Comic-Con Postpones In-Person Events Until 2022

As the world slowly tries to revert back into normalcy, many are longing for the days of seeing their friends and going to large in-person events. However, until vaccine distribution centers are proven to help reach the ideal percentage of a vaccinated population, many events will have to continue to postpone due to lingering concerns with COVID-19.

Recently, restaurants in some areas have allowed for inside dining. But for the most part, large-scale events such as concerts and conventions are still scheduling online events. On the official Comic-Con Twitter, the yearly convention announced it would need to keep delaying large in-person events until 2022.

In the statement, the San Diego-based convention said that due to the concern of public safety, the Spring WonderCon in Anaheim is being canceled. As an alternative, the organizers will be hosting WonderCon@Home as a free online event on March 26 and 27, 2021.

In terms of the San Diego Comic-Con scheduled for July, that is also being pushed back until 2022. San Diego Comic Convention goes into more detail by saying it is closely monitoring information given by local and national healthcare officials. While the convention is aware of the growing number of people being vaccinated and isolating, it has decided that July is still too early to hold a convention of this size safely. Comic-Con can be celebrated this year by following Comic-Con@home.

Because of the challenges of the pandemic and multiple postponements, San Diego Comic-Con is left with few financial resources. So the organizers are combining all of Comic-Con into a limited online three-day event from July 23 to 25, 2021. The convention hopes to recuperate costs and make the postponements up to the community by hosting smaller in-person events in November. San Diego Comic Convention is still trying to work out the logistics of badge costs and audience capacity, and said anyone interested should periodically check its website.

Any individuals who have purchased badges for 2021 have already been rolled over to the 2022 event, and if customers are not satisfied they can request a refund on the company website. Also, people who have rollover payments from Comic-Con 2020 should be receiving a separate email with instructions on how to approach payments for 2022, unless they would also like a refund.

The San Diego Comic Convention ends its statement by saying that this pandemic has taken an extreme toll on family and friends, and hopefully this decision helps return fan gatherings sooner. Many fans have replied, saying they are thankful for the update.

The Comic-Con Character Museum has announced the latest inductee into its Character Museum Hall of Fame, with Pac-Man being the first video game character entered.

First debuting in Japanese arcades, Pac-Man is joining the likes of Batman, who was the inaugural inductee of the museum in its inception in 2019.

2020 also marks the 40th anniversary of the character and the original game which debuted in 1980. While the original Pac-Man has been ported to dozens of home consoles, handheld consoles, and mobile devices, the character himself has been a part of many spin-offs including the Nintendo Switch mega-hit, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.