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Comics fans fear that two new British anti-pornography laws ‘could make comic books illegal’. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act would make possessing “extreme pornography” - defined as any “extreme image” produced “solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal” - illegal. Oddly:
Films given an official classification are exempt from the new law, meaning portrayals of such extreme activity by actors will be allowed on screen. However, imitations by characters on paper will not enjoy such an exemption.
The second is the Coroners and Justice Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament. It will introduce a similar law banning the possession of any image involving sexual activity and children. For the purpose of the law, an image is said to contain a child if “the impression conveyed … is that the person shown is a child”.
The comic book campaigners claim that if the new rules are interpreted harshly, their hobby could be criminalised.
What we don’t get is how films that show people actually doing obscene things get a pass while a drawing that was totally imaginary is somehow more dangerous? Huh? Whatever.
This comics fan site presents the dangers and a call to action. They fear the law swould not only ban obvious cases like LOST GIRLS, but more violent material like WATCHMEN and WANTED:
We COULD get to a point where the police could legitimately visit your home or workplace, and sanctioned by an un-elected magistrate or judge go through your collection and if they find any comic book that they feel will cause sexual arousal or displays extreme violence then they could arrest you.
And what is frightening about this law is that it gives them carte blanche to invade our lives, to shut down our comic shops and ultimately it could lead to censorship of books and films as well.
§ John Jakala runs into the kind of people who reflexively defend the superhero genre while observing:
The superhero comics that do stand out are generally well-written and have something interesting to say about the human condition other than “Wouldn’t it be cool if we brought back a bunch of old characters no one’s seen in a long time?”
§ Tom Spurgeon has a
very lengthy post-bang interview with San Diego CCI’s David Glanzer, and Glanzer gives out lots of vague sound bites, which Tom tries to penetrate to no avail, although it’s unlikely that detailed answers to the questions would be pertinent at this point. But it does prove that much of SDCC is an optical illusion:
GLANZER: I am not saying there is no special concern for those companies. What I was trying to say is that each company, publishers, and retailers included, may have different reasons for attending the show.
A imagine the reason for a retailer to be at the show will differ from a publisher who has no retail outlet. It doesn’t mean one is more important than the other, it simply means they might have a different criteria by which they must judge the success of their presence at the show.
In 2006 we had 155 booths dedicated to comics (Golden/Silver/New Comics), in 2008 we had 173 booths. In regard publishers, in 2006 we had 363 booths that were taken by publishers and in 2008 that number increased to 403 booths. And we still have publishers and retailers that are on our wait list for space.
Graeme McMillan rounds up all of the complaints and dark sides and whatnot in a fairly brilliant post all should read:
It was the con that, it seemed, confounded a lot of people. Press shut out of panels, celebrities turned away from parties, comic publishers vowing never to return and 125,000 fans all in one building for four days without end. Every year, San Diego Comic-Con ends with people griping that it has gotten to be too big and that something has to change, but was this the year that lived up to the complaints?
He has a few good quotes, including this from mediabistro.com, with a title we’re stealing forever more:
The Land of Wanders:
Anyway, we are posting this after midnight because there is no filing room. We were directed to an outlet in the hallway for all our computing needs. We promise to never bitch about the burnt gratis coffee in normal press rooms again.
We haven’t mentioned it in a while, but Comic-Con has absolutely the crappiest press room of any event we’ve ever been to. We promise to go see
EAGLE EYE just because they gave us free Wi-Fi, but next year, some movie about teen zombies on a sex rampage at sleepaway camp really needs to sponsor a better press room, with nuclear lemonade or something.
Graeme quotes Tom McLean’s must read on the problems of covering Comic-Con, but what caught our eye was the first comment:
As a longtime Con-goer I just want to say that Comic-Con is not a press event and was never intended to be, it is a FAN event and it is refreshing that an event exists that doesn’t cater to press, big-wigs or anyone except fans.
That would be nice if it were true, “Longtime Con-goer,” but the truth is, marketing is the reason for the explosion of Comic-Con. Since there are really 90 different events rolled up into one, we hope that “Longtime Con-goer” can continue to appreciate the show on his or her own terms.
Some of the most interesting group coverage of the show was that from the locals, The San Diego Tribune’s Comic-Con blog. The coverage we saw was definitely from a non-fannish viewpoint, and included such things as a report on a strip show.
Finally, poor Barbara Vey, our fellow PW blogger, was at the show and had a great, great time, but as a book blogger, not as a comics blogger, she learned the meaning of “faux pas”:
There were no celebrity spottings for me today, but I was told I “just missed” the star of Supernatural. I did manage to catch up with author Greg Rucka, whose novels I’ve been reading for years. When I mentioned that I didn’t know he had written comics, there was an actual gasp from his fans waiting in line. I scrambled to say that I did read his regular books and I’d check into his comics, but the crowd started getting nasty. I think I was this close to tar and feathers.
Her conclusion?
Bottom Line: Never mention that you don’t read comics at Comic Con.
A lesson for all, Barbara, a lesson for all.
In a sad reminder of declining faculties, it is no longer possible forThe Beat to write a cogent, well-reasoned essay about anything longer than a 30 minute sitcom. So I’m reduced to bullet points. Yes, that’s what it’s come to. Frankly. it’s Friday and everyone has said everything that needs to be said. I’ve lost a whole day to Post Con Stress Disorder and I’m ready to move on. But before we do…
• It’s sad that the only way you find out that many of your friends were at the con is reading their blogs afterwards, but that’s how it is. I don’t think there’s any point in going to Comic-Con without a business-based agenda, because there’s a lot of business you can do. Hanging loose and going with the flow is the other path, and this can lead to fun but you must just accept that you are going to miss 200 cool things. As a blogger, I learned long ago that if you weren’t there, someone else was, and they will blog about it. Of course, firsthand observation is always superior, but now the con exists as a virtual con report anyway, so on that level it still works.
• Comic-Con is Hollywood’s #1 marketing platform of the year. Although last year’s PetCo park promotion remains the Everest of promo, this year had viral signage every two inches, skywriting, a phalanx of warrior statues outside the Hilton, elevator dressage, cows, hide and seek games, and god knows what else that we never saw. In the new viral world, shortage, scarcity, and desire are the currency of the realm. Four different Warner Bros. bags were handed out each morning, and it was their very scarcity that made them effective. That and the fact that everyone who carried one was a walking sandwich board for CHUCK or whatever. BTW, these bags (even the WATCHMEN one) are going for under $10 on eBay right now, so their aftermarket is definitely limited.
• Actors fear Comic-Con. The guy who plays Chuck was astonished to see all those people walking around carrying his face. We saw panelists in Hall H and Ballroom 20 TAKING PICTURES of the audiences in the room. Unless you’re a moderately successful musician or athlete, talking in front of the 6500+ people in Hall H could be the biggest live audeince you will ever face.
• There are celebrities and there are celebrities. It may not be Cannes, but the four days of con are the Internet era’s version of dinner at Sardi’s. And not everyone has figured it out yet. The kernel of comics at the heart of Comic-Con is ever present, but you really have to be in the know to know about it. The IDW party on Thursday was one of the best comics parties we’ve ever attended, a barn burning mix of comics folk, nerdlebrities and Hollywood development folks. In fact, we met more development peeps at that one party than we have in the rest of our lives combined. A few of them were really nice. But a few of them were so alien to our concepts of life, liberty and happiness that we suspected they were going to rip off their faces, MEN IN BLACK style at any moment.
For instance, one perfectly lovely, nice fellow explained that he was responsible for one of the Hilton/Kardashian appearances. “I wanted to make sure that this was the party that everyone should be at,” he explained.
It was loud and we weren’t sure we had heard right. Surely he had said ‘the party that everyone shouldn’t be at” — counterintuitive for someone throwing a party, perhaps, but the only sane reaction to throwing a party centered around “Paris Kardashian.”
“No, no, everyone SHOULD be at,” he said.
Not much to argue with there. Pointless to try.
There are quite a few clueless development wonks who think that debutards make a party, but there are a surprising number of folks who understand that actual writers, artists, and creators are also good conversationalists who make for a lively mix. There was a major snafu with this that we witnessed however. All of the cartooners from EW’s Visionaries party were invited to the EW/Sci-Fi bash at the Solamar. However there was a looooooong line to get into the party, and even people on the list stood in it, even while certain actor/musician types were let in without waiting. One of the cartoonists on the panel cut through the velvet rope, and several waiting in line witnessed this, engendering some hurt feelings.
Our own opinion of this incident is that Cartoonist A is a star and knows it and knows how to cut lines. The other cartoonists we saw are not used to the A-list treatment but SHOULD BE. It is a sad day when you seem to be advising people to become brash egotists for their own good, but sometimes you’ve gotta just dive into the scrum.
That said, we hope that the countless producers, directors, development wonks, and celebutards realize that treating the idea farm cartoonists with the respect and reverence they deserve is a necessity. We don’t have much hope of that happening globally, but it needs to be said.
• SPEAKING OF PARTIES…the Dave Stevens 53rd Birthday Bash on Sunday night thrown by Bob Chapman, (replacing the traditional Dead Dog party) was the most awesome party of the show. The guest list was cut back to mostly people who would have been invited in the ’90s, but that means you got to hang out with Frank Miller, Dave GIbbons, Geoff Darrow, Diana Schutz, Bob Schreck, Mike Mignola, and really too many other cool and talented people to mention. It wasn’t crowded, it was just relaxed and everyone had a fabulous time.
• WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE CON. It is too unwieldy in that it has no place to grow and no place to go. With attendance, hotels, and floor space maxed out, the con will need to look at all of their options in order to keep revenues above costs. This year, there was two or three times as much security as in years past, and that couldn’t have been cheap, for example. Whereas in the past, the biggest problems were Hall H and registration, this year, the problem was getting into almost ANY panel of any note. Although we had very, very good luck getting into everything we wanted to (we even walked right in to Hall H for the WATCHMEN panel) time and again we heard about lines for everything. It’s obvious that there was so much programming in order to keep people off the floor but really, what is to be done about this? Given the innate human ability to think that if something is exclusive, you must have it, this means even more people will show up to get on even more exclusive panels to the point where 200,000 people will attend just to wait in line for 20 panels.
One idea mentioned not as often as Las Vegas is the idea of raising ticket prices or starting some kind of VIP ticket level. On the one hand, this makes a lot of sense: it would raise a lot of money for Comic-Con and there is certainly much demand for such a thing. On the other hand. all of the problems with access for the convention are because the folks running it have a sense of egalitarianism. I’ve been told many times that the show wants a kid who saved his pennies to go to get as much chance as a celebrity to get access, and a blogger is treated the same as a reporter from the Times (generally speaking.) Although putting in organized levels of access would help a lot of people, it does seem to go against the spirit of the thing. (And I say this as someone who has pretty good access to lots of things but was still denied many things I had my heart set on.)
• PRESS WHINING. We heard so much complaining from our fellow journos about not getting in here, or being turned away there. With over 3000 journalists attending the show, it just isn’t possible to give them all equal access. The con has left specific access up to the companies who put on panels and events. After seeing this in place for many years, we’ve come to the conclusion that that may well be the only way to do it. The sad fact is that if you absolutely, positively have to cover something, you need to grovel before some studio/network PR flack to do so. We know from our own experience– and from countless horror stories — that these PR peeps are by and large nice, friendly folks, but they have a lot of petty feuds and favorites and so on. (Infighting among movie Website journos makes comics squabbling look like a kitten fight.) As in all things regarding the con, we surrender.
• COMICS ARE STILL AROUND. We ended up spending minimal amounts of time on the show floor, but when we did, all the comics-related booths seemed to be busy and profitable. However, at the show, IDW wasn’t particularly hiding the fact that they probably weren’t going to be back at the show in 2009, and Tom Spurgeon caught up with IDW head Ted Adams to talk about it:
I think we’re likely not to be at San Diego next year. There are people that work for me that think that’s not the right decision. I’m trying to weigh what they’re telling me, think hard about what they’re telling me. Certainly for the freelance community that works for us, it’s important to them that they have a place at this show. I’m trying to think about how can I accomplish those goals with drastically reduced cost to us. Not so much the financial cost, but the opportunity cost. How can I have a place where Ash Wood can meet his fans at San Diego Comic-Con without it requiring all this time?
Adams’s thoughts, although obviously brewing even before the con, strike us a bit as fog-of-war musings, but plainly, the place of comics at Comic-Con is the big question after this year’s show. Today, Tom runs a very thoughtful roundtable of responses to the IDW question from
a variety of very smart comics folks. We’ll have perhaps more to say about this later (as a larger issue), but it’s notable that the one person who’s most gung ho about returning to SD is
Chris Oliveros of D&Q. Not to say that Chris is a curmudgeon, because he isn’t, but D&Q has long been very worried about their particular brand of award-winning, thought-provoking, lasting material getting lost in the hype/pop scrum…so to hear that they are doing so well should hearten all.
I do think that comics need to get more press savvy. The Parker press conference (to which i contributed some early brainstorming with editor Scott Dunbier) was cited by several as a success and I sincerely hope this sort of thing becomes the norm. My reasons for hoping this are completely selfish — I would rather go to a few press events than spend four days going to 10 “Cup of Nation” panels where I have to sit through endless in-jokes and asinine fanboy fretting. I was told by one seasoned comics vet that the panels can’t be done away with as press vehicles because that public banter is an important part of the proceedings, but why not have both?
Several people wished aloud for a return to the “Expo” format of old, when Wednesday afternoon was retailer and pro only. This model has been picked up by New York Comic-Con, with a Friday morning “industry only” morning and early afternoon. I’m told that it would be impractical at San Diego because then, exhibitors would have to set up that much earlier and there would be no rise in sales or PR value in allowing press like me to get all four of their Warner bags without braving the scrum. (Insert unhappy face.)
Perhaps this is so, but I can definitely see comics companies using Wednesday afternoon as their own press day. As I’ve mentioned here before, at European conventions, where guests are treated like rock stars and basically wined and dined for a week or so, interrupted by brutal one-hour signings, there is generally a press day, where TV, newspapers and other media come interview them.
I think a “San Diego press day” on Wednesday afternoon, before the scrum begins, would be a fabulous idea. A company could hold back their precious news of a new Ant-Man miniseries until their exciting panels, but they could give some of the 3000 journos on hand access to some of the cartoonists who actually create the material that they are covering. I know firsthand that most of these Masters of the Universe don’t give a shit about comics, but there are enough press moles out there to make this a worthwhile idea.
For all I know, maybe this is already going on, and I’m just on the wrong lists. DC has been holding “press dinners” on and off for a while — a standard practice in the book industry, BTW — but has apparently halted them for now.
At the end of the day, comics have little chance of competing head-to-head with the big budget streets teams and cow pastures of the movie company promotions at Comic-Con. However, if you don’t think you are important, no one else will. As several of the people in Tom’s survey said, the San Diego Comic-Con is still the biggest comic book event of the year — as well as being the biggest movie, TV and video game evenrt of the year — and they’ll drag us off kicking and screaming.
Me? I’m already on a stretcher with an IV of fluids going into my arm. But I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.
You can’t stop after just 300. Just some random linkage and so on; by reading a few of these you begin to see the elephant:
§ Caleb Monroe attempts the greatest experiment of all with a pedometer:
So, since my feet sure feel the mileage every year, this year I thought I’d find out just what that mileage was. So I bought a pedometer to count the number of steps I took during the con, and therefore approximately what distance I traveled. I forgot to get one before leaving for my train, but after walking the few blocks from the train station to my hotel and dropping off my bag, the first thing I did was walk another couple blocks to Long’s Drugs to buy a pedometer. A Gaiam Beginner Pedometer, to be precise.
§
And what about those pesky strollers?
I was one of those persons who took a stroller and 8 month old to the Con, and I’d just like to say — that stroller and child is no bigger than half the fans on the show floor. Most of the people I ran into were rude people trying to jump over the stroller and grab a sticker or postcard. And I protect my child, thank you very much. I mostly stayed to the lesser traveled areas unless there was a specific reason to go to the more crowded areas. And I paid more than enough to go wherever the hell I pleased however the hell I pleased with whomever the hell I pleased. My daughter’s safety and happiness was paramount, and I missed most of the signings and panels I wanted to see because I was catering to her and my wife. And I had absolutely no problem with that. Anyone complaining about the kids at the Con either have no children or have forgotten what it is like to be one. In other words, shut up. BTW, I didn’t get run over by one single stroller, even my own when the wife was driving. Maybe paying attention to my surroundings and not being rude helped a bit. I’ve been going to this event for 9 years, and I’ve rarely been run over by anything but a rabid fan looking for freebies. Maybe we should ban THEM.
Aaron Alexovich:
A BOLD PREDICTION: The SDCC Hollywood money-train will soon drift to a slow crawl. Comic properties will continue to sell, but the marketing people will wise up a bit. Oh, you’ll still see cool presentations and the occasional Owlship at the Con every year, but the Keanus and Jolies will dry up, and with them all the casual fans who swell the yearly body count past 125,000. Things will drift back to a more sustainable size and no one (sweet jeezus here’s hoping) will have to go to Vegas. So don’t fret none, San Diego… You’ll be hating our guts and collecting all our money for many, many years to come.
(This one businessman-looking guy on the sidewalk actually shouted at me to “get my ass out the way” on Friday. He waved his arm all angry-like and everything. We reacted the only way you can react: hysterical laughter.)
§
Ben Templsmith’s show:
I had a fake homosexual encounter on the con floor. I vandalized a baby and I nearly got a spanking from Stan Lee.
§
Bryan Lee O’Malley’s show:
Saturday: more of a blur. At 7 AM we looked out the window of our hotel room and saw that there was an enormous WAVE of people waiting to get in (not a line/queue, a WAVE).
§
Miranda Mason’s Photostream
§Nikki Cook’s photos and LJ, above with Ted McKeever.
§ Boom! photo set:
§ Comics Bakery photos
§ Dave Roman comes home:
-Coming back home with Raina, getting late-night Greek food in Astoria, and feeling good about our lives.
Apparently there was some kind of viral game for AMC’S PRISONER remake going on at Comic-Con, and they were responsible for the skywriting:
AMC played their own little marketing game (Fox also did this with Fringe) at Comic Con to create buzz for their remake of the 1960’s cult classic The Prisoner.
Attendees were provided with cryptic puzzle cards, which when decoded drove participants to SeekTheSix.com where they were told to ‘seek the six’ in order to reveal the secret behind the campaign.
Not impressed.
When you see a picture like this, it is really impossible not to want to go to San Diego, despite the crowds and expense, isn’t it?
Via Dean Trippe.
RECOMMENDED: Neil Kleid does Rorschach’s SDCC Journal:
Meeting with Warners left bad taste in mouth. Pampered and decadent, betraying even their own shallow, poor understanding of the comic book industry. Comics industry as bad. Flabby failure that sits whimpering in mothers’ basement.
Why are so few of us in this industry active, healthy and without personality disorders?
…ooh. Free Ben 10 DVDs. Yoink.
Technorati Tags: Watchmen
Okay, we lied. We’re going to put good photo sets we find in this one link, so keep checking. First up, Beaucoup Kevin’s always excellent photos.
Just a few…
§ Ian Brill:
Before that the strangest thing to happen at the booth was having Stephen Baldwin and Mark Waid signing at the same time. Baldwin was on “stage left” and Waid to the opposite end. On one side you had people bring out their camera phones as if unseen puppet strings were lifting their arms from their sides. On the other a healthy smattering of fans would walk up to a creator they admire, share a few kind words and got their copy of Kingdom Come signed (and hopefully buy Potter’s Field). While I make no judgment calls here I still remembered to stand at the back of the booth and slowly move my eyes from one end to the other. I had the two spiritual halves of Comic-Con happening right in front of me, not even eight feet from each other. For an hour or so booth #2543 was the Harvey Dent of fandom.
§
Buzz Bags
Each day, as the sun rises over Comic-Con, marketing geniuses at the big media booths unpack boxes of promotional doodads to hand out to conventioneers eager to fill up on free stuff — stickers, posters, T-shirts, rub-on tattoos, plastic rings, hats and the ever-useful swag bag. As Jen mentioned in an earlier post, yesterday’s hot item — the animated “Wonder Woman” swag bag — was supplanted today by the equally outsized “Watchmen” swag bag you see above. It’s useful because the bags give you a place to put all your other swag. And so a million (okay, a few thousand) mobile billboards are launched out into the world — helping, it is hoped, to build buzz for one’s product.
§
Various disgruntled media types
OK, that’s pretty funny. Not fair, but an acutely observed generalization, nevertheless. (Can a generalization also be acute?) MSN Movies Editor Dave McCoy, an old friend, had his Comic-Con epiphany after seeing a wooden stake used by Buffy. Yes, the Buffy. And yet, it took Dave a couple days to figure out why he initially wasn’t enjoying Comic-Con as much as he thought he should. His title for his blog post: “A snob out of water”.
§
Steve Marmel, animation and comedy guy, has a great post on his Facebook page which I can’t link to, but I will, against the rules, post the first few paragraphs, because he summed it all up very well:
I, like a lot of people, made my annual pilgrimage to the San Diego Comic-Con. I, like many of the people who have gone as often as I have gone, understand the cons of the con. We make the jokes. But we’re allowed to.
It’s our f***ing party.
It is our F***ing party. Thanks for reminding us, Steve.
We’re mobilizing back to base. Everything is packed up at B.L.A.R.D. The mobile transmitters, the latrines, the Medivacs. Nothing left to do but write this journal as we listen to the lonely whistle of a train down the way.
Was it a successful expedition? Yes, and no. A lot of shit happened. A lot of shit that shouldn’t have happened. There was triumph, and tragedy. Stupidity and lucidity.
Saturday night, at the swanky EW/Sci-Fi party that we’ll probably never get into again, we ran into our old pal Steven Zeitchik, who is a ninja reporter for The Hollywood Reporter now. He’s there to cover show biz, the subject of Comic-Con, not our own little pasteboards and mini-comics. He’s also covered Sundance and Cannes, the other legs of the show biz triathlon. We asked how it compared. He pointed out that those last for 10-15 DAYS. Not four. He mentioned that at those events, you have time to do nothing but sit and watch a movie. At Comic-Con, it’s go, go, go, go, and whatever you happen to be doing, you’re missing 19 other things.
There was a sense of acceptance at this show. Everyone knows it’s too big and too crowded and too frantic. Everyone just goes with their own little flow now.
I think comics did okay, despite it all. I think great cartoonists still had their time to shine, and our own viral marketing campaign has been way too successful for our own good. I have some actual thoughts on this topic, but they’ll have to await a good night’s sleep to be put into coherent form.
We’re still recovering from too much information and stimulation. A long plane ride is ahead of us. With any luck, we’re flying home as you read this.
We want to send shout outs to our good buddies and two awesome people Laurel Maury and Andy MacDonald. A shout out also to Future Mr. Beat, Ben McCool, who endured all the ups and downs that Comic-Con can deal. And big thanks to the PWCW crew, Calvin, Laura, Douglas, Kai-Ming, Jody, Ed, Erin and honorary member Noah. Big thanks to Ralphs for the tasty pumpkin pie which we ate as a nightcap every evening. Big ups also to Trish (always), her nephew Michael, Anina, Paul, Charles, Larry, Tanya, Richard, Ben, Lorelei, Chappie, Nisha, Ed Douglas, Frank 3, Frank 2.3, Nelson, Jimmy, Amanda, Jimmy A., Ivan, Kristyn…well, you know there are always too many people to name. Anyway, thanks to you all. Let’s do it all again next week!
Wow, sorry for late updates but we’ve been busier than a boxing ring here at Beat Local Action Rapid Deployment HQ. Deadlines schmedlines.
This morning, we had to check out of our room and check in to the same room (long story) and the desk clerk handed us normal, unadorned room keys.
“Awwwww, you don’t have any more of those cool Comic-Con keys?” we said.
The reply came stone-faced and grim. “Comic-Con is OVER.”
And it is. But effects will linger for a long, long time. Some good, some bad.
We went to the traditional Graphitti Dead Dog party last night, which served as a 53rd birthday for Dave Stevens. I found myself missing Dave a lot at that show. Because the art was everywhere, of course, and Bettie Page was everywhere, but also because he represented so much of the best of Comic-Con — a world-class cartoonist who showed a lifelong devotion to craft, and crossed over to other mediums without ever losing his dedication to his chosen field — comics. Of course, I missed Dave’s matinee idol presence and gentlemanly ways and sly humor as well, but he was so much the spirit of the OLD Comic-Con, the El Cortez and the crossover of people who made comics, cartoons and movies that inspired the con for the first few years.
Now of course it’s something else, for someone else.
In years past, we’ve had some complaints about ways the con is run, but this year we have to salute Faye Desmond and the entire Comic-Con crew for running an event bigger than the Super Bowl with astonishing smoothness. With at least 60,000 people moving, milling and posing each and every day — from movie stars to studio heads to cartoonists to kids in costume– keeping them all safe and satisfied is a herculean task. No one can be entirely happy, but the people running the show made a tremendous effort to make it work for the most possible people. We’ll have our detailed assessment and rundown a bit later tomorrow, but suffice to say for now that the people running the show have our utmost respect.
Plus, better them than us.
More later.
Well, as you may have noticed, there’s a little Hollywood shindig coming up in a few days. Whereas once, San Diego prep — with the accompanying anxiety, dashed hopes and teeth gnashing — was exclusively the provenance of the comics industry, now, the entire entertainment industry is in full throttle PR mode, harried PR girls are cold calling journos, and planning hor s d’ouvres spreads, arranging mini-junkets and sending out press availabilities like there is no tomorrow.
We’ve drifted into a more “official” press list this year, so we’ve been flooded with invites of every kind, and it’s bean a real eye opener. While it’s a given that everyone thinks the Con has left comics behind, this year, we don’t think that’s the problem. This year, the con has left NERD MOVIES AND TV SHOWS BEHIND. And it’s sad.
We can’t tell you how many invites to see some teen sex comedy called SEX DRIVE we’ve received…and ignored. We like a free movie as much as the next Fourth Estater, but San Diego isn’t about teen sex comedies, for god’s sake. It’s about ACTION SCI-FI ADVENTURE COMIC BOOK MOVIES! STAR WARS! BLADE RUNNER! 300! IRON MAN!
With the Con’s place as THE consumer entertainment marketing showcase of the year, every production company in existence is staging a presentation or panel. Look, we’re thrilled to be breathing the same air as G.Butt again, but what does a Guy Richie gangster movie have to do with Comic-Con? Really now! Guy Richie may have written a comic book for Virgin but THAT DOESN’T COUNT.
The TV offerings are even more off-topic — what do BONES, 24 and PRISON BREAK have to do with Comic-con? Or Samurai Girl? Or Dollhouse…okay, we get THAT one.
Seriously, if you could pull some kind of Life on Mars deal and travel back to a Comic-Con from the 70s with guests Denis Weaver, Telly Savalas, and Robert Forster, that would be cool. Mannix. We’d like to meet Mannix.
To be fair, this year’s comic book movie slate is particularly weak, due to the writer’s strike. Only WATCHMEN and THE SPIRIT are representing he home team. (No WOLVERINE? Wait a minute…) And in the meantime, where are the comics, anyway? Have they just given up on getting ANY press during the show? Isn’t there a way to treat cartoonists like the superstars they are?
At the giant European comics fests, cartoonist guests spend often an entire day doing press, TV, newspaper and nerd. It’s surprising that more US comics shows don’t adopt this model. We’ve been offered C-list TV stars out the wazoo, but not Lynda Barry. Wouldn’t a comics star’s time be better spent mixing it up between press and signings just like movie stars?
In the spirit of full disclosure, we helped set up an actual comic book press conference this year. (We’ll tell you all about it when we attend it.) It’s a bold experiment, but one we expect to catch on. We’ve heard the idea of more comic books press conferences floated by a few comics publicists, although that’s really what panels have become. Still, for a busy, dizzy, harried mainstream journo, attending a single, say, Marvel or DC event is more practical than going to half a dozen panels.
There are quite a few ways to keep the comic in Comic-Con. To their credit, EW did it right in their Comic-Con preview, including actual comic books along side movies and TV shows. Granted it hard to compete with the level of excitement over a movie like DEATH RACE, but the funny thing is that all those movie people will just be ripping off the comics in a few months anyway.
There’s are not any “Women in Comics” panels in San Diego, but there are a few women-focused panels of various sorts; there’s also this:
11:00-12:00 LEGO and BrickJournal: Brave New World— See what grown-ups and “big kids” are doing with LEGO today and what fuels them to never put the brick down! With notable guests including Joe Meno, editor and creator of BrickJournal, the magazine for adult fans of LEGO; expert builders Bryce McGlone and Brandon Griffith; and female builder Jessi Pastor. This panel showcases amazing examples of how they put their LEGO building talents to use! Dust off those old bricks in your basement and join the brave new world of LEGO builders! Room 4
Ya hear that? Expert builders AND a female builder! Nice. Below the cut, other females.
4:00-5:00 Minx: Your Life in Pictures— In its first year, Minx found a whole new audience by creating original graphic novels for teenage girls. This year, Minx is breaking all the rules with another onslaught of amazing books. Panelists include group editor Shelly Bond and creators Cecil Castellucci (Janes in Love), David Hahn (All Nighter), Ryan Kelly (New York Four), Deborah Vankin (Insta-Life), and Brian Wood (DMZ, New York Four). Room 10
4:45-5:45 “SCREAM” Like a Girl— Spike loves women. And the coolest women on the planet are the ones who destroy aliens, defeat serial killers and battle evil villains with their superpowers! In honor of Spike’s ScreamAwards 2008—the first and most important televised event that celebrates the genius creative talent behind the powerhouse Hollywood genres of comic books, science fiction, fantasy and horror—Spike brings you a candid discussion of these genres from the women they love, who are poised to rule the fanboy’s universe! Moderator Kevin Smith (Clerks), the brilliant writer, director, and comic book genius hosts an all-female panel of actresses, artists, writers, directors, and producers, including Gale Ann Hurd (Terminator, Terminator 2), Jaime King (The Spirit, Sin City), and Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man), in a discussion about working in these genres from their unique point of view. Twenty lucky panel attendees will win tickets to the 2008 Scream Awards. Ballroom 20
10:30-11:30 Marvel: Women in Marvel— She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel are powerhouses in the Marvel U, now meet the real women powerhouses who work in Marvel Comics today! Writers Robin Furth (Dark Tower), Marjorie Liu (NYX), Sherrilyn Kenyon (Lords of Avalon), Jen Grunwald (editor), colorist Christina Strain (Runaways), and Occasional Superheroine’s Valerie D’Orazio are here to answer your question about their titles, announce new projects, and explain how more women are breaking into comics every day! Room 6A
Okay we’re outtie. NO MORE PRESS RELEASES AND BOOTH SCHEDULES. We’re done. We leave the Beat in the hands of trusted operative Mark Coale, and a new operative, S. Stahl who has taken on the job of Beat COPYEDITOR. Thank this wonderful person — he’s a demon for commas, which we usually, aren’t.
We’re hitting ground zero tonight, setting up base camp and starting up the north face at about 0900 hours tomorrow. We hope to start our ascent sometime tomorrow night, and summit on Saturday. Our preparations have mostly gone well — we’re provisioned with a ton of Vietnamese instant coffee, dried apricots and flax seed. The only setback so far — frigging Apple doesn’t let you make your own ringtones or even import ones YOU LEGITIMATELY BOUGHT, so our sweet new iPhone won’t be able to ring out with our creepy new Amon Tobin ringtones in the middle of panels. That is sad.
We’ll be Twittering, posting from mobile locales and keeping you up to date with all the snark we can scarf up. Happy trails!
As usual The Hero Initiative will have a spectacular line=up of events and guests at the big show, inlcuding the Marve vs DC softball game. Much more below the cut.
BOOTH SCHEDULE
WED., 23 JUL (con hours 6:00-9:00)
6:30-7:30: Scott Koblish
THUR, 24 JUL (con hours 9:30-7:00)
12:00-1:00: Gordon Purcell
1:00-2:00: Whilce Portacio
2:00-3:00: Marv Wolfman
FRI, 25 JUL (con hours 9:30-7:00)
10:00-11:00: Phil Hester
2:00-3:00: Gordon Purcell
4:00-5:00: Brad Meltzer + Michael Bair
5:00-6:00: Tim Seeley
SAT, 26 JUL (con hours 9:30-7:00)
10:00-11:00: Jeff Parker
11:00-12:00: Ron Marz + Stjepan Sejic
1:00-2:00: Matt Haley + Dean Zachary
4:00-5:00: Paul Jenkins
SUN, 27 JUL (con hours 9:30-5:00)
10:00-11:00: Steve Lieber
11:00-12:00: Joe Staton
12:00-1:00: Greg Pak
3:30-4:30: Sanford Greene
MIKE McKONE SKETCHES
UK artist sensation Mike McKone (Amazing Spider-Man) will be doing 20 sketches for The Hero Initiative over the course of the con. Swing by the Hero booth #907 starting Thursday morning for details!
MARVEL v. DC SOFTBALL
It’s on! Marvel takes on DC for the coveted Stan Lee Cup in their third annual San Diego softball game! Swing by and watch:
Adams Rec Center
3491 Adams Ave. (corner of 35th St.)
San Diego, CA 92116
Gametime is Thursday, July 24 at 4:30 PM!
CAG PANEL FEATURING HERO BOARD MEMBER MIKE MALVE
The panel, entitled, “The Comicbook Artists Guild: An Open Call for Members Nationwide,” will be held in Room 24A on Friday, July 25, 2008 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Special guest speaker is Mike Malve, owner of the Atomic Comics store chain in Arizona and member of the Fundraising Committee for The Hero Initiative, who will speak on the overall mission of the Initiative and its partnership with CAG.
In addition, you do not want to miss these Ebay Auctions, which are closing soon!
MEET STAN LEE AT SAN DIEGO!
WHAT: Hang with Stan Lee on a private yacht. Be one of five winners to receive • Photo and face time with Stan, two autographs on your own personal items, which you must bring and a ComicBookResources.com article and photos of the winners and event!
WHEN: Friday, July 25 at 6 pm
WHO: It’s Stan Lee, ‘nuff said.
EBAY LINK: http://qurls.com?i=37404
DINNER WITH JOE QUESADA AT MORTON’S SAN DIEGO!
WHAT: Be one of six winners to enjoy fine dining with Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Joe Quesada along with a copy of the Marvel Then and Now DVD signed by Joe Quesada AND Stan Lee! This is a social opportunity and no autographs will be allowed.
WHEN: Thursday, July 24 at 8 pm
WHO: Joe Quesada, need we say more?
EBAY LINK: http://qurls.com?i=37402
BREAKFAST AND ART WITH DAVID BULLOCK, DARWYN COOKE AND CAMERON STEWART
WHAT: Win breakfast and an original Batman sketch from one of the three artists (randomly selected) plus a chance to get an additional “jam” piece by all three modern masters for three lucky winners! If you win this breakfast auction, it’s also your buy-in to a special, private, three-man auction!
WHEN: Friday, 25 JUL at 9:00 AM
WHO: David Bullock is a world-famous animation director, cover artist for Action Comics, and director of Justice League: The New Frontier. Darwyn Cooke is the award-winning writer and artist of DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit, Batman: Ego, and more. Cameron Stewart is the visionary artist of Catwoman, Seaguy, The Other Side, and many, many more top books!
EBAY LINK: http://qurls.com?i=37403
THE ULTIMATE COLLECTOR EXPERIENCE: LUNCH WITH CGC!
WHAT: Win the ultimate behind-the-scenes experience – a grading and restoration detection class “basics 101” and lunch with former CGC President and Primary Grader Steve Borock plus lunch!
WHEN: Saturday, July 26 at approximately 12 noon
WHO: Former CGC President and Primary Grader Steve Borock
EBAY LINK: http://qurls.com?i=37405
MARVEL VS DC COMICS THIRD ANNUAL SOFTBALL GAME
WHAT: Win a chance to play either on the Marvel Comics softball team or the DC Comics softball game in their annual game! The winner of each team’s auction will get an official Marvel or DC uniform, receive luxury motorcoach transportation to and from the game on the team bus roster and get their position assigned by either Marvel captain Mike Pascuillo or DC captain Adam Schlagman.
WHEN: Thursday, July 24, buses leave at 3:30 pm, game begins at 4:30 pm
EBAY LINK: Marvel auction: http://qurls.com?i=37399
EBAY LINK: DC Comics auction: http://qurls.com?i=37401
The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays’ creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment. For more information, call 310-909-7809 or visit www.HeroInitiative.org.
Via PR:
Comics Fans Meet ROYAL FLUSH MAGAZINE
- an exquisitely-produced jammed-with-comics Rock / PopCulture magazine…
+ Patton Oswalt feature interview + Patton cover by Drew Friedman
+ Meet Royal Flush @ Comic-Con and get filmed for Toyota’s HEYA social network
You can meet ROYAL FLUSH Publisher / Editor in Chief Josh Bernstein @ San DiegoComic-Con — will be roaming the Con floor, giving out 100 free copies, and also scouting for illustrators / comic strips for the next issue
*****AND Comics creators, want to show off your stuff to Toyota-drivers? There’s a lot of ‘em out there and ROYAL FLUSH’s
Josh Bernstein is documenting the Con for Toyota’s brand new art/social networking site HEYA. Want to get in on it?
email [email protected] to coordinate..
The new issue #5 rocks a Patton Oswalt cover by Drew Friedman; Chip Kidd, Slash, Danzig &Henry Rollins interviews, Art of Iron Maiden+ mounds more… including Mindless Self Indulgence back / flip cover by Cojo!
“A subversive mishmash of music, pop culture and underground art (MediaPost),” ROYAL FLUSH is one of the few “non-comics” pubs to wear its love of comics not only on its sleeves, but in its underpants and all over every issue’s nook and cranny. In an age of photo-driven “sleek” mags, ROYAL FLUSH proudly waves a flagrantly maximalistic illustration-dominant in-your-face flag. Each issue is jammed with illustrations and comics by underground badasses, and each rock-interview feature boasts illustrated portraits instead of just another cool band photo. However if non-PC content makes you queasy, shop elsewhere for your kicks, because the MAD-influenced original ROYAL FLUSH comic Hispanic Batman will LOL you upside the head
Check the eye-ticklin’ trailer for ROYAL FLUSH #5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VPr0wCZWBU
“Royal Flush is my new favorite magazine! Music, art, comics, and silly stuff…”
-Tara McPherson, ARTIST
“We’re real psyched about Royal Flush – especially Mikey (Way) he’s freaking out about it! … With all the content you guys have – IT’S INSANE!”
-Gerard Way, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, UMBRELLA ACADEMY
“Royal Flush, espouses an ethos of “music, underground comics, stupid action films, lowbrow art and other socially uplifting subject matter.” The New Yorker this is not! But all the same, the all-stars assembled here are no laughing matter!”
-TIME OUT NEW YORK
“I wish they had ROYAL FLUSH when I was a kid–I would have stood in front of the mailbox waiting for it.”
-Mike Shinoda, LINKIN PARK
“Royal Flush displays more creativity in its first 25 pages (of Book 4) than most publications do in a year. The pop-culture coverage skewers everything in its path .Treat yourself to a copy of Royal Flush, and enjoy a rare reminder of just how inventive, subversive and wonderfully strange this creaky old genre can be.”
-Larry Dobrow, MEDIAPOST
“Royal flush’s ‘tude is nearly as strong as their design. And their production budget must be astronomical”
-Albert Mudrian, DECIBEL MAGAZINE
Buy ROYAL FLUSH
http://royalflushmagazine.com/merch/
Friend ROYAL FLUSH on MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/royalflushmagazine
Via PR:
If you’re going to be in San Diego this week for Comic-Con International 2008, be sure to stop by the Red 5 Comics booth — L03 in the small press section at the back of the hall through entrance “C”.
We’d love to chat with you to thank you for your support of Red 5, to hear your feedback and suggestions, and maybe even talk about our upcoming projects.
Many of Red 5’s creators will be on-hand at the show and at the booth at various times to chat and sign autographs, including…
* Scott Chitwood - Afterburn
* Brian Clevinger - Atomic Robo
* Paul Ens - Neozoic, Afterburn
* Kevin Grevioux - ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction
* Tom Hodges - Midknight
* Ronda Pattison - Atomic Robo
* Kevin Rubio - Abyss
* Scott Wegener - Atomic Robo
We’ll also have limited supplies of most of the Red 5 issues to date, so if you’ve missed any it’s a good chance to catch up.
Via Chris Butcher:
Thanks to their friends at Drawn + Quarterly, The Beguiling Books & Art will be exhibiting at booth #1529 at this week’s Comic Con International: San Diego, in its role as a sales representative for original art. D+Q’s generous donation of exhibition space will allow The Beguiling to present original art from dozens of talented cartoonists including brand-new, never-before offered-for-sale originals from SETH (Wimbledon Green), JASON (I Killed Adolf Hitler), PAUL POPE (Batman Year 100), and FAREL DALRYMPLE (Omega The Unknown).
The Beguiling represents original art sales for more than 40 cartoonists at its online store at Beguiling.com, but this small exhibition at San Diego will allow an unprecedented opportunity for art collectors and fans of these artists to see the original works up close. In addition to brand new works from Seth, Jason, Pope, and Dalrymple, The Beguiling will have work on hand from Drawn + Quarterly cartoonists including Guy Delisle (Paul Goes Fishing), Miriam Katin (We Are On Our Own), Sammy Harkham (Crickets), Kevin Huizenga (Or Else, Curses), Jason Lutes (Berlin), Anders Nilsen (Big Questions), Maurice Vellekoop (Vellevision) and dozens of other talented cartoonists.
For fans and collectors who will be in San Diego for the con and would like to save themselves the shipping charges on a piece of original art or two, drop a line to [email protected] with the title and artist of one of the thousands of pages from our online art store at Beguiling.com and we’ll bring it to the show for you!
Remember, that’s The Beguiling at the Drawn + Quarterly booth, #1529, near Comic Relief, Fantagraphics, Last Gasp, and Artists Alley on the “right” side of the exhibition hall.
A lot is going on.
Hey True Believers, do you know where you want to spend Comic-Con International? At the Marvel Booth (#2429) of course! We’ve got more programming at our booth than ever before, featuring trailers, celebrity appearances, Q&A with your favorite creators and more! Who else would bring you a Marvel Fashion Show or surprise Marvel giveaways? Don’t forget to make a date with Booth #2429—The Marvel Booth—for Comic-Con International, as the House Of Ideas presents the Comic-Con booth you can’t miss!
A lot. Read on.
THURSDAY
11:00 Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion Video Game Interview
Two years ago, Activision rocked the gaming world with the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance video game and now they are ready to do it again with its much anticipated follow-up, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion! Come listen as the game’s developers sit down and discuss just how cool round 2 is going to be.
12:00 Peter David Answers You
He reinvented X-Factor. He holds the record for the longest-run on The Hulk. He knows things. And now he wants to share them with you. Come join Peter David, the writer of X-Factor and She-Hulk as he answers questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com. We’d invite you to come but Layla already told us you’d be there.
3:30 Brian Reed Answers You
The Skrulls have invaded Earth and only one man is standing on the frontline documenting how their infiltration is affecting you, me, and your next door neighbor. Come join Brian Reed, the writer of Secret Invasion: Frontline and Ms. Marvel as he answers the questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com. And if you’re not there, then we know you’re a Skrull.
6:00 MyCup o’ Joe Video Questions
Joe’s got answers, now all he needs is some questions. If you have a query that you’ve just been dying to ask the Editor-In-Chief himself, then comb your hair, tuck in your shirt, and get up on stage to have yourself recorded asking Joe Quesada a question. Then keep an eye out for upcoming MyCup o’ Joe articles every Friday on MySpace as you may just see yourself in living color getting the answer you desired by the man himself.
FRIDAY
11:00 Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Video Game Interview
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will be swinging back into video game action this fall courtesy of Activision and if you want all of the insider information, you better be at the Marvel Booth. Come join us as developers from Spider-Man: Web of Shadows get up on stage and discuss the game that everyone is talking about!
12:00 So You Think You Can Answer Marvel Trivia: Step Up Against Nick Lowe
Want to win some cool Marvel swag? Well you don’t need to know everything about Marvel…you just need to know more than Nick Lowe. Stop by the Marvel Booth for a chance to play a game of Marvel trivia and claim victory over X-Office editor Nick Lowe. If you beat him, you’ll walk away with some cool prizes. If you lose, you’ll just walk away.
1:00 Greg Pak Answers You
The man who brought you Planet Hulk, World War Hulk and most recently, Skaar, Son of Hulk smashes the stage…we mean sits down on stage to answer the questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com. If I were you, I’d be there, or a certain jade giant may come knocking on your door demanding a reason for your absence.
2:00 Marvel/Disguise Fashion Show
This year, the sidewalk won’t be the hottest place in San Diego– it will be in the Marvel Booth as Marvel Entertainment and Disguise are proud to present their first ever fashion show. This is no cosplay; these are seriously fierce costumes worn by incredible models, strutting their stuff down the catwalk, for the debut of the sexiest line of costumes ever created and inspired by Marvel super heroes. Come see Black Cat, Emma Frost, Spider-Woman, and more as you’ve never seen them- on the runway
3:30 Jeph Loeb Answers You
He knows who the Red Hulk is. He knows who killed the Scarlet Witch in the Ultimate Universe. He knows you want answers. Join Heroes Executive Producer Jeph Loeb, who also happens to be the writer of Hulk, Ultimates III and the upcoming epic Ultimatum as he replies to the questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com. The man is pretty busy, so who knows, he may just slip and tell you about the return of…
4:00 So You Think You Can Answer Marvel Trivia: Step Up Against C.B. Cebulski
We want to give you some cool stuff. But the only way we can do that is if you can take down Loners and Avengers Fairy Tales writer C.B. Cebulski in a game of Marvel trivia. Think you’re up to the challenge? Then be there as we randomly choose people from the audience to test their wits against the CBC!
5:00 The Marvel Your Universe Game Show featuring Paul Jenkins & Brian Reed
Always wanted to be on a game show but never got the call? Well now’s your chance. Stop by the Marvel booth as we randomly select people from the audience to partner up with writers Paul Jenkins and Brian Reed as contestants on a live on-stage game show.
6:00 Super Happy Fun Marvel Giveaway Hour
You Make Yours Marvel every day and we appreciate it! And we’d like to show our appreciation by giving you some cool prizes like variant comic books, trade paperbacks, and hard-to-get autographed items. So stop by with your fellow Marvel Zombies (not the ones that enjoy brains) and you may be lucky enough to hop, skip and jump away with some gifts that will make you the envy of your family, friends, coworkers and pets.
SATURDAY
10:30 Marc Guggenheim Answers You
Part of the Spider-Man Brain Trust? Check. Writer of Young X-Men? Check. Creator of the popular television show Eli Stone? Check. Ready to answer questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com. Check.
1:30 The Marvel Your Universe Game Show featuring Christina Strain & Nelson DeCastro
Always wanted to be on a game show but never got the call? Well now’s your chance. Stop by the Marvel booth as we randomly select people from the audience to partner up with colorist Christina Strain and artist Nelson DeCastro as contestants on a live on-stage game show.
2:15 John Romita Jr. Answers You
He’s drawn just about every character in the Marvel Universe except for Doop and Armadillo. That’s beyond impressive, that’s legendary. Therefore like E.F. Hutton, you should listen when he talks. So come join artist extraordinaire John Romita Jr. as he answers questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com. He may have a special announcement about his upcoming Marvel Team-Up issue featuring Doop and Armadillo.
3:00 Marvel Costume Contest
Are you dressed as your favorite Marvel character? Then get your friendly neighborhood, star-spangled, best-at-what-you-do self down to the Marvel Booth at Comic-Con for The Marvel Costume Contest! The Grand Prize: a Marvel Omnibus signed by Stan Lee! All entrants may also be featured in a gallery on Marvel.Com! The winner will be determined by you, the fans, as you vote on who you want to be crowned this year’s winner!
5:00 So You Think You Can Answer Marvel Trivia: Step Up Against Jen Grunwald
When it comes to knowledge about the Marvel Universe, you may be the man but Special Projects Editor Jen Grunwald is the Woman and she ain’t afraid of you or no ghosts. So if you think you got what it takes to go up against Jen and her ever-adorable Molly hat, make like the movie and Bring It On!
6:00 Super Happy Fun Marvel Giveaway Hour
You Make Yours Marvel every day and we appreciate it! And we’d like to show our appreciation by giving you some cool prizes like variant comic books, trade paperbacks, and hard-to-get autographed items. So stop by with your fellow Marvel Zombies (not the ones that enjoy brains) and you may be lucky enough to hop, skip and jump away with some gifts that will make you the envy of your family, friends, coworkers and pets.
SUNDAY
11:00 Paul Jenkins Answers You
He told you the true origin of Wolverine. He told you the true origin of the Sentry…eventually. Now he wants to tell you whatever else you want to know. Come join Paul Jenkins, the writer of Origins and Sentry as he answers questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com. Heck, he may even tell you, your true origin!
1:30 Matt Fraction Answers You
He brought the X-Men to San Francisco and now he brings the knowledge to San Diego. Come join Matt Fraction, the writer of Uncanny X-Men and Invincible Iron Man as he answers…seriously you have to know how this sentence ends by now…the questions that you the fans submitted specifically for him through Marvel.com.
2:15 MyCup o’ Joe Video Questions
Joe’s got answers, now all he needs is some questions. If you have a query that you’ve just been dying to ask the Editor-In-Chief himself, then comb your hair, tuck in your shirt, and get up on stage to have yourself recorded asking Joe Quesada a question. Then keep an eye out for upcoming MyCup o’ Joe articles every Friday on MySpace as you may just see yourself in living color getting the answer you desired by the man himself.
3:00 The Marvel Your Universe Game Show featuring Marc Guggenheim & C.B. Cebulski
Always wanted to be on a game show but never got the call? Well now’s your chance. Stop by the Marvel booth as we randomly select people from the audience to partner up with writers Marc Guggenheim and C.B. Cebulski as contestants on a live on-stage game show.
4:00 Super Happy Fun Marvel Giveaway Hour
You Make Yours Marvel every day and we appreciate it! And we’d like to show our appreciation by giving you some cool prizes like variant comic books, trade paperbacks, and hard-to-get autographed items. So stop by with your fellow Marvel Zombies (not the ones that enjoy brains) and you may be lucky enough to hop, skip and jump away with some gifts that will make you the envy of your family, friends, coworkers and pets.
Beat pal Marz Richards sent us info on this wild sounding party, which includes a performance by his band, RENFIELD.
C Batts Fly and Adam & Eve are releasing the revolutionary sex fantasy KISS ATTACK on DVD, directed by Carlos Batts and featuring Sasha Grey, April Flores, La Cholita, Claire Adams and a host of crazies certain to twist the mind and titillate the senses of even the tightest tough guy on the midway.
To celebrate the completion and release of KISS ATTACK, we are throwing a hell of a party for all y’all to partake in at the Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd in San Diego, CA on Saturday, July 26. This is a free show, but in order to take advantage of the FREE SHUTTLE FROM THE CON you’ll need to RSVP to [email protected] by July 22.
Doors open at the Casbah, San Diego’s eldest and greatest hard rock venue, at 7:00 p.m.
We feature the very best in live music and burlesque performance for those 21 & older.
7:30 Gunna Vahm (Philly’s hardcore heroes) www.myspace.com/vahm
8:00 April Flores (This lady’s got the thickness, can I get a witness?)
8:30 Dactyl (Hardcore from Baltimore) www.myspace.com/dactyl
9:00 La Cholita (This woman’s extra juicy, can I get a hell yeah?)
9:30 Renfield (Prog-punk metahumans from Los Angeles) www.renfield.com
10:00 Lady Lava (Trouble with a whip in her hand)
10:30 The Fuxedos (Vaudeville mutato-a-go-go) www.myspace.com/thefuxedos
11:00 DJ Braden spins dubstep and house for your buttshaking pleasure
I’ll be popping back in to ring your collective bells about this show. Let us counter-program the usual never-fun SDCC party with something you’ll speak of for years to come. RSVP to [email protected] today to get on the Gold List and allow us to ferry you from the Con to the show and back again.
KISS ATTACK SDCC 2008 PARTY
THE CASBAH – SATURDAY, JULY 26
2501 KETTNER BLVD, SAN DIEGO, CA
FREE ADMISSION – DOORS AT 7:00 P.M.
21 & OVER
Visit us at the Last Gasp Booth #1616 on Friday and Saturday where April Flores, La Cholita, Lady Lava, VMMX and director Carlos Batts will be signing from Noon until 1:00 p.m. on both days! I’ll be signing along with Kat Cahill from Renfield on Friday only as we have to meditate and follow a solemn ceremony upon the date of performance that does not include fighting SDCC traffic. Free free to forward this invite to folks you hope have a good time at Nerdi Gras this year!
Not exactly sure where this is being thrown, but it’s a cute poster:
Art agent Kasra Ghanbari writes:
Ted McKeever and my company, VEI Studios, will be set up at booth #4405 in the Illustrator’s section from Thursday through Sunday. We’ll have original art by Ted available to purchase, as well as Ted’s first-ever sketchbook, a 28-page full color book that Ted will sign and number. It will be limited to 150 and sold for $20 each, $30 if the buyer would like a head sketch drawn in. There will also be a deluxe edition limited to 40 and sold for $50 each that will include an inked single-figure drawing by Ted.
Ted will appear at the Image Comics/Tori Amos panel on Saturday, July 26 between 11:30-12:30 along with Tori, David Mack, Elizabeth Genco, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and others involved in this new Image book.
Lastly, Ted will be appearing at Image’s booth #2729 for some autograph sessions. These are the times as best as we could tell from the schedule Image sent over, all 20 minute sessions, though folks may want to make sure of these times and duration at Image’s booth:
* Thursday 12:00pm
* Friday 4:40pm
* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 1:20pm
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) Comix Mix, Rick Viech, artist’s ally, and so much more that I’m not thinking of right now. In short, it’s about comics as an art form. I’ve got my camera, my little micro tape recorder (for EVP’s as well as interviewing people) my list of booths I want to stop by, mental list of comics, prints, sketches I want to get, and copies of my own, latest projects to show around. What comic con is all about has never changed for me, and you’ll be hard pressed to find me at most panels about non-comic related stuff. Sure their might be one or two things if I have the time, but for the most part the real fun is in the exhibit hall, anyway. Here’s to comic books at comic con! God love em, and all that the support em!
My guess is that the legislation is based on the assumption that films “given an official classification” will be produced for artistic purposes, whereas paper publications that aren’t rated (I’m assuming that Britain has a ratings system for films) might not be produced with the same intentions.
SRS
This is a complete non-story. The new legislation is section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which criminalises the possession of “extreme pornographic images.”
But it only applies to images which depict “in an explicit and realistic way” certain specific acts: life-threatening violence; serious injury to the breasts, anus or genitals; necrophilia; and bestiality.
Moreover, it only applies where “a reasonable person looking at the image would think that any such person or animal was real.”
In theory that could cover dramatic reconstructions, but it’s not going to cover comics unless they’re photo-strips or staggeringly photorealistic.
As for the exemption for classified films, the point is that if it’s classified, the BBFC must already have ruled that the material is not obscene. The exemption simply makes sure that decision is binding for all purposes.
Here’s the section: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080004_en_9#pt5-pb1-l1g63