Be sure to save this link to track our SDCC2019 coverage
SDCC2019 is here and I was lucky enough to be invited to The Gathering at Balboa Park here in San Diego. Tonight, San Diego celebrated a project backed by the Mayor to build and produce a Museum that celebrates our beloved super-heroes. More importantly, it will be a place that those fans who can’t get access to Comic-Con can go to and still get a taste for Pop Culture.
SDCC2019 celebrations hit a collision course today with 50 years of Comic-Con meeting 80 years of the Batman. You couldn’t have scripted a better integration of milestones. The Comic-Con Museum tonight welcomed Batman as the first super-hero to be inducted into the hall of fame. A celebration powered by AT&T, there was a black carpet that paved the way for DC staff, Cosplayers, industry talent, and the San Diego Mayor to get together and join forces paying homage to how Batman has evolved over his 80 years.
If you are at SDCC2019 then you have to come to Balboa Park and experience what has been built! DC Comics and AT&T put together three floors of story telling with an interactive flavour that drew you in immediately. Everything from a Batcave on the bottom floor with video games, to props from a host of Batman films, incredible artwork, and talent roaming the floor which spoke to the importance of the night.
Strangely enough nothing from Zack Snyder’s DCEU was present tonight, we had coverage from film, TV, comics, art, merchandise however no Batfleck was to be seen. The bottom floor draw your attention with a comical 1960’s style room housing a boxing bag that you could punch. With every hit that 60’s Batman stereotypical sound effect would explode. Put three to four punches together and you can feel like Adam West’s trusty side kick.
If you’re a collector like myself, then there is nothing like looking at a black and white wall that is blessed with 100 Batman statues. Fifty to each side with the most recent model launched which you can read about here. If that is not enough then you could walk into a Batcave which had Batman video games embedded on the perimeter of the walls dating back to the 80s covering all consoles. You had the ability to play any game you want, while asking for a cocktail in the cave at the bar.
The most moving moment of the tribute was Jim Lee’s speech, we provided some live videos which you can watch on our facebook page otherwise the direct video can be found below here. As he spoke, I couldn’t help wiping tears from my eyes as he spoke about the ideology of Batman being present in all of us through determination, will, and the intent to never give up hope. Human traits that so many of us can relate to.
Batman is a legend, he has stood the test of time and evolved over the course of the last 80 years. So many people around the world find strength and inspiration from a character that can both lift us and make us stand tall. #batman80 #LongLivetheBat #SDCC
