Greetings from Covidland (also known as Libraryland). I am back at work today after being off last week. What was hopefully to be my first trip to SDCC, sadly, obviously, did not come to fruition, but I decided to keep the time off to enjoy SDCC from the comfort of my couch.

I watched some interesting panels the first day, which was the CCEL portion, a day for librarians and educators. A few of these involved some acquaintances who always have friendly faces, including Henry Barajas, Chloe Ramos-Peterson, and Karen Green.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, I’ve read many accounts such as this one that Comic-Con @Home was hardly a success. Naturally, the true appeal of SDCC, the nerdy ritz, the geeky glamour, the feeling of exclusivity from ticket holders, the feeling of community amid a shared experience, cannot be effectively replicated via Zoom. I was hoping there would be more innovation behind the event, but I reckon that’s difficult to do with so little time to plan while anticipating a disastrous loss in revenue.

One of the exciting things, though, was the announcement of the 2020 Eisner Award winners! Some of the folks I got to see in virtual panels were either winners or nominees, including my acquaintance Raina Telgemeier, not to mention how some of my favorite titles were on the various lists.

I’m curious of any of you, dear readers, participated in Comic-Con @Home. If so, please leave a comment expressing how you found the experience.