looked up and down but didn’t see it anywhere.
Most everyone knows that San Diego Comic-Con was cancelled for 2021 due to uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic and its trajectory. So I really enjoyed snapping this unexpected cosplay photograph.
Hopefully during traditional Comic-Con week in July there’s some outdoor cosplay by the Tin Fish just like last year. If there is, you can bet I’ll be taking photos!
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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!
For many years, a mighty team of superheroes has stood guard at the entrance to El Cajon. As I walked past the motley, costumed group on Saturday, I noticed they were fending off a variety of dangerous supervillains and otherworldly menaces!
I immediately recognized some of the universe’s most powerful heroes. I saw Thor, Spider-Man, Hellboy, Yoda, Batman, Superman, Hulk and Wolverine. Together they were engaged in an epic battle against evil on the wall of Comics-N-Stuff, on El Cajon Boulevard!
A clerk at the comic book store told me this huge, fun mural was painted about 14 years ago by a local artist. It has really faded in El Cajon’s sunshine over time, so I’ve increased the contrast of various photographs.
Will Doc Ock and Venom get past Spidey and invade the city of El Cajon? I doubt it!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
An amazing van painted with a super cool Batman and other colorful images flashed past me as I was photographing the sculpture at the corner of Highway 101 and Plaza Street in Solana Beach.
I aimed my camera a little ahead of the Caped Crusader and hoped for the best as he whizzed by!
Yes!
Then the Dark Knight (striding heroically near rockets, palm trees and sea creatures) came back around setting up a second, more distant photo.
Hey, dude. That’s one awesome van!
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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!
I’m no graphic artist. I can barely draw a stick figure.
But check out some news I learned today in an email blast from the Comic-Con Museum!
The fun Comic-Con Museum@Home web page has begun an online series where a variety of comics layouts can be downloaded by anyone and everyone!
The first PDF file they’ve released contains six pages of blank, ready-to-use comics layouts. You can print them out and create your own cool comic strip or comic book!
Here’s an example of one dynamic layout:
When I read this email I had a sudden silly idea. Using a few of my photos of cosplay (mostly from past San Diego Comic-Cons) and the graphic editing software GIMP, I’d create my own thrilling comics page! (My creative efforts were limited to applying the “cartoon” filter to cropped photos.)
Mind you, I did this as a rank amateur, merely goofing around this evening by cutting and pasting some images on my computer. As you can see, I obviously did not use the Comic-Con Museum layouts.
You can surely do better than me!
You’re artistic efforts will instantly surpass my own if you download the Comic-Con Museum’s first set of professional comics layouts here!
Hey, Cool San Diego Sights is mostly about enjoying life, learning new things and having some creative fun, right?
Cool San Diego Sights! 