Popverse's coverage of Comic-Con International: San Diego 2026 is brought to you by Dark Horse Comics.

San Diego Comic Con is a magical event. There are tons of announcements, special appearances, and exclusive merchandise, but that’s nothing compared to some of the networking and special deals that happen behind the scenes. It’s the place where the biggest names in the comic book industry gather, making it the ideal venue for editors to find new talent and writers to form partnerships with artists.

Take Scott Snyder for example. Today, he’s one of the most prolific and consequential Batman writers of all time, but back in 2010 he was preparing for his first run on the character. Snyder had pitched a story for Detective Comics, and he included artist Jock in his pitch. The only problem was he hadn’t discussed this with Jock yet. Luckily San Diego Comic Con was coming up, and Snyder was prepared.

“When I pitched Detective Comics, I had Jock in mind, and they told me Jock will never work with you. He’s a big star, and you’re nobody,” Scott Snyder says during a panel at San Diego Comic Con 2016. “I came to this con to convince him to do it. I paid my own money here, and I met him in the Gaslamp. I was like, ‘You’ll get to draw a million batmobiles and all this cool stuff, and the Joker.’ And he was like, ‘I don’t care. What is it about?’ And then it really opened me up where I was like, ‘Oh, well it’s really about my fears in life.’ Basically, I gave him a real personal pitch. And he was like, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Snyder and Jock’s run began in Detective Comics #871. Their storyline, ‘The Black Mirror,’ was praised by readers for the way it leaned into the horror side of Gotham. Snyder and Jock would go on to work together on numerous projects, including the 2014 series Wytches. And none of it would’ve happened if it wasn’t for San Diego Comic Con.

Need more? Here's our picks for the best DC Comics stories of all time.