Guests at Comic-Con International in San Diego. (Image Courtesy: AFP)

A-listers are skipping this week’s Comic-Con as a result of a historic Hollywood strike — however whereas some ticketholders are upset, long-standing comedian e book followers are delighted to have their world-famous occasion again.

The large popular culture gathering in San Diego, California typically attracts headlines for the 1000’s of cosplaying followers who camp in line for days to see stars from Tom Cruise to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

With actors final week becoming a member of writers on strike — and subsequently banned from selling their films and exhibits — celebrities and studios from Amazon to Warner Bros have pulled the plug on Comic-Con appearances.

But not everyone seems to be bothered. “I am probably more excited this year than any year in recent memory,” stated Chris Gore, proprietor of the “Film Threat” web site and director of “Attack of the Doc!”

“San Diego Comic-Con is gonna get back to its roots — which is celebrating the art of comic books,” he stated.

The occasion, which runs Thursday to Sunday, has ballooned to change into North America’s largest popular culture gathering, drawing 130,000 annual guests dressed up as every part from superheroes to area monsters. 

But its first iteration — the brainchild of an unemployed 36-year-old comedian collector and his 5 teenage acolytes — introduced simply 100 folks to a seedy resort basement in 1970.

The “Golden State Comic-Con,” because it was known as, was first designed as a method for followers to attach with one another and meet their heroes — the comedian e book creators.

A large conference ground with numerous talks, seminars and signings has continued to permit followers to just do that. These days, it’s usually overshadowed by Comic-Con’s well-known Hall H auditorium, the place huge film bulletins are made to screaming followers.”I look at the schedule for Hall H especially, and it’s sparse” this 12 months, stated James Witham, host of the “Down & Nerdy Podcast.”

But “Comic-Con has never been just Hall H… it’s a unique animal, one of the very few events that brings pretty much every fandom and every aspect of fandom together in one place.”You have films, tv, comics, anime, animation, toys.”

This year, fans like Gore are excited to watch panels without “baking within the solar in a large line for hours,” attend “smaller events the place you’ll truly be capable of converse with folks” and focus more on comics.

Roll with the punches 

Of course, the uncertainty over this year’s line-up has created logistical headaches for organizers.Talks between Hollywood actors and studios went right down to the wire last week, giving Comic-Con just a few days to pivot since the strike was called. “We’re all rolling with the punches,” David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s marketing chief, told AFP. 

“We actually want {that a} decision might have been discovered earlier than this.” But sorting the event’s sprawling schedule is “like a Rubik’s Cube” every year, and organizers always have contingency plans in place, he added.

Hall H will now host its first ever Indian film panel, a giant launch for a new “Spider-Man” video game, and various animated movie showcases, including the new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film.Still, for fans whose priority was to catch a selfie or broadcast an illicit livestream with some of Hollywood’s biggest names, the financial cost of Comic-Con may be harder to brush off. 

Attendees spend thousands of dollars on travel, hotels and their Comic-Con passes, which are fiercely competitive to obtain and sold out months ago. “There’s going to be some disappointment with that lack of Hollywood presence,” said Witham.

He hopes that many will discover for themselves the joys of the format that launched Comic-Con more than half a century ago.

“Maybe that is the 12 months that any person who was right here for Hollywood goes, ‘I can not see a Marvel (movie) panel however there are Marvel Comics — possibly I’ll go see what is going on on over there,'” he said.

“Is there gonna be loads of that? Maybe not.

“But this year, maybe you drift over to a place you wouldn’t normally drift.”