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ONCE MORE…

IT’S BEEN 10 YEARS since I attended my first San Diego Comic-Con. By 2013, there were already grumblings from a certain segment of fans that the show was losing its way, that it wasn’t about comics anymore, that movie studios and TV networks were taking up all the oxygen, that they were (gasp!) appealing to too many casual fans. I didn’t care (still don’t!) because not only were they wrong, but I was finally at SDCC and lucky enough to be there in a professional capacity.

At this point, I had only been on the job at Den of Geek for just over a month. The profile, reach, and audience of the site in the U.S. was far lower than what it eventually became. It wasn’t even certain that I’d be able to go until just a couple of weeks before the show, long after the press registration period had closed. Fortunately, I found a sympathetic ear in the press registrar’s office, who got me a pass. Of course, by then, the press lists had long gone out, and as I said, Den of Geek didn’t have a lot of pull yet in terms of interview invites—and forget about things like parties. My mission was to pound the southern California pavement, hand out business cards, do some panel coverage, and generally make enough of a nuisance of myself that folks might

BY EXPERTS. FOR FANS.

On The Cover

remember the DoG name. I even managed to sneak into a party or two. But even then, as a website that, at the time, barely had any full-time staff, I didn’t get there alone. The opportunity to attend SDCC as a kind of “advance scout” only happened because folks were putting in the work in other areas of the company. Over this decade, Den of Geek has grown in ways I could never have imagined in terms of scale, ambition, quality, and more. While it’s a bigger staff now than the one in 2013, it’s still not exactly a big one, so it requires a staggering amount of effort, year-round, to get us to the point where we can bring a crew across the country to cover the most important event on the pop-culture calendar. See those names on our masthead on the other page? The DoG team is the best in the business, and they’ve allowed me to have (literally, in the case of San Diego) my “moment in the sun.” I’ll never be able to thank them, or you readers, enough.

Mike Cecchini, Editor-in-Chief

The summer is upon is us so what better way to celebrate than with a bright, beautiful cover celebrating crime in a post-apocalyptic landscape. The show is Twisted Metal, based on the hit video game series. We caught up with star and producer Anthony Mackie, as well as his costars Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Quiet, and Will Arnett who voices the maniacal clown, Sweet Tooth. Inside these pages you will find all manner of great TV content including features on Ahsoka, John Wick spinoff The Continental and Ted spinoff... Ted. Plus, see that cute little Blue Beetle flash? That’s to remind you to read all about DC’s new movie which could be the start of a reboot of the DC universe. Enjoy the issue!

ISSUE 11 | SUMMER 2023

MAGAZINE

Mike Cecchini

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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