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San Diego Comic-Con 2008
Your one-stop spot for all the ComicMix coverage of the big show!
San Diego Comic-Con International is officially underway here in Southern California, and ComicMix is on location to bring you everything you need to know -- and some things you might not realize you needed to know -- about the people, places and geekery that make it one of the most feared anticipated events of the year for fans of comics and comics culture.
Be sure to bookmark this page and return for a running tally of our convention coverage, including all of the interviews, audio, video and photo galleries you enjoy here on ComicMix.
Want to meet some of the ComicMix team? Be sure to check out our Meet & Greet Schedule at the ComicMix/Insight Studios Table (Booth #2308). You can also follow all of our updates throughout the show on the official ComicMix Twitter Feed and ComicMix on Friendfeed.
News Articles Featured in San Diego Comic-Con 2008
Thu Jul 24, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Comic-Con News: Wednesday
Cooke GNs, Brubaker series, and crowds crowds crowds
Comic-Con International officially kicked off last night, and already there's plenty of news to report:
The early hit of the show? Heidi MacDonald of The Beat says it's the model Owl Ship that Warner Bros. brought from the Watchmen film. "Cooler than dirt," Heidi says.
Ed Brubaker makes the jump to scripting live-action, as Sony has announced they'll make an online series out of Brubaker's Angel of Death. It'll appear on Crackle, Sony's online video outlet. More information right here.
Darwyn Cooke also announced his new project for IDW, a potential series of four graphic novels based on the Parker
On a related note: "And IDW did a nice job with the collateral material as well, handing out Cooke artwork with a disc, as well as Parker T-shirts to the press. Well done, guys." I guess the whole "journalists don't accept gifts from sources" thing doesn't apply to the comics world?
"Tossing a bus on an unsuspecting villain never gets old." And that's the highlight quote from the DC Universe Online panel. Check right here for more.
Blog@ has a nice collection of photos from day one.
Bully makes a smart move with the California excursion and loads up on In-N-Out.
Twitters from Pop Candy, and be sure to note the uber-creepy Photoshopped image of Whitney turned to She-Hulk.
And, lastly, the legend of The Bag.
Thu Jul 24, 2008 — by John Ostrander
Spam Diego, by John Ostrander
Tales From The O-zone
So – today is the first official day of the 2008 San Diego Comic Con International Clam Bake and Fish Fry Harvest Moon Festival. Or, as I like to call it, Spam Diego. Where different unspecified cuts of meat are jammed together into one can until it becomes a single mass wrapped in a gelatinous type goo.
I suppose I should get right down to my first Con report.
I woke up this morning, got my newspaper, fed the cats, fed myself while I read the comics, came in here and turned on my computer. That’s right; I’m here at home, not there amidst the teeming multitudes lined up to gain entry. Wished I could say I wished I was there, but I really don’t. The last time I was there, my hotel was about a twenty minute trolley car ride north of the Convention Center. If it had been as far south, my hotel would have been in Tijuana. This year, I think I heard that people are having to commute in from Chicago.
When I go to a Con, I have certain criteria. I want to meet the fans and, if they want, sign their books. Fans are the ones who have enabled me to make my living at what I love doing for about twenty-five years. I want to say thank you, give back some of the love. I want to get new fans, if I can. I want those who have read and are reading my books to have a good experience of me.
At Spam Diego, unless you have a table of your own – too expensive for a writer type like me – or you’re being sponsored by one of the publishing houses, it’s hard for the fans to know where you are and when. Plus there’s a lot of competition. Lots of stuff going on. I mean. Brian Michael Bendis could get lost in this shuffle.
I want to meet some friends in the business that I haven’t seen for awhile; maybe make one or two new ones as well. Get to meet some who I’ve only known via e-mail. There are people I have worked with whom I have never met face to face. It used to be I’d run into people I hadn’t met in a while at SDCC and that’s always been a big draw for me. Now? I don’t know if I’d accidentally run into anyone unless I was driving the Batmobile.
Thu Jul 24, 2008 — by Mike Raub
ComicMix Radio: Preview Night At Comic Con
Episode #234: Direct From The Floor Of The Pop Culture Event Of The Year
It's Preview Night at San Diego ComicCon!
The doors opened to the first lucky badge holders on this sell out weekend and we take you along with the first of our special extended ComicMix Radio broadcasts.
Join us as:
- ComicMix Editor In Chief, Mike Gold, joins us as our special co-host with news on the Big Plans we have here at SDCC
- Nixon's Pals
- We meet Kid Flash - really
And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via 
or RSS!
Tue Jul 22, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
8 Books to Find at Comic-Con
The Comics Reporter's must-see list for Comic-Con
There's far too much to see, do, find and run like hell away from during San Diego Comic-Con, so I always enjoy finding notable, specific lists of panels, projects and events that focus on the subject matter that most piques my interest. Over at The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon has highlighted eight small-press projects to hunt down at this year's show, offered up some ideas about where to find them and provided a synopsis of each project.
Here's an excerpt from the list with accompanying image:
Permagel, Charles Burns, Buenaventura Press, Booth 1732
Get ready for this Fall's big release of the Giant-Sized new volume of Kramer's Ergot by getting a beautiful, over-sized Charles Burns import. Buenaventura Press always has one of the three or four must-see booths of the show because of the number of beautiful prints it offers. It's fun just looking at that stuff, and a lot of it has to be seen in person. So does this book.
Spurgeon tends to be a pretty reliable guy when it comes to this sort of thing, as he's pointed me in the direction of quite a few projects that not only became favorites of mine, but also did so well before they were celebrated in the more mainstream outlets.
Tue Jul 22, 2008 — by Martha Thomases
ComicMix at San Diego: Podcast Live!
Be part of ComicMix Radio at SDCC!
Every day at Comic-Con International, Mike Raub and his skilled crew will broadcast live from the ComicMix booth (#2308). Stop by and watch the master! Maybe you'll be interviewed! Maybe he'll make you a star!
Here's the plan:
Wednesday, July 23, at 7:00 PM
Thursday, July 24 at 3:00 PM
Friday, July 25, at 4:00 PM (Hey, I'm signing at that time!)
Saturday, July 26 at 1:00 PM
Sunday, July 27, at 2:00 PM
Tue Jul 22, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
ComicMix at San Diego Comic-Con 2008
What's ComicMix doing at the show? Now you know!
San Diego Comic-Con 2008 kicks off Wednesday night in Southern California, and ComicMix will be on location, bringing you everything you need to know -- and some things you might not realize you needed to know -- about the people, places and geekery that make it one of the most anticipated (or in some cases, feared) events of the year for fans of comics and comics culture.
This year, the ComicMix team will be all over the show, providing you with all of the interviews, daily con reports, audio, video, blogging and photo galleries you've come to enjoy here. Our podcast team will be broadcasting each day of the show with special guests from the worlds of comics, TV and film, while the rest of our audio and video crew will be doing their best to capture the people, panels and general vibe of the show for ComicMix readers. If you're looking to connect some faces with ComicMix names, be sure to check out our official Meet & Greet Schedule at Booth #2308.
Throughout the show, we'll be updating our San Diego Comic-Con 2008 News Archive with links to every Comic-Con story we post, and if all goes as planned, there should also be a fancy button on the right side of the homepage for quick access to Comic-Con news.
Keep in mind that you can also follow all of our updates on the official ComicMix Twitter Feed, as well as ComicMix on Friendfeed.
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
'Greatest American Hero' Returns at SDCC
Campy show reborn as... something
There are more than a few mysterious elements coming up at Comic-Con this week, and one of the big question marks hovers over the return of Greatest American Hero, the goofy superhero TV show from the '80s.
Sounds like a comic book series is in the works, if not more. According to a press release (check it after the jump), a whole slate of original stars will be on hand in San Diego. There's also a mysterious teaser video posted after the jump -- which seems to be scaled far too large for embedding on most websites.
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Martha Thomases
ComicMix Meet & Greet Schedule in San Diego
Visit us at our booth!
Meet and greet the best talent online and on paper! Here's the schedule for artists signings at Booth #2308 -- ComicMix and Insight Studios. Please stop by and say hello!
THURSDAY, July 24
10 AM - Noon
Jerry Carr (Cryptozoo Crew)
Noon -- 2 PM
Rick Marshall (ComicMix News)
2 PM - 4 PM
Mike Gold (ComicMIx Editor-in-Chief)
4 PM - 6 PM
Alan Gross (Cryptozoo Crew)
Continue reading ComicMix Meet & Greet Schedule in San Diego ›
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
L.A. and Vegas Vying for Comic-Con
Cities trying to take San Diego out of SDCC
As all interested parties get ready for this week's Comic-Con International, a couple other municipalities are preparing to try to wrest the massive convention away from its historic home in San Diego.
Both Los Angeles and Las Vegas have their eye on Comic-Con, according to Variety. The event's extreme growth has been a boon, but San Diego can't handle the demand anymore, Comic-Con marketing director David Glanzer said.
That means Comic-Con may have to embrace the marketing mayhem that became a fixture of E3 before it downsized a year ago. So, even with the convention locked into San Diego for the next four years, cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles are actively trying to lure Comic-Con away.
"We don't like to go in and infringe on other people's leases when they are in the middle of doing business," says Chris Meyer, VP of convention sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau. Nevertheless, he admits, "We will be down in Comic-Con 2008 to have some discussions."
The way he sees it, Las Vegas has some dramatic advantages, including twice the floor space and a surplus of competitively priced hotel rooms. Meyers notes, "I've got more rooms on my corners than they do in most of their downtown area."
Fri Jul 18, 2008 — by Karl Cramer
E3 2008: 'DC Universe Online' Playable at SDCC
More news about DC Universe Online, including the first time the public can play it!
On the Cheap Ass Gamer E3 podcast, Robert “Shipwreck” Goode found out some great news from a PR rep for DC Universe Online, the highly anticipated comic book based MMO role-playing game. The game will be demonstrated at San Diego Comic-Con and the public can play it!
He also got some hands-on time with DCUO and reported it departs from the usual point-and-click play of MMOs like World of Warcraft. Playing more like a traditional PlayStation 3 game, he described it as an "action MMO."
Over at Massively.com, a gaming website devoted to all things MMO, they talked with the developer dynamic duo of SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely and DCOU Creative Director Chris Cao.
Some of the highlights from that article include:
- The storyline will explain why all these new heroes (you guys) start popping up.
- One PvP battleground is the "Tomb of Isis," which forces everyone to eventually team-up when a very angry Black Adam finds opponents fighting around his wife’s grave.
- The SDCC demo will be the “Brainiac Attacks!” event.
- Another event scenario will be “Thanagarians Invade.” Expect regularly released events, much like Warcaft holidays.
- They still haven’t finalized the business model (the cited reason why Microsoft canceled Marvel Universe Online). Play for free after buying the retail copy? A monthly fee? In-game ads plastered all over Metropolis? It’s anyone’s guess at this point.
Fri Jul 18, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
SDCC '08: PopCandy Looms Large
Promo poster for meetup harkens back to the days of 50-foot women!
While keeping a running tally of all the events of note at this year's Comic-Con International is a job best left to the professionals, I can't help but draw attention to one event that caught my eye -- mainly because of its outstanding promotional art.
Check out the poster for Saturday evening's PopCandy Meetup, painted by USA Today illustrator Keith Simmons, and based on the original art from Attack of the 50 Foot Woman:
I'll certainly be there with one or more other members of the ComicMix crew, so if you're interested in dropping by, here are all of the details. Be sure to RSVP ahead of time, as PopCandy's Whitney Matheson has promised one-of-a-kind giveaways to everyone who does so.
Wed Jul 16, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Comic-Con: 'As Important as Sundance'
MSN offers massive preview
MSN is the latest mainstream media organization to jump all over Comic-Con, announcing plans to post copious amounts of coverage from the event.
In an article under a headline that proclaims Comic-Con to be "as important as Sundance," MSN offers a preview of what's on tap in San Diego this year and a look back at how the con has grown.
125,000 people. That's the estimate Comic-Con International provides as the attendance for last year's massive four-day convention in San Diego. That's more people than the largest college football or NASCAR stadium can hold. Long portrayed as "geek chic" by the mainstream media, Comic-Con has more than evolved. It's exploded and it's gone mainstream. Big-time.
This kind of breathless reporting reminds of the infamous Bob Costas scene in Baseketball
Wed Jul 16, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Comic-Con and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Ryan Richards sets out in search of comics, dad
While everyone's getting excited about the big stars and events coming up at next week's San Diego Comic-Con, the best story of this year's con is just starting to unfold.
Ryan Richards is a relatively unknown comics creator, and he's on his way to San Diego. He's going for the con, but he's also headed west to meet his father for the first time. For the full story, you can check out Ryan's blog.
At the moment, he and his motorcycle, labeled "Stark Industries," is somewhere in Idaho or possibly Oregon. Here's a post titled "Dr. Strange Hands":
When you ride for eight hours, your hands don’t quite work right. they move like they’re frozen. I’ve been trying to eat more bananas for the potassium to prevent cramping, it works but I catch my hands twitching the little fleshy tendon webbing between the thumb and first finger will pulse and spasm irregularly. It doesn’t hurt or anything just feels like I’m trying to type with electrified jellied hams.
I’m now in Dillon Montana, which I am going to say was named after Steve Dillon. Stopped in Manhattan on the way.
He's taking donations to help pay for the trip, if anyone's interested.
(via CBR)
Tue Jul 15, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
San Diego Comic-Con: Everything You Need To Know And Then Some
The big ol' guide from The Comics Reporter himself
We've already posted several round-ups of where you can find information about tickets, programming and other concerns related to this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego next weekend, and while I've been considering the idea of some sort of official guide to the show, I might be better off just directing you to the exhaustive "Guide to Visiting and Enjoying Comic-Con International" posted by Tom Spurgeon in May.
Sure, the article was published more than a month ago, but much of what it details holds true now -- and if you're like me, you've avoided thinking about anything related to "Nerd Prom" until you absoluely have to do so. It's well worth the time it takes to read through the article, and offers up the sort of wisdom that only years upon years of attending the show tend to produce.
Among the topics Spurgeon addresses in his guide are "What to Prepare in Advance" and "Ways to Maximize Your Hotel Experience," as well as tips about the local transit service, notable sights and services, and a metric crap-ton of other helpful hints.
From "Eighteen Random Observations About San Diego Hotels":
The trend downtown is towards 1) boutique hotels that cost an arm and a leg with features to match, and 2) big-name luxury hotels that can ramp up their room prices to those levels. Soon, no one without a major film development deal will be able to afford a downtown hotel, and all the comics people will stay in a tent city north of the zoo, burning old copies of Star Comics to keep warm at night and staging gladiator-style fights between inkers vs. colorists for entertainment.
If you're headed to San Diego, this is pretty much required reading, folks. Do yourself a favor and give it a read.
Mon Jul 14, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Full San Diego Comic-Con Programming Online
Calluses ahoy!
Comic-Con International has posted the full schedule for the upcoming extravaganza in San Diego, and it's overwhelming as expected.
Here's Friday. And here's Saturday.
Featured guests and exhibits are way too long to list, but Heidi MacDonald over at The Beat does a good job of breaking down the highlights.
Those two days, by the way, are already sold out, and Thursday's tickets are just about gone. Get those comfortable walking shoes ready.
And while you're there, keep an eye out for some of our ComicMix crew, who'll be reporting on all the big news, and, if we're lucky, keeping another running tally on slave Leia sightings.
