Over 1000 miles away, I look back to the San Diego Comic Convention of 2019. I wave slowly for my 25th visit to this annual pop-culture extravaganza of the universe.

Thank you for another exciting run, to the organizers and all involved with this 2019 SDCC. It’s all been wild, jumbled together joys and madness sorted through organized chaos and a maze of thing-doing and epic quests, glory for treasure and the meeting and greeting of friends old and anew along the way.

Did I have a great time? Oh yes, I did!

But this Comic-Con is never simple and no year is the same as others. One has to fight and plan and struggle and walk and rise with short hours of sleep with hard choices to truly appreciate the subtleties of this great show. Never expect anything to go smooth, and have contingencies for whatever does not happen..

Don’t overplan. Try and leave as much room as possible for the unexpected. Your entire plan can go out the window for some greater opportunity…for example, a shortcut into the Hall H line before the Marvel Comics panel, or a sudden chance to meet an admired person of creative or celebrity status, perhaps an easy way into a very exclusive friend, or running into a long-time friend.

The greater occurrence of sudden surprises at the SDCC is at the Exhibit Hall, where you you can enter empty-handed and  leave with something of value. That could be rare treasure, a one-of-a-kind custom creation, an experience unlike no other, or a new friend or history making connection.

A small portion of the football-field sized Exhibit Hall

Navigating the convention floor is a skill mastered best by memories and past trips to this show. Have a map otherwise if you feeling unguided through this colorful, weird jungle. For this year, the usual large displays propagated by large media and collectible production companies, with those focused on show exclusives and celeb hosting being the most attracting.  Pre-show lotteries to such helped bring some of those lines down, leaving those not lucky enough, to remain hopeless or persistent enough to take part.

For the Exhibit Hall, I spent most of this Comic-Con time. Here below, are some moments and notes of my crazy adventures of treasure hunts, side-quests, joining friends and braving the crowds and potential chaos of the this wonderful show..

just mentioning again, the Hall was very crowded. But, that’s a good thing I believe. That more interesting things can happen, and more fun is shared.

Some random awesome in the vinyl area, now moved away from the corner and into the center.

Sith Troopers, the main feature among the Star Wars cluster of booths, promoting the upcoming Star Wars: Episode XI.

The Steven Universe featured at the Cartoon Network booth, with encouraged karaoke below.

The Lego booth again impresses with life-sized Lego displays.

The DC booth this year was sadly missed from the front and center spot, now moved to the corner back next to the Warner Studios booth. Here, booth reps offer Todd McFarlane prints in exchange for signing up for a credit card. I refused and spent little time at the DC booth this year, because of that.

I kind of forgot which booth this was, but love the use of dinosaurs

Here are some pricy things!

But,  I like cheap stuff. Here is my Q-Pop Pinky and the Brain figurine. Only 15.00 and I think exclusive to the show. I dont remember, but I loved it so much that I took it out of the package!

A much better breathe of fresh air, to one of many small press tables now in in place of where the DC booth once stood.

Still, plenty of comic books here! I love seeing stacks of comics on back issue bins!

Some awesome magazines I picked up, from Warren Publishing in the late 70s, early 80s.

This is our first SDCC without Stan Lee sharing the same mortal realm. But his legacy and spirit live on. Excelsior!

Awesome Japanese classic style art from the Ukiyo-e Heroes booth. Check out their sight at www.ukiyoeheroes.com

Chrono Trigger artwork from the Ukiyo-e Heroes above booth.

The Porcupine Cat, one of the GMO animal hybrid guardians o the Genesis II graphic novel, feature at this booth. Check out their graphic novel at genesisiicomics.com, where the first chapter is free to download!

And here is Troma Entertainment President & Co-Founder, Director, Producer, Genius. Lloyd Kaufman and his long-time friend, Toxie the Toxic Avenger! I have seen them both many times here in the Exhibit Hall over three decades. 

The Dark Horse booth saves its best space for coloring adventures!

And that, is how you pronounce Bill Sienkiewicz!

My favorite piece of original comic art found from Marvel Comics Journey into Mystery #99. Price is $6000, of which I could not afford.

Original Peanuts art from Charles Schulz

At the Udon booth (sorry, I missed the name of the artist).

The two prize Funko pops, exclusive to the this year’s 50th show.

Emmalee Pearson presents her comic, the Avengables..a very silly comic about evil fighting vegetables! Find out more at www.avengables.com.

At the Toynami booth, where the Golden Girls and Robotech share the same universe!

After 20 years later, the Matrix inspires this great group cosplay!

The Warner Brothers booth, where fans meet those Legends of Tommorrow.

A large Gundam presenting its 40th anniversary booth.

The Image Comics booth, as usually impossible to capture all in one shot, so you have to pick an angle.

Not sure where what series or movie this figure is from, but I love it!

A vintage shirt from the 1992 San Diego Comic Con, still fraggin fresh!

Some Jurassic cosplay here!

Yeah, there is lots of cosplay on the floor. I will share more on that in a separate post, soon

Unicorn on display, summons your wallet here for a purpose!  This two foot-tall Transformer is part of Hasbro’s third crowd-funding production project.

Ghostbusters and WWE, a strange toy crossover by Mattel coming, along with the Master of the Universe and WWE, also announced during the show.

Love the latest cartoon classic TMNT figures on display at the NECA booth.

Peanuts figures on display at the Super & booth….good grief!

Michael Golden, artist and co-creator of X-Men’s Rogue. Also, co-creator of Bucky O’Hare!

Weirdly fun, very short produced artist-made figures at the DKE booth

Inside the Dark Crystal, Age of Resistance booth, for the upcoming Netflix show.

King of the Hill mashup parody art, from Joel Adams

Disney fine art from Krystiano DaCosta

Some pins and stuff I got from the Exhibit Hall.

I met World Wrestling Entertainment RAW Women’s champion, Becky Lynch. Also, WWE legend Rey Mysterio, and current WWE World Champion, Kofi Kingston (got a cookbook signed by him, lol). All awesome in person, indeed!

And a shot of the Artists Alley from the corner exit of the Exhibit Hall, which is a good spot to leave off. I hope you enjoyed checking out these random joys of this year’s Exhibit Hall adventure.

Check back on strangerworlds.com for more late coverage of this year’s 50th San Diego Comic-Con!