Comic-Con 2016 was an incredible event for many reasons. Tens of thousands of movie, comics and video game fans descended on San Diego to celebrate and participate in their fandoms. The con came and went way too quickly for most, but in those few days many people from around the world made memories that will last them a lifetime.
It’s been over two weeks since San Diego Comic-Con ended and many of us on the Fandom.com Fan Contributor team are still reeling from the experience. Led by the esteemed Nick Nunziata, four of us were thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire for a whirlwind weekend of panels, interviews and exclusive screenings. Now that the dust has settled here are our thoughts on Comic-Con and what this amazing time meant to each of us.
I was horribly nervous before San Diego Comic-Con. I was going to go meet a bunch of folks I had only talked to online, do on-camera interviews for the first time, and attend the country’s largest comic book convention. The Fandom team made my fears evaporate almost instantly. Everyone was friendly, easy to talk to, and fun. It helped that fellow fan contributor Drew Dietsch and I met in the airport and had time to bond over our anxieties (and cookies).
Once I got into the swing of things, I loved being a reporter covering SDCC. It was a thrill just to walk around on the show floor. I found myself enjoying all of it, even the panels I previously had no interest in. Fun at SDCC is contagious. Making my way from panel to panel with my trusty laptop and taking it all in, I felt at home. Covering entertainment felt like the thing I was born to do.
My biggest fan moment at SDCC came when I attended the panel and season two premiere for Ash vs. Evil Dead. I have been a fan of the Evil Dead series since my teen years, and the panel was hilarious. I even got a selfie with Sam Raimi afterward. My fellow writers each got their own special moments, too, like Drew interviewing the creators of the new Blair Witch movie and my editor, Nick Nunziata, interviewing the cast of Aliens. I’ve had a taste, and the next convention can’t come soon enough. [Danielle Ryan]
How to encapsulate the amazing experience of San Diego Comic-Con 2016?
First off, it was amazing meeting the entire Fandom crew. You couldn’t ask for kinder, more passionate, or more professional people to work with. From my fellow Fan Contributors to the editorial staff to our incredible film crew, the whole operation was the greatest working environment I’ve ever been a part of. Everyone made those five days fly by in seconds. And the Fandom party at the Hard Rock Hotel was awe-inspiring. Seeing celebrities left and right was delightfully surreal, and it was easily the most fun I had during the trip.
As far as actual coverage goes, going to my first world premiere of a film was intoxicating. It was a film I was already heavily anticipating, but then it turned out to be a genius marketing switcheroo when we discovered The Woods was actually a new Blair Witch film! Not only was it an excellent surprise, but the movie was an utter success. And then I got to interview the filmmakers the next day! For a die-hard horror fan like myself, that was a moment I’ll carry with me forever.
All the interviews I did were so casual and inviting, but ending the trip talking to Chadwick Boseman felt like I had crossed over into the greatest possible dimension in all of existence. The one and only T’Challa was so incredibly laid back and easy to talk to, and he made a noob like me believe that this is something I could do for the rest of my life.
Comic-Con was the best professional experience of my life and it was genuinely heartbreaking to have to leave. I made lifelong friends and indelible memories, and that’s thanks to this amazing site and the people who make it possible. It sounds cliché, but this really was a dream come true. [Drew Dietsch]
The entirety of Comic-Con was such an amazing experience for me, as it was my first convention ever. The Fandom party was definitely one of the major highlights. It was great to meet some more members of the Wikia community, and to just be able to relax and let loose for the night. I must say that one of my favorite moments of the party was the view of the sunset above the convention center from the gorgeous rooftop of the Hard Rock Hotel.
As far as panels go, my favorite ones out of those that I covered were Nickelodeon’s “Happy Happy Joy Joy” panel and Timeless’ pilot screening and Q&A. It was incredible to see a lot of the creators of my childhood on Nick’s panel, especially Butch Hartman (creator of Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom). But by far, the highlight of that panel was Invader Zim’s creator, Jhonen Vasquez, releasing a TMNT short he created called “Don vs. Raph.” That was probably the funniest six minutes of the entire convention for me.
Timeless‘ premiere of their pilot episode was amazing. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but just by seeing the pilot, I became an instant fan. If you like time travel, crime mysteries, and unique plot ideas, this is the show for you. I walked away from that panel with my jaw still hanging wide in awe. It was also pretty cool to get a picture with Malcolm Barrett afterwards.
The best moment of Comic-Con for me, however, was meeting Butch Hartman for an interview about Danny Phantom. The opportunity to sit down with my childhood hero and get to pick his brain about my favorite show of all time (and indirectly the reason I got to go to Comic-Con in the first place) still has me pinching myself out of disbelief. Some particular favorite moments of the interview were Butch trying to draw Danny on a chip, discussing possible future ideas for the show, and then getting to hug Butch right at the end. [Chrissie Miille]
I still can’t wrap my head around what happened this year at Comic-Con. I arrived around noon in San Diego and immediately checked in with one of the most professional teams of entertainment journalists and A/V technicians I have ever been lucky enough to work with. Introductions were warm and familiar faces were smiling as we hunkered down and got organized. The people I worked with during Comic-Con were all awesome to be around, and I’ve never seen a more hard working and well-coordinated team of greats who got along and accomplished their goals.
I had a blast covering the panels for The Exorcist and The Strain. The Resident Evil 20th Anniversary panel was a great walk down memory lane for the franchise. The follow up afterward of rushing to make the Rick and Morty panel was just one of the many times I found myself moving as fast as I could through the sea of fans and cosplayers that filled the convention center wall to wall. It was all worth it to be at the Aliens 30th anniversary panel and then see Marvel’s triumphant return to Comic-Con that turned out to be the biggest event of the con. It really was unbelievable.
The folks responsible for our website rock. Fandom held a massive rooftop party at the Hard Rock Hotel across the street from the con, line to get in circled around the block. Each night of SDCC was filled with friends coming together after long days of reporting and publishing articles about everything that went on. I saw a ton of great stuff on display on the show floor and witnessed hundreds of people waiting in incredibly long lines to be part of the excitement. Comic-Con was a crazy, wild ride and I wouldn’t have traded any of it for the world. [Andrew Hawkins]
