Think Twilight is a bloody good time? A romance with some bite?

Well, you might be saying “fangs for the memories,” as Wizard Entertainment has announced that several actors for the Twilight saga will be hitting the Chicago Comic-Con, August 6-9.

According to their release, Peter Facinelli, Christopher Heyerdahl, and Cameron Bright will be in attendance, along with Kevin Nash, Taylor Wilde, Jeremy Bulloch, Cerina Vincent, and Doug Jones.

Valerie D’Orazio makes some excellent points over at her blog.

Truly, my heart weeps for those fanboys inconvenienced by 1,000s of Robert Pattinson fans. It is so unfair. And they’re “not even really supposed to be there,” right?

[snip]
Where was this whining when people were going freakin nuts over “Watchmen?” Or when I couldn’t even get through the fanboy phalanx to meet up with friends because of the Hellboy roadblock?

Fandom and conventions are big enough for EVERYBODY. And instead of complaining about “Twilight” fans, maybe somebody should figure out how to get these legions of fangirls to buy more comics.

Seriously. The headline she links–”Female Fans Prepare to Trample Men“–is hilariously ironic because it reflects perfectly the fear in so many articles. The implication that ZOMG WOMEN ATTACK is just so darn Freudian it’s hard for me to unpack it without giggling.

I’m a female fangirl. I have been for years. And I’ve absolutely been trampled at cons–and punk rock shows, and even sporting events, all areas with typical male fan bases that certainly didn’t seem to think anything shocking about being in a room with hundreds of boys and a few girls.

I came to comics through a subculture that, if it had existed back in the day, would certainly have embraced Twilight. As a somewhat overeducated adult, I read the books and saw the movie and thoroughly enjoyed both, if occasionally with the very adult pleasure of laughing at all the wrong moments. I both defend the right to have something like Twilight that is so unabashedly girly that it inspires tons of squealing girls to unload at Comic-Con just for its panel, and despise the tendency to split fandom into two worlds: the comics are for boys, the sparkly vampires are for girls.

Leaving out for a moment the teenage boy sitting next to me at a subway stop reading New Moon on his iPhone (yes, I can recognize the story from a glimpse over his shoulder. What?), why the heck can’t we admit that comic cons were packed full of people fighting for seats before Twilight was thought of, that Hollywood has been trying to find ways to tap into the zealous–and zealously consumerist, willing to buy tons of movie-related merch–comic con audience for a good while now, and that the only thing different when it’s Twilight is that the fans are teenage girls (and their moms, the fear of whom brings up a whole other level of Freudian analysis that I’m REALLY not qualified to do).

So really. Do these guys need to keep Comic-Con a He-Man Woman Hater’s Club that badly, or can they learn to embrace the girls and cross that invisible line between Twilight fans and comic fans? Because who knows, maybe if they dropped the defensive act and realized that more girls in their fandom does not mean less stuff for them, that pop culture is not a finite commodity, maybe more girls WOULD buy comics. And far from that being a problem, it would create more money for comics creators, and thus…MORE COMICS FOR ALL. Win-win.

Looking for a collectible that’s leagues away from everything else? Look no further!

eFX has announced that it will preview a 4-foot collectible of the Nautilus, Captain Nemo’s underwater vessel from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, at the San Diego Comic Con!

“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is truly one of the all-time classic adventure movies, and was a milestone for the Disney creative team,” said Bryan Ono, president of eFX Inc, in a written statement. “The Nautilus is a Disney icon, and our artisans and engineers have been working overtime to develop this extraordinary re-creation.”

While there is currently no word on release dates for this behemoth, eFX says there will be more information at SDCC, as well as the D23 Expo in September.

Hey MOTU Fans!

Oh man, this is BIG… the design team at Mattel just announced the first book in their “Designed @ Mattel” series and it’s a MOTU art book!

The book shows off the fantastic art of the MOTU brand from 1981 through current day. It’s packed with never-before-seen Mattel concept art, behind-the-scenes notes, posters, oil paintings, and a whole lot more from across the brand. All that MOTU art from over the years is mighty sweet, but the book also premiers concept art from new projects, like a proposed live action film!

It’s a soft-cover edition, limited to only 1,000 numbered copies. Each one comes with a numbered cover ribbon and an embossed seal. The first place they’ll be available is San Diego Comic-Con. Purchases will be limited to two per guest, per wait in line. And get this… you can even have your copy signed by the Mattel artists at the show!

If any units remain after the show they may be sold on Mattycollector.com, but honestly, we expect to sell out at SDCC. Be sure to come by the MattyCollector.com booth early for your chance to own a piece of MOTU history!

—Matty

If you’re 21 and older, here’s your chance to hobnob with some pros:

Mark Waid, EiC of BOOM! Studios, is inviting all comic con attendees to celebrate the company’s fourth anniversary by hosting the BOOM! Studios Drink Up.

According to the BOOM! blog:

For those not in the know, a “Drink Up” is just like a “Meet Up” but with people drinking. This will be a gathering of friends and fans, so make plans to stop by see what’s happening!

The event needs no tickets or RSVPs, and will take place from 9pm until the wee hours of the morning at the Manchester Hyatt Grand Lobby Bar.

Mattel posted this news and video today over on their MattyCollector.com site:

San Diego Comic-Con is just about here, and man, do I have an early show-stopper toy for you! You already know our DC Universe Classics Wonder Twins figure set includes Zan, Jayna, an eagle, and a water bucket with the face of Zan. Sweet, but that’s not what I’m talking about… it’s the AMAZING package that features lights and sounds you gotta see to believe!

DCUC Wonder Twins packaging w/lights and sound

Remember, the set that includes Gleek will only be available at SDCC while supplies last. If you don’t make it to SDCC, you can still get the Wonder Twins — but without Gleek — here at MattyCollector.com on Monday, August 3rd at 12:00 Noon!

For more information on Mattel’s Comic Con Exclusives and panels click here.

Do you have a fever, and the only prescription is more Green Lantern?

Well, DC Direct is offering not one, but five chances to get your Hal Jordan fix at the San Diego Comic Con!

In keeping with the lead-up to Blackest Night, there will be a Green Lantern, Orange Lantern, Blue Lantern, Red Lantern, and Sinestro Corps version of Jordan, available to con attendees only.

According to IGN, there will be only 1,500 of the variants, and 3,000 of the Green Lantern version. Yet it’s a bit more complicated than this: attendees will only be able to buy two figures at a time, meaning that you’ll have to check out DC’s booth every day, from Wednesday through Sunday, to get the entire one-man Corps. Here’s a break-down of the schedule:

Wednesday (Preview Night) – July 22 – 6:00 pm Hal Jordan: Green Lantern – 3,000 pieces available

Thursday, July 23 – 10:00 am
Hal Jordan: Yellow Lantern – 1,500 pieces available

Friday, July 24 – 10:00 am
Hal Jordan: Blue Lantern – 1,500 pieces available

Saturday, July 25 – 10:00 am
Hal Jordan: Orange Lantern – 1,500 pieces available

Sunday, July 26 – 10:00 am
Hal Jordan: Red Lantern – 1,500 pieces available

What say you, Lantern fans? If the numbers (and fan tendencies) are any indication, getting a full set will certainly be some fierce competition.

What better way to tell the story of a politician as overwrought as Michele Bachmann than as a comic book? After all, if a comic book writer had created Bachmann, she’d be hard to believe. Just a couple of months after Barack Obama’s inauguration (and his swath of guest appearances in comics), Bachmann declared that it was time for the people of the US to have an “orderly revolution” to throw Obama out of office.

Comic book publishers would be pretty bummed to see their cash cow thrown out, so it’s probably a good thing for the industry that Bachmann’s revolution seems to be on the back burner for the moment. But for those of you who want to be prepared in case she manages to pull it off, you could do worse than checking out False Witness! The Michele Bachmann story.

For those of you outside of Minnesota who don’t spend your evenings with Sean Hannity or Keith Olbermann, Bachmann is the representative from Minnesota’s 6th congressional district. Her latest claim to fame is a rather public refusal to fill out the 2010 census forms for nebulous reasons connected to “personal” information. Rather like Sarah Palin, Bachmann is a pretty, populist Christian conservative with a reputation for saying outlandish things and a spectacular ability to mobilize the “base.”

Issue number one of False Witness! is less the narrative of Michele Bachmann and more a story of the religious right’s rise, tied together with the rise of Bachmann. As such, it’s rather text-heavy, and contains contributions by several different artists. The art doesn’t so much tell the story as add to it, turning all the characters to outsize caricatures while telling stories drawn straight from the news (with a “citations” page in the back just in case you doubt). The creators are certainly aware of this–even throwing in a two-page spread in which the comic critiques itself so that you don’t have to–and notes that it is an “important political story.”

The book is worth the $4 cover price just for the page in which Bachmann chants “You Will Pay!” at a fellow Republican who doubted her, in panels growing ever closer to eyes glowing with lunacy and a forehead beaded with sweat (evoking Nixon’s famous debate sweats, perhaps?). Yet like many satires, it is aimed mainly at the converted, and probably won’t be picked up by anyone but those who already know who Bachmann is and find her frightening–or amusing. Though the creators do a good job of illustrating the schisms and splits in the Republican party, when it comes to specific claims of demagoguery or extremism, the book is at its most effective when it lets Bachmann’s own, documented words speak for themselves. Readers who don’t already agree that Bachmann is a fundamentalist extremist will probably never get anywhere near the comic, so I doubt it will have much effect on Bachmann’s popularity at home.

We are promised more issues after this first one, so I’m hopeful that we’ll get more narrative when the creators don’t need to cram years of history of the Republican party into their comic. Perhaps we’ll get some Michele Bachmann origin stories, some more tales of her time in the state senate, or, since unlike Palin she shows no signs of going away, more stories of her newest headline-grabbing antics. Or perhaps Bachmann will prove me wrong and turn out to be the biggest boon to comic retailers since Spider-Man met Obama.

Stranger things have happened.

Officials from the Long Beach Comic Con have announced that Jeph Loeb and Geoff Johns will be attending the Long Beach Comic Con on October 2-4th.

This announcement comes alongside some other heavy hitters in the industry, including Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Peter Tomasi, Dustin Nguyen, Steve Niles, Tim Bradstreet, Mike Choi, Scott Lobdell, Peter Stiegerwald, and Alex Sinclair.

“The talent line-up being put together for LBCC is coming together quite nicely. We are so appreciative of the support the industry is showing to our inaugural show,” said event planner Martha Donato, President of MAD Event Management, in a written statement.  “We’ll be utilizing all of our talent as we finalize our programming schedule. There will definitely be something for everyone.”

This week kicked off with some interesting news, with Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus announcing that the ailing entertainment company would be assuming the reins of FunFare, a toy magazine aimed at younger children.

Yet at the same time, we’ve also heard reports of even more layoffs, in addition to general complaints about Wizard’s online store. With competition looming in the convention department, and Wizard’s staff and funds shrinking to the point of consolidating into one New York office, what’s the company’s next step?

You may be surprised, but apparently it’s taking over a new convention — in Toronto.

According to the Beat, Wizard has announced that it has purchased the Toronto Comicon. “We’ve always had a strong following in Canada, so buying the Toronto Comicon is something that allows me to give back to our fans. These attendees are known to be serious collectors and comic industry followers,” Shamus said in a press release.  “I am thrilled to offer the guests, celebrities, artists, dealers and exhibitors to our Canadian audience for the very first time.”

Peter Dixon, the former owner of the con, will be “intimately involved” with the new management, who are scheuled to debut the all-new, all-different con in 2010. But with Wizard’s shrinking fortunes, is this a sound reinvestment strategy, or a Hail Mary in the face of opposition from exhibitors like Reed and websites like, well, us? What say you, Rama readers?

G4 and Lucasfilms will be teaming up for an unprecedented live airing from the San Diego Comic Con!

The Star Wars Spectacular! will film at 2pm on July 25th, as a live airing of the main Lucasfilm panel from SDCC. In addition, Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira of Attack of the Show will meet up with Lucasfilm’s Steve Sansweet as well as voice talent from the Clone Wars television show, to give their own insider insight.

Never-before-seen footage will be shown, and there will be a live table reading of a new Clone Wars script. Furthermore, Lucasfilms will also unveil Star Wars Stories, which asks Jedi lovers everywhere to tell their movie memories and other tales of fandom, to help contribute to the company’s historical archive.

You can upload your stories here (or if you’re at the con, find Lucasfilm’s camera crew) — otherwise, make sure to set your TiVo, as G4 will be hitting the convention from 4-7pm!

Digital comics purveyor Uclick just announced the release of a free Eisner Awards app for iPhone and IPod Touch. In addition go giving a brief background of the Eisner awards and their namesake Will Eisner, it also gives information and images of each of the nominated works in the 26 awards categories.

No doubt journalists like me will be using this app while sitting in on the awards ceremony itself on July 24th at Comic-Con International: San Diego. Uclick promises to update the app with the winners shortly after the ceremony.

Enough jabber — here’s the link which will launch your iTunes program.

So there’s been an article circulating around about Comic-Con Hook-Ups. I read it, felt a little weird about posting it, and ultimately decided against it. But after I read this excellent second opinion by Laura Hudson, I felt that this deserved a shout-out. A nice highlight:

Penthouse says: “I was a little surprised when my friendly neighborhood comic-book-store clerk told me she was looking forward to this year’s New York Comic Con because ‘conventions are all about the sex.’”

CA says: FALSE. Comic conventions — in New York or San Diego or anywhere else — are never “all about the sex.” Sex happens — SOMETIMES — and it may happen more often than an normal weekend for SOME con-goers, but that’s because it’s an enormous show that packs more than 100,000 people with similar interests into a convention center where they spend four days getting incredibly amped up and drinking a lot. The show is not about the fact that this SOMETIMES happens — it’s about comics… and TV shows, movies, and video games. If anything, hookups are a bonus, like the t-shirts and posters that the Marvel booth likes to toss into crowds of screaming fans.

You can read the original article (obviously NSFW) here, and read Laura’s rebuttal here. What say you, Rama readers? As someone who has hit three major cons in three cities, I don’t know if I necessarily agree with the original article, but have you guys found love underneath the big Marvel placard?

Dear Internet,

I bought not one, but TWO superhero books this week. That’s right, two. One from DC and one from Marvel, all balanced-like. Streets of Gotham (which I really bought for the Manhunter backup) and the Gambit Origins book. I read ‘em, and I’m going to write about ‘em, but not right now. I’m too tired. Instead, I will give you linkage to pretty and interesting things. I promise to write about them soon, though.

In the meantime!

At Comics Worth Reading, the welcome news that Thom Zahler is giving away free comics to the first 75 women who visit his booth at Heroes Con this weekend.

Also there, Ed Sizemore reviews things he picked up at MoCCA, and they’re mostly books I didn’t already talk about. (I do think he’s crazy to not have liked The Unwritten, but I realize not everyone gets as geeked for metafiction as I do.)

Via The Hathor Legacy, a rant about “Strong Female Characters” that I can totally get behind. I also find this wording problematic because it implies that female characters are normally not strong, so strong must be pointed out when it does occur. But read her post. It’s better than what I said.

Shakesville has a good rundown of the sexism in the geek world lately. Seriously, people? It’s really not that hard to figure out that girls like all the same kinds of things that guys do.

This is just kind of a short, sublime post by, well, Neil Gaiman, who does short and sublime rather well.

Since I didn’t have a lot of money at MoCCA, I picked up a lot of cards and free things that people were giving out. To make up for not being able to buy things from all these people, I’m sharing them with you. They certainly deserve your attention.

Carissa Halston was kind of fabulous, and kind of fascinating, and she writes plays, books, and graphic novels.

Sara Antoinette Martin draws the kind of stuff I want tattooed on me: skulls and graphic girls and puppies. Her prints are only $35! Buy me one. (Or if you must, buy yourself one.)

Evan Palmer is from Lafayette, Louisiana. I love Louisiana. He is also doing some work with Peter Gross, which is how my favoritest comic artist ever, Ryan Kelly, got his start, so you know you’re going to hear great things from this guy.

Sho Murase’s art is completely, insanely gorgeous. I really wanted one of her mini art books, but I’m just too broke.

I got a couple of preview minicomics of a book called Squirrel Machine, due out from Fantagraphics in the fall. Seriously, how do you refuse something called Squirrel Machine? It looks macabre and fascinating, sort of like a Nick Cave song set to pictures.

Bagger43 was the name on the back of this postcard with a couple of girls and a dog on the front, looking like postapocalyptic street angels ready for a brawl. Not much of a bio on the site, but the art is stellar.

Uncle Envelope is a cool art project that will send you an piece of paper art once a month for twelve months. A bunch of different artists are involved, and they gave out a little activity book at MoCCA to tease people. I like art, I love media supported by subscription…it’s a win-win.

Finally, Becky Cloonan and Hwan Cho should need no introduction to readers of this blog, but even if you don’t know who they are, you should go forth and read about their upcoming webcomic, KGB.

There’ve been some downright baffling displays of sexism in the geek world lately. First, there was IGN’s boys-only contest, blowing the minds of both males and females across the globe. Then the LA Times posted a “Girls’ Guide to Comic Con” with such gems as this:

‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’

Women will be rushing the stage, offering to do star Jake Gyllenhaal’s laundry on those washboard abs that he acquired for the film, since he spends much of it fighting, shirtless or both. Jake, we don’t want to know how to quit you.

Well, not surprisingly, the internet started to light up about that one, and several of my geeky girl friends on Twitter immediately got more than a bit upset at these ridiculous stereotypes. Then one in particular, the popular Geek Girl Diva, decided to let the LA Times know what was what on her Blog, attached to popular toy site Entertainment Earth with “An Open Letter to the L.A. Times from a Geek Girl:”

Girls have been going to SDCC for YEARS. They go because they like *gasp* comics? They go because they want to hear about the latest news from Joss Whedon, or for the BSG panel, or to watch Kevin Smith talk about…heck, anything. They are Browncoats, Cosplay fans, Gamers, Geeks, Nerds, Dorks, Comic fans, movie fanatics, book lovers and for loads of other reasons.

Read on at the link above for the full well-expressed rant, and follow her on Twitter by clicking her name, cause she’s full of gems (and toy pimping) from a genuine geek girl.

by Seth Robison

Even though it looks more like its rural comic book counterpart, the small village of Metropolis, Illinois shares one major feature with the fictional city that shares its name, they are both the home of DC Comics’ Man of Steel: Superman.  In this realities’ Metropolis they break out the pony rides and tilt-a-whirls not for a local food item or flower like other small towns, but for their annual Superman Celebration, held for the 31st time this past weekend.

This hybrid comic book convention and local fair has its roots in the early 1970s when locals successfully petitioned both the state government and DC Comics for their Metropolis (one of several in the United States) to be declared the “official” home of Superman, and held the first Superman Celebration in the wake of the first Superman movie in 1979.  The event features not just the classic small town Main Street full of fried food and local crafts for sale, but costume contests (for kids, adults and even dogs), a weightlifting competition and a designated Superman to pose for photos and sign autographs.  Then in 1993 over $100,000 was raised to build a fifteen-foot bronze stature of the hero that stands, in living color, in the center of Superman Square, in front of the Massac County courthouse.

The event attracts more then local comic fans and fairgoers, this year Smallville stars Justin Hartley and Phil Morris spoke to fans and signed autographs, and a local favorite, the 88 year old Noel Neil, who portrayed Lois Lane in the George Reeves version of The Adventures of Superman, was on hand to break ground on a life size statue in her honor.  However, aside from television stars, the organizers of the event paid tribute to the medium that brought them Superman by inviting writers and artists to their convention hall, an empty storefront church at the end of four blocks of attractions and vendors.

For one of them, Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja, StarCraft: Frontline) the Superman Celebration is a homecoming.  Growing up in nearby Carmil, IL (near that is by county standards, a scant 100 miles away), Josh was a frequent attendee of the celebration and in 1999 swore an oath to himself in front of the Superman statue that he would some day write for the hero.  A feat he accomplished before the prior year’s event with an appearance by the Man of Steel in the pages of The Batman Strikes!  He remarked at how the event has grown over the years by serving a comics and genre media fan base that was otherwise not serviced in the region.

This sentiment was reiterated by fellow attending writers Gail Simone (Secret Six) and John Ostrander (Star Wars: Legacy) who praised the intimacy of the small scale event, allowing them to connect with fans in a personal way that the bustle of the larger conventions can’t provide.  The trio also hosted Q and As and writing workshops in the same cozy storefront room that held their signing tables, one that didn’t seat more than one hundred, but still produced a full session’s worth of questions.

The event runs from Thursday to Sunday the second weekend in June every year, but to the citizens of Metropolis, whose enthusiasm for the Man of Steel goes far beyond just creating a tourist destination, Superman is a part of their lives everyday.

Via Comics Worth Reading, apparently IGN is running a contest to win a trip to San Diego Comic Con to participate in an “Assignment.” Cool, right?

Unless you, like me, are a female over the age of 24. Though we too might like to meet District 9 director (and, um, Lord of the Rings director) Peter Jackson, we are apparently excluded. As Johanna notes, the rules of the contest state:

This sweepstakes is open only to males who are both legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and Washington D.C. and who are at least between 18-24 years of age as of July 23, 2009

I can almost understand trying to restrict the contest to younger people–almost. But why on earth would this contest be restricted only to “males”?

Like there aren’t enough men in the comics/film/sci-fi fields already, we need to make sure that only boys get to participate in these type of contests? Like comic conventions don’t have enough guys at them, you need to import extras?

Abe Sapien, the psychic humanoid amphibious paranormal investigator of Hellboy fame, gets the deluxe treatment with this super-sized figure. Standing a towering eighteen inches tall, this Abe Sapien is faithful to the design of Abe as seen in Hellboy 2:The Golden Army. Abe features fifteen points of articulation, removable goggles, and removable breathing apparatus.

Abe will be available at San Diego Comic Con in July 2009 or through Mezco Direct at
http://www.mezcotoyz.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=728

Abe Sapien photos by Jason Jerde.