We break down the impact of Comic-Con on San Diego’s economy and discuss potential safety risks associated with major events. Plus, a new turf soccer field in City Heights will serve students as well as adults. Then, Beth Accomando walks us through the history and significance of the so-called, “Oscars of the comics industry.”
Unpacking the economic impact of Comic-Con on San Diego
July 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, so happy to be here with you….it’s Tuesday, July 22nd
So what really is the economic impact of Comic-Con on San Diego?
More on that next. But first... the headlines….
CAL FIRE IS UNDERTAKING A MAJOR RE-VAMP OF ITS STATION AT RAMONA AIRPORT. IT’S EXPECTED TO IMPROVE AERIAL WILD FIRE RESPONSE EFFORTS ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
THE RAMONA AIR ATTACK BASE WILL CLOSE FOR UP TO A YEAR DURING CONSTRUCTION.
OFFICIALS WILL BE SHIFTING RESOURCES AND RELYING ON A BASE IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY TO MAINTAIN RAPID RESPONSE TIMES FOR THE AREA.
RAMONA’S BASE IS NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS OLD, AND CURRENTLY HAS SPACE FOR THREE AIRCRAFTS
THE PROJECT WILL TAKE AN ESTIMATED EIGHT TO TWELVE MONTHS TO FINISH. AND ONCE COMPLETE, THE BASE WILL HOLD A NEW C-130H TANKER PLANE.
COMIC CON 2025 IS JUST ABOUT HERE AND OF COURSE WE’LL BE BRINGING YOU STORIES ALL WEEK LONG FROM INSIDE THE CONVENTION CENTER BUT FOR ANYONE WITHOUT A BADGE,
HERE ARE A COUPLE WAYS YOU CAN BE STILL BE INVOLVED IN THE FUN
FIRST – IF YOU’RE A BARBIE GIRL LIVING IN A BARBIE WORLD, YOU CAN LIVE OUT THAT DREAM BY GRABBING A BITE TO EAT AT MALIBU BARBIE CAFE. THE MENU IS CURATED BY MASTERCHEF FINALIST BECKY BROWN
AND FOR JUST A BUCK GUESTS CAN SKATE THE PINK RINK WITH ALL PROCEEDS GOING TO GIRLS INC, A LOCAL NON-PROFIT
THE CAFE IS OPEN NOON TO 10 PM DAILY THROUGH OCTOBER 12TH
OR - IF PAC MAN IS MORE YOUR STYLE, THERE’S ALSO A CAFE FOR THAT! CELEBRATING 45 YEARS OF THE ICONIC ARCADE GAME – FANS CAN ENJOY THEMED SNACKS, DRINKS AND MERCH
ALRIGHT SAN DIEGO – HEAR ME OUT… JUST KEEP SWIMMING, JUST KEEP SWIMMING
BECAUSE NOW YOU’LL HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO DO JUST THAT FOR FREE IN CITY HEIGHTS. THANKS TO A THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR GRANT FROM PRICE PHILANTHROPIES FOUNDATION
THE FUNDING WILL EXPAND HOURS AND SERVICE FROM 5 TO A FULL 7-DAYS A WEEK. IT COVERS LIFEGUARD STAFFING, WATER FITNESS CLASSES AND YOUTH-FOCUSED AQUATIC CAMPS
WHILE THE FUNDING IS FOR EVERYONE, PRICE PHILANTHROPIES SAYS THIS EXPANSION IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT MORE THAN 7 THOUSAND CHILDREN.
FOR MORE DETAILS ON LOCATIONS, SWIM SCHEDULES AND CLASSES VISIT THE CITY’S PARKS AND REC DEPARTMENT’S POOL WEBPAGE.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.
Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
COMIC CON 2025 KICKS OFF THIS WEDNESDAY WITH PREVIEW NIGHT - BEGINNING AT SIX. THEN ON THURSDAY MORNING, THE OFFICIAL CONVENTION GETS UNDERWAY. REPORTER JOHN CARROLL SPENT SOME TIME IN THE GASLAMP QUARTER TO SEE HOW THINGS ARE COMING ALONG.
ON MONDAY MORNING, THE GASLAMP - ESPECIALLY CLOSE TO THE CONVENTION CENTER - WAS BUZZING. EVERYWHERE YOU LOOKED, BUILDINGS WERE BEING WRAPPED IN ADS FOR NEW T-V SHOWS, GAMES AND MOVIES… AND BUSINESSES WERE GETTING READY FOR THE ESTIMATED 135-THOUSAND PLUS PEOPLE EXPECTED TO ATTEND THIS YEAR. THE CONVENTION CENTER’S COMMUNICATIONS CHIEF, MAREN DOUG HERTY, SAY THE EVENT BRINGS IN ABOUT 160-MILLION DOLLARS TO SAN DIEGO’S ECONOMY. AT “HOUSTON HOT CHICKEN” - JUST A BLOCK AWAY FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER, GENERAL MANAGER JESSE JUAREZ AND HIS TEAM WERE IN FULL PREP MODE.
“So when we are in the middle of that rush, everybody’s calm and cool under pressure, right? So just training, making sure they trust their abilities and trust their instincts, and they’re able to get everything out fast.”
COMIC CON 2025 ENDS SUNDAY EVENING AT SIX. THE NEXT DAY, PREPARATIONS WILL BEGIN FOR NEXT YEAR’S EVENT. IN THE GASLAMP, JC KPBS NEWS.
WHILE BUSINESSES AND WORKERS IN THE GASLAMP ARE GETTING READY FOR ALL THE FUN OF COMIC-CON THIS WEEK… SAN DIEGO POLICE ARE MAKING THEIR PLANS TO KEEP CON-GOERS SAFE…
ESPECIALLY FROM HUMAN TRAFFICKERS.
DURING LAST YEAR’S COMIC-CON … THERE WAS AN ANTI-TRAFFICKING STING OPERATION THAT LED TO 14 ARRESTS AND 10 VICTIMS RECOVERED … INCLUDING A 16-YEAR-O LD.
SAN DIEGO POLICE LIEUTENANT TRAVIS EASTER) SAYS CRIMINALS CAN SEE BIG EVENTS LIKE COMIC-CON AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE.
“ComicCon is a very big event. We have a lot of people coming out, thousands of people coming out. So we really wanted to remind people, you know, if you see something, say something, let us know we're gonna have people out here, officers out here to respond to anything.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY … WITH ITS PROXIMITY TO THE BORDER … RANKS 13TH IN THE COUNTRY FOR CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING. THE F-B-I SAYS THE REGION SEES AS MANY AS EIGHT THOUSAND VICTIMS EACH YEAR, AND MANY ARE YOUNG BOYS.
SAN DIEGO’S CITY HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD HAS A NEW TURF SOCCER FIELD. EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SAYS THANKS TO AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AND THE CITY WILL BE OPEN TO BOTH STUDENT AND TEACHER
Central Elementary School and Wilson Middle School have gone through major transformations over the last few years.
They’ve both been completely rebuilt…and now, they have a new turf soccer field between them.
It changed a lot, actually. They changed a lot. And it’s pretty nice now.
Alondra Vega Perfecto is about to start eighth grade at Wilson. She’s already using the new field during a summer camp. She’s looking forward to PE classes using it, too.
We can have multiple classes on the field since there’s a lot of space.
Starting next month, the field will also be open to the public after school hours.
The school district paid for the new facilities using bond funding approved by voters. Richard Barrera is the school board’s vice president.
Schools are the center of a community. And so when taxpayers decide that they are going to make some sacrifice and invest in improving our school facilities, the school’s facilities should be open to the entire community.
The district says this marks the 96th joint-use agreement with the City of San Diego. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO WE TOLD YOU ABOUT SAN DIEGO’S NEW VETERAN ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR. ONE OF THE GOALS WAS TO BRING THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT’S “SKILLBRIDGE” PROGRAM TO THE CITY. MILITARY AND VETERANS REPORTER ANDREW DYER CHECKS IN WITH AN UPDATE.
WHEN A CESSNA CRASHED INTO THE MURPHY CANYON MILITARY HOUSING NEIGHBORHOOD IN MAY, ARMY WARRANT OFFICER JASON TWEDT HELPED THE CITY RESPOND.
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 4 JASON TWEDT, U.S. ARMY SKILLBRIDGE INTERN
“YOU KNOW, IT WAS IT WAS, IT WAS INTENSE…YOU KNOW, IT WAS REALLY UNFORTUNATE FOR WHAT HAPPENED AND WHERE IT HAPPENED. BUT, YOU KNOW, ON THE OTHER HAND, WE WERE ABLE TO COME IN AND PUT OUR SKILLS TO WORK, AND WE DID. WE CAME IN AND I THINK WE WERE REALLY HELPFUL TO THE COMMUNITY.
TWEDT IS ONE OF TWO SKILLBRIDGE INTERNS IN THE CITY’S OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES.
THE SKILLBRIDGE PROGRAM ALLOWS SERVICE MEMBERS TO INTERN IN A JOB UP TO SIX MONTHS BEFORE LEAVING THE SERVICE.
CHRIS HEISER IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES. HE SAYS THE INTERNS WEREN’T JUST LEARNING — THEY WERE PART OF THE CITY’S RESPONSE TO MAY’S PLANE CRASH.
CHRIS HEISER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES
IT WASN'T LIKE STAND BACK WATCH. IT WAS THIS IS IMPORTANT. SIT IN THAT SEAT AND START DOING IT.
ALTHOUGH NEITHER VETERAN WILL BE JOINING THE CITY FULL TIME, BOTH SAY THE EXPERIENCE IS HELPING THEIR TRANSITION OUT OF THE MILITARY.
ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS
FOR ALMOST FOUR DECADES, COMIC-CON HAS HANDED OUT THE EISNER AWARDS, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE “OSCARS OF THE COMICS INDUSTRY.” OUR ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO EXPLAINS WHAT THE AWARDS ARE AND WHY THEY MATTER.
Will Eisner is one of the giants of the comics industry. He began his career in the 1930s, gained acclaim for The Spirit, and popularized the graphic novel format in 1978 with A Contract With God. So it’s fitting that the Oscars of the comics industry are named after him.
So he lent his name to these awards back in the late 1980s, and Comic-Con took them on in 1990, and I became the administrator at that point.
That’s Jackie Estrada who oversees the nominations and the selection of judges.
We have, for instance, one judge who's a librarian. Then one who's a comics retailer, one who's an academic or scholar, one who's a creator and does comics, and then one who might be a journalist or reviewer, something like that. So they represent different aspects of looking at the industry.
I wish that I could have an invisibility cloak and sneak into the Eisner Room every year where all the books are just piled everywhere.
Pamela Jackson didn’t need a cloak — she was a judge in 2021.
What happens is you get a secret phone call from Jackie Estrada telling you, Would you be a judge? And you can't say anything for months. And I don’t think people realize how many books, it’s a lot. It's about an eight-month process of deciding what's going to filter to the top, and then in a six-person showdown with your other judges of ranking the materials. I say it's agonizing in all the best ways.
Jackson is also the Comic Arts Librarian at San Diego State University, where the comics collection has grown from about 1800 to more than 120,000.
I use the Eisner Awards nomination list to help with my collection development and buy as much of it as I can on a limited budget, of course.
Steven Torres Roman is a librarian in the humanities department at San Diego Central Library.
The librarians rely on awards lists like the Eisner's, both for an assurance of the quality of the material they're purchasing, but also because they raise interest. Patrons are going to be coming to the library and asking about these titles once they get on the nominees list, they're going to be Do you have this? Do you have this?
Elizabeth Pollard is a history professor at SDSU and co-directs the Center for Comic Studies with Jackson.
The Eisner's are a fantastic CliffsNotes version of what's new and noteworthy every single year in the field of comics. It's great to know that here's this pre-vetted list of five comics in or various productions in each category that helps you know you didn't miss something.
Didi is co-owner of Comickaze Comics and Pop Culture store. He says some people still see comics as just superheroes.
DIDI Well, it's not. The landscape has changed in the last decade and a half. It's good to have categories. It's good to have exposure about it. And it's good for the industry as a whole to come together and celebrate an achievement.
Pollard appreciates how the Eisners reflect the diversity and complexity of the medium.
The list of categories opens the eyes of those who don't know to just how complex the field of comics is. It shows that comics, the production of them, the scholarship about them, is no joke. It is an incredibly serious, moving, important field, and the Eisner shines a light on that.
Jackson says the categories evolve, too.
In my year, we're the year that actually split for historical and autobiography.
Estrada is all about spreading the wealth so more people can take home an Eisner.
I am gratified when I see how emotional people get when they go on that stage and get acknowledgement for what they've done. Because for so many years, people in comics got zero acknowledgement for what they did.
And even those who don’t win benefit, says Jackson.
And part of the fun, I think, is when the final ballot is released and everyone starts arguing in the community about what should have been on there and how we got it wrong. It helps raise even more awareness of the titles out there that people are passionate about.
So if you are looking for something to read this summer, the Eisner nominations are a great place to start.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. On today’s Midday Edition podcast, We'll be talking to Marco, host of the international news program "The World" about the state of journalism in SD and beyond. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and have a great day.