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Under the Tents 2026: Ellie Ripberger, Mezco, Ashley Wood, Kid Heroes, Mad TV

What a doozy of a day, friends.

First we had more new trolley pics. The badges started showing up. Then our man on the ground, Evic, spotted the traditional banners going up. What more could there possibly be to talk about? Actually, plenty. Cats who are Strange, keychains for Bats, people who were Mad on TV, homages, Heroes that are Kids, Goats named Zander, and Dinnimans working with Peacocks. I’m pretty sure I’ve got all that right.

Let’s dive in because it’s already past my bedtime:

  • Martin Hsu is letting the cats out of the bag, and they are strange. Stranger, even. “Stranger Cats”, a San Diego Comic-Con work-in-progress that looks almost finished, keep up the great painting, Martin!
  • Voice actor Hannibal Tabu has some upcoming audio drama and some SDCC plans that he’s not quite ready to share, but there will be a dwarven sheriff voiced by his friend Arif S. Kinchen, and, honestly, that’s all he needed to say.

My good friend of many decades @arifskinchen.bsky.social is a dwarven sheriff in my new fantasy audio drama coming out this fall. The first of many announcements with something special for you at SDCC.

— Hannibal Tabu | writer/VO actor (he/him/his) (@hannibaltabu.bsky.social) 2026-06-18T01:40:47.701Z

  • The Underverse is coming….and they are bringing Ashley Wood with them. To be fair, it would be rude to have one without the other. Booth #2742 is where you will find them both.

  • By the looks of it, you’ll want to join the Discord for Mr. Bone Toys before San Diego Comic-Con, as members will get very special privileges at the event, including $5 to redeem at the show, where Mr. Bone and friends will be at Booth #4737.

 

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A post shared by MR.BONE TOYS (@mr.bone_toys)

  • Zander the Goat showed off the totally trippy cover of Key Comix’s exclusive covers for issue #0 of Z: A Journey Through Art, with art by Kevin Tran.

 

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A post shared by Zander The Goat (@zander6comix)

  • All Posters will once again be featured in the Lucasfilm pavilion and illustrator and designer Ellie Ripberger will be there with her watercolor painting of Ahsoka Tano as an exclusive, limited print. Stunning.

  • You can always count on Beeline Creative to stir up something cool from the Star Wars universe. Case in point: these swizzle sticks they posted a first look at on Instagram.

 

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A post shared by Beeline Creative (@beelinecreative)

  • We can make an educated guess here that Rob Guillory’s dear friend and frequent co-creator John Layman helped talk him into returning to SDCC for the first time since 2018. And we can also make an educated guess that at least one of the panels he’ll be on is connected to their new Image Comics series, Ghostbrawler. After that, though, we are out of educated guesses, only uneducated ones from here on out, sorry.

  • Where in the world is Rob Hanes and is he having an adventure? The answer, according to creator Randy Reynaldo of WCG Comics, is Ukraine, and of COURSE he is! The name of the comic is Rob Hanes Adventures and this new issue #27 in the series, will drop at SDCC.

  • If you need a place to meet your friends, why not make it the Mezco Toys booth at San Diego Comic-Con? You’ll find it at #3045, which should be easy to remember, because it’s just thirty and then forty-five right after it. Thirty Forty Five. Definitely don’t call it Three Thousand Forty Five, because it does not sound right at all. Just say “thirty forty-five” and sure enough, your friends will arrive there, and you can check out all the reveals and exclusives before you move on.

  • Mark Fenton writes comic books. One of those comics is called Merciless. Alex Riegel is an illustrator. He is illustrating a cover for Merciless #1. That cover is an homage to Absolute Batman #1 and will be an SDCC exclusive. Mark posted the cover over on his Instagram. Now you know as much as I do about this topic. We are on equal footing.

 

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A post shared by Mark (@bigsmoove39)

  • You could lend a hand at TheOneRing.Net and Middle-Earth booths during San Diego Comic-Con, but only if you love Tolkien and enjoy meeting fellow fans. You could, and you SHOULD, so please follow this link and fill out the volunteer form to be considered.
  • It actually seems like just yesterday that the Kid Heroes folks exploded onto the scene at San Diego Comic-Con with Lumpia With A Vengeance, the very first Asian American comics book feature film. In reality, it was 2021, making this their sixth SDCC. How can they top all the exclusives, signings, and pop-ups? We will have to wait to find out.

  • Ryan Brady has been writing, drawing, inking and coloring his very own independent comics books for well over a decade, but this will be the very first time he’s exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con. I think we better all go give him a very warm welcome and get to know his books: The Bolt, Anomaly and Skull Boy. They will be waiting in Small Press at #L-04.

  • The “Mad Rewind Panel”, which will feature conversations with the cast and crew of Mad TV, is positively bursting at the seams with fun guests. Where else can you find Orlando Jones, Phil LaMarr, Mo Collins, Nicole Sullivan, Debra Wilson, plus many more, all in the same room? Day, time, and location still TBA, but this list of guests….*whoo wee!* impressive!

  • Have you met my friend Sarah? She’s a certified bat-freak. She loves the boys of the Batman Universe more than anyone I know, so as soon as I saw these Bat-themed keychains, created by Syn “eunisyn” and making their way to SDCC, I knew I had to show Sarah. The trouble is that I’m really lazy, so I’m hoping Sarah will just read this post and see the keychains. Syn will be in Artist Alley with a bevy of Bat goodies, at Booth#DD-10. That’s “DD” as in “Don’t Delay” getting “10” of these keychains!

  • It’s super impressive that independent publisher Impound Comics will have three panels this year, all focused on helping other creators break into the business or perfect their crafts. Writer and creator Brent Trayce Sands has a very busy event ahead of himself. Congratulations!

  • Are you a Happy Hobbit? Probably, but if you need more hobbitism in your life, check out the 25th Anniversary of Middle Earth From Screen to Script. You can find it at both #1934 with TheOneRing.Net (maybe you’re already there volunteering?!?!)

 

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A post shared by Kili and Fili (@thehappyhobbits)

  • If you’re a local (to San Diego) art vendor with an emphasis on manga/manhua/manhwa and are free on Friday, July 24, then the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum wants to hear from you. They are checking interest for a possible Art Swap / Mini Artist Alley event and are looking for vendors. Check out their Instagram post for more details and how to contact them.

  • And lastly today, Dungeon Crawler Carl creator Matt Dinniman took to Instagram to announce that Peacock has officially greenlit the television series of the same name. Hopefully he’ll be able to tell us all more about it next month during his panel at San Diego Comic-Con, day and time TBA. Huzzah!

 

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A post shared by Matt Dinniman (@mattdinniman)

Anything we missed? Let us know by dropping us a line, or tweet us at @SD_Comic_Con.

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If you missed our previous Under the Tents posts, you can find them HERE.

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