Yep, that’s a lot of Twilight fans. Now of course, the cruel thing to do to Warren Ellis would be to tell them that he’s writing the graphic novel…
Robert Sanchez tweeted: “is in line at hall h. so long. i can see tijuana from here.”
Hat tip: Kristopher Tapley
This is the line outside Hall H to see Twilight previews and cast members– the estimates are about 1200 overnight campers, from what I hear. And like all vampires, they will be up late. Let’s see if they all sparkle first thing in the morning… (Photo hat tip: Vaneta Rogers.)
Here it comes, folks… hope you’re ready. We can already see some of what Marvel is going to be pushing hard this year, particularly with principal photography just finishing… (Hat tip: Ryan Penagos.)
Closing down a lot of windows before the really crazy rush of SDCC coverage begins…
Superman Creator’s Secret S&M Story Heads to Film – ComicsAlliance.com
Miley Cyrus Grows Wings – ComingSoon.net
The 50 Greatest Film Trailers of All Time from IFC.com: What, no Superman Returns or the banned trailer for Spider-Man?
Tolkein Film Trilogy Rings False for His Heirs: You’d think a franchise that grossed over six billion dollars would
be making royalties, wouldn’t you? And you would be wrong. And because
New Line is playing cute with accounting (again), they’re threatening
the making of The Hobbit.
The return of the 90’s from SpaceBooger.com
Goldman Superheroes: Superheroes Rescue Plan “Out of this World!”
And the picture above is from ViewAskew, Clerks meets Warriors.
Anything else? Consider this an open thread.
It’s that time of year again, the time when San Diego Comic-Con goers, grizzled veterans and fresh faced newbies alike, are reading Tom Spurgeon’s 100 tip list and seeing if they forgot anything. Tom’s list is long enough this year to qualify for a novella, but is either the most or second-most useful piece of reading for the con, right up there with the program schedule.
That said, Tom missed a few tips:
Keep your cell phone on vibrate. At all times. You may not be able to hear it ring on the main exhibit hall floor or any late night bars, and you will disrupt a panel if it rings there. Better: when possible, text a message instead of calling– again, because ambient sound levels where you are may be too high to hear anything or because they should be very low.
When asking a question at a panel, if it’s too long to put in a Twitter message, it may be too long to ask. Consider rephrasing.
And you have no excuse for not having a business card. No matter who you are. They’re cheap, easy and quick to get. You don’t have to go crazy on one, but you do have to have something. You never know when you’ll need one– buying a drink for a Playboy Playmate, for example. At worse, buy blank cards and prepare to write your name a lot– but write a few in advance, for speed’s sake.
I told them they were going to have to spray for those things, now they’re everywhere…
So to promote season 2 of the original Star Trek on BluRay, Paramount is looking for pictures of people with their Tribbles. There’s no way this ends well… the best case scenario is that somebody’s going to grab a few hundred and do this:
The worst case scenario? Tribble porn.
To counteract the rah-rah of San Diego Comic-Con’s impending arrival, here’s a chunk of depressing news for comic companies looking to reach the teen market: Bloomberg reports on a new study from a 15 year old intern at Morgan Stanley says that teens think printed media, such as newspapers and comics, are “irrelevant”.
And if you think going to the movies will save comic companies, the news ain’t all great there either: teenagers go to the movies “quite
often” although it’s “not about the film, but the experience
and getting together with friends.” Young people will often
choose the film once they arrive at the movie theater.
“Teenagers are consuming more media, but in entirely
different ways and are almost certainly not prepared to pay for
it,” Morgan Stanley analysts Edward Hill-Wood, Patrick
Wellington and Julien Rossi said in a note.
What else?
Teenagers don’t twitter; they
resent intrusive advertising on billboards, television and the
Internet and they are willing to chase content and music across
platforms and devices such as mobile phones and Apple Inc.’s
IPod. They do not listen to the radio, preferring music Websites
that stream music for free and allow them to choose their songs.
They are “very reluctant” to pay for music and 80 percent
download it illegally. Most have never bought a CD.
And now you know why comics sales are heading up on the iPhone. Hear that? It’s the sound of the comics business model changing…
Note: this is an intern from Eurpoe, so his experience is somewhat different from the US market– but I’ll bet good money it’s not that different.
Yesterday I wrote about how DC was trying, with Wednesday Comics, to do something that couldn’t easily be reproduced on the computer screen to drive sales of paper. Marvel has now announced they’re doing something that doesn’t work on computers well– though it might be the return of the biggest disaster to hit comics in the 90s.
Don’t worry, says the press release:
“This is Marvel doing the nineties right,” explained David Gabriel,
Marvel Comics Senior Vice President of Sales & Circulation. “We’re
taking two of the most popular cover treatments of all time—foil and
holograms—to create an all new kind of cover, as a ‘thank-you’ to fans
who’ve been demanding this kind of variant! Retailers and fans don’t
need to worry. We’re only doing this on a limited basis. You won’t see
one on Ms Marvel #46 or Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4. We’re using
them to mark very special occasions…such as the launch of Ultimate
Comics line.”
I had the same type of feeling when the Bush Administration said it didn’t torture, and anyway those were special circumstances.
The hell of it is, foil covers do catch the eye and help promote books, that’s why they do it with novels, record covers, and every other kind of packaging. But if they crank up the stupid collectibles market again… or rather the collectibles stupid market… Marvel will have no one to blame but themselves.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to reading piles of press releases about stupid exclusive collectibles being released at San Diego Comic-Con this year. Ooh, a special Gleek action figure only at SDCC! How could I have ever survived without it…?
In a studio first, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is offering fans of Joss Whedon’s mysterious cult series Dollhouse a chance to purchase a special advanced limited edition Blu-ray or DVD of the first season, exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con International. Individually numbered and highly collectible, only 5000 (2500 Blu-ray/2500 DVD) copies were created, each featuring a personal letter to fans from Whedon, exclusive Comic-Con packaging, and a first look at the unaired episode “Epitaph One”.
Available for pre-order at FoxStore.com beginning Monday, July 6 at 10:00 AM PST (oh noes, thirty minutes from now!!!) through July 20 (or until product is sold out), a limited quantity will also be available for on-site purchase at the Fox Booth (#1429). In person pick-up for those that pre-ordered the collection will begin at the Fox Booth on Wednesday, July 22 (preview night). Photo ID is required or purchasers must designate at checkout someone who will pick-up the DVD on their behalf.
The Dollhouse Season One Comic-Con Blu-ray Disc will be available for a suggested retail price of $69.99 and the DVD will be available for $49.98. Regular versions of Dollhouse Season One BD and DVD will be available everywhere July 28.
Here’s an introductory video from Joss, spelling it all out:
Fans who want to sample the action, grit and intrigue of Lone Justice on the printed page for the
first time will be able to find it in the form of a limited edition,
full-color ashcan available exclusively at the Insight Studios Group booth at
Comic-Con International: San Diego, Wednesday, July 22 through Sunday, July 26,
2009.
With a print of just 200 copies, the full-color, limited
edition contains the first 24 pages of Lone
Justice: Crash!, setting the stage for the epic adventure through the
action and turmoil that follow. With a cover price of $10, it is signed and
numbered by writer-artist Mark Wheatley, who will be at the Insight Studios Group booth at the
convention. Copies will be sold on a first come, first served basis at booth
#2308 in the Independent Press Pavilion.
“We’ve received tremendous fan feedback from the online
incarnation of Lone Justice: Crash,
and I really enjoy the immediacy of it,” Wheatley said. “This ashcan is the
first time any of this material will see print, and that brings an excitement
all its own.”
Lone Justice: Crash!
is the second time Wheatley and Tinnell have teamed up for a ComicMix
serialization. Their first effort, EZ
Street, the tale of two creative brothers, was nominated for a Harvey
Award. It also contained a comic-within-a-comic aspect, as it featured Lone
Justice as one creation of its central characters. Despite the obvious
connection between the tales, however, both graphic novels can be enjoyed
entirely independently from the other.
Being a superhero isn’t just dangerous work, it’s also very expensive. Imagine a recession-era
Batman without Bruce Wayne’s fortune or Iron Man without Tony’s Stark’s
billions. Their respective crime-fighting enterprises would be very different –
or perhaps all together grind to a halt – if their money was to simply
disappear. Just like many Americans in the past year, that’s exactly
what has happened to Lone Justice, the pulp-style action-adventure hero created
by Wheatley (Breathtaker,
Mars) and writer Robert Tinnell (Feast of the Seven Fishes, Sight Unseen). Our hero experienced the devastating financial loss of
the Great Depression, but he didn’t lose his drive to keep fighting
crime…regardless of the consequences.
“Given
our title, Lone Justice: Crash!, it was difficult to resist calling this the Lone Justice: Crashcan, but life is
confusing enough as it is,” Wheatley laughed. “So, c’mon by the booth at
Comic-Con and pick up of the Lone
Justice: Crash! Ashcan!”
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