San Diego Comic-Con took place online in 2020. | Emily VanDerWerff

How well Comic-Con At Home worked depends on what you go to Comic-Con for.

No Hall H. No artist alley. No cosplay. No swank elite parties. No endless convention exhibit space teeming with swag.

Without all the trappings, is Comic-Con still really Comic-Con?

Geeks the world over asked themselves this question as they experienced Comic-Con At Home last week, the virtual pandemic-proof iteration of the nation’s biggest annual fan convention, San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC).

Comic-Con has become a cultural juggernaut since its founding in 1970; this year was the first in the convention’s history that did not take place as planned.

But online, a version of Comic-Con still happened: Stripped of most of its in-person events and spectacle, the virtual SDCC focused on presenting free live-streamed panels to guests, all of which