San Diego Comic Con 2026

Me, with my artwork at the San Diego Comic Con Art Show

A week ago I did my annual trip to San Diego Comic Con. As always, it was a blast! However, this year felt different because I usually go with my brother to Con, but he couldn't make it this year. I continued on with his friends though, and we all video chatted with him at the end. Since his friends had other interests than I do, we mostly went our separate ways throughout the day and caught up with each other in the evenings.

In this blog, I'll describe my top events for each day of my vacation~

Wednesday

The important event for me today was setting up my artwork at the Art Show. This was my first time participating in the art show. The art show is associated with Comic Con, but it isn't in the convention itself. It's open to the public, and pieces shown are auctioned off to the highest bidder.

As I'm writing this, I still have no clue if I sold anything at the show! They say it takes a while to process everyone's work, as well as track people down who placed bids and didn't pick up the artwork. I'm hoping at least one piece sold! My minimum bid requirements are based on my store prices and the cost of the frames. Next year I'll include costs of return shipping because I was absolutely surprised to pay for a $40+ shipping return label! Also, one of my friends asked if someone bids higher than the quick sale price, would the higher bid win? I wasn't sure! Thankfully when they return my unpaid pieces, they will include the transactions of the bids. I treated this year as a "practice" year with the art show. If it went well, that'll help me when I apply for next year's show!

Thursday

This was the day I absolutely embarrassed myself at the Oni Press panel ughhh! If you've watched my other SDCC vlogs, you would know that I'm a big fan of cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley's work. He was there at the panel, and I absolutely got too nervous and botched the question I asked him. :(

To emotionally recover from that embarrassing moment, I did some retail therapy on the exhibit floor. I found lots of cute prints, stickers, and shirts at Con from small, independent artists. It's my favorite thing to do at Con. My favorite purchase could be considered as "non-nerdy" though! I bought the KARAFURU messenger bag from the brand Karepango. I fell in love with their artist owned business, with their focus on characters and style. I literally could've bought one of everything at their booth. I'm planning on sharing their website to my family members as a suggestion for a birthday gift for me!

If you're interested in what else I bought, keep an eye out for my annual SDCC vlog and treasure haul!

Friday

Friday was my big panel day at the convention. The day started with my signing with Bryan Lee O'Malley at the Oni Press booth. I'm so glad I won this exclusive! I was able to apologize to him about the previous day and gave him my Snotgirl print :)

After that, I started queuing up for Hall H! If you've never been to SDCC before, Hall H is where they have their big boy panels (ie Marvel, etc). Thankfully it wasn't too bad of a wait. I was able to read "Japanese Gothic" for an hour under the shade. Easy five star read, that book! I got into Hall H on time for my first panel, which was for "Spaceballs: The New One". My family grew up on Mel Brooks films, so I knew I needed to go to it. They did a great job with the panel, and I laughed so hard at the "Spaceballs Cinematic Universe" bit at the end of it.

Immediately after was the "Pan's Labyrinth" 20th Anniversary panel. It was an interesting panel, mostly due to the director, Guillermo del Toro, being there. I will admit, after a long day of waiting in lines, I was getting a bit tired during the panel lol!

Saturday

I'll admit, there weren't a lot of interesting panels for me on Saturday! I decided to do two experiences on the exhibit floor. The first one was for the Pokemon booth where I got to take a lot of pictures with Eevee. The second was for the Nintendo booth, where they had demos of "Splatoon Raiders" you could play. I'm glad I did that experience because it convinced me to buy the game. I've already sunk so many hours of it since I got back.

The main highlight of the day was having dinner with my SDCC pals :) it was fun to catch up with them and how their con had been going. I ate the most delicious chicken ramen at a restaurant named Tajima while tipsy on a couple glasses of wine. It was a beautiful end to SDCC!

I can't wait to see what's at Comic Con next year!