A few news items and lots of signing schedules this time around. But first, a public service message courtesy of Steven Grant …
If you booked your room for San Diego through the con’s travel reservation system, Steven Grant suggests you might want to check on your reservation with the hotel. The statements Grant shares from a fellow pro concerned their reservation at the Holiday Inn, which is where I’m booked. My wife checked on them yesterday, and while they couldn’t find our reservation based on our confirmation number, they were able to pull it up by last name.
Probably nothing to panic over, as it most likely is a single event, but it’s always worth confirming this sort of stuff no matter where you’re traveling.
You may have heard that FOX has canceled their scheduled movie panel for Saturday, where they were going to talk about films like Alien vs. Predator 2 and Hitman. Variety reports on why:
But the real problem is that Comic-Con organizers considered planned montages from “AVP” and “Hitman” too violent to show to the increasing number of families and children that show up for the convention these days.
“AVP” and “Hitman” are both R-rated pics, and if Fox wasn’t going to be able to impress young males — the target demo for both — with violent material, then it didn’t want to show anything at all, sources close to the situation at the studio said.
Last year, the studio produced a panel for “Borat,” during which it showed footage with nudity from the film. Studio received flak for the move and opted not to tone down what it would have shown this year.
What’s more, the pics Fox wanted to promote are all f/x-intensive, with many of the money shots not yet complete.
Update: Bags & Boards, the comic blog run by Variety, has an update from the Comicon folks on the FOX situation; they said the rejection of material is not true, as they never received any footage to consider. More here.
The L.A. Times has launched a separate blog dedicated to the San Diego Comicon, which you can find here. Jennifer de Guzman with SLG questions whether they realize what the word “comic” in “Comicon” stands for:
1. So far there isn’t any coverage of… what do you call them… you know… words… pictures… NAME OF THE GODDAMN CONVENTION… Oh, yes. Comics.
Many creators have been listing their signing/panel schedules. Larry Young sends word of who will be at the AiT/Planet Lar booth:
AiT/Planet Lar publisher Larry Young announced today that all bets are off when it comes to his company’s presence in San Diego this year.
“The whole entertainment world is descending on San Diego, in preparation for the always-fun show, and of course we’ll be no exception,” Young said. “But there’s a bit of the MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE assembling-of-the-experts thing going on this year, as AiT Operations and BizDev maven and noted Larry-wrangler Mimi Rosenheim can’t attend the show due to the birth of our son Walker.”Josh Richardson, AiT’s creative executive, is making the mad dash south with Ash Aiwase, a portfolio operations analyst at the California State Automobile Association, riding shotgun in the AiT truck, Van Diesel. “Anyone who’s done business with AiT in the past nine years knows that Mimi is the heart of the business, and the one to go to when you need a serious answer. Lar’s the talent and the company figurehead, sure, but Mimi’s the one who makes sure the fields get plowed when the cows get sick. So with her home with the baby, Ash and I will be making sure everything runs like clockwork.”
Young’s own third issue of THE BLACK DIAMOND will premiere at the show on Wednesday the 25th at Preview night, while simultaneously hitting shops all over the nation so no one’s left out of the excitement. Also on hand will be ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’s Senior Editor Marc Bernardin, as co-writer of this week’s MONSTER ATTACK NETWORK. Nima Sorat, MAN’s artist, and co-writer Adam Freeman (executive producer of A&E’s GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS) will be at the AiT booth #2001 on Thursday: 1:00-2:30, 5:00-6:00; Friday: 10:00-11:30am; and Saturday: 12:00-1:00pm.
THE HOMELESS CHANNEL’s writer artist Matt Silady will be signing copies of his debut graphic novel from 1:00 – 2:00 pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Also on hand in the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE style is Larry’s long-time pal, super-retailer Pat Donley. “When I heard Mimi was going to miss the show, I rolled up my sleeves and started making reservations to come out,” said Donley, general manager of the New Dimension Comics
chain in Pennsylvania. “Not that anyone can replace her, but I wanted to help contain the havoc a Mimi-less Larry will undoubtedly wreak upon the show.”Without set autograph times, but still at the booth throughout the show will be television and DC comics writer Adam Beechen (signing copies of HENCH), comic book pundit and scribe Steven Grant (making his mark for you on BADLANDS and THE UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY), and Mike Brennan, writer/artist of AiT’s best-selling book, ELECTRIC GIRL. “He’ll be all right,” said Brennan. “All he has to do is show up and we’ll be ready.”
Dan Goldman has posted his schedule on his LiveJournal and has a pretty cool activity planned:
In addition to signing SHOOTING WAR teaser galleys, I’ll be doing three live demos of the Cintiq at the Wacom booth… where I’ll be talking about my process while drawing new “KELLY” live. If you’re reading this and going to the con, come by and say GOWANNAJUNGDADA, ok?
Bay Area comic retailer Comic relief will host a ton of signings at their booth:
Thursday, 2:30-3:30: Douglas Wolk has made a name for himself in recent years as one of the most eloquent and insightful critics of graphic novels and comic books, writing for Publishers Weekly and Salon, among others. His new book, Reading Comics, features essays on such diverse creators as Chris Ware, Steve Ditko, Carla Speed McNeil, Los Bros Hernandez, and Alan Moore. Come to Comic Relief after his “Drawing Style and Storytelling” panel to meet Douglas and pick up a copy of his book.
Friday, 11:30-1:00: Meet Danny Fingeroth (Superman on the Couch, How to Create Comics from Script to Print), Arie Kaplan (Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed), and Matthew Pustz (Inside the World of Comic Books) following the Comic Arts Conference panel “Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero,” to pose questions of the authors and check out copies of their books.
Friday, 2:30-3:30: Comics historian Thomas Andrae, co-author of Bob Kane’s autobiography Batman and Me, appears following his panel, “Of Superman and Kids with Dreams: The Secret Origins of Superman,” to discuss his forthcoming book and sign copies of his recent work on the great Disney cartoonist, Carl Barks.
Friday, 3:30-4:00: Don’t miss this short window to meet Roy Thomas, one of the all time great comic book writers, and purchase a copy of his innovative new book, The Marvel Vault. This Billed as a “museum in a box,” The Marvel Vault combines a history of the Marvel bullpen and fan culture with facsimile copies of some of the most infamous Marvel Memorabilia—from MMMS stickers to Stan Lee trading cards, this book is a collector’s dream!
Friday, 4:00-5:00: Curious about the formal qualities of comic books? Be sure to stop by Comic Relief to meet comics semiotician Neil Cohn (Early Writings on Visual Language, Meditations) and cartoonist Frank Verano (Death of the Sweetheart) following the C.A.C. panel “Storytelling and Visual Language,” and take a look at their fascinating books.
Friday, 5:00-6:00: Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened, an intriguing new anthology from Villard, makes its debut the week of Comic-Con: listen to the creators discuss their work at the panel Thursday night, and stop by Comic Relief Friday to meet editor Jason Rodriguez and his host of creators, including Tom Beland, Joseph Bergin III, Jason Copland, Rob G, Antony Johnston, Matt Kindt, Rick Spears, and Gia-Bao Tran! We’ll have dozens of copies on hand, but this is sure to be a hot book at the show, so arrive early!
Saturday, 11:30-1:00: A Comic Arts Conference superhero extravaganza! Peter Coogan (Superhero: Secret Origin of a Genre), Marc DiPaolo (The Amazing Transforming Superhero), Gina Miseroglu (The Superhero Book, The Supervillain Book), and Trina Robbins (Go Girl, The Great Women Superheroes) come together to share ideas, sign books, and meet fans at the Comic Relief booth following the panel “Superheroes, Villains, and Vixens.”
Saturday 3:00-4:00: Don’t miss Douglas Wolk moderate the panel “Meet the Press: Writing About Comics” earlier in the day, and then come by Comic Relief for an encore appearance by the author, signing copies of his new book, Reading Comics.
Saturday 4:00-6:00: Jason Rodriguez and the Postcards crew–Tom Beland, Micah Farritor, Josh Fialkov, Tony Fleecs, Michael Gaydos, Phil Hester, Antony Johnston, Stuart Moore, James Powell, and Robert Tinnell–make one final appearance together and Comic-Con, so if you haven’t picked up your copy of the book yet, this is a great time to a get a copy signed and meet some of the most unique voices in comics.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Comic Relief returns to Comic-Con with a greater selection of books and events than ever. Stop by out booth at 1514 early: because you’re sure to want to return many times throughout the weekend!
Sean McKeever sends over his schedule:
WEDNESDAY
7:30-9pm Signing at the DC boothTHURSDAY
12:15-1:15pm PANEL – Countdown Room 6B
1:30-3pm Signing at the DC booth
6-7pm PANEL – Group Therapy – Leagues, Legions, Societies & Teens! Room 6AFRIDAY
12-1:30pm Signing at the DC booth
4:30-6pm Signing at the DC boothSATURDAY
12-1:30pm Signing at the DC booth
1:30-2:45pm PANEL – DCU Editorial Presentation Room 6BSUNDAY
3-5pm Signing at the DC booth
D2C Games will debut a line of electronic comics at the con, per their press release:
D2C Games, a premier publisher and developer of downloadable interactive entertainment, announced today the creation of a new studio, D2 (squared) Comics. The studio will adapt existing printed comics, transforming them into a new form of digital video comics for the mass market.
The products will offer original musical scores, action directed by the comics’ creators, and behind-the-scenes video and commentary that expands the digital reading experience. The comics will be available for download for Sony PSP(R) (PlayStation(R) Portable), PC, and mobile platforms in fall 2007.
The first product line-up will include notable properties The Cryptics and Strange Cases from famed creator Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, City of Others, Criminal Macabre).
And finally, Diamond Select Toys sent us a press release all about their scavenger hunt activities related to some of their toys:
DIAMOND SELECT HAS BIG PLANS FOR MINIMATES AT SAN DIEGO COMIC CON!
This year’s San Diego Comic Convention marks one of the largest undertaking in Diamond Select Toys’ history! Plans for this record-breaking event include several convention exclusives, three celebrity guests, contests, a blood drive and “The Hunt” – the first ever Minimate scavenger hunt! Below is a schedule of events as well as a summary of this year’s exclusives and activities scheduled for the Diamond Select Toys booth (#2607).
Preview Night opens on Wednesday, July 27th and gives convention attendees their first chance to pick up their favorite exclusive figures. The gruesome Zombie Colonel America bust, limited to 1,000 pieces, will be on sale for $60.00 with the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Sulu figure and the Battlestar Galactica Chief Tyrol unpainted T-1 preview figure both offered in conjunction with appearances by George Takei and Aaron Douglas – the actors on whom these limited collectibles were based! The pint-sized Zombie Giant Man & Daredevil Minimates will be available for $7.00.
Star Trek legend and Heroes star George Takei, in his first San Diego Comic Con appearance, will be appearing at the DST booth on Saturday, July 28th from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Aaron Douglas of Battlestar Galactica fame will be signing on Friday the 27th from 10-12:30 and 2-4, on Saturday the 28th from 3-6 and on Sunday the 29th from 10-12. Celebrated artist and Dawn-creator Joseph Michael Linsner will be appearing as well. Some celebrities will be signing autographs for a fee, with discount packages containing an autograph and a pre-order for upcoming DST products.
New Force Comics (Booth #221) will offer the exclusive Dr. McCoy figure with online retailer Action Figure Xpress (Booth #4513) delivering an exclusive Scotty of their own. The exclusive Chekov will be available through Toy Rocket (Booth #5201) as their second exclusive release while DST (Booth #2607) will gives fans a chance to bring Mr. Sulu home. When purchasing all four Wrath of Khan figures from their respective retailers, con-goers will be able to have a special Star Trek card stamped at each booth. Upon completing this card, adding their information and returning it to the DST booth during the convention, fans will receive the limited Genesis Khan figure at no cost while supplies last!
This year marks the first annual “Hunt” competition – a scavenger hunt with a Minimate twist. Beginning Wednesday, July 25th and continuing through Saturday, July 28th, teams will be tasked with completing a series of objectives by taking digital photographs of their “Hunt” Minimate with a variety of convention-themed objects, places and people. The winners will be announced on Sunday, July 29th at DST’s Minimate Panel (Room 2 from 1:30-2:30) with each winning team receiving a wealth of prizes including a year’s supply of Minimates, gift cards, electronics and the rarest promotional Minimates ever produced – the Gold and Silver Spider-Man Minimates!
Diamond Select Toys has continued its support of the annual Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive, which will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In exchange for participating, all donors will receive a strictly limited Buffy unpainted T-1 figure or a Star Trek promotional figure! The only way to receive these rare collectibles is to roll up your sleeve and donate in an attempt to break the previous donation record set by last year’s blood drive!
Much more to come as we head into the final days before the con …
July 20th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I can’t emphasize enough contacting your hotel to make sure your reservation is there. Also, make sure you have money down on your room. A simple reservation isn’t enough. I learned that the hard way in 2003 when I arrived to check-in at my hotel and my reservation had mysteriously vanished from their records (despite me confirming it was there the day before). I suspect the hotel was “accidentally” deleting customers who’d reserved rooms at super-cheap internet rates and giving them to desperate last-minute guests willing to pay a premium for a room. I can’t proove that, of course, but something rotten was definitely going on. Luckily, I was able to stay at a friend’s house in San Diego.
Not to freak people out, but just be sure to cover all your bases before you leave for San Diego. If that means putting a “downpayment” on a room you only have a reservation for, or pre-paying the whole thing, by all means do it.
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I’m the reservation supervisor for a major hotel brand in Seattle, and from experience I can tell you that OF COURSE it’s always a good idea to re-confirm your reservations WELL IN ADVANCE of your arrival.
For large, citywide conventions like Comic-Con, the event will hire a third-party housing bureau (like Travel Planners) to contract a block of rooms with several hotels in the area. The hotel takes the rooms out of their inventory so they’ll only be sold to people booking with the convention, while the housing bureau actually “sells” the rooms to the individuals and then hands over a list of all the reservation information to the hotel (usually 30 days prior to the event).
This means that your reservation actually has to go through two different people (and reservation systems) - once with the bureau and once with the hotel itself - and sometimes the two don’t communicate effectively. Sometimes the bureau will give you a confirmation number that is different than the one the hotel’s system generates; sometimes changes to arrival and departure dates made with the bureau don’t make it across to the hotel, etc. etc.
BOTTOM LINE: At the very least, re-confirm your reservation directly with the hotel a week prior to your arrival AND the day before your arrival (ask for “in-house reservations” and be sure you’re talking to someone actually AT the hotel, not in a central phone bank in Dallas or something). Even if your confirmation number is different, they should be able to find the reservation by your last name and possibly verifying address or credit card information. If the hotel has incorrect information or has canceled your reservation entirely, contact the housing bureau immediately. If the bureau tries to tell you everything’s okay, tell them that you’re willing to hold while THEY contact the hotel and verify your reservation.
Don’t get me wrong - probably 90% of the time everything runs smoothly, and hotels and bureaus do this sort of thing for a living, so they (should) know what they’re doing. But don’t think that just because you’ve spoken with a housing bureau once that everything’s peachy keen - ALWAYS speak with the hotel directly to make sure you’re aware of THEIR reservation policies and procedures (when you can cancel without penalties, if you need to make an advance deposit, etc.)