The Kung Fu of Comic Cons – San Diego Comic-Con 2024

By Patrick Lugo and Gene Ching

Twenty-twenty-four marked the return of the beloved mega-fan gathering San Diego Comic-Con to nearly normal numbers. Last year, attendance was down due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. It prevented celebrities from attending, a huge attraction. And the year prior, the world was still recovering from the pandemic. This year, attendance was healthy, and the surprise celebrities were in full force including Robert Downey Jr., Harrison Ford, Chris Evans, Jennifer Garner, Mark Hamill, Louis Tan, Wesley Snipes and many more, delighting fans with selfies and autographs.

It also marked the return of KungFuMagazine.com’s intrepid con reporting team of Senior Graphic Designer Patrick Lugo and Publisher Gene Ching. This dynamic duo first began covering cons together for KFM at WonderCon some 13 years ago, back when it was in San Francisco. At that epic start, they secured an exclusive interview from a fresh ingénue Saoirse Ronan, who was virtually unknown at the time (see Hanna: The Girl Who Kicked Ass). San Diego Comic-Con 2024 marks the first time they’ve covered a con together since the pandemic.

The convention we now call San Diego Comic-Con was founded in 1970 by Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Ron Graf, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, and Greg Bear. The initial comic book and sci-fi club meetings was held at Krueger's Alert Books in Ocean Beach. After that initial gathering, Dorf's first three-day San Diego comic convention, the San Diego Golden State Comic-Con, attracted 300 people to the U.S. Grant Hotel basement on August 1–3, 1970. Those first few Comic-Cons operated under the name San Diego West Coast Comic Convention until 1973, when it changed to San Diego Comic-Con. It wasn’t until 1991 that the event moved to the San Diego Convention Center. I first attended in 1993, taking a greyhound bus to San Diego from where I was staying in Arizona that summer.

Preparations for the event typically begin well in advance of that Wednesday’s Preview Night. As SDCC approached, we skipped Marvel’s DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (2024) press screener on Tuesday July 23rd that we were invited to back home. That was the night before SDCC’s preview night. It would have been a glorious thing to catch that movie before the convention; but it required a hastily written review in time for release that Friday. That review would have made a nice end-cap to our coverage of DEADPOOL, DEADPOOL 2 as well THE WOLVERINE, but in all honesty it’s doubtful any readers here would’ve been waiting on our opinion for deciding whether they would going to theaters that weekend. The movie certainly did well enough without our input.

Our various trips down to San Diego were absurd enough.

Wednesday - Preview Night

The flight from Oakland to San Diego was booked for 9:30 am. In theory, this would leave enough time to land, drop luggage off at our home-base, trek to the convention center to acquire press credentials and still have enough time to attend some of the local events hosted outside of the Convention Center. That flight, however, was delayed until noon of that same day. Having just missed the chance to switch to the 8:30 flight, the next available plane was set to depart at 11:30am. At least that one was on time. After checking-in luggage and breezing through security, I decided my time would be better spent walking the dog along the local coast, rather than sitting in a crowded airport terminal.

The unforeseen drawback was the performance of late morning security theater. My second passage through TSA screening was not nearly as effortless as earlier and a big deal was made of sequestering my carry-on computer bag. It turned out some overzealous screeners flagged my bag for the presence of custom-branded rubber Shuriken contained within.

Having transitioned from a member of the TC Media in-house art department to a fully independent freelance illustrator / Comic Creator meant attending this convention was also a chance to “step-up” my personal S.W.A.G. game with such give-away items. The extra time spent waiting for agents to dig through my bag, pull out each ninja star and confirm that they indeed were rubber and bendy, did not negatively impact the catching of my flight. But it spotlighted the arbitrary nature of this security screening. If they were actual weapons I’d have gotten them through security with no problem just a couple of hours earlier. What use would they have been had I truly harbored malicious intent? I’m still not sure - though the whole matter resulted in a few bent business cards.

The later arrival left little time for attending any panels. Instead the afternoon was comprised of the walk from Cortez Hill down to the convention center. Despite the availability of google street view movement into and through an unfamiliar city calls to mind a martial artist’s ongoing contemplation of practical street-level self-defense. There’s nothing quite like the pervasive scent of urine to make one particularly aware of potential hazards posed by loud and aggressive members of a city’s indigent population. Having lived many years in California’s legendarily dangerous Bay Area city Oakland, one develops an instinct for distinguishing “good” blocks from bad. In this case, the use of all of one’s senses is key. Earbuds are best left in one’s pocket in such cases, the afternoon walk both saves money and affords one the chance to scope out routes and blind corners in the light of day.

At the convention center the crowds were massive. Preview night is typically reserved for the 1000 vendors and professionals who are allowed early access to the 460,000 square foot convention floor; after having spent that day setting up. Even amidst such exclusive access the crowds were already rumored to be approaching 100K. Casual conversation would estimate the convention’s crowd peaking at an unverified 170,000 people in attendance. While many of the surrounding features, activations & rides (ferris wheel and all) would not be active until the following morning, there was plenty of eye candy to behold throughout the city’s historic Gaslamp district. With an official badge in possession, the SDCC shuttle service was an option for that evening’s return.

The nearest drop-off location was still a five block walk back to base. On that first night it made for a paranoid ten minutes of walking beneath freeway on-ramps, poorly lit streets, avoiding rubbish and skirting a park which clearly also functioned as campsite for those with no place else to go. While a brace of actual shuriken might have been a comfort at that time a stainless-steel water can had to do instead. Arriving well after dark and having memorized two of the three security codes needed for entry had me at our 3rd floor walk-up free of incident.

Thursday – Doors Open

While the majority of Thursday would comprise a series of comic-career development panels and in-person meet-ups with colleagues who’d only been online friends up until that point, the day began with a panel sure to be of interest to readers of KFM: The Ronda Rousey Kickstarter launch. Ronda Rousey’s Comic Debut with AWA was dubbed as an action-packed, candid conversation between UFC and WWE champion, former Judoka, and actress Ronda Rousey and actor/producer and former WWE superstar Dave Bautista. There they would discuss Ronda’s debut graphic novel Expecting the Unexpected and their journeys after stepping out of the ring. Eisner Award–winning artist and Karateka Mike Deodato, Jr., as well as AWA chief creative officer Axel Alonso also joined in to celebrate the book’s Kickstarter launch and the innovative creative process behind this project.

Expecting the Unexpected is a 160-page graphic novel featuring a hit-woman codename: “Mom.” With a fake baby bump filled with guns, she’s built a reputation as one of the deadliest hitwomen on the planet. But on the verge of her big break in the criminal underworld, Mom makes a fateful decision: sleeping with a potential target (who just so happens to be a top-ranked assassin himself). A few weeks later, Mom finds that her codename is about to become a lot more literal. What follows is a wild mashup of action, adventure, comedy, and romance as a newly pregnant Mom with a bounty on her head fights off wave after wave of assassins, falls in love with her baby daddy, and decides how to face her personal and professional predicament.

Written with her thumbs on her phone in a single 12-hour session, Expecting the Unexpected claims to set a new bar for the authenticity of fight scenes. The unique creative process developed by Rousey, Deodato, and AWA amounts to Rousey filming her fight scene with a partner then sending that footage to Deodato, an artist renowned for a style that seems to use Muscle & Fitness magazine reference to inform his high-contrast drawings of extremely muscular heroes.

The Kickstarter campaign went live in time with the beginning of this panel, yet 30 minutes into the event there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between the more than 300 people attending and the campaign’s 107 backers. Rousey professed a deep love for comics, stating she’d found her true passion at last. But as is common with many people entering comics after having achieved fame elsewhere, this project started as a pitch for a movie. Creators steeped in the comics industry have a term for this – the Maybe-Movie-Model. Many a small company has been launched and collapsed around this method of I.P. generation, but Rousey’s fame is enough to ensure the campaign’s success. The project is still live on Kickstarter and approaching 300% of its initial funding goal - congratulations!

I arrived after Patrick just in time for the Power Saber Activation, a private party hosted by one of my freelance outlets Den of Geek. The Power Saber is the prototype of a new kind of lightsaber, one that fully auto-extends and retracts with the touch of a button. They claim you can spar with it, but I’ve broken so many lightsabers in my life, I’m skeptical. Nevertheless, it’s cool for what it is.

Den of Geek throws some of the funnest parties at SDCC*. Fully catered with delicious healthy appetizers, partygoers were all given a new Power Saber, courtesy of its developer, Goliath. Den of Geek let me bring a few guests: Patrick of course, two of my Kung Fu brothers, TCEC Dragon Crew member Keith White, Ron Raymundo (Paper Tigers, 2020) and his girlfriend Marion Buan, plus my cousin, Disney sculptor Bruce Lau. Sadly, even though we had a great night, this was Bruce’s only appearance in this story, but the others shall return.

The Den of Geek Power Saber activation party was divisive. Everyone had to choose between green (light side) or red (dark side) blades. Even the drinks were separatist – green Light Side (vodka, melon liqueur, apricot, lemon) and red Dark Side (whiskey, cherry Heering, blood orange scrub, lemon). Anyone who knows Patrick and me, knows which colors we sided with, but if you really know either of us, you’d have figured out who’s who by the red and green text already.

Not only does the Darkside have cookies, it also has strong cocktails. I was blissed out over my new lightsaber and had no significant responsibilities the next morning. Consequently, I had way too many of those Dark Sides. Those were strong pours. Once again, SDCC tests my zuiquan. It was a wonderful, force-full party that sparked the like a dropping some missiles down the thermal exhaust port, lighting up the weekend like an exploding Death Star.

Later that night, we ended up at the welcome party hosted by the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund talking to Gene Luen Yang. I should’ve attended the 27th Annual San Diego Comic-Con Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza. It’s a testament to Ric Meyers endurance to have hosted this so long. Among his guests this year was Frank Djeng (Enter the Clones of Bruce, 2024) and it would have been wonderful to reconnect, but it’s easy to miss someone at SDCC. It’s so ginormous and the schedules are packed, especially if you’re working it. And it was great to reconnect with Gene again. We Genes stick together.

*I know ‘funnest’ is not a word, it’s a private joke between me and one of my Den of Geek cohorts that I could not resist dropping here.

Friday – Female Wrestlers, Fire, and Filipino Martial Arts

Last year, I did some work for some of my post-pandemic freelance outlets: Den of Geek and Immortal Studios. I touched base with a few friends from both places this year, but I was only beholden to KungFuMagazine.com. And with Patrick there, I knew Comic-con was his world, more so than mine, and that he’d suss out plenty of stories. He’s got two coming soon.

We split up on Friday morning to pursue different quests. I failed at my first two.

My first was personal. I missed 70 Years of Godzilla: A Nostalgic Journey panel because I misread the floor map and ended up on the wrong side of the convention center. By the time I worked my way back to where I was supposed to be, the room was full and there were 300 more waiting outside. But this was personal. If I worked at it, I could make a Godzilla Kung Fu connection, but truthfully, I’m a fan of the franchise and went out of personal fandom. The miss made me feel slow on the draw, despite my iaido practice.

I picked up the pace, but still missed one of the key panels I was aiming for - Prime Video: Like a Dragon: Yakuza. Based on SEGA’s iconic videogame, the show promises to be a martial arts extravaganza, interpreted for live action. This is exactly the type of panel I came to SDCC for, but I lost track of time and got there too late. Shut out again.

I was bummed because buzz coming out of the panel was good. Prime Video dropped a teaser trailer, like so many do at SDCC panels, so all I can do is share it here:

Patrick and I tag-teamed in time for a presentation on WOW (Women of Wrestling). Before you get judgey, I confess it was my idea. WOW is connected to GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) through promoter David McLane. By chance, I was at one of the very first GLOW events, live in Las Vegas. Some Casino barker just called us in because they needed people to sit in the audience for some matches. I’d like to say that I knew about the McLane connection and that’s what drew me in, but honestly it was idle curiosity. And wow. It was a great.

The panel was fascinating for so many unexpected reasons. WOW is Co-owned and Co-Founded by Jeanie Buss. Buss is the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers. She was a remarkable speaker and her discussion of how her company showcasing female athletes was thoughtful and inspiring. Accompanying Buss was WOW superhero Genesis, an Australian who is famous for her Nunchuks. Sadly, she left her Nunchuks behind because she didn’t want TSA to confiscate them. Those are harder transport than rubber shuriken.

By chance, we bumped into Mike Nguyen, who knew us from the wulin. We were both headed to the Crunchyroll concert featuring LiSA. Opening for her was Alice Longyu Gao, who was a revelation. A Chinese singer, DJ, and harpist, xe is a proponent of hyperpop, a style of music that exaggerates pop (and xe is not a misspelling - Gao uses xe/xem/xyr neopronouns). As we watched the spectacle, a plume of dark smoke rose from the Gaslamp district. It was foreboding.

A three-alarm kitchen fire started in a nearby steakhouse caused the evacuation of around 1200 attendees of an "Iceberg Lounge" promotional event for the HBO series THE PENGUIN in the Gaslamp. Not to be confused with a burnt-toast incident which briefly interrupted Friday morning activities.

The only event of the convention which matched the search term ‘Martial Arts’ was Camera, Culture, and Combat: Unveiling Filipino Martial Arts Legacy in Comics, Film, and Television. This spotlight on Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) not only delivered a comprehensive overview of the martial art, it spotlighted Filipino contributions throughout Comics Publishing history. Panelists included Aiodhan M Cochrane (HEMA world champion Dussack), Paul Rosales (veteran, Jun and Paul Show), Sachi Villareal (Lightning Alliance), Arlene Pinpin Stevens (veteran, cybersecurity professional), Ron Balicki (fight coordinator, stunts, martial art trainer), and Steven Barnes (writer, TWILIGHT ZONE). It was moderated by Julius Vladimir Francisco.

I was knocked out by the FMA panel. It connected a lot of dots for me. I learned so much. Hearing these experts tell their stories was a revelation and earned a new respect from me for the contribution of FMA, a lot in the wake of the cinematic impact of Grandmaster Danny Inosanto. Notably, Ron’s wife is Guru Inosanto’s daughter and was my castmate from Man at Arms: Art of War, Diana Lee Inosanto. I had not seen her since we filmed the show, and she’s had such success in that time. She’s brought martial arts to the Star Wars galaxy once more with her portrayal of Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth, and it was fun to congratulate her on that.

As a side note, this panel asked some movie trivia questions for prizes. It was no surprise to me when I saw the first winner, my Kung Fu brother Ron, rising from the other side of the hall to accept his award. Marion said he had to bite his tongue for the rest of the questions because he knew the answers but didn’t want to hog all the prizes.

Among the panelists, author and former columnist for Black Belt magazine Steven Barnes was kind enough to chat after the panel ended. We had a wide-ranging conversation in a short amount of time, he shared several nuggets of wisdom for martial artists and creators alike. “The discipline of becoming excellent at anything leads itself to being excellent at other things. You know, to paraphrase Musashi Miyamoto, ‘know one thing, know 10,000 things”. Also it's the idea of leveraging your knowledge or visibility in one arena into another.”

He went further into his Magic formula for success in any field. That’s M.A.G.I.C. for Mentor (or Map/Model), Action, Gratitude, Intention and Core. The most interesting concept in the bunch as it connects the endeavor - excellence in writing or martial arts with the core of one’s being. “Your feeling needs to be that the actions you are taking are in alignment with your core being, that if you were a billionaire, you'd do this anyway” He wrote a whole book on the topic titled The Magic Formula and also had more to say on the Filipino Martial Arts’ recent rise to prominence. “I think that if you take a look at the evolution of martial arts in popular culture, it started with Jujitsu during vaudeville times, there were troops that would tour throwing each other around and after jujitsu was Judo in the fifties. In the sixties, it was Karate and in the seventies it was Kung Fu. and then it was Ninjitsu, you know. Somewhere in there, the Filipino Martial Arts are having their time along with mixed martial arts. You know it has been used so many times, in the JASON BOURNE movies and, you know, in DUNE, James Bond and so forth.” Mr. Barnes had a lot more to share so watch for a future conversation with him as well.

Saturday - An Exclusive Interview, Hall H, and a Shaolin Flashback

Saturday was one of the great coups of SDCC, a one-on-one interview Gene Luen Yang – watch for that interview to hit KFM in the very near future.

I was on a different mission, another personal one - to make the Star Trek Universe panel in Hall H. For anyone who has never been to SDCC, Hall H is the biggest panel room. It seats 6500. All the major announcements and big celebrity surprises happen in Hall H. Attendees camp out to get in.

I got there first thing in the morning, and the tail of the line was already snaking around the convention center, across the street, down the causeway, past the concert arena where I saw Alice Longyu Gao last night. My Kung Fu brother Keith joined me for the long wait in the hot sun.

After a few hours, we got in for the end of the Superman and Lois panel, which I haven’t watched but might after seeing this panel. Then the next panel was a delightful surprise. I had not realized that BRZRKR The Immortal Saga Unleashed was Keanu Reeves’ new comic. Seeing Keanu in person was an unexpected treat. There, he was surprised by Comic-con, who presented him with the coveted Inkpot Award. Comic-Con has given out the Inkpot Award every year since 1974. Junji Ito, the famed horror manga artist who I discovered for the first-time last year at SDCC, was a 2023 recipient.

The Star Trek Universe panel was a quartet focusing on its four active franchises, STRANGE NEW WORLDS, LOWER DECKS, and the upcoming series STARFLEET ACADEMY, plus the upcoming series SECTION 31, starring Michelle Yeoh (she did not appear because she was in Paris for the Olympics.). Keith and I were interviewed outside of the panel along with many of the audience. Being an interviewer, I had a good idea of just what to say to make the cut. You can see us at the 1:15 mark below.

Shaolin Flashback

Just prior to SDCC, I was at Shaolin Temple for the World Shaolin Kung Fu Games. Going from Dengfeng to San Diego was extreme cultural whiplash. I packed my long robe, thinking I might don it for some SDCC cosplay. Everyone was wearing robes at Shaolin, and I was feeling some FOMO, but I balked at the last moment. It wasn’t right. Donning Shaolin robes is an act of devotion, and my Shaolin trip left me with so much to ruminate upon about my practice that it just felt wrong.

Nevertheless, Shaolin never lets me go. My last Shaolin master, Shi Yantuo, saw one of my SDCC posts on Instagram and by Shaolin coincidence (Shaolin yuanfen 緣分), he was in San Diego too. He had a school in San Diego after he left the Bay Area, but then moved north to establish a school in Redmond, Washington. He returns to San Diego to train his old students there and just happened to be in town for the weekend. We got together for dinner in Little Italy.

I had not seen him in eight years. We had gotten together in Little Italy then too. We were visiting my daughter who was starting up at UCSD. It was a delightful reunion. I made a lot of progress under Yantuo’s tutelage and am grateful for those few years I was studying with him.

After that, I returned to Comic-con joined Mike, Ron and Marion at another Crunchyroll concert, the San Diego Symphony celebrating the 25th Anniversary of One Piece. Then I caught up to Patrick, who was doing some professional networking in the infamous SDCC after hours bar scene.

“Bar-Con: is not an official event. Instead, it’s a colloquialism for the various get-togethers which take place outside the convention center, after hours. Nearby hotels not only host their own after-hours events but become easily located landmarks for meet-ups and ‘business’ meetings.

It was at one such bar where word of Marvel Studio’s RDJ announcement made the rounds. One hopes Robert Downey Jr. is up to the task of portraying Dr. Doom since the best cinematic adaptation of the character remains James Earl Jones/David Prowse‘s portrayal of Darth Vader in STAR WARS (1977).

Sunday - Last Day

On Sunday, I trekkied out again at the STAR TREK: PRODIGY panel. I was eager to see Kate Mulgrew, and Kate was great. She spoke eloquently and intelligently about Trek with the savvy of a veteran of the franchise, knowing just what to say to get the crowd to applaud.

After that, I finally caught an Armored Combat demonstration from Kingdom of Terre Neuve. There were demos happening every day from them and the SCA, full armor fights outdoors in the blazing San Diego summer heat. Fighting whilst wearing some 70 pounds of armor is no small feat. I enjoyed watching them work it and admired their fortitude. One of the fighters let me check out his sword, which although blunt, was formidably heavy.

There was a Feng Shui Master but neither of us caught that, being adequately versed on the topic thanks to years of Kung Fu Horoscopes, as well as working at Tiger Claw that observed various feng shui endeavors. Instead, there was time spent walking a less crowded Artist’s Alley and convention floor, plus, a brief round with the new John Wick pinball game.

As the long eventful weekend ended, it was such a joy to reunite with so many old friends, to make some new ones, and to work with Patrick again for more than just a screener. I didn’t get that many souvenirs. I got so much of that kind of stuff already and I didn’t care to carry it. Maybe that’s Shaolin immaterialism but it’s more about walking. I logged well over 30 miles of walking that weekend, which is about the same that I’d do working a music festival, but the crowd is different. I’ve been in the music industry for 37 years now and those fans have a rhythm. They walk in tune to the downbeat. SDCC fans are arrhythmic. You never know what’s jamming the crowd flow. A baby carriage? A cool cosplay? A wheelchair or walker? Maybe it’s a celebrity on the floor. Whatever it is, SDCC crowds are thick. But they’re generous, joyful, polite, and grateful for the magic that SDCC can be.

I was amused with a pair of STAR TREK: PRODIGY sunglasses. My wife said they didn’t look like macho Trekkie gear, but I’m no Kirk or Riker. I was also pleased with my new Power Saber. But after walking those miles of isles, I’d trade it in for a functional Bacta tank in a heartbeat.

Eric Nakamura, co-founder of Giant Robot. Gene wrote for them in the past.

Mike Lera, a former contributor to Kung Fu Tai Chi who now writes in the horror genre.

David Avallone and Rylend Grant, hosts of the award-winning podcast Writers Block, where Gene was a guest two years ago.

About author:

Patrick Lugo is a freelance author, illustrator & comic creator who regularly consults on comic related Crowdfunding campaigns when not running a campaign of his own. His latest crowdfunded graphic novel A Tiger’s Tale Volume 2 is currently shipping to fans and will be available for purchase online at aTigersTale.com - if you’d like free comics sent right to your inbox you can also subscribe to PLUGOarts.com.

Gene Ching is the Publisher of KungFuMagazine.com and the author of Shaolin Trips.

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