Krakoa’s best and brightest shined at the inaugural X-Men Hellfire Gala presented by D23 in San Diego on Saturday, July 22nd. Members of the organization were given the opportunity to purchase tickets to strut their stuff on the green carpet, twirl in the Hellfire Ballroom, and hang downstairs in Lair X. I was one of the lucky ones to secure a ticket to the exclusive event during San Diego Comic-Con. As a producer and host of X-Reads Podcast, co-creator of The Uncanny Experience, and having done a virtual green carpet reporter activation for the first gala with Nerdist and Marvel, I had to be there.
Saramoni, Gerry Duggan, Warpath_Dylan, Alicia Wilder inside the Hellfire Ballroom
Spotted inside the event were comic creators Tini Howard, Zeb Wells, Josh Cassara, X-Men editor Jordan D. White, showrunner of X-Men ’97 Beau DeMayo, and the originator of the Hellfire Gala itself, Gerry Duggan. Cosplay stars Amanda Lynne, Gracie McClung, Michelle Waffle, Saramoni, Ani-Mia, Alicia Wilder, and more stunned attendees with their page-accurate couture looks. My date was X-Men community leader Warpath_Dylan of House of X.
My Corsair Gala look designed by Samantha Rei
To prepare for the gala, I had an original custom outfit made for the Marvel Comics character Corsair aka Christopher Summers aka Cyclops’ dad. It was designed and crafted by Minneapolis fashion designer Samantha Rei. Corsair has not attended a gala in the comics, so we had freedom to express our ideas on what he would wear to the event. I wore a fitted vest with red pinstripe and black fabric with snap closures, topped with a short red waist-length cape with a blue fur collar, blue satin lining, and Corsair’s gold insignia embellished on the back. I chose to clasp the cape at the neck with a bejeweled kilt pin to embody Corsair’s jeweled gloves he traditionally wears. The outfit was completed with slim black slacks tucked into black knee-high boots, red fingerless gloves, and his signature blue headband. Not to mention the handlebar mustache as well.
Josh Cassara and Warpath_Dylan inside the Hellfire Ballroom
Entering the venue, we were greeted by Hellfire staff who handed us a gorgeous invitation and metal “X” pin. A large lit-up “X-Men” symbol was adorned by plants invoking the current Krakoan era was present to take photos in front of. Circling around the corner we entered The Green Lagoon – a room filled with trees dripping with vines and covered with twinkling lights and glowing orbs. It was in this room that the green carpet with step and repeat was located that exactly resembled the Russell Dauterman connecting variant set from the first Hellfire Gala.
The Invitation to the Gala with ‘X’ pin
Traveling through a Krakoan Portal, we were transported to the Hellfire Ballroom where dance music pumped through a plant-filled room, and standees of iconic characters like Jean Grey, Storm, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, and more, were positioned throughout the dance floor. Heading downstairs into Lair X we were give more space to hang out, enjoy X-Men art, play the classic Konami arcade X-Men game, nosh on complimentary food, and be given a gift bag of goodies.
Alicia Wilder as Rasputin
The gift bag was a custom Hellfire Gala white bag with gold trim. Inside we were gifted a Hellfire branded magnet, pen, and a random selection of either a graphic novel, or one of the prose novels from Aconyte Books – including stories written by past guests on our podcast Carrie Harris and Neil Kleid, which was X-citing to see!
Contents of the D23 Gift bag
The critiques of the experience mainly stemmed from the very limited time members were given in the space. Those who purchased limited expedited entry tickets were given nearly four hours, while the majority of the attendees given less than three hours when the event ended at 11:00pm with the lights on and security yelling for attendees to leave – Emma would never have allowed that. Additionally, the event was a cost for Gold Members who usually do not have to pay for D23 events, having paid the premium Gold Tier membership already. The venue itself was sufferingly hot in Lair X, and it was near impossible to breathe through some of the fumes of the hot glue and materials used to set up the event in the short time they flipped the Malibu Dreamhouse Experience which was in that space just hours before.
Inside the Hellfire Ballroom
I hope the event can happen again as the completely packed venue attested that ticket-buyers want to attend something like the Hellfire Gala again. Here is a wish list of things I would like to see at future editions (should they ever occur):
- Couture Costumes on display that replicate what we see on the pages. Seeing the outfits in real-life as opposed to reprints of cover art would have elevated the event. Cosplay collaborators would jump at this opportunity.
- A larger Green Carpet experience for those who took the time to dress up and embody their favorite characters. A longer carpet with more photo stops and Disney social media teams or even faux media doing interviews to really sell the fantasy. The step and repeat area was very small and congested with only one photographer that was only present at the very beginning of the event.
- Better lighting in photo op areas. The lighting in the venue was horrendous. The event description boasted of multiple photo opportunities but only professional cameras with flash could capture any image worth sharing. All the photo areas were backlit with no lighting set up to actually shine on attendees, so your face was in shadow the entire time.
- A longer event! Three hours after spending close to $200 to attend is not the Krakoan way.
- A dress code. With probably 60% of the attendees in shorts and t-shirts, the event felt more pedestrian than extravagant. I don’t even mean cosplay formal wear, but at least business casual.
- More X-Men creators and community leaders in attendance. I know that a list of X-Men comic creators, cosplayers, and community thought leaders were all declined guest list placement in lieu of TikTok influencers. As an event producer, I know guest lists are difficult to manage and you must make hard choices, but I spoke with a comic creator the day after who actually designed some of the looks of the Hellfire Gala and they were disappointed they were in San Diego for the convention but not invited to attend despite outreach to D23.
Alongside Tini Howard
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