Creators | Joshua Fialkov will have an ultra-limited edition ashcan of the first chapter of his new graphic novel, Tumor, that's going to be the first original graphic novel premiering on the Amazon Kindle, releasing during the show. He'll be at the Archaia Comics booth (#2635) for most of the weekend. There's only 50 copies of the book for sale, first come, first serve. He'll also have a few copies of both issues of Punks for anyone interested.
Publishers | First Second has posted their schedule for the con.
After hours | Mark Verheiden reports that the San Diego House Of Blues will host Bear McCreary: The music of Battlestar Galactica on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with appearances by members of the cast. More details here.
The home game | John Parker lists ways you can enjoy Comic Con from the comfort of your home. Here's another way to play the home game that Chris Mautner will certainly enjoy.
Publishers | Sparkplug Comic Books sent over information about Comic-Con and the Portland Zine Symposium:
Sparkplug Comic Books will be at two shows this week, the Port Zine Symposium (July 24-26) and San Diego Comic Con (July 22-26)
We'll be premiering 3 new books:
the Shortest Interval - by David King
Sausage Hand - by Andrew Smith (published with Teenage Dinosaur)
Neptune - by Aron Nels Steinke (published with Tugboat Press)
At Portland Zine Symposium, we'll be offering a wide variety of self published books from around the country. Emily Nilsson will be running the table. Aron Steinke, Teenage Dinosaur and Sean Christensen will be sharing table with us and Tugboat Press
At Comic Con we are sharing booth 1531 with Tom Neely's I Will Destroy You.
We'll have Sparkplug books as well as books published by Tugboat Press, Teenage Dinosaur, Secret Acres, Bodega Distribution, La Mano, Partyka and other publishers. And, as usual we'll have the self publishing flee market in full effect with work by artists like Fiona Smyth, Noah Van Sciver, Steve Ditko, Rina Ayuyang, Shaky Kane, Jason Overby, Jason T. Miles, Jesse Reklaw, Vanessa Davis, Renee French, Bobby Madness, Al Frank, Theo Elsworth and many many more.
Artists such as Julia Wertz, Austin English, Damien Jay, Ben Catmull, Minty Lewis, David King, Ben Catmull, Chris Cilla, Andrew Smith and Tim Goodyear others will be hanging out at the booth.
After hours | Here's another concert opportunity, as Vice magazine brings Gwar to Comic-Con:
I wanted to pass over two great things Comic Con related. One is our Vice Guide
to Comics and the other is our FREE party Comic Con party "Brutal Legend" with
GWAR on July 23rd.
The Vice Guide to Comics is online and will available around San Diego during
Comic Con. It includes articles/interviews with Gary Panter, Al Jaffee, Anders
Nilsen, Chris Onstad, Gerard Way and so much more.
Read The Vice Guide to Comics
Vice Magazine is proud to announce that legendary rock band GWAR will headline
the Brutal Legend party the opening night of Comic Con.
FREE! CLICK HERE TO RSVP, 21+
BRUTAL LEGEND METAL MELTDOWN
Presented by VICE x EA
Starts at 9:30 PM
4th and B, San Diego, CA
Featuring GWAR, 3 Inches of Blood, Unholy Pink, Keith Morris (DJ Set)
Free comics | Mark Wheaton of Cleaners fame has an offer for attending fans:
At the New York Comic Con and SF's Wonder Con, Rahsan and I ended up giving away copies of "Cleaners" randomly to anyone who came up to the Dark Horse booth during signings - kind of pooling our comps and just putting them in the hands of anyone who even looked twice at us. At San Diego, we're trying to be slightly more organized about it and are giving away all four issues of the "Absent Bodies" miniseries to the first 30 people who show up to the "Cleaners" signing, Thursday afternoon from 3 to 4 at the Dark Horse booth.
It's kind of a "fuck the recession" move, but I always liked coming home from Comic Con with lots of free comics I'd never heard of before, so I figured why the hell not?
Toys | Shocker Toys:
Shocker Toys returns to San Diego Comic-Con Booth #3849 with five, count ‘em, five, exclusives, the return of an old favorite and one can’t miss party.
Tribune’s Dick Tracy will make his first appearance as a hyper-articulated 6” action figure in creator Chester Gould’s black and white comic strip style. The World’s Most Famous Detective will be available in two limited run action figures. The B&W standard version with suit and pistol, limited to 500 pieces, will be available on-site and at the Shocker Toys online store. The B&W variant figure, limited to 250 pieces, with Tracy in his iconic trench coat with Tommy gun, will be available only at Comic-Con with a purchase ticket given out at the show opening every day of the show.
Shocker Toys' booth will also highlight their new articulated designer line, Mallows, with three exclusives: A Mallow version of the CCI Guy (the SDCC Logo) (250 pcs), The Phantom with yellow/black trunks (500 pcs) and Dethklok’s favorite rock and roll clown, Dr. Rockzo (500 pcs). On hand will also be DIY blank Mallows to design your own as well as custom contests and Artist custom Mallows showcased featuring some artist such as Phetus, Mad Hatter Creative and more.
If Dr. Rockzo isn't enough for fans of Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse, Shocker Toys will also be featuring a 500 piece re-release of the now legendary Dethklok set that took San Diego by storm in 2008.
Shocker Toys will also help kick off the Con in style with a Friday night Mallows release party at BONDI across from the convention center in the Gaslamp, more location info here. There will be custom Artist Mallows, giveaways and great music. Right before the party, Shocker Toys will be hosting a panel in room 4 on Friday July 24th, 6:30-7:30. Stop by for news, info and special giveaways.
Booth #3849 will feature contests, giveaways, feedback and new products. Also, meet Shocker Toys CEO Geoff Beckett, who will be answering questions about upcoming figures for Mallows, Indie Spotlight Series 2 and 3 and more. Be sure to mark it on your list of booths to visit.
In addition to the Comic-Con exclusives, updates to the Indie Spotlight line will be on display at the booth. This includes Series 2 in the final development stages, lineup and preliminary development for Series 3, and for the first time since Wizard Philly, Indie Spotlight Series 1 is back in stock. Look for the full lineup available at the booth.
Stores and Press are urged to contact Shocker Toys at info@shockertoys.com for more info about wholesale specials on-site and interview opportunities.
Creators | And finally, the folks at the Antidote Trust sent over their plans for the show:
THE ANTIDOTE TRUST, America's premier collective of independent comic book, toy, and film creators, is thrilled to announce its schedule for the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, including a new location, a larger panel, and a growing list of celebrity signings.
Starting this year, The Antidote Trust moves to booth #2806, directly across from Dark Horse Comics, and adjacent to Diamond Comics Distributors and McFarlane Toys. "Although this is our third year exhibiting at Comic-Con, we almost feel that this is the first time fans will be able to spot us in the crowd," says Dale Wilson, writer/creator of Caffeine Dreams and Butterfly Industrial 2.0. "This new location - right by Entrances C & D - allows our followers and potential new readers to get close and really check out the myriad of comics and products that our creators develop."
In addition, the group follows up last year's standing-room only presentation with the 2nd annual Antidote Trust Panel, 7:00 - 8:00 pm on Thursday, July 23, in Room 5AB. "The goal of our panel has always been to find others who are interested in creating their own properties and share with them the tricks of the trade we've picked up along the way," says Robert Roach, Glyph Award-winning artist/creator of Menthu and The Roach. "Basically, this is the panel we wish was around when we were starting out. The fact that Comic-Con saw just how big out turnout was last year and supported our move to an even larger showroom makes us feel like we're on to something."
The Antidote Trust is also sponsoring several celebrity signings, including such comic book legends as Dwayne McDuffie, Tony DeZuniga, Ernie Chan, and other soon-to-be announced guests. "This is our way of giving back to the folks who support independent comics and, at the same time, geeking out a bit ourselves," admits Andre Owens, creator of Force Galaxia. "It's fun for guys like Dwayne [McDuffie] and Morrie Turner, who signed in 2007, since they can interact with their fans in a casual, open atmosphere, and it's great for the fans since they don't have to wait in a huge Marvel/DC line and can check out some cool indie books in the process."
The Antidote Trust invites all Comic-Con attendees and interested parties to regularly visit its blog site, www.theantidotetrust.com, and Twitter feed at twitter.com/antidotetrust for updates on its signing schedule, portfolio reviews, freebees, special giveaways, and other guest appearances.
Notable Events at this year's Comic-Con include:
* The first 100 customers at The Antidote Trust booth #2806 will receive a free TAT Pack - a bundle of coupons, comic samplers, and other freebees
* The 2nd Annual Antidote Trust Panel, Thursday, July 23, 7:00 - 8:00 pm, Room 5AB
* Dwayne McDuffie signings, Friday, July 24, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, Booth #2806, and Saturday, July 25, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, Booth #2806
