San Diego Comic-Con 2020 is officially underway, but for the first time ever, the pop culture convention is happening entirely online.
Comic-Con@Home launched Wednesday and features hundreds of panels as well as interactive opportunities for fans.
"One of the important things for Comic-Con really is not just art and education, but community," said Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer. "This was our attempt at trying to be involved with the community, and hopefully as crazy as things are, for four-and-a-half days, for five days out of the summer we can enjoy Comic-Con and not just stare at the four walls in our living room.”
One of the ways fans are encouraged to interact is by creating their own mini Comic-Cons at home, using printable signs, audio tracks and video clips available through the website. Fans can even download an official Comic-Con@Home badge.
They're then encouraged to share photos and videos of their creations on social media, using the hashtag #ComicConAtHomeExperience.
"I just wanted to capture a little bit of that Convention Center spirit, that vibe, that whole Comic-Con scene, and put it into 1200 square feet,” said Andrew Wagner, a Comic-Con fan from El Cajon.
For his video, he enlisted his family's help to reenact some classic Comic-Con moments.
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“My wife was the volunteer telling everybody where to go. We had my nephews as just the regular attendees. My one nephew was the concession worker charging $10 for a can of Coke,” Wagner said.
They even stood in line, because "Comic-Con isn’t Comic-Con without lines."
Mimi Guarnero has stood in a lot of those lines.
“Even the line of the line of the line of the line to go to something important is really special," Guarnero said.
Guarnero flies out to San Diego every year from Monterrey, Mexico.
She said she can picture exactly where everything is in the Convention Center, which came in handy for her #ComicConAtHomeExperience.
Guarnero, who is a graphic designer, used the game Animal Crossing to digitally recreate the Convention Center.
"Where the Exhibit Hall is, and where the Funko booth is and where the Cartoon Network is,” she said.
She even included the people camped out on the sidewalk, like Suzana Nature, who makes the 40-hour, three-flight trip to Comic-Con every year from Brazil.
“I really like the idea that I can feel at home," Nature said. "It’s a completely different city, it’s a completely different country, a lot of people that I have no idea who they are, but it’s like home."
She's hoping to continue that homey feeling this week from her home, while engaging with her fellow fans online.
“I’m gonna try to enjoy it the best as if I was there,” she said.
