San Diego’s newest museum opened yesterday in Balboa Park. Today I walked through the door and enjoyed my very first visit to the amazing Comic-Con Museum!
The Comic-Con Museum is going to be another major attraction in San Diego. Even during this “soft opening” there are remarkable exhibits that include original, one-of-kind artifacts–artwork, costumes, props, rare documents and more–from the history of popular culture.
I walked about the three-level museum and and tried to take it all in. A variety of extraordinary exhibits are featured during this Grand Opening weekend, which coincides with Comic-Con Special Edition at the downtown San Diego Convention Center.
Please enjoy my photos and read the captions to learn a little more about the museum and its current exhibits.
And make sure to check out the Comic-Con Museum website here! Become a member like me and gain all sorts of exclusive benefits!
Almost 10 am when the doors open! The Comic-Con Museum occupies the historic Federal Building in Balboa Park, which years ago was home to the Hall of Champions. The building was created for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.This is just the beginning! The Comic-Con Museum will continue to develop their space in the coming few years. The new museum promises to become ever more incredible.Many generous donors and benefactors have helped to make the Comic-Con Museum a reality, including the David C. Copley Foundation and the Conrad Prebys Foundation.The first exhibit I saw on the ground floor is called Art of the Comic-Con Masquerade. It celebrates the Comic-Con tradition of cosplay. These elaborate superhero costumes were made by fans!My favorite exhibit is titled Gene Roddenberry: Sci-Fi Visionary. Original costumes, art and props are displayed from Star Trek. The life and creative genius of Roddenberry is remembered with his personal letters and more. This exhibit is so fantastic I’ll be blogging about it separately coming up!Another substantial exhibit, Eight Decades of Archie, celebrates the cultural heritage of Archie Comics. I had no idea that Sabrina the Teenage Witch, before television, was a comic book series published by Archie ComicsCardboard Superheroes were created by two local youth. Their cool creations debuted in the nascent Comic-Con Museum a couple years ago during Balboa Park’s December Nights.Looking up at the second floor galleries. When the Federal Building was home of the Hall of Champions, the Breitbard Hall of Fame plaques decorated those upper walls.Admiring original works of famed artist Charles Samuel Addams, who is probably best known for creating the Addams Family characters.Looking down from the second level toward the museum entrance.An inspirational exhibit is titled Out of the Darkness: Comic Art in the Times of COVID. Youth art created during the COVID-19 lockdown is featured. It is presented by A Reason To Survive (ARTS), an organization in National City that works to uplift young people.Some really great art from San Diego’s South Bay community.In one of the Comic-Con Museum’s classrooms is a creative work area. During the opening weekend, an exhibit here demonstrates the Cosplay Creator’s Lab.If you’d like to support San Diego dreamers, fans and artists, here’s one way!Sewing machine and dress.Check out this incredible, wearable Grommash Hellscream costume! It was created by Mike Biasi.In the lower level of the museum, near the auditorium, you’ll find another Art of the Comic-Con Masquerade display. These costumes were all part of past Comic-Con Masquerades.And check this out! In one corner of the Comic-Con Museum, where the old Hall of Champions café used to be, there’s the PAC-MAN Arcade, complete with playable games and historical exhibits!Designs, drawings and documents from back when Pac-Man was created, in 1980. A cultural icon (and Comic-Con Museum Character Hall of Fame inductee) was born!Is this cool, or what?
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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 spotted some cool chalk art this morning as I walked through San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. Star Wars characters and a Ghostbusters graphic had been created in front of the Blarney Stone Pub on Fifth Avenue.
It appears the chalk art promotes a Star Wars/Mandalorian cosplay contest at 9 pm on Friday, during Comic-Con Special Edition. I’m not sure if it will be held here or elsewhere.
I took these photos of the artwork…
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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!
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!
A big K-pop dance competition was held today in San Diego, at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. The epic event was part of “Korea Day at Balboa Park” hosted by the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles and San Diego’s own House of Korea.
I watched the first half of the competition and saw five high energy performances by groups competing in the K-Pop Cover Dance Festival Final. The huge audience was excited, as you can plainly see, and they had good reason! The music and dance was buoyant, fun, infectious, uplifting. It’s no wonder K-pop music has become a worldwide phenomenon!
I resumed my walk through Balboa Park realizing that, even with this world’s endless troubles, there are always reasons for happiness. There is much in life that is good. And what is truly good comes from the heart.
Please enjoy the following photographs!
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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 Solana Beach, at 320 Cedros Avenue, there’s a surprising art museum . . . outdoors! I just happened to discover the Art Alley on Cedros during my recent walk through the very hip Cedros Avenue Design District.
Anybody can freely wander off the street and into the alley to experience a motley collection of colorful (and groovy) artwork!
I walked the length of the alley and discovered a variety of painted “canvases” including car hoods, skateboards and surfboards, beautiful photographs, unique objects and sculptures, a watery blue mosaic along one alley wall, and many fun, nostalgic pieces that celebrate popular music from the past.
It looks like the Art Alley on Cedros has a Facebook page.
This is some of what I observed…
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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!
This evening I enjoyed a really great Return of the Jedi concert by the San Diego Symphony. The popular John Williams score was performed live at the outdoor Shell as the film played on a big screen above the musicians.
Before the concert began, Star Wars cosplay could be seen throughout the crowd. Dude Vader (pictured above) and several local Star Wars cosplay groups were in attendance.
Fans eagerly posed for photographs with Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, bounty hunter Boba Fett, evil Emperor Palpatine and other favorite characters.
During the movie, at triumphant moments, scattered lightsabers in the audience rose glowing in the darkness!
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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!
Some passengers who embark on a cruise aboard the Disney Wonder don’t realize there’s another “Disney ship” that makes San Diego its homeport. And it’s docked just a stone’s throw (or cannon shot) away!
HMS Surprise, of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, was one of the ships used in the filming of Disney’s 2011 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The museum ship portrayed Captain Hector Barbossa’s HMS Providence.
HMS Surprise, a beautiful replica of the 18th century Royal Navy frigate Rose, spent three months off Long Beach during the Pirates of the Caribbean filming.
HMS Surprise is better known for its leading role in another film. The tall ship co-starred with Russell Crowe in 2003’s epic, multiple Academy Award nominated Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Going on a Disney cruise out of San Diego? Are you a fan of the popular Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise? Walk a short distance along the Embarcadero and step aboard a cool Disney movie ship!
Learn more about HMS Surprise at the Maritime Museum of San Diego website 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!
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!
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