By Mike Madriaga On March 12, the Rocket Con promoters postponed their upcoming comic book, toy and collectibles show in Mission Valley, to August 1-2. Anaheim’s WonderCon — a subsidiary of Comic-Con International: San Diego — also canceled their three-day show next month with no word on a new date, “to protect public health and […]
By Mike Madriaga Every year about this time, Vinnie Wood wonders if he’ll be able to attend Comic-Con International: San Diego. He’s been attending since 1980. “I never met another homeless comic book fan,” he said on June 10, “until I met one of my best friends, [Peter S.], who took me in his home […]
“I will not spend a single moment in line at Comic-Con 2018” So said John Shand. “Never again.” It’s safe to say that most Comic-Con International: San Diego 2018 attendees will be stuck in long lines; some will sleep in 24-hour-plus lines. But not Shand. He has been attending the annual pop-culture multimedia show at […]
El Día Del Niño came 4 days early to some of the Central American kids that were part of the caravan into Tijuana last Wednesday and Thursday. Ricardo, from Chula Vista, was outside of the Movimiento Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, at about 5 p.m. on April 26. He was handing out toys to some of the […]
By Mike Madriaga “I’m burning one for George [Clayton Johnson],” said Storm, as she lit up her three-inch brass pipe filled with “Skywalker” weed. “Oh, snap,” I said, then motioned over to the security guard at the Frankenstein display next to the elevators. Storm snickered and exhaled a big cloud of smoke, simultaneously. “What are […]
Recently, a Poway thrift-store owner made what’s being called the biggest score in local comics trading history when he bought the collection of a deceased L.A.-area hoarder. “The house is an extreme case [of a] hoarder’s scenario,” Rene Nezhoda said. “Whatever you think of as much a house can be packed, that’s what it is. […]
“We don’t have a crowd size,” said Lt. D. Crubbs, “we normally do that [assessment] from a helicopter.” No Star Wars motif drones flew above either (at the Castleton Drive and Mount Abernathy Avenue cross streets in Clairemont). On July 30 at about 2:30 p.m., Crubbs, from the San Diego Police Department, was handling some […]
Mister-X has been selling bootleg videos at the Comic-Con International for 22 years now. “I made about $2000 in [the last] five days (July 19-23),” he said, “I used to make that in one day here selling VHS tapes.” Mister-X, a north-coastal San Diego resident, requested that his name be altered for the story. “I […]
On July 20-23, tattoo collectors and artists converged with 130,000 fans at the Comic-Con International: 2017 in San Diego. The San Diego Convention Center is a million-plus sq./ft. venue; during this time every summer, it is the mecca for collectors of other genres besides comic art, including horror, video game, anime, sci-fi, and old-school gaming. […]
Ricky Franco and his two sons camped out on a downtown sidewalk for the last 31 hours – they had 18 more hours left. Franco, 40, and his two sons, were the first in line at the Funko Pop Up Shop located at 448 West Market Street. At around 9 a.m. on Tuesday (July 18), […]
For many City College students, it may seem impossible to be among the other 130,000 fans inside the San Diego Convention Center on July 20-23 – do not fret though, you can still come and have fun outside of the Comic-Con. We’ve created a map to all of the hot-spots around the convention center. We […]
A fictional steampunk character from 1890 roams our campus; his name is Col. Malcolm Weatherby. Richard Ferrell is a 39-year-old San Diego Community College District Police officer that attended the Gaslight Gathering during a recent weekend — in full steampunk fashion. The steampunk term was coined in 1987 when author K.W. Jeter combined the two words […]
Escrito por Mike Madriaga para la revista Car Culture en 2016. Scroll down to view the article in English. Hace poco más de dos años presentamos un Hot Wheels, escala 1:1 que era una reproducción del casco de Darth Vader. Este vehículo causó sensación en la Comic Con, celebrada en San Diego. El 22 de […]