San Diego Comic-Con was a little different this year thanks to the changing global circumstances. The event was hosted for the first time at home.
Comic-Con at home was an interesting concept but it was difficult to tell if it was actually going to work. Thanks to new technology it became far easier for the team to actually pull off the event. But was it actually a success? There's plenty of reasons to suggest that the event actually wasn't that great, but just as many as to why it really worked.
Wasn't Great: Lack Of Fan Interaction
Any event based on the worlds of entertainment, comic books, movies and TV shows needs a lot of fan interaction. Despite the use of social media, those interactions just weren't the same as they would have been in person.
From the Comic-Con parties to being able to talk to favorite creators on the convention floor, there was a lot of novelty experiences from SDCC this year that fans will look forward to again in the future.
Was Great: Online Floor
The conventions are always a great place to buy new merchandise and fun products, but because the event was cancelled it looked like a lot of small businesses would loose out.
Luckily, Comic-Con@Home managed to put together an online convention floor that allowed guests to visit all the same booths that they would have been able to if they visited the event for real.
Wasn't Great: Poor Figures
Although attendance is usually incredibly full, despite more people having the opportunity to attend this year, the viewing figures for the s were actually pretty low.
Perhaps because of the sheer amount of them, YouTube numbers were especially low. Social media also didn't interact with the convention in the way that people thought it would; apart from the release of more footage exclusively released.
Was Great: Free For All
One of the benefits of the @Home event was that anyone could attend. This years fans weren't separated by privilege, money or luck. Everyone could enjoy the festivities equally.
It's something that could be a great help in the future, when the events are running normally again, to allow people at home to not be excluded in the same way as they have been in the past, especially from the big movies that feature in Hall H.
Wasn't Great: Not Enough Announcements
There was a real lack of announcements this year. There's plenty of reasons for that, but companies could have made more of an effort to bring something new to the table.
While there were a lot of fun discussions about what was in store for fans, there was really nothing new learnt about any of the pieces of content releasing soon or in the far future.
Was Great: Plenty Of s
There were a lot of great s highlighting the seasons of great shows or looking at the emotional arc of a comic book character. The variety of was actually quite astounding.
With most of them available to enjoy online it was a great way for new fans of the industry to delve in and learn a lot more about comics, video games and everything else geeky.
Wasn't Great: Missing Big Companies
Part of the appeal of Comic-Con is that there's plenty of big studios that bring huge announcements at various s. Some of the biggest franchises and brands such as DC, Marvel and Lucasfilm all sat this one out though.
DC Fandome has taken away some of the hype from SDCC and with D23 and Star Wars Celebration contributing to the other two, there really wasn't a lot for the studios to do.
Was Great: New Mutants Hype
The release of footage from New Mutants was some of the classic hype that SDCC is commonly associated. No other release really got the same excitement levels as this did.
With a really fun , fans were thrilled to learn they could watch the first few minutes of the film. It's a stunt that paid off and is still one of the most talked about moments from this year's Con.
Wasn't Great: Couldn't Enjoy The Convention
One setback was that fans couldn't enjoy the convention in the same way they normally would. People are used to being able to experience it all in person, queues and all.
Having SDCC be online just didn't capture the same spirit. It was a great alternative but not one that would probably be a replacement long term for the Con.
Was Great: Some Cool Reveals
While there were a lack of announcements there were a few cool reveals including Hawkeye for the Avengers game, the New Mutants footage, details about Rick and Morty animation.
Comic fans had a lot to delve into as well from the two major brands, so at least it was another fun event that managed to get audiences excited about a few lesser known projects.
