San Diego Comic-Con 2026 was a bit of an odd one. The convention was plagued by more issues than we’ve seen in recent years, and there were certainly some frustrations along the way (wristbands!).

But even with its rough edges, for most of us, Comic-Con still delivered plenty of that familiar magic, with fantastic panels, memorable offsites, coveted exclusives, and experiences we’ll be talking about for years to come.

That brings us to this year’s The Shruggie Awards, which, despite the name, aren’t actually celebrating the “wtf-ness” of the convention (though there was certainly plenty of that to go around). Instead, we asked you to vote for the very best of San Diego Comic-Con 2026, along with one category honoring something we’d probably all rather leave behind. You voted for your favorite panels, offsites, exclusives, and more, and now the results are in. We’ve tallied the votes, crunched the numbers, and are excited to reveal the winners of the 2026 Shruggie Awards.

The Best Booth at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Butts on Things

This truly felt like Brian Cook’s year. Over the last several years, we’ve watched his cartoon butts grow from a cute booth tucked away down an aisle at SDCC, into a global brand that’s now stocked in major chain stores and has even entered into a partnership with Hasbro. This year, that growth felt especially visible, from signs throughout the Gaslamp promoting his cheeky new collaboration to a show floor presence that now rivals some of the biggest names at the convention. Maybe not in square footage, but certainly in the size of his lines, the popularity of his exclusives, and the enthusiasm surrounding the booth.

Brian celebrated “10 Years of Rears” at the con this year, and he marked the milestone with some of his best exclusives yet (more on those in a minute), solid line management, and fun surprises for fans, including daily secret password pins. It was a fitting celebration of just how far Brian Cook’s Butts on Things has come, and a reminder that yes, at San Diego Comic-Con, the fun artist booth can absolutely become one of the hottest stops on the show floor.

 

The Best Exclusive at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Butts on Things Pins

And speaking of those exclusives, Brian Cook’s Butts on Things also took home Best Exclusive this year. Their “Bootyland” pin was already the talk of the internet well before the convention began. But I’m also a huge fan of the “Rear End of Line” pin (seriously, how had no one done this before?!). Artist Brian Cook really brought his A-game for some of his best concepts yet to celebrate the brand’s 10th anniversary, and brought SDCC crowds the kind of exclusives people actually wanted to hunt down.

People like butts, man.

The Best Panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Spaceballs

Spaceballs came to have fun. The upcoming Spaceballs: The New One brought one of the most joyous panels we’ve ever had at the convention, as it gleefully lampooned the Marvel Cinematic Universe with their own phase plans for what they were dubbing “The Almighty Schwartz Saga” (or, Asswhole). Nearly the entire cast was on hand, including Josh Gad, Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman, and Daphne Zuniga, with only Bill Pullman and 100-year-old Mel Brooks sitting this one out (though Pullman sent in a video message).

But the biggest moment came when the panel decided to “comb” the Hall H crowd for Rick Moranis. The fan-favorite actor stepped away from onscreen acting roles in 1991, and this was a moment worthy of fanfare and some hijinks. When he lifted his big helmet to reveal it was him, the crowd went wild. In the excellent behind-the-scenes look at the making of the panel, Esquire spoke with producer Jeb Brody, who explained part of the reason to even do the panel was “to make sure that Rick knew we weren’t the only people who love him. We wanted that moment at Comic-Con. We’ve been talking about it forever: Rick walking in and feeling the house come down and embrace him for all that he gave them.”

This is how you do Hall H.

 

The Best Panelist at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith is so beloved at San Diego Comic-Con that he essentially has a standing gig.

No one ever has to wonder when his annual solo panel will be: Saturday night, Hall H. It’s been his slot for years, and there’s a reason he keeps getting invited back. Smith is also basically the only person at the convention allowed to have the panel go as late as he wants — he can take audience questions, wander off on wildly entertaining tangents, and generally do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, while keeping a Hall H crowd completely along for the ride.

Year after year, he closes out the convention’s biggest day in its biggest room, but his SDCC presence extends well beyond his own panel. Smith is also one of the convention’s go-to moderators, and this year he helped steer several panels, including Spaceballs: The New One and A24’s Onslaught. It’s always clear that Smith genuinely loves this convention, and we love him right back.

 

The Best Offsite at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: HBO Max’s “Lanterns” Training Headquarters

HBO Max’s Lanterns Training Headquarters did what the very best Comic-Con activations do: It made you feel like you had actually stepped into the story. Attendees were recruited to become Lanterns, but first they had to prove their worth, which meant everything from sneaking through the darkened Macon Ranch maze to investigating a dive bar, searching a sheriff’s office, testing your aim, or taking a simulated flight from the rooftop.

The committed performers elevated it even further, keeping recruits immersed in the story while making the puzzles and challenges genuinely fun (and you can read our behind-the-scenes making of the activation with NVE here). But what really pushed Lanterns over the top was how well everything worked together, to tell a cohesive story… that just so happened to end in the best giveaway item of the entire week, a high-quality Green Lantern ring.

We may have had to prove we were worthy of taking the oath, but in a year where it felt like many offsites were scaling back, HBO Max and the team at NVE proved they still know that Comic-Con demands only the best.

The Best Free Swag at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Lanterns Ring

One of the easiest ways to be the best offsite… is to offer some of the best swag.

Lanterns delivered in a big way on that, with a high-quality ring, that attendees at the offsite could even choose their own size of (a very nice touch that elevated the entire experience)! But it wasn’t just those lucky enough to make it into the offsite who were able to score one. HBO Max also partnered with local area bars to give away rings, meaning that more attendees at the convention were able to join the ranks of the Green Lantern Corps. This feels like the type of giveaway we’re going to be talking about for years to come, as an all-time best.

The Best Party at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Funko Fundays

Funko Fundays was definitely not without its issues. Last-minute venue changes! Lack of entertainment (we saw multiple people sleeping because they were so bored)! But while this year’s event may be a shell of its former self (pun not intended), when it comes to delivering high-quality exclusives to its attendees, Funko remains hard to beat.

 

The Best Wrap at San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Avengers: Doomsday Gaslamp Arch

Look, is this technically a wrap? Well, no. But it served the same purpose — decorating the Gaslamp for San Diego Comic-Con — and so spiritually, we’re considering this a wrap.

Last year marked the first time we’d seen the iconic Gaslamp Arch used to promote an upcoming film, with The Bad Guys 2 delivering a few character moments positioned on the arch. This year, one of the biggest and most exciting surprises in the days leading up to the convention was watching the arch slowly transform into something much bigger. And we do mean slowly. While it may have taken them ages to finish (seriously, it felt like they were only working from 5pm-8pm each day), the finished Avengers: Doomsday Gaslamp Arch absolutely ruled the Gaslamp.

It truly felt like Comic-Con had taken over downtown San Diego, in a way I’m not sure it ever has before. I really hope this becomes an annual trend, because few things say “SDCC is here” quite like transforming one of the Gaslamp’s most recognizable landmarks along with it.

 

The Most ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Thing About San Diego Comic-Con 2026: Hall H Wristbands/Other Issues

I always hate when the convention has major issues, because I know how much love, care, and planning goes into San Diego Comic-Con behind the scenes. So it’s disappointing for both fans and attendees when things go awry on a much larger scale, and nowhere was that more prevalent than with Saturday’s Hall H kerfuffle.

Attendees had waited for days to make it into Hall H for the biggest panel of the week, Saturday’s Marvel Studios. For those not in line by Friday mid-day, there was basically no way you were making it in at all, to give you some idea of just how long that wait really is. Then on Friday night, attendees were wristbanded, and while not “guaranteed”, the general idea is that if you get a wristband, you know you’re making it inside Hall H the next day so long as you return by 7:30am. You can even go sleep in that hotel room you’re paying thousands of dollars for, so long as you’re back in time!

Only that isn’t quite how it worked out this year. Cut to Saturday morning, when they let attendees into Hall H, and when they declared it was full… there were still several hundred wristbanded attendees waiting under the tents.

So how exactly did this happen? No one seems quite sure, including Comic-Con International. We spoke with San Diego Comic Convention Chief Communications and Strategy Officer David Glanzer after the convention, who told us that they were still in the process of investigating, but as of that time, there was no evidence that fake wristbands had been made. So did they simply print too many wristbands and not count correctly? Were there somehow less seats in Hall H, due to Marvel’s “the back row is the front row” stunt? Was it something else entirely?

Comic-Con did issue a statement at the time, declaring “on Saturday, those who were in line by 7:30am were admitted”. Those under the tents argued they had been in line in time, with some providing timestamped screenshots.

You can see when this photo was taken to provide information to one person who was still walking up to meet us. Again we were near the front of shoot 2 when they stopped allowing people with wristbands in. We were the group that was next to go in. pic.twitter.com/ELscaOoGqy

— GeekHeather (@GeekHeather) July 27, 2026

That statement from CCI has since been amended completely (though you can still read the original by clicking that link above — the internet lives forever), and now reads in full, “We are taking a ground-up approach to address issues that occurred with lines at Hall H this year. The process will take time as we meet with multiple departments and explore all options available.”

They did eventually let some of those shut-out wristbanded individuals into Hall H for standing-room only in time for the Marvel panel, but not everyone made it in even then — and it doesn’t change the fact that attendees followed the process, jumped through all of the hoops, and were ultimately not rewarded with what they felt they were promised.

So whatever the reason, it still happened, and that sucks for all involved. I genuinely hope Comic-Con is forthcoming about their findings, because I’m a firm believer that information is empowering (hey, it’s why this site still exists!) — and CCI claims they want to empower us.

So we understand you’re human and mistakes can happen. Just tell us how things went wrong, and then prove you’ll do better next year.