The Comic-Con is one of the signature events of the year in San Diego. Once a year, the world of entertainment is looking at the fair and convention at the Southern California city. Not that surprisingly, Comic-Con is also driving its own museum. I had a visit during a trip in December 2023.
Comic-Con Museum – Location & Admission
The Comic-Con Museum is located in the South of Balboa Park. The park features several attractions, like the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Air & Space Museum, the Japanese Friendship Garden or the San Diego Railroad Museum. You can reach te museum by public bus, e.g. with line 7 to Pres Blvd & Presidents Way. However, I would recommend to go by car. Parking is free, but may be busy during weekends and during holidays. the park is also connected with a Balboa Park Tram.
Comic-Con Museum is open daily but Wednesdays. Opening times are 10:00 to 17:00. Admission to the museum is 25 USD. You may either walk in or purchase a ticket with a time slot online (we walked in without any issues, despite Christmas season). The museum is not included in the Balboa Park Explorer Pass, which allows access to many other exhibitions there.
Comic-Con Museum – The Visit
The Comic-Con Museum stretches over three levels. I would see the Popnology part on ground level, around the reception desk, as the key exhibition of the attraction. It features science fiction-alike visions (or utopias) and compares them to nowadays world. The museum features a lot of items and exhibits. Not only due to a scavanger hunt-alike quest, the exhibitions are trying to be interactive.. For example, you can try out robots and similar items. A movie series which is quite a lot in focus is Back To The Future.
During our visit, the lower floor held an exhibition about the evolution of comic books. Even though I am not too much in the topic. I felt that this part of the museum was quite interesting. The same floor also featured a collection of cosplay costumes, which has been awarded during Comic-Con ceremonies. This was also a rather interesting part of the museum.
Upper Floor
Apart from another comic history section, the upper part featured the exhibition Cardboard Superheroes. This is the artist name of two brothers, who turn comic characters into major cardboard models. Additionally, there were two temporary exhibitions, one featuring the 25th anniversary of Cowboy Bebop. These ones were naturally rather interesting for fans of the respective topics.
Comic-Con Museum – Services
The museum features a shop, which is featuring a lot of merchandise.
Comic-Con Museum – My View
I have mixed feelings about the Comic-Con Museum. On the one hand, I feel it is a great place for nerds. On the other hand, the individual exhibitions felt not connected. Some parts of Popnology did not really reflect movies or comic origins, especially the robotic parts. Thus, my rating is rather on the limited side, given the interesting range of exhibits.I also felt that the admission is too high.
2024 Museum Reviews
Here are all my Museum & Exhibition reviews I published in 2024:
Flyctory.com in San Diego
Here are all my postings related to San Diego in California: