More publishers, more creators, more activities, more of everything …

Feel free to keep sending me stuff up until the show starts.

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UDON will have a Street Fighter Tribute limited edition hardcover, among other activities …

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“People keep warning me about this whole thing, but at this point I’m still not sure what to expect. I’m trying to imagine that very first convention I went to crossed with the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan … yet somehow I can’t quite picture it.” — Zombies Calling creator Faith Erin Hicks, who will attend her first San Diego Comic-Con next week.

Lots more to get through this time around, and I’ll probably divide it up into a few different posts today …

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First up, I need to add this to my “must buy” list …

Top Shelf will have copies of Essex County Vol.3: The Country Nurse, which Jeff Lemire will be on hand to sign.

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If you have any extra bears, Stan Sakai’s daughter is collecting them for the South Pasadena Fire and Police Departments:

Daughter Hannah is working on her Girl Scout Gold Award–collecting teddy bears to donate to the South Pasadena Fire and Police Departments. Bears are given to comfort children after traumatic experiences, such as home fires or domestic disturbance calls.

She has contacted churches and other organizations in the area. If you would like to help, and if you will be at the San Diego Con, bring a new teddy over to our booth–#4906. It is listed in the exhibitor’s guide under “Stan Sakai”.

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Editor’s Note: DC Comics President Paul Levitz returns to Blog@ to talk about DC’s online comics strategy and to request your help in determining what should come next.

by Paul Levitz

One of the earliest questions when I started this blog was “What’s DC’s digital strategy?” It’s a multi-layered question, but the heart of the answer is that we want to bring our skills into the digital age, carrying forward our traditional role of connecting talented writers and artists with interested audiences, and providing high quality stages with a strong creative infrastructure. The essential magic of storytelling has been the same since we were all gathered around a fire, but as each medium of communication develops, different types of stories fit the medium well or badly, and different formats as well. We’re extraordinarily lucky at DC to have some of the most powerful creative properties at making the transition from medium to medium effectively (a process the scholars at M.I.T. call “transmedia”), and we want to make that continue.

Pieces of this evolution are already visible, like the launch last fall of zudacomics.com, which provides a new method of working with creative talent and a new method of bringing their work to audiences. So far it’s attracting an increasing community, and building an interesting library of new material, and we’ve just begun the exploration of what we can do with the site and its distinctive technology. Other pieces of our experimentation have flashed on and off screen where you might not have been looking, like efforts to create digital comics-related forms for projects as diverse as PowerAde’s promotions with LeBron James, and ‘content wraps’ for commercials on SMALLVILLE last season. Still other projects have never left the offices, but have provided useful experiences on our learning curve.

Now we’re announcing another important experiment on this road. Last summer, I traveled to London with Warner Premiere President Diane Nelson to show Dave Gibbons a first test of a new digital format. Diane’s team and WATCHMEN director Zack Snyder passionately wanted to take the original WATCHMEN graphic novel, put the artwork into motion, add a soundtrack, and create a new, multi-format digital version while keeping all of the original literary and art material. We spent hours with Dave, discussing the inherent challenges, the proven power of WATCHMEN to convert people to the “new” format of graphic novels, and how that might happen again if we did this new project well. Unsurprisingly, Dave had important insights into how the artwork could be digitally manipulated to best effect, and ended up becoming a vital part of the process, working directly with Zack and the producers over the last year. This first chapter of the first “Motion Comic” went live as a free download from iTunes on the ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY site last night, and production is moving steadily towards releasing the rest of the monumental work that is WATCHMEN in multiple formats for computers and cell phones between now and the movie’s premiere.

There’s a pipeline of additional projects coming behind these two, some of which will be announced after SDCC. As we considered how to expand on this initiative, we debated different characters and stories from the DC library, considering everything from what types of digital files we might have to begin building with, to how the content might or might not convert, to lots of legal and business practicalities. The second candidate selected was the Eisner Award-winning tale “Mad Love” by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, in part because of the sheer madcap quality of its take on BATMAN, and in part because the animation background of the creators meant that we’d see a very different translation process than we had with WATCHMEN. We tested three different adaptation processes on “Mad Love,” then settled on one that seemed to best capture the spirit of the original. Warner Premiere is launching this one in partnership with Microsoft’s Xbox Live, making it available as part of the special Comic-Con package debuting next week, and also on Verizon’s V-Cast.

I don’t know whether our audiences will enjoy receiving these comics digitally through computers, game consoles or cell phones, but as we’ve watched manga become ubiquitously available in Japan, I think there’s real potential to reach new readers this way…some of whom will make their way to the comic shops and bookstores to enjoy the traditional print formats as well, once they get a taste of our magic.

When you get to see the material, please post your suggestions for which DC comics could benefit from the translation—and I’m sure there’ll be vigorous debate on the best methods of translation as well. We’ll keep an eye on the thread for a couple of weeks.

In the long run, the great win will be to find the formats in which can create “native” material for the digital world—stories and art built to take advantage of the inherent qualities of digital delivery in the same way that we’ve built comics to take advantage of print, or that a great movie is built to take advantage of the big screen. I’ve been pushing one pet project for this since 2000 without success yet (okay, no one said it was a practical idea), but it’s clear that this is potentially one of the most important leaps we can make. We’re hard at work on this as well (as are others, obviously), and I’m curious to see how it all plays out.

Oh, and to answer one question before it’s asked: the writers and artists of the original comics are, of course, sharing in DC’s revenues from all of these new forms of distribution of their work.

Back in March, BOOM! Comics hired Matt Gagnon to oversee their upcoming Farscape comics. Per a press release sent out last week, Matt “was quickly promoted to managing editor, overseeing the production of all BOOM! titles,” reporting to their editor-in-chief, Mark Waid.

Matt spent four years as a buyer at Meltdown Comics, the 15-year-old large comic shop in L.A., before moving to BOOM! He’s no stranger to the publishing side of comics, as he was co-editor of the latest volume of the Meathaus comic anthology.

To see how the new job was going, I sent a few questions to Matt via email.

JK: You’re coming to BOOM! from the comics retailing world. What did you do for Meltdown Comics?

Matt: My title was Purchasing Manager, which means I did the ordering for our stores through Diamond, our mainstream distributors, and beyond. Gaston, the co-owner of Meltdown, besides being one of the best business men I’ve ever met, also became a good friend and mentor to me. We had a great short-hand between the two of us. I was also planning events - like Y:THE LAST PARTY - working the counter on Wednesday’s, flexing on thieves. You know, the usual.

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– Stuart Moore shares the cover for and talks about New Avengers: Fireline, the latest comic from Marvel created for the U.S. military.

– If you enjoyed John Jakala’s essay on comic book “extras” that we ran on Wednesday, he lists even more extras at his blog.

– I mentioned a few days ago that the Chicago Tribune’s Redeye blog was doing a superheroes tournament. Apparently they’re taking some flack because Buffy the Vampire Slayer bested Batman. Based on the number of hits we get whenever Whedonesque links to us, my guess is that Buffy’s victory had more to do with her (and Whedon’s) active, vocal, organized and large fan base, versus any kind of shenanigans.

– Steve Epting walks us through the process of creating a page for Captain America #40.

– Dave McKean has a not-quite-operational-yet new website.

– Jamie Coville shares pictures from last weekend’s Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon.

– Tim O’Shea talks to Brigid Alverson about her site Good Comics for Kids.

– The Mindless Ones interview David Lapham.

– Marvel.com profiles Spider-Man fan and UFC fighter Anderson Silva.

Entertainment Weekly talks with Alan Moore about the upcoming Watchmen movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century, his upcoming novel Jerusalem, and his love of The Wire and South Park:

Don’t you have the slightest curiosity about what Watchmen director Zack Snyder is doing with your work?
I would rather not know.

He’s supposed to be a very nice guy.
He may very well be, but the thing is that he’s also the person who made 300. I’ve not seen any recent comic book films, but I didn’t particularly like the book 300. I had a lot of problems with it, and everything I heard or saw about the film tended to increase [those problems] rather than reduce them: [that] it was racist, it was homophobic, and above all it was sublimely stupid. I know that that’s not what people going in to see a film like 300 are thinking about but…I wasn’t impressed with that…. I talked to [director] Terry Gilliam in the ’80s, and he asked me how I would make Watchmen into a film. I said, ”Well actually, Terry, if anybody asked me, I would have said, ‘I wouldn’t.”’ And I think that Terry [who aborted his attempted adaptation of the book] eventually came to agree with me. There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can’t.

Related: Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl) says Watchmen’s ending stays true to the comic

SLG Editor in Chief Jennifer de Guzman was kind enough to send over some promo art for the two properties they announced a couple of days ago, Progeny and Mecha-Nation. Here’s Progeny:

And here’s Mecha-Nation:

Both books are created by The Spectacular Spider-Man producers Greg Weisman and Vic Cook. If I’m not mistaken, the art for the Progeny piece (and maybe the Mecha-Nation one as well) is by Sean Galloway, who worked with them on the Spider-Man cartoon. Jennifer added that they don’t have a firm release date yet, as both Weisman and Cook are pretty busy with their animation work, but Weisman would be in San Diego to talk about them.

Mark Andrew Smith dropped me a note about artist Matthew Woodson, who was bitten by a poisonous spider that led to a trip to the ER and, well, you can read all the horrifying details here. To help pay his medical bills, Woodson is taking commissions:

For a while now I have been considering taking on personal commissions, and not just company clients alone. Now it seems like a wiser decision than ever. So what does that mean? It means I am taking on basically any commission that comes my way. This can include anything from the tiniest drawing, to a larger project, and yes that even means tattoo designs. I have ignored a lot of emails in the past pertaining to such projects, and I will try and respond to some of the more recent ones in the next few days.

Any possible commission you could have for me; gifts, wedding invitations, cards, wall art, tattoos, anything. I am interested in the job. I will also definitely consider larger personal commissions, considering the work involved. I would prefer to only be working in black and white, but don’t be afraid to ask about color. I haven’t exactly figured out how pricing will go yet, but obviously pricing will be negotiable and varying, but for small to medium sized drawings I was thinking between $100 - $500 through paypal.

This will be the first time that I have really ever taken on personal commissions. And quite honestly, I am excited about it. Who knows if any one will even be interested? But if you can, please help me get back on my feet both literally and financially. And not only that, please give me something to keep my mind on while healing up.

Follow the link up top for details on how to contact Woodson about a commission. You can check out some of his art here.

… or Dan DiDio, or go boating with Stan Lee, or breakfast with Cooke, Bullock and Stewart …

Yep, the Hero Initiative has several new auctions up related to the San Diego Comic-Con. The winning bidders can:

–Play on the Marvel or DC softball team in the big annual Marvel vs. DC softball game
–Have steak with Joe Quesada
–Have breakfast and get sketches from David Bullock, Darwyn Cooke and Cameron Stewart
–Hang out with Stan Lee in the harbor (on a boat, of course)
–Have lunch with a former CGC grader

You can check out all of the Hero Initiative auctions (inlcuding the Hulk ones I mentioned yesterday) here.

Leading up to the San Diego Comic-Con, Cliff Chiang is posting pin-up art over on his blog. “Taking inspiration from Elvgren, Vargas, and even modern guys like Ragnar and Bawidamann, they’re all pretty tongue-in-cheek and self-aware, which should elevate it from your standard cheesecake.”

In addition to Poison Ivy, he’s also posted Scarlett from G.I. Joe and Teela from Masters of the Universe. A new one should be up sometime today, with two more to follow.

iFanboy reports on the booth activities of Darwyn Cooke, Cameron Stewart and Dave Bullock … and boy do they have some activities planned:

Booth #2207
BOOTH SCHEDULE AND EVENT LISTING

Wednesday July 23rd
6:00 – 9:00 CAMERON STEWART/WORK
DARWYN COOKE RETROACTIVE 1998-2008
DAVID BULLOCK BULLOCK ART WORKS
Preview night sees the launch of these 48-page, full-colour hardback collections of unpublished and never-before-seen pin-up illustrations by all three artists.

Thursday July 24th

9:30 – 10:30 Darwyn Cooke Signing IDW Signature cards

11:00 am – Noon SENTRY SIGNING: Cover artist Dave Bullock, writers Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin, artists Nick Dragotta & Colleen Coover, with EXCLUSIVE SENTRY give-away

5:30 – 6:30 SUPERMAN SIGNING: Tim Sale, Darwyn Cooke and Dave Bullock

Friday July 25th

10:30 – 12:00 WB/NEW FRONTIER SIGNING: Darwyn/Dave & Bruce Timm

12:30 – 1:30 SEAGUY SIGNING: Grant Morrison & Cameron Stewart w/ guest host James Sime

2:00 – 3:30 JONAH HEX SIGNING: Darwyn & Jimmy Palmiotti

4:00 – 5:00 THE SPECTACULAR SPIDERMAN: Director of the Animated Series, Dave Bullock with Vic Cook/Producer, Sean “Cheeks” Galloway/Art Director, Adam Van Wyk/Story Artist, with an EXCLUSIVE Spiderman “Villains” poster give away.

Saturday July 26th

11:00 – 12:00 THE OTHER SIDE SIGNING: Jason Aaron joins artist Cameron Stewart

4:00 – 5:00 CATWOMAN SIGNING: Darwyn/Cameron & Ed Brubaker

Sunday July 27th

11:00 – 12:00 Darwyn Signing IDW Signature Cards

1:00 pm – 2:00 THE APOCALIPSTIX: Ray Fawkes and Cameron Stewart launch Volume 1 of THE APOCALIPSTIX

I understand one of the most swingin’ retailer int eh comic biz, James Sime, will be guest-hosting some of the events, so be sure to stop by and check it out. And if you aren’t attending, be sure to check out iFanboy after the show, as they’ll be filming interviews at the booth.

I should have done one of these yesterday, but I didn’t and now I’m paying for it. So this one is going to be extra long. In this addition: a Pop Candy meet-up, Entertainment Weekly’s awesome panel schedule, Dark Horse signing schedule with extra Whedon, Electronic Arts, 007, Michael Golden, the BBC, free WiFi, Knight Rider and much more!

As always, you can send me your con activities any time between now and when it starts, and I’ll post them here.

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The Comic-Con website says the show will offer free WiFi this year, sponsored by the movie Eagle Eye:

Free Wi-Fi at Comic-Con!
Dreamworks Pictures’ Eagle Eye, starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, is proud to be the official sponsor of Comic-Con Free Wi-Fi. Be sure to see Eagle Eye, in theaters September 26th.

Free Wi-Fi is available in all areas of the Convention Center except the Exhibit Hall.

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Whitney Matheson at USA Today’s Pop Candy blog is hosting a meetup in San Diego on the Saturday of the con. You can find more details on the meetup — as well as the really sweet promotional artwork Keith Simmons painted (pictured above — over on Pop Candy.

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Speaking of the Hero Initiative Hulk #1 auctions, the first wave went live on eBay this week and end next Monday. Up for bidding right now are covers by John Romita Sr., John Cassaday, Guillermo del Toro (pictured above), Jay Lynch and several more. Go check’em out; it’s for a good cause.

You can also view all the covers, which will eventually be auctioned off at the rate of about 10 per week, at Marvel.com.

I blogged a couple of weeks ago about Frank Cho’s Hulk#1 cover not being accepted for the Hero Initiative charity auction. Now, courtesy of Lying in the Gutters and a “Wizard serf,” the cover sees the light of day:

Rich Johnston comments:

Have to say, as earlier rumoured, that is exactly the same level of nudity as appeared in the Hero Initiative auction for Frank Cho’s Spider-Man piece last year. Yet this year, it was totally unacceptable.

What changed?

Anyone remember the 2000 Hulk annual, where the Hulk tries to hook up with She-Hulk? Yeah …

There are so many Batman- and Dark Knight-related items floating around, it’s tough to know where to begin:

• With 700 showings already sold out in North America, The Dark Knight looks to be heading toward a $130 million-plus opening weekend. As of last night, it had sold two times as many advance tickets that Spider-Man 3 on MovieTickets.com. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

• The Dark Knight could dethrone Spider-Man as the highest-grossing comic-book movie of all time — and mark a turning point for superhero films. [The Miami Herald]

• Is The Dark Knight film noir? “The Dark Knight is a crime story, and not all crime stories are film noir,” says director Christopher Nolan. “But I think you’re seeing a desire in storytelling to have moral ambiguity, and that’s been the basis of film noir.” [Newsday, via The Boston Herald]

• Frank Miller’s 1986 The Dark Knight Returns reinvigorated the Batman comic-book franchise. [New York Daily News]

• Jeet Heer delves into those decades-old rumors about the relationship between Batman and Robin, while Steve Murray (aka Chip Zdarsky) points out the ridiculousness of debating the Dynamic Duo’s sexuality. Zdarsky also created the illustration (above) for Heer’s article. [The National Post, The National Post]

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Retailer James Sime dropped us a note about an in-store event at Isotope Comics featuring seven-year-old comic creator Basie:

In celebration of this 7 year old creator’s fourth monthly issue of his mini-comic THE MASKED MUTANT the Isotope will be throwing a tremendous launch party event with a selection of root beers and Basie-approved tunes to get your backside in gear spun by San Francisco’s legendary DJ BEARZBUB.

Having gone to seven printings of issue #1, four printings of issue #2, along with a series of unique accordion-style folded minis… this kid has been blowing my mind with his one-man self publishing empire. During our event we will be hanging his art in our gallery, Basie will be selling selected pages of original art from his first four issues, and he’ll be drawing all your favorite superheroes for free. This is a Dr Strange he did for me:

The event runs from noon until 4 p.m. on July 19.

In an interview with Laura Hudson, the Perry Bible Fellowship creator reveals he’s got a new book out for November, hot on the heels of last year’s successful Trial of Colonel Sweeto:

PW Comics Week: How does the upcoming anthology differ from Colonel Sweeto?

Nicholas Gurewitch: The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack will have all the material that’s in Colonel Sweeto, and a heck of a lot more. It will essentially replace Colonel Sweeto.

PWCW: Did you expect Colonel Sweeto to be as successful as it was?

NG: I can’t say I didn’t expect it. I don’t think I really thought about it. For what it is—a book of comic strips—it sold a lot. I think the most impressive piece of info we got is that it was the 10th bestselling book on Amazon.ca [Canada].

Gurewitch also reveals he’s working on a PBF-style TV pilot for the BBC.