Comic-Con kicked off Wednesday night. Although there are people and media outlets who seem to only judge Comic-Con by the level of Hollywood's presence, I am here to say that Comic-Con will always joyfully exist with or without Hollywood. In fact, the exhibit floor thrives when fewer people are waiting in Hall H lines for days.
Although Marvel and DC may not have panels stirring a media frenzy, there will be a Sunday panel featuring "Star Wars" creator George Lucas' first-ever appearance. That announcement, just weeks before Comic-Con, was enough to send me into a panic to brush up on Hall H line policies. I have to confess, I have not waited in Hall H lines or slept on concrete for decades. I have never even attempted to navigate the hoops of wristbanding, so I feel severely out of shape for the task of seeing George Lucas on Sunday.
The panel excited me not just because it is the first time Lucas is attending, but also because it is a panel that gets to the heart of what Comic-Con is really about — passionate storytellers who are just geeky fans themselves. The panel is not about any film projects, but rather about Lucas' museum about the arts of storytelling that is scheduled to open in 2026. This will be a sneak preview.
Hall H has long been a big deal at Comic-Con because it is the platform from which studios make major announcements, and celebrities love to come out and surprise fans. Attendees will sometimes devote days to waiting in lines, which is not always a bad thing because you are hanging out with like-minded people and lifelong friendships are often formed.
Veteran attendee Kerry Dixon has spent time in those lines. She’s now editor-in-chief of the San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog. But even she isn’t sure how intense the Hall H lines will be for Lucas’ Sunday morning panel.
"That panel in particular is why, if you are attending Comic Con, it is so incredibly important that you are on social media and you are paying attention to, like, what people are saying — how's the line looking for Sunday?" Dixon said.
Hall H seats 6,400, but with more than 135,000 attendees, you’ll have to plan ahead. That could mean lining up a day or even two in advance to get a Hall H wristband. Comic-Con’s Toucan Blog has the full rules, but the SDCC Unofficial Blog offers detailed explainers.
And Dixon has a few general tips:
1. I would not try to do Hall H alone. Working in groups is definitely the single biggest advantage. And if you're like, well, I don't know anyone, there are so many places that you can go online to try to find other people forming lines. There's Facebook groups, there's Reddit.
2. Don't be afraid to just get that wristband and go back to your hotel — unless being up front is super, super important to you. If all you care about is, like, I want to be in that room — like, you have probably paid an arm and a leg for that hotel. Use it. So long as you have that wristband and you return by 7:30 in the morning, you are good. You will make it into that room.
3. Just be willing to adapt. Like, even though everything that I've just said is typically true, every year they change the procedures just a little bit. So you can go in with a plan, but you just have to be willing to adapt and keep your phone on, because, like, who knows? So just be willing to adapt.
And may the Force be with you.
