San Diego Comic-Con 2023 Recap

Hello Skkawliens! As our team is gearing up for San Diego Comic-Con 2024 this week, I wanted to share some of the epic moments I had from SDCC 2023. These conventions go by so fast, and last year’s was no exception. So many things happened between now and then that I wasn’t able to share my SDCC experiences here sooner. But I’m very happy to share my experiences with everyone here now. So check out my amazing encounters in this San Diego Comic-Con 2023 Recap!

SDCC 2023 Day 1: Meeting Whilce Portacio (again!), X-Men, and Meeeeeeerch

Arriving early to the SDCC showfloor, I was super excited to meet the legendary comic artist and writer Whilce Portacio again. I’ve been really lucky to have met Whilce in previous Comic-Cons. I grew up reading his comic books – his amazing artwork has captivated my imagination since I was kid. He’s been an inspiration to me growing up because there weren’t many other Filipino / Filipino-American comic artists and writers doing work for Marvel/DC then. It was just so nice I got to spend some time to chat with him about his work, the motherland, and his being an inspiration to me. It meant a lot. Man, this is what Comic-Con is for! After that, I enjoyed the show floor wearing my 90’s X-men themed shirt with a huge smile on my face. What a way to start the week!

SDCC 2023 Day 2: Lines, lines, lines!, Peach Momoko, and epic Marvel cosplay encounters

Day 2 was a thing. Wow, the lines were, well, LINES. Because I was able to get in line early, I was able to meet the super popular comic artist Peach Momoko. Her work was popping at SDCC 2023. Everyone wanted to get a copy of here Baby Yoda covers for The Mandalorian comic book. She was very kind and gracious. I’m super thankful to Justinwordsmith for getting us in early so I could meet her! After that I headed to the Marvel booth and met some epic cosplyers. My favorites were the Spider-punk by @victorzlatkus and the cyclops by @hellspawned_cosplay.

SDCC 2023 Day 3: Celebrity meet-up, and comic artist spotlight

Day 3 was a bit more chill in comparison to Day 2. This time we were able to meet Patton Oswalt at his comic book signing event for Minor Threats, which Patton co-authors with Jordan Blum. I also meet the super talented Agnes Garbowska and was able to get an original Spider-punk art from her. Her on-the-spot watercolor work is next level. Plus, she’s such a kind and warm person. Highly recommend you check her work out! Lastly, I got Jeffrey Brown to do a custom Mando and Grogu cover for my Star Wars #1 comic. If you aren’t aware, he just published a Children’s book titled The Mandalorian and Child. Huge Mando fan here, and big fan of his work. This is the way!

SDCC 2023 Day 4: Super Saiyan Pop-ups, Voltes V cast, Lumpia with a Vengeance

For Day 4, I wanted to try and explore some of the SDCC offsites. Offsites are pop-up locations outside the convention, open to the public, and often having a lot of free giveaways and fun experiences. I wandered off to the Dragonball Z offsite, and got my Super Saiyan on! Later that day, I was able to meet Stan Sakai, comic creator of Usagi Yojimbo and the cast of real-life anime-inspired show Voltes V Legacy at the Dogu Publishing booth. The Voltes V Legacy is inspired from Voltes V, a Japanese anime I grew up watching back home. It was cool to meet the cast since they’re all based in the Philippines, and the actors flew in to Comic-con for the event. Super fun stuff. I also had to drop by the Lumpia with a Vengeance crew to say hello. There’s always something fun happening with the Lumpia crew!

SDCC 2023 Day 5: Ending the Con with Great Experiences and New Friends

Day 5 is always the most “relaxing” of all the days. That day, I chose to enjoy the pop-up experiences inside the Con, like riding a Star Wars Outlaws motorbike. I got to meet Bill Morrison, the artist behind Futurama! as well as one of my favorite comic artists, Manuel Martinez. His ink work, and art style are original and iconic. Definitely made me happy, so check them out. I spent most of Day 5 hanging with new Con friends, and of course my good buddy Justinwordsmith. Wow, Comic-Con went by so fast!

All the rest of it is history! Thanks so much for joining my adventures at Comic-Con! Super excited for SDCC 2024. On behalf of the SKKAW.BLOG team, thanks for reading this San Diego Comic-Con 2023 Recap!

UPDATE: Read about our SDCC 2024 Adventures on Preview Night here and Day 2 here!!

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