What better way for a bunch of geeks to donate to Make a Wish Foundation than to involve the Force. Lucasfilm Ltd., Nerdist Industries, Octagon and Machinima have teamed up to create a lightsaber relay leading up to San Diego Comic Con.

The relay will start from Santa Monica on July 7 and end in San Diego on July 11. At every quarter-mile there will be a new participate to hand off the official Course of the Force lightsaber to. This coincides with San Diego Comic Con which starts July 12-15.

The relay will benefit Make a Wish foundation and there will be many ways for fans to get involved and donate. Any participants in the relay are encouraged to come decked out in their Star Wars gear, but they also want to encourage any cosplay or pop-culture themed gear.

“The Course of the Force lightsaber run is a great cause that combines fitness with helping others, principles that aspiring Jedi Knights can embrace. We have long supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and this is a great opportunity to raise funds and awareness while letting Star Wars fans celebrate their favorite saga,” said Kayleen Walters, Sr. Director of Marketing for Lucasfilm.

Nerdist’ Chris Hardwick will be broadcasting live from the course. There will be Star Wars themed parties, contents and more for fans.

“We aim to build on the excitement leading up to San Diego Comic-Con International, to raise awareness for the wonderful Make-A-Wish Foundation and to ensure that Course of the Force becomes an evergreen part of the pop culture lexicon,” said Nerdist Industries’ principal and Course of the Force creator and executive director Peter Levin. “Partnering with Lucasfilm, Octagon and Machinima creates a trilogy of cachet, profile and execution expertise. As a wise green man might say, ‘succeed we will, for a good cause’.”

I love this and definitely encourage everyone to stay on top of the information at Courseoftheforce.com. Great to see such a positive event kick off San Diego Comic Con this year!

This year, San Diego Comic Con was the best experience I have had in recent years. Maybe part of that was rooming at the awesome Hilton Bayfront hotel (I pray I stay there next year). But a large part that is that I was able to cover what I wanted to cover. I’m pretty late for putting up our pictures because I went right into another convention after this. On the second day you’ll see amazing cosplay, various video game banners, and of course storm troopers.

But before I show you that, below are pictures from what was almost the experience of a lifetime. My roommate Cricket reminded me of an event (that I almost missed in my email) that was a meet and greet for Kevin Smith. Those that know me, know that for the past 14 years I have sat in Hall H every year to watch him speak (except one year he didn’t make it due to traffic). Every year I hope that my press pass will allow me to score an interview with @thatkevinsmith and I thought this year was it! Unfortunately, the event was poorly organized and Mr. Smith got through about three questions before the event was over. I didn’t even get a picture with him for my Facebook (or to fawn over for the rest of my life). I’ve attached pictures below so you can see the proof of how close I was to the most amazing SDCC ever. Sigh. I have video of the event, but I have to edit it, so that will come later.

Enjoy the pictures from Day 2. I have plenty more to show you from my adventures at SDCC!

Day 2 Cosplay:

“We know our fans have been clamoring to find out when they would be able to get their hands-on Prototype 2, and the whole studio is excited that we can finally reveal the timing,” said Ken Rosman, Studio Head, Radical Entertainment. “We’re also thrilled to be at the point where we can show the game directly to our fans. It’s always rewarding to see those first time reactions to what we’ve been working on for the past couple years, and we can’t wait for them to see some of Sgt. James Heller’s amazing new shape-shifting abilities at San Diego Comic-Con.”

During the convention, Activision will also be raffling off a custom leather jacket based on one seen in the game as well as a custom-skinned Xbox 360. Other swag will be on-hand: T-shirts, foam “Blade Arms,” posters and more.

If you’re not there…well, that’s pretty much too bad. You’ll have to stick to the Internet for all of your Prototype 2 needs. (The game has a website and Facebook Page.)

Here’s the first in a series of trailers set 14 months after the outbreak.

The Darkness II

However, if you’re at San Diego Comic-Con, you can still play this — Top Cow’s booth (#2629) will have eight playable kiosks. In addition, a panel, titled “Spreading the Darkness: From Comic Book to Video Games and Entertainment,” is taking place from noon to 1:00 p.m. on July 21 in Room 9. The panel will feature Darkness co-creator Mike Silvestri as well as the voice of Jackie himself, Mike Patton.

Each game’s got three big names behind it. Spider-Man will feature Val Kilmer as Walker Sloan, V‘s Laura Vandervoort as Mary Jane and Katee Sackhoff (cue squees from Battlestar Galactica fans) as Black Cat.

In X-Men Destiny, we’ve got Heroes dreamboat Milo Ventimiglia, Sucker Punch‘s Jamie Chung and Friday Night Lights‘ Scott Porter bringing three new mutants to life: Grant Alexander, Aimi Yoshida and Adrian Luca, in that order.

“These amazing casts of talented Hollywood actors help bring the rich storylines of Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny to life,” said Vicharin Vadakan, Director of Marketing, Activision Publishing. “Players this fall will get to control the destiny of their own mutants or save Spider-Man and through this voice talent feel like they are part of the action.”

Activision will feature some stars from these games at the Activision Marvel Video Games Panel on Saturday, July 23 at 10 a.m. in room 5AB. Stan Lee, writer Peter David and Beenox Studios’ Dee Brown will also be on the panel.

Both games will be on display at Activision’s booth (#5445).

Not only are they trotting out the 3DS holiday releases (Super Mario, Mario Kart, and Kid Icarus: Uprising), but this is the spot they’ve chosen to give The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword its first North American public playable demo. Very nice (if you’re there).

Nintendo’s booth (#5135) isn’t the only place to go for gaming fun, either. A special “Gaming Lounge” is being set up in the San Diego Ballroom at the Marriott Marquis & Marina, which is apparently right next to the convention center. A special Legend of Zelda art piece will be created there over the course of the convention, special Pokémon meetings will take place (and hey, you can grab a few special AR cards, too) and there will be giant AR cards on hand for fun photo ops. (I wish they’d put a giant one on the outside of the L.A. Convention Center for E3, but I digress.)

Nintendo’s going to have a whole host of playable games there that won’t be on the regular show floor:

Nintendo 3DS:
• Super Mario
• Mario Kart
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Star Fox 64 3D
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
• Pokédex 3D
• METAL GEAR SOLID Snake Eater 3D
• Shinobi
• Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
• RESIDENT EVIL: THE MERCENARIES 3D
• DEAD OR ALIVE Dimensions

Wii:
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Kirby Wii
• Rhythm Heaven
• Fortune Street
• Captain America: Super Soldier
• Just Dance 3

Nintendo DS:
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

Let us know if you go!

It was announced today that Comic Con will be staying in San Diego. At least for a few more years. The new contract keep the convention in San Diego until 2015. Both Los Angeles and Anaheim aggressively bid on the largest pop culture convention.

Comic-Con Director of Marketing and Public Relations David Glanzer said after the announcement, “We are grateful for the tireless efforts all three cities put into their proposals. In the end, we feel this decision is the best for all those who attend Comic-Con and for the organization itself. WE are happy that the community has worked with us to ensure that we remain here.”

The city of San Diego has a love hate relationship with the conference. The city probably hates the intrusion but loves the money. San Diego was talking about expanding the Convention center which hopefully they will do since they have outgrown the space. Hopefully since it’s staying in San Diego, the way they do Hotel reservations will change. I will try to get ahold of them about that in the meantime.

So who’s joining me next year?

Stan Lee, the legendary comic book creator will be joining VIZ at their Shonen Jump panel, along with a special in-booth autograph signing at San Diego Comic Con this year. Fans can partake in this special signing on July 24th, at Booth #2813, the VIZ Media booth.

Stan will be making his appearance to help celebrate the release of ULTIMO Volume 2. Ultimo is the historic collaboration between Stan Lee and famed Japanese manga creator Hiroyuki Takei, and has been serialized in Shonen Jump Magazine since its debut in 2009. Volume 2 is available in stores now. Starting at 4PM on Thursday, July 22nd, and Friday, July 23rd, the first 60 fans to purchase ULTIMO Volume 2 at the VIZ Media booth will receive a ticket to have their copy personally autographed by Mr. Lee on Saturday, July 24th, at 1:15PM. His panel appearance will be at 10:30 AM to 11:30 am in room 9.

Don’t miss this opportunity!

008000;">High above Farmless City, citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures. Are they human boys, monolithic robots, or something much more strange? As the battle ensues between them, destruction and devastation falls on the hapless city. One figure is Vice, who seems to be as evil as his name implies. The other is Ultimo, intent on trying to stop Vice from wreaking more havoc. But who are Vice and Ultimo really? Where did they come from? In Volume 2, with girl and money troubles, life is hard enough for high school student Yamato, but then he stumbles upon Ultimo, a peculiar-looking puppet. Things only get stranger when Ultimo awakens and his archenemy, Vice, shows up. Ultimo and Vice are Karakuri Dôji, the mechanical embodiment of pure good and pure evil, devoid of human emotions that can cloud one’s judgment. Their purpose: to battle to the death to prove once and for all whether good or evil is the most powerful force in the universe.

Ultimo represents a rare East-meets-West production between comics legend Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes including Spider-Man™, the Fantastic Four™, and the X-Men™, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular SHAMAN KING manga series, published in Japan by Shueisha and in North America by VIZ Media.

Check out www.comic-con.org or VIZMedia.com for more information!