Report: Comic-Con Malaga should leave the venue and penetrate the city -.

The San Diego Comic-Con Málaga, abbreviated as SDCCM, ended last night after four days in which more than one hundred thousand people gathered at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos in the Andalusian city to realize a historic convention: the first to leave the United States with the stamp and support of the California edition.

Headlines in the press and posts on social media from the first day until now have been dominated by a recurring controversy: the organizational and logistical problems that spoiled the enjoyment of many of those fans, especially at peak times, especially on the penultimate day (Saturday 27). On the other end of the spectrum, those in attendance who found good times for fun did so in style, with content that, in retrospect, was indeed up to the task and with a truly beautiful, moving, shared common passion. Perhaps because heroes only unite like this in difficult times. Perhaps because emotions ran high.

Once the avalanche of hatred and flames (sometimes excessive or out of context, as also often happens in the social form of profit) and especially formal complaints have been processed, the organizers should take good care to make the second edition – SDCCM 2026, dates yet to be announced – an exemplary one in the aspects that have failed. More and better access and exits, smarter flow of people, minimum services such as water and food readily available and, essentially, a wider and more distributed spread of activities. A sense of order, control and security.

The idea of the “Village” (the outdoor area transformed into a playground) can’t just be seen as a way to get more involved. The large central pavilion (Exhibitors Hall) was well thought out, but it was only one hall (of booths and stands, if you exclude the Collectors Hall), and at other conventions and trade shows, having multiple halls distributing the highlights makes for a smoother flow.

No one will say that the original SDCC or the 25th COMICON Napoli are exempt from eternal queues (the latter, which we attended in May, had similar “I can’t walk” moments), and of course you always need at least an hour and change of waiting to be close to the most beloved talent – at Super Nintendo World, you’re not even guaranteed entry with your pre-purchased ticket! But in Málaga, it was clear that there was a lack of deterrents and a lack of activities in the village. Will it be possible to build a second pavilion as a marquee and attract more outside attention? Probably both, together with the multiplication of entrances, will make the FYCMA and its surroundings a more suitable place. Because neither the organization nor the attendees will want the capacity to be reduced.

Another key was commented to us by several talents, and it is the same thing that can be seen in other shows such as the Lucca Festival in Italy or the Cannes Festival in France, which we also covered this year. The event should transcend the space of the fair and spread throughout the city of Malaga. One that, by the way, some guests were unable to visit and get to know even briefly because they were limited to the main venue. “Málaga has a very unique setting for Comic-Con and has so much more potential because you can spread to the city like San Diego in California – it takes over the whole city. There are activations all over the center and it’s not just the convention center,” said veteran cosplayer Yaya Han in her interview with Gamereactor.

“So I already see that they have a great outdoor area with activities, but I would love to see more. I would love to see you take advantage of this 2,800-year-old city and have these venues host a cosplay event at the cathedral! Right? Bring Comic-Con to the city of Malaga, because San Diego in California can’t compete with that!” – Yaya Han

The queen of cosplay has one of the keys to make it work better next year, and also to make the event much more Malaga, Andalusian and Spanish-tinged within the historical-cultural context. And the organization already has a series of complaints to know what to fix in the first place.

However, Yaya Han herself, many other special guests and a large number of fans agreed on something very positive. “The spirit is actually very similar,” she told our microphone about the great moments of people and human quality. “The enthusiasm, passion and dedication that people have to come to both San Diego and Malaga are very similar.” It was clear, and from Gamereactor we saw it in the faces of many attendees and in the scenes of common love among a first-class audience, that this first SDCCM provided them with unforgettable experiences as well.

And in that spirit, in what did work, we must admit that the content itself, however difficult to access, was up to the standard of a first edition, despite the initial doubts and the deliberate delay in the final piece of announcements. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who may seem a bit old-fashioned or strange to the younger generation, won over 3,000 enthusiastic fans across the age range, both because of his valuable filmographic memories, his chemistry with neighbor and friend Antonio Banderas, and also because of his clear nod to the most helpful, friendly and proactive policies regardless of party, in which he advocated environmental protection and criticized hatred of rivals.

The other Hollywood presences also fared well, from a very appropriate Norman Reedus now facing the hordes of zombies in Spanish cities in TWD: Daryl Dixon, to a Jared Leto who, aside from his over-the-top eccentricity, managed to captivate audiences on the eve of Tron: Ares.

It is unfortunate, however, that one of the best panels of the entire program, the one featuring Gwendoline Christie, Natalia Dyer and Dafne Keen, vigorously defending that girls are true warriors, sharing a strong message about three top examples of energetic, versatile and exemplary women in different roles, universes and genres, remained just that, their time on stage, without lending themselves to spreading the word and telling the press even more. Whether it was their strict contracts or the shortsightedness of others, in the end it seems like a missed opportunity, and it was thanks to veterans of superheroic feminism like celebrated and ever-ready screenwriter Kelly Sue Deconnick that there was more representative impact.

Also notable was the content of video games and role-playing and tabletop games, all included under the more gaming facet of the SDCCM. In fact, this pillar delivered on its promise to make the Malaga stage the largest ever dedicated to the interactive side of entertainment, given that the traditional version focused mainly on comics and film. Names such as Nobuo Uematsu, John Romero, Brendan Greene, Ian Livingstone, Josef Fares or Jeremy Crawford, as well as panels that were as sought-after as they were fascinating, proved that gamers should also mark this event in their calendars because it is no longer insufficient for them.

Animation, VFX, cosplay, figurines, collectibles…. There was something for everyone. And the comics that originally gave the convention its name? It’s impossible to criticize a lineup that brings together Jim Lee, CB Cebulski, Jeph Loeb, Jorge Jiménez, Pepe Larraz and many more, but if you’re picky, or prefer to ask for an opening of the spectrum for future editions, it would be positive to acknowledge more of the multiverse that exists outside of Marvel and DC. Of course, it is great that the work of Belén Ortega, Álvaro Martínez Bueno or David Rubín, like more and more Spanish cartoonists, are published by the two most recognizable imprints in the world, just as it was nice to have the signatures of Matt Fraction or Joe Kelly on the narrative side to learn more about the background of Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Avengers or X-Men. But I would like to see European Comic-Con, again as a future request, look more north and east, rather than west, when it comes to going outside Spanish borders. More Franco-Belgian or European comics, more manga and manhwa. More anime, now that Demon Slayer is bigger than Superman in cinema.

All in all, it’s fair to say that the whole package of content with all the fields and guests was rounded and satisfying, and that this, along with all the ancillary or “on the road” experiences, made it well worth attending and standing in line for much of the attendees. However, for those whose day was pretty much ruined, more answers and action are now needed.