San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con), the world’s premier event of its kind, announced details of its first-ever virtual event, Comic-Con@Home.
For the first time in its 50-year history, Comic-Con organizers were forced to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel the annual celebration of comics and pop culture. Soon after the cancelation, they announced an online version to launch July 22, the official start date of the originally scheduled convention.
David Glanzer, spokesperson for the nonprofit organization, said:
We’re very excited about bringing Comic-Con online, and it couldn’t have been achieved without the help and support of so many of our usual friends, and some new ones too.
The virtual event will exist on the www.comic-con.org website which, at 9:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, will transform to Comic-Con@Home.
The redesigned Home Page will be the means by which participants can access programming, the Online Exhibit Hall, and various events and interactive elements, as each will be supported by a variety of different platforms. While programming for each day will be available on the website, Comic-Con is working again with Sched.com for those who would like to create their own daily schedule.
Joining in the fun is the Comic-Con Museum which has long planned an interactive component to their efforts. They began offering activities through Comic-Con Museum@Home earlier this summer which will continue through the Comic-Con@Home weekend and beyond.
YouTube will host over 350 panels and programs as well as the 2020 Eisner Awards. The Online Exhibit Hall, with approximately 700 exhibitors, will exist on the GoExpo by Community Brands page. And for fans of Gaming, those activities will live on the Discord platform.
DC Comics, longtime supporters of Comic-Con, will provide exceptional artwork for the official event T-shirt. The event T-shirt will be accompanied by an assortment of official Comic-Con-related and Comic-Con Museum-related merchandise available on the Merch store page on the Comic-Con website.