Comic-Con has instituted a few belt-tightening measures to make up (a little) for the money they lost during the COVID shutdown (a lot) and one of those measures is to no longer print the souvenir book. It's now available only as a downloadable PDF. This is good because it means everyone can get a free copy merely by clicking on this link. It's bad because…well, some of us have a bookshelf of past souvenir books and you can't put a PDF next to all the others. I wonder if the con folks have investigated arranging for some print-on-demand company to satisfy those of us who are willing to order a copy printed on paper.
It's still a great book even if it isn't a tangible book. It has a great cover by Becky Cloonan and articles about Mort Walker, the 75th anniversary of Pogo, the 50th of The Human Target, Blade, Red Sonja, Shang-Chi, Howard the Duck and the Direct Sales Market and many more. There are also obits (a couple of which are by me) of great talents we've lost in the last twelve months. How can you not download such a book? Fine job, Jackie Estrada.
And I'll let you in on a little secret: It's not too late to download last year's souvenir book…also a fine, free publication. Don't say I never gave you anything.