The final day of the Con has been announced.
Supernatural launches a very appealing day in Hall H at 10, followed by Breaking Bad at 11:15, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary at 12:30, Community at 1:50, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 3 and finally Sons of Anarchy at 3:50.
This year continues the Sunday tradition of Children's Day, with panels on kids' comic books, manga, interactive monster-creation workshops, cartoon design, Disney and the San Diego International Children's Film Festival.
Spotlight panels are on Adam Huges, Jerry Ordway, Charlotte Fullerton, Dan Jurgens, Ted Naifeh and Neil Gaiman.
Jim Lee, Scott Snyder, Eddie Berganza and others talk Superman at 10:00 in 6DE.
Remember Emily the Strange? You can see the premiere of the Emily and the Strangers' FIRST animated music video and single and the new Dark Horse comic book in 23ABC at 10.
More YA fiction at 11 in 24ABC.
George R. R. Martin discusses his new Skin Trade comic book series at noon in 25ABC
Watch live art being made and bid on the pieces at the CBLDF's "Banned Comics Jam" with Jeffrey Brown, Chris Burnham, Terry Moore, Tim Seeley and others at 12:15 in 5AB.
Watch a new episode of Beware The Batman, an animated series that promises to offer up villains not previously seen in animated form, including Anarky, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad, and Magpie, at 1:00 in Room 6BCF
Get a look at the brilliant minds behind CAPCOM games at 1:00 in 25ABC.
What do The Avengers, X-Men, Dr. Strange,and Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos have in common? They all celebrate their 50th anniversaries this year. Talk about them with Brian Michael Bendis, Frank Brunner, John Romita, Jr., and Roy Thomas in 5AB at 1:45.
Cartoon characters of yore have their day with Bazooka Joe at 11 in 32AB and Tom and Jerry's original new movie at 2:15 in 6A.
J. Michael Straczynski, Patricia Tallman and Phil Smith, discuss Joe's Comics, the new creator-owned imprint from Image. 2:45 in 5AB
Not just for kids: Mouse Guard everything is celebrated at 3:00 in 28DE. Everyone who attends gets an exclusive print of an original David Petersen drawing.
Learn how to draw from your favorite artist Jim Lee at 3:00 in room 2.
A reprise of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode Once More with Feeling closes out Comic-Con again at 3:30 in 6BCF.
Comic-Con is ready to hear your "concerns" about the event. You can share them with president John Rogers at 3:30 in 23ABC. And by "event," he means Registration Day, Hotel Day, picking up your badge, all of it. Pour your heart out to him, as bluntly and candidly as you need to be. He's eagerly awaiting your feedback.
Paul Pope and Gene Luen Yang talk projects and art in 26AB at 3:30.
If you're one of those people who mock LARPers because you secretly want to join in on the fun, go have your desires validated in Everything You Wanted To Know About Live Action Role Playing at 4:00 in 30CDE. You can tell your friends you were patrolling the Exhibit Hall one last time.
And that's it. Here's what I see in the four days of panels overall.
TV has absolutely trumped movies - that's not new, but it's clearer than ever. There's been plenty of marketing analysis that's shown San Diego Comic-Con hasn't delivered up the movie fanbases studios expected, so it's not surprising that many of the smaller releases have chosen to sit out the Con.
There are more purely pop culture panels than ever before. There are also more academic panels.
In previous years, the "how-to" panels tended to be on one day, but they are sprinkled across all four days now and cover a wider range of interests. They're not just for visual artists anymore, but writers, voice actors, video game designers. And they're covering almost every facet of a career in the arts. Attending San Diego Comic-Con can be its own mini career camp if you want it to be.
There are fewer fringe panels. They've been quietly dying off over the years, and there are still a few tucked into the schedule, but overall the Con continues to move away from the weird little subcultures you find in fandom.
I thought for sure there would be a tribute to Ray Harryhausen, who died this year. Apparently not.
Did everyone find what they hoped to?
When it comes to value, the networking connections and workshops can't be beat. It's not part of the Con image yet the way cosplay and celebrities are, but its reputation as a resource for creatives is growing.
ReplyDeleteWhat's with all the YA and book stuff? And politic panels? Is that every year?
ReplyDeleteComic Con tries to be fairly zeitgeisty in their programming. Zombies are popular, so we have a dozen zombie panels. YA is red-hot, so we have YA panels.
DeleteAs for the more serious panels - yes, Comic Con has always mixed the frivolous with the serious.