Report on the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con

Feel free to skip this report and go straight to the photo gallery.

Apparently, the reports of the death of Comic-Con were greatly exaggerated—despite the entertainment industry strikes that led to the reduced presence of Hollywood at this year's show, the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con was as crowded as ever, if not more so. 

Many reports noted that, without the distractions of numerous celebrity appearances and programming, people actually spent more time on the floor! It sure felt that way. Personally, I suspected this would be the case since badges sell out in minutes nearly a year in advance. Comic-Con is Comic-Con—there's always plenty to see and experience. As one wag said, people learned that Hollywood needs the San Diego Comic-Con more than Comic-Con needs Hollywood.

A by-product of the crowded floor was solid sales—while not my best year ever, it nevertheless ranked up there, with many fellow exhibitors reporting great sales as well! 

Some other random comments and observations—

• As I do every year, I rolled into town with my now 18-year-old son at around 6:20 a.m. on the Wednesday before the Thursday start of the show, having departed my home in West L.A. at 4:35 a.m. Why so early? Aside from the fact that getting an early start on the road was a family tradition when I was a child, I like being able to pull into the nearly empty San Diego Convention Center parking garage to have my pick of parking spots—so that I can park next to the elevators and directly beneath my booth, make unloading my car easy. I'm usually set up by 8:30 a.m., which allows me to check in early at the hotel...then relax until the start of Preview Night Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. It also gives me a little time to myself to explore the convention hall as people set up. (Starting a couple years ago, we started staying at the Manchester Grand Hyatt two hotels down from the convention center—well within walking distance but a bit away from the crowds and frenzy of the closer hotels.)

• In addition to connecting in person with both new and longtime readers, attending multi-day conventions also offers the opportunity for instant feedback. Some people who pick up the latest issue of Rob Hanes Adventures often return later in the show to tell me how much they enjoyed the story and to discuss aspects of it. I appreciate how closely some readers read the story and catch my easter eggs and references. As well as point out my (more than) occasional typos and plot holes lol.

• It was nice to see the comic book retail section of the floor hopping!

• Being an end booth, I’m often asked for directions by random convention attendees. I’m always happy to help, often pointing out that the aisle numbers are identified by the big banners hanging from the ceiling. But I do wish people would realize that maps and booth locations are readily available in the program and the Comic-Con app.

• Favorite overheard piece of conversation at the convention: "I feel like I'm not nerdy enough to be here!" (I thought to myself, dude, you're plenty nerdy enough.)

• A sign of the times: Being asked multiple times by customers, “Do you take cash?” I remember the days when it was usually the opposite—“Do you take credit cards?” (I didn’t until the advent of card apps and readers for mobile devices!)

• The promotional building wraps in San Diego during Comic-Con—which often extend to the trolleys—are always good, but they were amazing this year, with many buildings in the Gaslamp also sporting building/facade wraps.

• A rep from the digital comics platform, GlobalComix, stopped by to give me two table top banner stands to promote the series on their website! It was a total surprise and quite a well designed banner (see pics below for a shot).

• Comic-Con is always an opportunity to meet and visit with longtime fans and fellow pros—some even kindly come to visit me at my booth! These included cartoonist Tom Batiuk who, of course, recently featured me in the July 18th installment of his comic strip, Crankshaft; cartoonist Scott Shaw!, from whom I bought his new compilation book, Scott Shaw!'s Comix and Stories; Simpsons' and Futurama cartoonist Bill Morrison; the Adventures of Simone and Ajax creator and cartoonist Andrew Pepoy; comics writer and creator Tom Mason; cartoonist and graphic novelist Mark Fearing; Steamroller Man creator and storyboard artist Matthew Schofield; award-winning audiobook narrator, comics geek and college buddy Scott Brick. You can see them and many of the series' fans in the photo gallery.

• I also had a fun celebrity encounter with comedian/actor Eddie Pence. My wife is a huge fan and supporter of comedian/actor Ralph Garman's podcast, the Ralph Report, co-hosted with Pence. (We've also attended several of their live shows.) Both are comics/pop culture geeks as well, and when my wife saw them tweet that they were at Comic-Con, she tweeted them an invitation to  visit. Not too long after, Pence kindly visited with his son! We chatted and had a fun conversation, and Pence graciously agreed to a photo op with my book. I later tweeted the photo, which he kindly retweeted and responded to.

• While I didn't hit a lot of after-hour activities, different friends of ours visited the convention. They're not into comics, but I was amazed by how much they enjoyed the show and took advantage of being there by attending panels, getting autographs, and more. Our children also had friends join them at the show. As an indication of how much they've older they are now, our daughter came down with her college roommate for just Saturday, kindly also giving a ride down to one of my son's friends. Being old hands at this, they enjoyed experiencing Comic-Con afresh through their friends' eyes. (They've attended since they were toddlers, my son for the first time when he was three months old—one of my longtime customers, upon spotting him at my booth, remembered him sitting in a baby carrier at our booth!)

• 7/31/23 UPDATE: Shortly after Comic-Con, three fellow comics folks I know who came by my table and briefly chatted with me reported on social media that they had tested positive for COVID. We tested shortly afterwards, but were not positive and still feel fine a week later. So I guess we dodged that bullet this year! (Last year, my wife tested positive and I did a week after her, so I assume I got it from her.)

• The highlight of the show for me personally was the tween girl and her father who purchased several issues of my series on the first day—the dad came over in advance saying that his daughter was quite taken with my "Death at Comic-Con" cover (#18). He wanted to be sure the series was kid-friendly. I assured him that while some stories feature some shooting and fighting, as well as an occasional measure of geopolitical intrigue that might go over kids' heads, the series otherwise is not dark or violent, and an all-ages title. When they returned later, I “curated” four issues I thought she would enjoy.

On the last day of the convention, the dad returned and told me she absolutely loved the stories and likely would buy more, saying he was delighted she was so taken by them, telling me, “I never know what’s going to excite her!” Sure enough, just before the end of Comic-Con, she returned to my booth and purchased more issues with her own money. (I ended up giving her an additional issue that I thought she’d also find fun.)

In fact, another young customer and her dad came over who wanted to buy more, based on purchasing an issue last year (issue 22, the World War II issue of all things!). He told me that on the way to Comic-Con, she said, “I want to buy more Rob Hanes Adventures!” Can’t argue with that!

Anyway, it was a nice reminder that my work has broad appeal that goes beyond old-timers like me who simply love old adventure strips—those strips, after all, were meant for a general audience too. The diverse audience who’ve purchased my comics over the years are proof of that!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who came by to visit my booth and made 2023 another great memorable show. This was my 25th appearance at the show—and next year marks the 30th anniversary of WCG Comics as well as the likely release year for the milestone 25th issue of Rob Hanes Adventures. More on that soon and in the coming year.

Visit the full gallery.

Above: My cameo in the July 18 installment of the comic strip, Crankshaft!