Whilst San Diego Comic-Con is already in our rearview mirror, pop culture fans in Europe are gearing up for San Diego Comic-Con Málaga. GYCO is heading to Málaga this October for San Diego Comic-Con’s second European outing and so this feels like the right moment to recap who we’ll be sharing the FYCMA with. The guest list is still being announced, but there’s already a genuinely stacked lineup across four days, so let’s get into it.
Actors
The big story here for fans is the Starship Troopers reunion, and it’s a proper one. Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey and Michael Ironside are all confirmed across the weekend, this is a once in a lifetime event you don’t get at every convention. If you’ve ever wanted to ask Rico himself about bugs, now’s your chance.
Elsewhere, Kevin Smith is bringing his director/writer/actor triple threat for the Thursday and Friday, and I’ll be very surprised if that panel isn’t one of the loudest rooms of the con. Karl Urban joins him for the opening two days too. Then there’s a lovely little pocket of Lord of the Rings energy with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin both confirmed for the Saturday/Sunday leg, alongside Michael Rooker (Thursday/Friday), and Sean Gunn joining him for those same two days.
The rest of the confirmed acting guests are: Antonio Molero, Antonio Resines, Christopher Lambert, Dan Fogler, Deborah Ann Woll, Denise Gough, Emily Rudd, Fran Perea, Iñaki Godoy, Jason Lee, John DiMaggio, Jorge Jurado, Kevin Sussman, Kristian Nairn, Manu Bennett, Mira Sorvino, Natalia Sánchez, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Richard Dean Anderson, Taz Skylar, Verónica Sánchez and Victor Elías. Make sure to check the exact days on the official site before you plan your schedule around any one of them, since a fair few are single-day-only appearances.
Comic Book Guests
This is where things get properly exciting for me personally, because Jorge Jiménez is on the list. Just last week I was once again raving about his work on Batman #12, so getting to see him draw in person feels like a genuinely nice bit of timing. John Romita Jr. is also confirmed for every day of the show, which is about as big a comic book artist booking as you’ll find anywhere in Europe this year.
Beyond those two, the comics side of the guest list is deep: Álvaro Martínez Bueno, Arthur Suydam, Carmen Carnero, Chris Condon, Dan Mora, David Messina, Glenn Fabry, Iban Coello, Juanjo Guarnido, Laia López, Michael Golden, Michael Walsh, Mingjue Helen Chen, Natacha Bustos, Pat Mills, Pepe Larraz, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Rick Leonardi and Stefano Caselli. Most of that list is booked for every single day of the con, so there’s no excuse not to swing past artist alley at some point.
Gaming
Smaller in number but genuinely huge in stature. John Romero, co-creator of Doom and one of the most important names in the entire history of the medium, is confirmed for all four days. Jeremy Crawford, lead rules designer on Dungeons & Dragons, joins for the Friday. Board game fans get Reiner Knizia across the whole event, and video game designer Dave Jones rounds out the category.
Everything Else
The category I’m calling “the randoms” is honestly one of the most interesting parts of the whole list. Akira Yamaoka, the composer behind the Silent Hill series’ genuinely iconic soundtrack, is confirmed for Thursday and Friday, alongside fellow musical artist ANIMO. Shin’ichirō Watanabe, director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, is booked for Friday and Saturday, which is huge if you’re any kind of anime fan. Dean Devlin brings his writer/producer credentials for the Thursday, Yoshihiro Ueda directs his way through Thursday and Friday, Lukas Ettlin appears Friday for a panel, Pascu and Rodri close things out Sunday with a concert and panel, and animator/art director Yingjue Linda Chen is confirmed for every day.
That’s the list as it stands today, but the organisers have been clear there’s plenty more still to be announced, so don’t be surprised if this piece needs an update or two before October is upon us. We’ll keep tracking it as new names drop, and once we’re actually on the ground at FYCMA you’ll be able to follow our coverage of the show floor, the panels and whatever else Málaga throws at us.
