San Diego Comic-Con: 5 things about the scaled-down Special Edition Nov. 26-28

San Diego Comic-Con, which hasn’t taken place since 2019 due to the pandemic, returns this post-Thanksgiving weekend in a scaled-down special edition.

Organizers say Comic-Con Special Edition, which runs Friday, Nov. 26 through Sunday, Nov. 28, won’t be the same as the annual summer gatherings fans have flocked to for years.

This is just a taste, an appetizer, for the return to something of that scope and scale, hopefully in summer 2022.

But it’s a start, and so we’ve cosplayed as a benevolent Brainiac, crunched all the data, and come up with a handy guide to what to expect, or not expect, when things kick off this weekend.

1. Like Ant-Man, it’s smaller: Comic-Con, which normally draws 135,000 or so over four days to the summer gatherings, will probably be less than half of that this weekend, its spokesman David Glanzer said during a press conference in July covered by the San Diego Union-Tribune. At the time, his rough estimate was 60,000 attendees over the three days.

The scope is smaller, too. Comic-Con sprawls across the entire convention center, but this time only Halls A-D will be used for the exhibition floor, and only 13 separate rooms will host panels. Most will have capacities of 100 to 1,000 seats, with Ballroom 20, the largest, with a capacity for 4,250 for the usual Saturday night Masquerade.

2. Safety first: All of the usual COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines set by state and local governments must be followed. Attendees must have either proof of vaccination or a negative result on a test taken on or after Tuesday, Nov. 23.

Another requirement to enforce, perhaps an easier one for cosplayers, is a mandatory requirement to wear a proper mask at all times when at the Con — walking around, sitting in a panel — no exceptions.

3. An old-fashioned Comic-Con: The Special Edition in some ways will resemble San Diego Comic-Con in the ’70s and ’80s before Hollywood and other large corporate entertainment companies moved in.

It does not appear that the major studios, networks or streaming services, or even comic book publishers will have their typically massive booths on the exhibition hall floor this time. And Hall H, which the studios have typically used for star-splashed panels and sneak previews of their coming attractions, will be dark.

Instead, mostly smaller businesses will be selling their wares alongside the artists in Artists’ Alley.

A check of the programming for the weekend finds only a handful of well-known figures. Actor Brent Spiner, who played Data on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” will be on a panel and also signing autographs. Rappers Chuck D of Public Enemy and Vince Staples have a panel where they’ll talk about the comic book series they’ve created with Z2 Comics.

And the cast of the NBC series “La Brea” will appear at a panel, too, but they seem to be the only Hollywood cast appearance of the weekend.

4. The Comic-Con Museum cracks open its doors: The long-in-the-works Comic-Con Museum had been scheduled to open in 2020 before the pandemic delayed its completion. But this weekend, it will have a limited opening for Special Edition attendees, a sneak peek of sorts before the grand opening planned for July 2022.

5. Fans ‘n fun: Who needs Hollywood when Comic-Con fans are so good at finding fun themes to explore?

“The Future of Doctor Who” panel features cosplayers from Time Travelers Un Ltd discussing the importance of keeping the franchise fresh. “X-Men Fandom Live” has panelists who podcast, cosplay or otherwise specialize in that slice of the Marvel Universe.

“Ghostbusters: Law for the Afterlife” brings together lawyers and judges to deliberate important issues such as whether it’s false imprisonment to capture a ghost, or would a ghostbuster run afoul of environmental laws by operating the Containment Unit within a city?

Even the experts are delightfully niche this year.

“Gorilla Tales with Don McLeod” brings McLeod and fellow mime and actor Adam Meir on stage to talk about what it takes to get inside the gorilla suit and bring that big guy to realistic life.

And “Cartoon Cereal Boxes from Around the World” does exactly what it says, with expert Duane Dimock presenting his expertise on the subject from the 19th century to Mickey Mouse cereal boxes in the ’30s, Superman in the ’40s, and an array of his favorites from around the world, Iceland and Japan, Norway, and Mexico, Scotland to Czechoslovakia.