San Diego's Comic-Con Museum

Armed with our 1/2 off Museum Month Pass, we headed back to San Diego to learn about Comic-Con at its newly re-opened museum.

This unique conference began in 1970 when a small group of comics, movie and science fiction fans, from San Diego, put on an event attended by just 300 people. Since then, Comic-Con has grown into a global phenomenon and is widely recognized as the premier pop culture convention in the world.
The vision of the Comic-Con Museum is to:
  • Thrive as a world-class attraction and gateway to popular art, culture, and life-long learning for San Diego residents and visiting tourists.
  • Serve as a pop culture focal point, enhancing the ways San Diego celebrates its unique place in the popular culture landscape.
  • Enhance the economic strength of the community.
  • Become a sustainable model for equitable and environmentally-sound community service through our practices and offerings.
Not knowing exactly what to expect, we were delighted to spend the afternoon with some old friends. Puck Man's name changed to the familiar (and more likeable) Pac-Man. How many hours did you play this addictive game? In 1980, the Japanese arcade game manufacturer Namco Limited introduced the world to Pac-Man.
The lead designer was Iwatani Tohru, who intended to create a game that did not emphasize violence. By paying careful attention to themes, design, and colors, Iwatani hoped that Namco could market an arcade game that would appeal to females. The game concept was therefore inspired by food and eating, as opposed to the shooting of space aliens and other foes that prevailed in most arcade games of the time. Remember this was 42 years ago! We've come a long way, baby!
Pac-Man quickly became an international sensation, with more than 100,000 consoles sold in the United States alone, easily making it the most successful arcade game in history. When players learned that the ghosts moved in patterns, they became obsessed with devising precise routes for Pac-Man to follow. Yet this apparent predictability was offset by the sheer number of levels (256), which added immense complexity to the quest for the perfect game. Okay, I never knew there were strategies. I just loved the sounds and pretty colors. After being able to play for free and for as long as I wanted, I realized how much I missed the central character, resembling a small pizza with a slice cut out for the mouth. Ah, youth!

This exhibit blew us away. Cardboard Superheroes, a non-profit that promotes the arts in education, was founded by Connor (age 17) and Bauer (age 14). These kids have been building their collection of superheroes since elementary school and have now expanded their creations tenfold. From R2D2 to Hulkbuster they bring you their team of superheroes. Made out of cardboard. They really must be seen. WOWZERS!


The most comprehensive of the exhibits was the one on Gene Roddenberry. It was not just Star Trek but his entire life history. If you don't know it, I highly recommend you do some research. That guy!
Mr. Roddenberry said of his creation, "Star Trek speaks to some basic human needs, that there is a tomorrow - it's not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans."

On display was his pilot script, for Star Trek, which was rejected numerous times. He found his place at Desilu Productions. I had no idea!
How many of these Lexoriter word processors (with integrated monitor) could possibly still be around? Mr. Roddenberry used this one to compose scripts for Star Trek: Next Generation.

Neither of us have a connection to Archie and his friends but Archie and Comic-Con International have had a long and fruitful association. Archie Comics sets up a booth on the convention floor each year. Many key creators have attended and been honored as part of the annual festivities, and a number of comic stories over the years have seen Archie and the gang make pilgrimages to San Diego to experience the excitement of Comic-Con for themselves. Who knew?
I thought this Batman: Black and White statue. It is one of a celebration of Batman as seen through the lens of different artists in just two colors - black and white. The design of this statue comes from the iconic cover of Batman #423, drawn by comics superstar (and creator of Spawn) Todd McFarlane for the 100th statue in the Batman: Black & White series.
These amazing outfits are winners from the Comic-Con Masquerade, a series of costume presentations with a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies, a panel of guest judges, prestigious awards, including a Comic-Con Masquerade Medallion, and generous cash prizes too. The event takes place every year during Comic-Con. Masquerade is a celebration of creativity, capturing the persona of the character, creating a sense of story or mood, and bringing a favorite or original character to life before our eyes. That I would love to see!
Excitedly, we were introduced to Charles Addams (creator of one of our favorite childhood TV shows, The Addams Family). I never knew he was more than that. Described here as "Ghoulish, macabre, gruesome, demonic, sinister, grisly, dark, depraved, malevolent, bizarre, eerie and weird have all been used to describe his work and the characters therein." I knew there was a reason I liked him.
"Adorable, sweet, charming, humorous, enchanting, tender and captivating are adjectives used to describe the same body of work which spans nearly sixty years of published drawings. Likewise, these same words have been repeated in characterization of this extraordinary artist and man whose gift was the ability to enjoin such dichotomies." I fell for him hard after seeing this, his Self-Portrait. Hysterical.
I chuckled at this until I saw the poor unicorn's face. This is the real reason there are no unicorns.
Our last stop was to play about in the Cosplay Creator's Lab! For those who don't know, cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game.
The art of cosplay and costuming is an important part of Comic-Con. Cosplay empowers an individual to take on another persona and to express themselves in a way that they might not otherwise. As with most artforms, it spans the gamut of imagination, sometimes focusing on faithfully recreating, other times creating something never before seen. Some designs can take years to build and include intricate mechanics, robotics, cooling systems, electrical wiring, and other elements to make them both realistic and functional. Cosplay provides an opportunity for community-building, and those who are passionate about it enjoy coming together with like-minded individuals in celebration of what inspires them.

The Cosplay Creator's Lab will be a space where individuals of all skill levels can come together to find inspiration, learn, collaborate, and create. It is a place where experienced or beginning level cosplay creators can start a new project or complete an existing one while learning new skills that can translate into a new hobby or a new career path. How fun will that be?

We were happy to have had the opportunity to experience the Comic-Con Museum. It is a younger person's place, to be certain, but fun none-the-less.
And now a little history about the structure in which the Museum exists. The Federal Building, constructed in 1935, originally served as a hall to house U.S. Government Exhibits during the California Pacific International Exposition, the second of Balboa Park’s two major Expos. The building was always meant to be a permanent fixture with visions of it converting to a civic theater, or a convention center for the City of San Diego.

Serving a variety of roles over the decades—from Naval Barracks, for 1,400 men during World War II, to Badminton Headquarters—the building was modernized in the mid-1990s to house the Hall of Champions, a multi-sport museum, that operated inside the building until June 2017.

Although the building itself is not listed as a historic structure, it, and more specifically its front façade, are considered a part of the National Historic Landmark and National Historic Landmark District status granted to Balboa Park in 1977.

“It isn't all over; everything has not been invented;
the human adventure is just beginning.”
― Gene Roddenberry

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