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San Diego Comic-Con@Home: Reactions From Home

With San Diego Comic-Con going virtual for 2020, we thought it would be fun to do a reaction show for all the exciting news, and announcements that came out of Comic-Con at Home. Come have a seat and join the party as the panel sits back and surfs the net for anything and everything from this year's San Diego Comic-Con aka Comic-Con@Home.

Breaking Good: Villain Face Turns

In the world of superhero storytelling, the villain is crucially important. While providing the hero with something to fight against they also offer a countering point-of-view to contrast against the good-natured purity of the hero. Over the years though, audiences have gotten a glimpse into the mindset of the bad guy as villains' motivations and philosophies have been explored. In some cases the audience can discover that the bad guy might not actually be all that bad. This can sometimes be the first signal for the villain to make the jump from bad guy to good guy. For today’s episode, the panel looks at when bad guys go good.

 

Changes From Panel to Screen

One of the most exciting things for comics fans is seeing their favorite characters come to life on the big or small screen. From time to time however, fans are sometimes treated to a version of the character that doesn't resemble their comic book counterparts. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending. Sometimes a change can be a welcome addition and can add a new dimension to their personality that wasn't there previously. While other times a change can mischaracterize a beloved property in the eyes of fans. In this episode, the panel will discuss some of their favorite examples where change was welcome and ones that missed the mark.

One More Issue, Please

All good things must come to an end, but do they have to come to an end so soon?  The comic industry is full of stories of a fan-favorite series coming to an abrupt end, for a multitude of reasons. You can't please everyone, but what if you could bring back your favorite defunct comic series for just one more issue? Perhaps you want to get some closure you feel you might not have gotten before. Or maybe you would just like to revisit some familiar faces one last time. So, which comic book series would you choose for one more issue? The panel will each list off their top three series choices.

Why We Love the Marvel Universe

Timely. Atlas. These are some of the names for the comic book company that would one day eventually become known as Marvel Comics: home to such beloved characters as Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and the X-Men. It was with the creation of Fantastic Four that creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby laid the foundation for the Marvel Universe, and still decades later, after secret wars, annihilations, contests of champions, and secret invasions, fans are still just as invested as they were back in 1961 when it all began. The panel will go deep into why they adore the Marvel Universe.

Why We Love the DC Universe

In 1938 Action Comics #1 debuted on comic stands and introduced the world to Superman. It was on that day, in a sense, that the DC Universe was born. The same universe that would become home to later creations like Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and many others. Over the course of 82 years, readers have been enthralled by the silver age, the inclusion of the Charlton library of characters, crises, zero hours, and deaths and returns of fallen heroes. It is in that spirit that the panel delves into why they are in love with the DC Universe.

Spotlight: Dick Tracy

Now, audiences can find any number of superhero movies released per year, but before their relatively recent boom in theatres, superhero movies were a rare occurrence. Often, a sort of quasi-superhero movie would come around, but instead of showcasing a popular comic book property they would focus on characters that originated in pulp magazines or newspaper comic strips. That's exactly the climate in which the film Dick Tracy was produced. Supremely popular in its day, but often a forgotten precursor to the modern comic book feature. Warren Beatty directs and stars as the beloved yellow-trench-coat-clad detective who always got his man. To celebrate the film's 30th Anniversary the panel takes a look back at the 1990 movie, Dick Tracy.

To Be Continued, Or Not To Be Continued?

That is the question. There are many ways to categorize types of storytelling, but one way is serialized versus episodic. One strings together multiple installments to tell a larger tale where the other utilizes a single installment to tell a single story, sometimes called a one and done.  Both can create for an  immensely satisfying experience but both also have advantages and disadvantages and of course the panel has opinions about which they prefer, serialized or episodic stories. 

Superhero Staying Power?

Disco. Westerns. There are many examples of things that were once popular that have since died out. The question is, are we in the middle of one of those scenarios as we speak? Thanks to their incredible success at the box-office, today superheroes are as popular as they have ever been. Whether its kids or adults, women or men, everyone seems to enjoy stories of a mild-mannered somebody learning that great responsibility comes along with the great powers. But is it possible that the day will come for the popular concept of superheroes to end? Might we see its prevalence be replaced by something new? The panel takes a look at whether or not the superhero is sustainable.

Untapped Potential in Pop Culture

How many times have you read a comic or watched a show and encountered something that made you think, ”this is such a great idea, why don’t they do more with this?" What properties exist out there that could be huge if only given the opportunity? Every fanboy and fangirl has their list of movies or shows they would like to see made about some property they love that just can’t seem to make the jump into another media. In this episode, the panel opens up about which properties they think have unmined potential.