Air quality concerns in San Ysidro. The history and culture of the Kumeyaay people. Combating hunger across San Diego County.
These are some of the local issues that San Diegans are bringing to discussion panels at this year’s Comic-Con.
While the international convention is more famously known for its cosplaying attendees and Hollywood stars dishing about their latest films, a number of local creators and organizers are harnessing its popularity to highlight social causes through art.
A key part of that? Making it entertaining and accessible.
“I always ask the question: how do you get people to care?” said Ethan Banegas, a San Diego State University lecturer who is on a panel to discuss a yearslong effort to create a comic book about the history of the Kumeyaay people in San Diego County. “Entertainment, that fun factor, is so important.”
Comic-Con has held a panel on the Kumeyaay visual storytelling project for the last several years and has been “extremely supportive and receptive” to the creators’ efforts, Banegas said.
In general, Comic-Con panels — group discussions about a particular subject — let attendees hear their favorite actors, producers and artists discuss their work. This year, many Hollywood stars returned to Comic-Con after strikes last year discouraged most from attending.
But amid the celebrity hubbub, the convention is also offering San Diegans the opportunity to learn about what’s happening in local communities, and how they can get involved.
One panel this year brought local educators from Helix Charter High School, Feaster Charter School and UC San Diego together to explain how e-sports can impact students’ emotional intelligence, using specific examples from San Diego schools.
And on another panel, the nonprofit Feeding San Diego focused on inspiring young people to mobilize around food insecurity through comics and art.
The panelists say that Comic-Con lets them bring more complex subjects to audiences — but in a way that doesn’t overwhelm them.
“(Comic-Con) is elevating local issues, giving … legitimacy where legitimacy lacks,” said Johnny Bear Contreras, a public artist and member of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians. “It’s also doing it in such a casual approach.”
This year, Contreras was on a panel to discuss his role as a set designer on “Somos Aire,” a local theater performance adapted into a comic book that explored concerns over air pollution from traffic in San Ysidro, where thousands of cars cross the U.S.-Mexico border each day.
The playwright, Mabelle Reynoso, also on the panel, said she wanted to turn the play into a comic book to reach a wider audience.
“I know the limitations of theater, logistically and access, especially for communities of color,” Reynoso said. “And what greater way to spread the story (than) by putting it in a comic book?”
Banegas agrees that the medium matters. Even though the book about the Kumeyaay delves into dark subjects, such as colonization and the loss of language, the format of a comic book is an innovative way to teach people about the history. It’s like “a Trojan horse,” he said.
The panelists also hope these conversations at Comic-Con can help encourage people, especially youths, to take civic action.
This year, Dana Williams, the marketing and communications director at Feeding San Diego, spoke on a panel about the nonprofit’s project to create a comic book called “Hunger Action Heroes Unite!,” which is out now and available from Feeding San Diego’s online store.
The book was born out of Feeding San Diego and the Comic-Con Museum’s 2022 art contest, where San Diego County students submitted designs for a hunger action hero. The two winners’ designs were the inspiration for the new comic book, which shares the superheroes’ origin stories.
Williams said the nonprofit wanted to “help educate the public around the issues of hunger and food waste and to inspire them to care and to want to be a part of the solution.”
She thinks there’s “untapped potential” for more such collaborations between Comic-Con and local groups to “make purpose a part of the DNA of the event.”
David Glanzer, a Comic-Con spokesperson, said in an email that the mission of the convention is to promote art, but it’s an “added bonus when that art can be a catalyst for change or action.”
Comic-Con considers the diversity of presentations when selecting panels and encourages prospective panelists for next year to pitch ideas that could span a wide audience, he said.
The panelists acknowledge that they have to compete for attention with bigger celebrity panels at Comic-Con, but they don’t let it faze them.
After all, Comic-Con attracts people with wildly different interests, Reynoso said.
“It’s not surprising that there are a lot of people showing up and using Comic-Con as a platform for advocacy, because it draws from all walks of life,” she said.
“We might come to catch the latest movie or get a signature from an artist, and then realize, ‘Oh my gosh, I walked into this panel, and it got me thinking about something that I never, ever considered before.’”
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