There are few people who would not have heard of the San Diego International Comic-Con event.
A five-day summer pop culture spectacle almost as famous as the city it inhabits, bursting with cosplayers, activations and celebrity panels.
It’s fair to assume that not many Australians have taken the nearly 17-hour flight from Sydney to actually witness the show, which has been running proudly since 1970.
I arrived in San Diego the day before and the main street, Gaslamp Quarter, was practically a ghost town.
A few hours later, on the first day of Comic-Con, that same street was filled with color, music, retro cars and delirious event attendees.
Up to 150,000 people attend Comic-Con each year, traveling from around the world to share all things entertainment.
At the heart of the first day’s action is a man holding a giant yellow and black sign that reads “Meet the God of the Bible.”
He is shouting hate speech into a megaphone, calling the audience “confused” and “depressed”.
He then begins to endorse the overthrow of Roe v. Wade and says he hopes same-sex marriage is next. There were worse statements, but it doesn’t deserve more air time.
There are a lot of people who are rightfully excited by the vile protest. They ask the police to make him leave, with one officer arguing: “I can’t, it’s his belief.”
But they needn’t have wasted their energy, because just a stone’s throw away inside the downtown convention center is an army of like-minded people who share their spirit.
As a western Sydney native who grew up in a city where wearing an NRL shirt was considered a no-brainer, I was keen to find out why Comic-Con was such a phenomenon.
Many want to be the first in the world to hear exclusive news about new shows and movies. Some wanted just a glimpse of Ozzy Osbourne, who debuted this year to promote his new comic. Others simply enjoy the opportunity to transform themselves into the characters that have added so much richness to their lives.
But everyone agreed on at least one factor.
“It’s the people, definitely, this is a community,” says Brian White of Illinois.
Brian is dressed as the almighty Thor. He traveled a whole day in his car to be here.
“It’s a very empowering costume, you just feel like you can do anything in this thing,” she adds.
“The atmosphere, the people, obviously the guys shouting hate are not part of Comic-Con.
“But there are a lot of people who just vibe and get who you are. And it’s really refreshing to be around those kinds of people.”
The gargantuan, three-level San Diego Convention Center is filled with art booths from vendors who have worked with Lucasfilm, while across the hall are major merchandise installations from the likes of Disney , Netflix and HBO.
Costumes are out of the question, down to individual colored tabs.
I see a man dressed as the Joker, who bears a striking resemblance to Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning character a The Dark Knight
His name is Jean Markus. He has traveled alone from his native country, Brazil, to be with people who appreciate his creativity.
“It took me four or five months to create this dress,” she says.
“I spent a lot of time on this. I love the crowds, I love everyone here, they’re nerds like me. People understand what I did here. The difference between here and my country is that people don’t understand (in Brazil). But here, I feel that everyone is like me and that they understand me.”
Elsewhere, there’s an elderly couple holding hands navigating the crowds with ease.
Chester Widomski, 64, who is from New York, where he lives with his wife of 24 years, Linda, 65, walks with a cane after undergoing five surgeries for back problems.
But they wouldn’t miss the triumphant return of Comic-Con after the Covid shutdown, and they’ve made it to their fourth together.
“We come for the people and their costumes,” says Chester, who is an electronics technician with dreams of designing his own game.
“I introduced it to Linda all those years ago and she’s loved it ever since.”
Outside the center, HBO has created an elaborate world of Westeros where the rumble game of thrones fans can sit on the new Iron Throne, which appears in the upcoming prequel House of the Dragonwhich premieres on Binge and Foxtel on August 22.
Waiting outside the activation is a woman named Tori Finley, who comes from Canada. She is dressed as Rhaenys Velaryon, nee Targaryen, and has created her outfit from four seconds of a HotD teaser trailer that came out earlier this year.
“Rhaenys is my favorite character in the books,” she says.
“My friend Nicole made it for me. It took almost two months to get everything sorted and matched. We didn’t have a full reference of this outfit, we just had the four-second screenshot and we made everything possible based on that.”
She added: “I’m really excited to see him House of the Dragonapparently George RR Martin is working very closely with the new showrunners. It looks amazing.”
Tori has been a mainstay at Comic-Con since 2011, only missing two years due to the Covid pandemic.
He’s had some of the best times of his life here, especially when GoT actress Sophie Turner recalled their encounter and sought out Tori in the following years.
“I’ve been very lucky, I do social work for fun and I’ve been able to meet Sophie Turner many times,” she says.
“She’s so lovely, she made time to come and see me offstage, or at screenings, and that was really special because she remembered me, which was always my favorite highlight.
“And the people you meet here. It’s just an honor to be around these people.”
All told, I spent three days navigating the chaos of Comic-Con, but it took me three minutes to feel its force.