Tag: pop culture

Comic-Con 2026 readies: a silo, bales of hay, Doom…

Less than three days until Comic-Con 2026!

All sorts of cool and surprising sights are appearing outside the San Diego Convention Center! Including bales of hay, a silo, a huge owl, and a Gaslamp Quarter gateway that invites you to Doom!

These pics are from a noontime walk. Comic-Con offsite activations are being built all over downtown. Enjoy!

First, bales of hay were being carried into the Lanterns offsite…

Along MLK Promenade, fans will be able to visit the Ignition Pavilion…

Peanuts is back in their usual spot…

The Hulu Animayhem offsite is coming together…

Big banners along the trolley tracks include one promoting Lanterns…

Check out the Gaslamp Quarter arch. It appears to be a portal to Doomsday!

What’s this? A snowy Victorian winter scene being built with a crane on Fifth Avenue?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds building wrap on Marriott Marquis is done…

Paramount+ offsite The Lodge under construction…

Our Doom is near…

In Gaslamp Square, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is returning to Comic-Con…

Why can’t Stuart Save the Universe?

A Wildwood wrap is being applied to the Hard Rock Hotel…

The IGN balcony is ready…

At the Hilton Bayfront, the Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is being readied…

It appears there’s no big FX offsite this year. But Adult Swim is back, and they’ve brought a giant owl!

13 seasons of American Horror Story is celebrated with a big wrap on the Hilton…

The Star Trek wrap from a different angle…

Lastly, a peek at the Apple TV Silo Experience…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Willy Wonka and Oompa-Loompas at Comic-Con!

Starbucks at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront will be home to Willy Wonka and his Oompa-Loompa pals during Comic-Con 2026!

Local artist Shirish Villaseñor (@shirishtheartist) is now painting the windows of Starbucks with movie characters adapted from my favorite book when I was a boy: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

Willy Wonka, as he slowly materializes, is holding the Golden Ticket! Perhaps you, too, can sample an Everlasting Gobstopper!

I hope no naughty children are nearby!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Star Wars street art painted for Comic-Con!

Check out this cool Star Wars street art! It has been painted in San Diego in time for Comic-Con 2026, which starts this week.

Street artists from around the world have all come to San Diego for a big event called the Meeting of Styles.

This is one wall they’ve spray painted a block or so east of the 12th and Imperial trolley station. The art is all about Star Wars!

The wall seems incomplete at this time. I don’t know whether the artists will be adding to it.

Photos…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Marvel and DC street art painted for Comic-Con!

The many international street artists who’ve converged upon San Diego for the epic Meeting of Styles event have completed their Marvel and DC character walls in time for Comic-Con 2026!

The walls are about a block east of the 12th and Imperial trolley station on Commercial Street.

I took photos of works in progress four days ago. See those images here.

I took photos of the finished spray paint art this morning!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Comic-Con 2026 preparation with four days to go!

Workers putting up building wraps and offsite activations have only four more full days to complete their work before the official start of Comic-Con 2026!

Early this (Saturday) evening I walked through downtown San Diego, through the Gaslamp Quarter, behind the San Diego Convention Center, and back to the Gaslamp. I photographed all sorts of Comic-Con preparations.

Enjoy these images. They provide an idea of what goes on before the start of our city’s epic international pop culture convention!

Sorry if I don’t provide much description this time. I’m tired. Gotta work again tomorrow…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

More wraps, offsites rise before Comic-Con!

Now six days to go before Comic-Con 2026. During my final walk of the day around downtown San Diego, I spied two new building wraps and two new offsites that are just beginning to rise!

First, behind the San Diego Convention Center, the big stage for Adult Swim on the Green was being tilted up into place!

I then noticed the Hilton Bayfront’s big building wrap was being applied. What will it be? FX show American Horror Story?

Turning around, I saw a new wrap being applied to the Marriott Marquis, next to the ESRI wrap, which will be coming down very soon. Looks like Star Trek…

After crossing over to the Gaslamp trolley station, look what I found. They’re getting ready to put up this year’s Percy Jackson offsite!

I then noticed the Rings of Power wrap on Fifth Avenue is done and features Sauron. (Those balloons are from a street party for the ESRI convention, which concludes today.)

Finally, I observed the Yaga wrap on the Hilton Gaslamp is about done! There are The Vampire Lestat graphics, too.

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Original art by Chuck Jones to be displayed before Comic-Con!

This coming Wednesday, July 22, 2026, during the evening of Comic-Con Preview Night, lovers of Chuck Jones art have a very special opportunity.

Craig Kausen, the grandson of legendary animation director Chuck Jones, will be visiting the Chuck Jones Gallery in Seaport Village.

He’ll be showing rare, original artwork from the Chuck Jones archives between 5:30 and 9:00 pm!

I learned about this super special event during my visit to the gallery this afternoon. I took a photo, too. As you can see, the gallery is getting ready for Comic-Con, now less than a week away!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Mortal Kombat painted outside Comic-Con!

The windows of Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt are being painted for Comic-Con again!

Shirish Villaseñor (@shirishtheartist) decorates these windows every year with a different pop culture theme. You can find Sweet Things outside the Hilton Bayfront hotel near the San Diego Convention Center.

For 2026? Images from Mortal Kombat!

Shirish was just getting started today. How many Mortal Kombat characters do you recognize?

Once these windows are done, she’ll be painting the windows of nearby Starbucks with a different mystery theme!

UPDATE!

Next day photos…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

The Rings of Power trolley for Comic-Con 2026!

The Rings of Power will be starting another season, which is made clear by a San Diego trolley wrap that has appeared for Comic-Con 2026!

I caught sight of the trolley today and captured these photos.

Amazon Prime Video has invested a lot in The Rings of Power series, but I’ve heard Tolkien’s many Lord of the Rings fans have mixed views of it. Not having watched, I can’t form an opinion, but the graphics on the Comic-Con trolley look pretty cool…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

Meeting of Styles art before Comic-Con: Day 2.

Meeting of Styles is an international gathering of street artists in San Diego before Comic-Con. They’re painting pop culture murals all around the city!

Today is the second day graffiti artists have been out spray painting cool graphics on approved walls.

I documented the first day of Meeting of Styles in a blog post yesterday. See those photos here.

I returned today to Commercial Street to view some of the artists’ progress…

First, at Millionaires HQ, Jubilee has joined the X-Men wall!

Gambit appears to be finished…

Around the corner, on a nearby wall, a group of artists from Hawaii are painting images from Dragon Ball. Bulma isn’t quite dressed yet!

Progress has been made with the Transformer mural I photographed yesterday…

East of 14th Street, near the 12th and Imperial trolley station, a big long mural has been repainted with pop culture characters every year before Comic-Con. They’re at it again!

Much of the wall is devoted to Marvel comics superheroes and villains.

Working on Ghost Rider…

Miles Morales looks a bit odd right now…

Black Panther with the Infinity Gauntlet from Secret Wars…

Storm…

Ultron is reaching for Storm!

Another section is reserved for DC characters. Behind a fence, it’s just getting started. That’s Cyborg…

Back at the Marvel section, early sketched art for Doctor Doom…

And here’s Thanos!

A big wall nearby will contain Star Wars street art. Right now it’s just black space!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!