Like every Comic-Con, the San Diego Special Edition welcomed its attendees to come dress up as their favorite superhero or IP-specific characters. Some guests of the event take it quite seriously and work months ahead of the con to look camera-ready for the biggest event on their calendars.

Waiting in line for the confirmation of the vaccination wristband, without which you could not enter the premises of the Comic-Con, it became clear that costumes are as big of a thing as just about anything else here. The mxdwn crew was witness to some of the best and the worst costumes.

There were at least five Gandalfs, thirty Deadpools, and endless ranks of Jedis and Sith Lords attending this year’s San Diego Convention Center. Entire families dressed up together to make one big superhero cosplay come to life. Four sisters drove from Mexico to join forces to catch ghosts in their fully loaded Ghostbuster suits. Parents and their children dressed up as the X-Men or the Ninja Turtles with Master Splinter. A group of friends that cosplayed as Naruto, Itachi, and Sasuke were present as well.

Just like every year there was The Masquerade ceremony. It took on Saturday in Ball Room 20, where a panel of judges decided the best costume of the convention. It was an intellectual property lawyers’ worst nightmare.

In the more organized and quieter spaces of the second floor of the San Diego Convention Center mxdwn attended NBC’s La Brea panel. A show that was one of the channel’s biggest hits this year and has already secured funding for a second season. Actors, writers, and producers were on the panel via Zoom. When the moment of truth arrived and the panel moderator asked the screenwriters about the season finale, which aired on November 30, eager attendees were disappointed to hear the typical “You will see. It’s going to be very exciting.” When fans of the show asked on the microphone during the Q&A session about some juicy details for season two, the writers once again gave responded with a vague “Great things are coming and you guys are going to love it!”

On the other side of the hall in room 8, George R.R. Martin was on the panel through a live video feed. The legendary writer of the Game Of Thrones/ Song of Ice and Fire saga is producing the short film Night of the Cooters, a story based on the Howard Waldrop 1987 sci-fi novel. Trioscope studios will be responsible for the animation of the film “all about the time Martians attacked Pachuco, Texas”, according to Martin.

A great reason to visit one of the most iconic Comic-Cons of the world is its “How to” panels in Room 2. From early morning until late in the evening panelists who specialize in their craft give 60-minute Masterclasses from ‘How to self-publish’, to ‘How to Break into Comics and Stay’, to ‘Writing for Video-Games’, to ‘How to create your own Halo Armor’.

Most interesting and informative was Genese Davis’ panel on the ‘Video Game Industry: Forge Your Career’. Among many others, Sam Maggs, co-writer of the hit game Call of Duty: Vanguard, gave a solo panel on her career and how she broke through the barriers of being one of the few women in the gaming industry.

Lessons were learned, allegiances were forged, and the mxdwn crew went late in the afternoon down to the first floor vendors to get their hands on some exclusive merch and a highly-overpriced Issue One Wolverine (1982) by Frank Miller. Sunday was going to be the last day of a fantastic experience.