Last Look : San Diego Comic Con 2009

The dust has settled, the bags have been unpacked (yeah right!), and it’s finally time to share this contributor’s snapshot of the 4-day blur that was the 2009 San Diego Comic Con. It began on a Wednesday night, a few hours before the infamous Preview Night. The place was a small bar in the Gaslamp District. I met up with Trina for an intimate (and intimidating) EA media gathering. Arriving first, I was instantly thrown by the fact that Tim Schafter, of Psychonauts and Brutal Legend fame/genius, was casually giving an interview a few feet to the left of me. Knowing that I would get my own chance to speak with the wunderherr later, I headed into the edgily-lit gaming area. Upstairs were a few titles of interest; Littlest Pet Shop Online showed promise, but I had arrived too late to demo it. Rats! However, downstairs was where the massive

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Disney brings Flynn’s Arcade to Life

The sequel to Tron is officially named to Tron Legacy. Disney used San Diego Comic Con to advertise the movie and did an amazing job by setting up Flynn’s Arcade. The arcade was setup like the original arcade in the movie. The minute you walk in, it was an amazing feel. You are surrounded by the most amazing collection of old school arcades. Space Invaders, Donkey Kong Jr, Paperboy, Space Defenders, Mrs. Pac-Man and more were all working and free to play. I could have spent all night in the arcade. Then the Tron arcade machine moved aside and as you go down the hallway to Daft Punk (the band that is doing the soundtrack for Tron Legacy). On the screens were various sketches. The Tuxboard has the entire song for you to hear. Tron Legacy Theme by tuxboard Then came the item that made us all gasp, they actually

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Dark Horse Loves Felicia Day

You may know her from Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. You may know her from multiple-slayer Buffy episodes, or from the latest episode of Dollhouse. Most know her from her work on The Guild… The Guild is an award-winning online sitcom about the lives of an online guild “The Knights of Good”, with each webisode 3-7 minutes long. The first episode was posted July 27, 2007. It is broadcast on The Guild’s official website, on iTunes as a podcast, effinfunny.com and YouTube, and is available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace. The show follows the life of Codex, the healer of The Knights of Good, who attempts to lead a normal life after one of her guildmates shows up on her doorstep. Armed with the knowledge that Ms. Felicia Day writes The Guild (in addition to starring in it), it’s not such a far fetched idea to consider her

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Sexism and the EA/Dante’s Inferno – ‘Sin to Win’ Contest

So, at Comic-Con, happening now, the upcoming EA title Dante’s Inferno has issued a challenge to attendees: Sin to Win.  And what do you win?  A night out with hot girls – dinner and limo rides and some money.  But how do you win? “Commit Acts of Lust” with a booth babe at SDCC. Wait….what? No, you read that right.  The Contest flyer states in order to win you have to Commit Acts of Lust, “by taking pictures with a booth babe” (or an EA/Dante’s Inferno rep) and submit them over Facebook at Twitter.  Okay, so we all know there’s booth babes, and for whatever reason the girls are there, they head into the job expecting a certain amount of oogling by the general population of the convention.  But this sort of contest is sexist in a big way. Are there male booth babes?  No.  And if you won could

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Halo Waypoint becomes new destination for Halo fans

The Halo panel at San Diego Comic Con just ended and there were a couple of surprises. First, the panel was composed of members from various anime studios that worked on the Halo Legends project. The trailer for Halo Legends will be on Spike tv tonight and on Xbox Live. They also announced Halo Waypoint. This is a new destination for Halo fans that is all things Halo. There will be content, career stats, and it will all be on your 360. Halo Legends won’t be out until next year, but Waypoint fans will continue to get updates. One of the more interesting points during the panel was the discussion about female characters. The anime studios really wanted to explore the life of a tough female warrior. Bungie worked directly with the anime studios on all aspects of the project to make sure it stayed true to the Halo universe.

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Preview day of SDCC including swag

If Preview day at San Diego Comic Con is any indication as to how the rest of SDCC will be there are three words to describe: fun, stinky, and packed. Preview night is typically the lowest attended night and is supposed to give people a sneak peak as to what is on the showroom floor. Tonight it was PACKED. Wall to wall people, but this was only true in the Video game and movie sections. Maybe this has to do with the popularity of video games and movies, but I think it has more to do with the “free swag” that people were fighting over. Meanwhile the comic book section (what the con is supposed to be about) was empty with tons of free space. Maybe that’s because you have to actually buy items, but for a convention that is supposed to be about comic books it was a sad

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Top Cow announces Comic Con plans

Top Cow has announced their finalized plans for San Diego Comic Con from July 23-26th. Top Cow will be at booth #2629 and will have exclusives, free copies of Berserker #0, preview books and more. As far as panels, join Milo Ventimiglia, Robert Kirkman and others for tons of Top Cow announcements in room 7AB from 4:30-5:30 on Saturday, July 25th. Fans that want signatures from any of the guests should attend the panel to secure a free ticket. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will be on hand Friday from 1pm-2pm to sign free posters of his new film Damage. Here is the Top Cow signing schedule: Wednesday 6PM-7PM Witchblade Eric Basaldua Stjepan Sejic 7PM-8PM Top Cow All Stars Michael Broussard Joshua Hale Fialkov Nelson Blake II Thursday 9:45-10:45 Zero G Alex Zamm Jason Badower 11:00-12:00 Witchblade Stjepan Sejic Rick Basaldua 12:00-1:00 Pilot Season Joshua Hale Fialkov Marc Bernardin Adam Freeman

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Comic-Con exclusives are up

San Diego Comic Con may be known to mass media as the place where Hollywood goes to sell it’s latest tv shows and movies. But those of us that are regulars to SDCC know that the exclusives are where it’s at. The first rule to San Diego Comic Con exclusives is to pre-map out what you are interested in. At the SDCC website, they have started to accumulate a list of exclusives. The list will probably go, so you’ll want to check again before you leave for SDCC. With each post you’ll typically get a picture, a description of the item, the price and the run. It’s very important to look at the production run. This will determine how difficult it will be to get an item. While making your list, make sure to list the studio that way you can look the studio up and get the booth number.

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Jhonen Vasquez shares his rendition of “The Sisters”

I just found the one piece of San Diego Comic Con swag that I have to get at all costs. BioShock has invited artists to create their renditions of the BioShock world and today they released Jhonen Vasquez’s beautifully creepy art. Jhonen Vasquez is well know for his Invader Zim series but also created equally fabulous series such as, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac comic book and its spinoffs – Squee, I Feel Sick, and Fillerbunny. At Cultof Rapture Jhonen Vasquez describes the process for how he made the shot. From using his nieces to pose or getting some help from talented friends. Now queue the fangirl moment. Jhnonen will be signing prints of these at San Diego Comic Con at the Bioshock 2 booth (#5033). 500 prints will be given out on Saturday from 2-4pm. Now to clear my schedule.

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Oni Press announces San Diego Comic Con lineup!

Oni Press has announced their San Diego Comic Con lineup and Oni Press fans will not be disappointed. First up is panels because these you have to plan for. Oni Press may seem indie but they have a HUGE following that loves to go to their panels. Give yourself at least an hour to get to these panels: THUR 12:00-1:00 Spotlight on Bryan Lee O’Malley— Comic-Con special guest Bryan Lee O’Malley (winner of the Doug Wright, Joe Shuster, and Harvey Awards) talks with legendary comics scholar Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, Zot!) about Bryan’s groundbreaking slice-of-life graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim. From its genesis to the production of the upcoming film version, O’Malley speaks frankly about where Scott Pilgrim came from and where the series is going from here. With a fan Q&A to close the discussion, this is the must attend event of Comic-Con 2009! Room 5AB THUR 3:00-4:00 Oni

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