As you may know, the 2020 Comic-Con International won't be happening in San Diego. It'll be taking place on your computer or cellphone. There will be a badge you can print out and wear if that will make the event seem more real to you. Maybe you can find some security person in a t-shirt who thinks they're a policeman and will try to stop you from accessing your laptop if you aren't wearing it.
There will be a souvenir book which you can read online and download as a PDF. It contains a big article by me noting the 50th anniversary of Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics and I also wrote way too many obituary pieces. There will be dealers and exhibitors although they'll be online. If you can find some way to wait in a long line to use your iPhone, get jostled around by strangers in Harley Quinn costumes and pay way too much for a tiny hotel room, it could feel almost indistinguishable from being at the real thing.
And there will, of course, be panels. All or most of them have been recorded in advance. Yes, I will be hosting a Jack Kirby Tribute Panel. It features me, John Morrow (publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector) and artist Alex Ross. And yes, I will be hosting a Cartoon Voices Panel. It features Laraine Newman, Dee Bradley Baker, Misty Lee and Bill Farmer. And I'll be on a few other panels which I'll tell you about later.
Though I'm kidding here about replicating the less-than-wonderful aspects of the Comic-Con Experience, I'm really glad we'll have a Comic-Con Experience…or at least as much of one as can be simulated online. Some of the panels sound wonderful and you'll be able to get into every one you want to see — no "I'm sorry, the room is full" and no conflicts with several panels you want to view taking place at the same time. The souvenir book looks great. There will be plenty of exhibitors.
And best of all, it's all free with no one turned away. More details can be found here. Some Comic-Con is a whole lot better than none.