The People of Planet Comic-Con

The power of Comic-Con may rest in the hands of the studios, but its beauty is certainly a gift from its people. For four days in the sweltering Southern California summer, crowds gather to create an alternate reality, a new planet perhaps. Everyone is welcome on this planet – villains and heroes, monsters and elves, a witch from the AARP, several Kylo Rens, some Ghostbusters, the odd Norse god; plus infinite iterations of characters from games, novels, comic books and movies. For one long weekend San Diego becomes a kingdom of the imagination.

Who better to capture this fantastic world than the pristine eyes of a young first-time visitor? Our photographer-in-training Leo Gallo wandered the halls and alleys of the Convention Center in search of these fantastic creatures, the mythical dwellers of Planet Comic-Con. These are but a few of them.