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Comic-Con has gone from being a convention celebrating comic books to the year’s biggest pop culture fest, bursting at the seams with panels, activations and fans. Each night, a football field’s worth of people slept outside the convention center, waiting to get into cavernous Hall H.
Those tired campers were rewarded, with panels on AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” as well as such surprises as Stephen Colbert moderating a panel on the final “Hobbit” movie in costume; the cast and director of Zack Snyder’s upcoming “Batman vs. Superman,” including Snyder and stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill; and the superstar-stocked cast of “The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron,” including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson and more.
But in many cases, it was what brands did outside of the convention center that got fans’ attention, since it was so hard to get into panels without sleeping in line, and the convention center floor was usually crammed with people. Brands that plastered their images all over buses, pedicabs, billboards and restaurants got a lot of bang for their buck, as did brands that created fan experiences, particularly ones that didn’t require badges to get into.
The TV brands below left their indelible mark both on and off the show floor, and inside and out of Hall H, Ballroom 20 and Room 6A, and no one who attended Comic-Con could have missed them.
Warner Bros./The CW
Warner Bros. is arguably the studio that led TV to increase its presence at Comic-Con several years ago, and the studio’s impact on the event is unmistakable.
Warner Bros. backs not only the shows it produces for The CW — which include “Arrow,” “Flash,” “Reign,” “The Originals,” “The 100,” “Vampire Diaries” and “Supernatural” — it also supports shows such as “Gotham,” which it is producing for Fox, and “Constantine,” which it is producing for NBC.
Warner Bros. premiered both those shows, as well as “Flash,” during its three-hour DC Entertainment event in Hall H on Saturday night, the largest-ever evening panel yet hosted at the Con.
Warner Bros. also has connections to other networks showcasing fare at Comic-Con, including HBO, owned outright by Warner Bros., and Turner Networks Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and TNT, which are also owned by Warner Bros.
Fox
Fox made its presence known both inside and out of the convention center, setting up fan experiences for “24,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Gotham” and “The Simpsons,” which is about to make its syndicated premiere on Fox sister network FXX. Fox also hosted panels on “24,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Wayward Pines, “The Following,” “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy.” Fox’s sister network, FX, paneled “The Strain,” “American Horror Story: Freakshow” and “Sons of Anarchy.”
Outside of Petco Park, fans could fly “24”-branded drones under the guidance of an expert, or they could walk through the “Sleepy Hollow” Oculus Rift virtual reality experience (see the cast do just that in the video below).
In front of the Bayfront Hilton, next to the convention center, fans could zip through the “Gotham” skyline, or hangout with “The Simpsons.”
HBO
One of the weekend’s most anticipated events was Friday’s “Game of Thrones” panel, in which the executive producers, cast and author George R. R. Martin were on hand to discuss season four, the show’s most-watched yet, with moderator Craig Ferguson. Questioners were strictly forbidden from asking about season five, but HBO did release nine new cast members and a blooper reel to the delight of fans.
HBO also hosted the “Game of Thrones” Experience, across from the Convention Center, and characters from the series were likely to pop up all over town as one of fans’ favorite cosplay subjects.
HBO did not panel its current series, “The Leftovers,” but its presence was felt, with billboard trucks driving around town sporting the larger-than-life faces of the “departed,” and the “leftovers,” the latter of which were faces from the cast.
Creepily, but brilliantly, white-clad members of the show’s “Guilty Remnant” cast popped up on the main drag outside the Gaslamp District, “just to remind us.”
And HBO continued to promote the final season of “True Blood,” with the cast appearing on a panel and heading over to the Warner Bros.’ booth for an autograph session with fans.
NBC
NBC focused on three shows at Comic-Con: “The Blacklist,” produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment; “Constantine,” produced by Warner Bros.; and “Hannibal,” produced by Gaumont International Television.
NBC put a lot of emphasis on outside-the-convention-center promotion, sponsoring the official app as well as plastering its shows on the ubiquitous shuttle buses, and on the “Constantine” experience outside the convention center. NBC also turned Gaslamp-district restaurant The Tin Fish into one big promotion for “The Blacklist.”
“The Blacklist"’s star, James Spader, did double-duty, also appearing on “The Avengers 2” panel as the voice of the movie’s main villain, Ultron.
Starz
Starz focused all of its Comic-Con attention on one show, “Outlander,” which could not be missed.
The premium network’s booth on the convention center floor was a castle, manned by characters from both 1945 and 1743 Scotland. Fans could walk through and take pictures.
The cast flew over from the UK for a panel, which you can watch in full here, and there also was a red-carpet screening and panel on Friday night.
Not to mention these guys (below), who paraded through town in their fetching kilts.
AMC
Similarly, AMC put all its Comic-Con eggs in “The Walking Dead” basket.
That popular show also got a prime slot in Hall H, and this year revealed an exclusive trailer for season five before its panel.
On the convention floor, zombies filled the show’s booth, allowing fans to line up to take pictures with the terrifyingly made-up creatures. Outside, people could get made up to look like zombies and then be chased by them at The Walking Dead Experience at Petco Park. AMC also created “Walking Dead” photo opps available around town.
Overall, TV’s Comic-Con presence was nearly too big to list, although Mashable gives it a try, with plenty of other networks hosting panels, parties and experiences.
Comedy Central promoted its new animated series, Moonbeam City, with a game of laser-tag outside the Convention Center. Red-eyed witches from Lifetime’s “Witches of East End” wandered about the Gaslamp District, and the network hosted both a panel and a Thursday night party at The Tipsy Crow. Adult Swim hosted the Meatwad Full Dome Experience and the Adult Swim Fun House at Petco Park. And USA offered a panel, a trailer and a Snapchat scavenger hunt in support of its new series, “Dig.”
Cube image of “Arrow”‘s Stephen Amell and Warner Bros./DC Entertainment panel courtesy of Warner Bros.
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