Comic-Con announces dates for November in-person ‘Special Edition’

Hoping to shore up its financial reserves and begin a slow return to in-person events, Comic-Con International announced Saturday it has scheduled a three-day “Special Edition” gathering for Thanksgiving weekend.

The Nov. 26-28 event will be held at the San Diego Convention Center, the longtime home of the popular pop-culture extravaganza, which has been sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic.

Convention officials announced earlier this month that this year’s convention, July 23-25, will be online only, as it was last year. Officials also said then that a November gathering was in the works but provided no details.

Saturday’s announcement acknowledged the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and its restrictions on crowds. “It is our hope that by Fall conditions will permit larger public gatherings,” it said. Badge cost, attendance size and other details are still being finalized.

As the first in-person Comic-Con since 2019, this is an opportunity “to highlight all the great elements that make Comic-Con such a popular event each year, as well as generate much needed revenue not only for the organization but also for local businesses and the community,” organizers said.

With 135,000 attendees, Comic-Con has been San Diego’s biggest annual summer event, estimated by the San Diego Convention Corp. to bring in about $166 million for the region.