Conventions | Although the planned $500 million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center is, by all appearances, dead, Comic-Con International isn't ready to say what it will do when its contract expires in 2016. "With regard to the convention center expansion, I can say that any decision to remain in San Diego has always been dependent upon a number of factors, and no one issue could really trump the others," says David Glanzer, Comic-Con's director of marketing and public relations. He notes that organizers previously worked with the city, convention center and hotels to expand programming venues, and they continue to discuss such issues as "space, hotel rates and other logistical factors that need to be addressed if we are to remain in San Diego."
The proposed expansion would have added 740,000 square feet of exhibit space, a five-acre rooftop park, a waterfront promenade with retail shops and restaurants, and a second, 500-room tower to the adjacent Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. However, a California appeals court ruled Aug. 1 that a planned hotel tax intended to pay for the bulk of the costs was unconstitutional, as it was never put to a citywide vote. Anaheim and Los Angeles attempted to woo Comic-Con away from San Diego in 2010. [ICv2.com]
Creators | Lynda Barry spoke to the students of Willamette University about the uses of the liberal arts, and she also sang the school's motto to the tune of the Star Wars theme. [Willamette University]
Creators | Ales Kot, who writes Marvel's Secret Avengers, Iron Patriot and the upcoming Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier, discusses his encounters with the supernatural, writing corporate characters and why Bucky Barnes still matters. [Vulture]
Creators | Darryl "DMC" McDaniels talks about his eponymous comic, DMC, and why Jam Master Jay made a cameo in the first issue (out on October 29) but his former partner Run will not: "No Run, that would be corny! In this universe, in this life Darryl McDaniels never met Run. The reason why Jay is there is that he represents the spirit of Hip Hop, the innovation, the creativity and most important the style. It was Jay who gave RunDMC their look so in the book he is the embodiment of that. Plus through my hardest times in life, he was there for me, supporting me. not just around for the DMC rap dude. This isn’t a 'Hip Hop DMC Comic Book.' This is a comic book about a superhero just like Batman, Superman, Spidey, Hulk, Iron Man and etc!" [Nuke the Fridge]
Comics | Local retailers pick out eight good comics to find on the cheap this weekend at Salt Lake Comic Con. [The Salt Lake Tribune]
History | Matthew Price continues his history of crime comics looks at the resurgence of the genre, which was nearly killed during the comics scares of the 1950s, with the work of Frank Miller, Max Allan Collins and Ed Brubaker. [NewsOK.com]
Retailing | Aberdeen, Scotland, is getting its first comic con this year, and it's all because the organizers were introduced to nerd culture many years ago at the Plan 9 comic shop. [Aberdeen STV]
Retailing | Jay Deitcher profiles the Tel Aviv comic shop Comics 'N' Vegetables. [Unleash the Fanboy]