Ben 10 at San Diego Comic-Con 2008


Watch Ben 10 at San Diego Comic Con 2008.avi in Animation

Last year I had the pleasure of attending San Diego Comic-Con, thanks greatly in part to the good graces of my dear friend KirFect. I got to spend time with old friends, made many wonderful new friends, saw some amazing panels and even took in a few interviews. Sadly, my video camera was damaged on the way back home and I had no way of transferring my video to edit and get it online. It’s taken some time but I’ve finally been able to get the video transferred. While I can’t be at Comic-Con again this year in body, I’m already there in spirit. To help celebrate the greatest annual event in geekdom, I’ll be posting my videos from last year over the next few days. Enjoy!

Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures Sign Sam Raimi to Direct Upcoming Warcraft Movie

World of Warcraft Logo

from Blizzard Entertainment:

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures announced today that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the eagerly-anticipated major motion picture based on Blizzard Entertainment’s award-winning Warcraft universe. Raimi has, in the course of his career, clearly demonstrated a genius for developing and adapting existing fictional universes for mainstream audiences while staying true to the spirit of the original content.

Raimi directed the Spider-Man trilogy, which has broken box-office records around the world and garnered five Academy Award nominations. Known for his imaginative filmmaking style, richly drawn characters and offbeat humor, Raimi wrote and directed the cult classic, The Evil Dead and produced 30 Days of Night. He most recently wrote and directed the supernatural thriller, Drag Me to Hell.

“At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story,” said Raimi. “I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen.”

Charles Roven’s producing talents were recently seen with last summer’s blockbuster The Dark Knight, which grossed in excess of $1 billion, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two. His body of work also includes the widely acclaimed Batman Begins and the sci-fi classic 12 Monkeys. Roven, with Atlas producing partner Alex Gartner, will be producing with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, Legendary’s Chief Creative Officer Jon Jashni, Raimi and Raimi’s producing partner Joshua Donen. Raimi’s partner, Robert Tapert, will be an Executive Producer and Blizzard Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Creative Development, Chris Metzen, a Co-Producer.

“Partnering with Sam Raimi exemplifies Legendary’s mandate of marrying the highest quality intellectual property to world-class filmmakers,” said Legendary’s Tull. “Sam’s passion for ‘Warcraft’ is undeniable and we know that he will create an incredible film worthy of Blizzard’s phenomenal franchise. We look forward to collaborating with our partners at Warner Bros. and continuing our successful relationship with Chuck in bringing this rich new world to the screen.”

“Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have a shared vision for this film and we searched at length to find the very best director to bring that vision to life,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “From our first conversation with Sam, we could tell he was the perfect choice. Sam knows how to simultaneously satisfy the enthusiasts and the mainstream audience that might be experiencing that content for the first time. We’re looking forward to working with him to achieve that here.”

“Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft has become a second home for millions of players and Sam’s experience and talent make him the perfect director for this remarkable and action-packed world,” said Atlas’ Roven. “Alex and I are proud to be working with Sam and re-teaming with our friends at Legendary and Warner Bros.”

The film will fall under Legendary Pictures’ co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. “Warcraft is emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which our studio is best known. We have enjoyed great success with our partners at Legendary, and this is an incredible opportunity for us to work with Sam on a project that is so eagerly anticipated by so many,” said Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft universe is a rich fantasy setting that revolves around the epic conflict between the opposing forces of the Horde and the Alliance. Since its debut in 1994, Warcraft has developed a loyal following across the globe, with several bestselling, award-winning PC games and a range of popular licensed products including novels, action figures, apparel, comic books, board games, and more. World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment’s subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Warcraft universe, is the most popular game of its kind in the world. Its most recent expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is the fastest-selling PC game of all time, with more than 2.8 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and more than 4 million in its first month.

Further details about the upcoming Warcraft movie, including cast and targeted release date, will be revealed as development progresses.

The Cabonauts at Comic-Con

from The Cabonauts:

Cabonautees,

We’ll be down at Comic-Con this weekend with Nichelle — signing collector’s edition Cabonauts posters. You can find us at Wizard’s Booth 2643!

Nichelle will be there:
Friday & Saturday: 10AM – 1PM and 3PM – 6PM
Sunday: 10AM – 2PM

We’ll also be premiering the trailer at the Masquerade Ball on Saturday night which we’ll put online the following day so you’ll all have the opportunity to take a look at what the show looks like!

You can also add us on Twitter at @thecabonauts for up-to-the-minute info. 🙂

Plus, there’s a brand new interview with Nichelle up at:
Nichelle Nichols Interview #3

All Hail!

Weta Returns to Middle-earth

from Weta:

Read this message on our site and see the images!

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

Weta is returning to Middle-earth.
We are delighted to announce our new license with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to create a new range of the most authentic, fine art collectibles and memorabilia based on The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. This range is designed and created by the same Academy Award-winning artists who worked on the movie trilogy. We have patiently waited for the opportunity to offer the most authentic replicas you could ever hope to find. The wait is over; it has been four long years since Weta last released any new collectibles from The Lord of the Rings. Our new license covers a wide range of new product categories, beginning with the following new items to be launched at San Diego Comic-Con on July 22-26, 2009.

The Master Swordsmith’s Collection — Peter Lyon of Weta Workshop
Weta will offer a very limited-edition of the most authentic swords from The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Each sword is individually hand-crafted by Peter Lyon, the Master Swordsmith from Weta Workshop, who created the original swords used in the movies. These blades are created using old world techniques for the sword purist, the way swords used to be made, for fighting. The first sword to be released is Anduril, in a limited-edition of only 10 worldwide. Each sword comes with a 10-minute DVD showing the artistic process and featuring interviews with Richard Taylor, John Howe and Peter Lyon. The video will shortly be made available for viewing on this website.

Gollum
A full scale replica of Gollum, a timeless sculpture, cast in bronze or in faux bronze fiberglass sculpted by the artists who helped bring him to life.

Miniature Shield Collectibles
A new range of cast metal miniature shields, built to exacting precision by Weta’s senior model maker, Dave Tremont (who built Grond and many of the miniatures used in filming the trilogy). They can be displayed as stunning collectibles on their custom built bases, or worn as badges to your next convention.

Gandalf the Grey Cloak
An exact replica of the original cloak worn in the movie trilogy, using the same woolen material, produced from the same farm in New Zealand and woven on the same 19th century looms. Woven and sewn by our friends at Stansborough, in Wellington, New Zealand, these cloaks are the real thing.

These works of art (and other new items) will shortly be available to purchase on the Weta website, wetanz.com.

This is how you find us online! http://fans.wetaNZ.com/Magnus/ | Twitter: @wetaworkshop | Facebook: Weta Workshop

Shout! Factory: Comic-Con 2009 Is ON!

from Shout! Factory:

We are all revved up to hit beautiful San Diego as we participate for the sixth consecutive year in the world’s most exciting and mass-attended pop culture convention. We’re at booth #3749 and have lined up a handful of events to properly whet your appetite. From The Middleman panel and signing to The Transformers signing, we’ve got the goods. Also, for you G.I. Joe and Transformers Collector’s Set coveters, we WILL be selling both sets at our booth. In addition, we have a limited-edition, Comic-Con exclusive lithograph available for both… and they’re signed! The G.I. Joe poster is autographed by artist Tom Feister, while The Transformers litho is signed by the Gen One voice of Megatron, Frank Welker!! Our complete schedule can be found here.

If you don’t want to miss out on the things that happen at Shout! between newsletters, find us on Facebook and Twitter. We update both throughout the day… every day! Come on, we know you want more…

The Legend of Neil’s Comic-Con Schedule

from The Legend of Neil:

San Diego Comic-Con 2009 is upon us!

For those of you who will be attending, be sure to stop by and say hello at the Atom.com booth (3445) where you can pick up a Heart Cookie T-Shirt, as well as a brand spanking new shirt premiering at Comic-Con!

Don’t forget that the first 250 fans to wear a LoN shirt and track down either Sandeep or Tony will receive a Comic-Con exclusive prize, and will be automatically entered into a lottery for a genuine prop from the show!

Sandeep will most likely be twittering about where he is and what he’s doing throughout Comic-Con (follow him @sandeepparikh), but here’s the official Legend of Neil schedule so you can be sure not to miss anything:

Thursday 7/23

1:30–2:30 PM: ROCK BAND: Play with the Legend of Neil cast including Sandeep Parikh and Tony Janning (participants will be chosen via raffle), Atom.com Booth 3445

Saturday 7/25

4:30-5:30 PM: ROCK BAND: Legend of Neil cast including Sandeep Parikh, Tony Janning & Felicia Day, Atom.com Booth 3445

6:00-7:00 PM: AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: Legend of Neil cast, Sails Pavilion Autograph Area AA7

7:30-8:30 PM: PANEL: Atom.com presents the world premiere of Legend of Neil, Season 2, Room 7AB

Sunday 7/26

1:30–2:30 PM: ROCK BAND: Legend of Neil cast including Sandeep Parikh and Tony Janning, Atom.com Booth 3445

Also, it’s Sandeep’s birthday on Thursday, so feel free to show up with cupcakes and presents. No, really.

Emily Challenges You to Be Your Own Hero!

from Emily the Strange:

Everyone has their favorite superhero… but Emily thinks you should be your own hero and save yourself!

Altered Ego crew neck t-shirt
Save Yourself mini dress
Super Kitties Rock eared hoody
Be Your Own Hero messenger bag

July 22-26, 2009: Emily the Strange at Comic-Con, San Diego!

Find Emily on: Facebook | MySpace | YouTube

Cortana and new Halo helmets in stock at Weta

from Weta:

Hey, you patient Halo fans!
We’re very pleased to announce that Cortana is now in stock in all our warehouses and we have started to fulfill the preorders, both from our old site and our new site. So please bear with us while we trawl through this. Your statue will be on its way very shortly.

We have more exciting news.

Last year we announced our 1/4 scale cast metal Master Chief’s Mark VI SPARTAN Helmet. Now it’s being joined by two more specialised helmets in the Mark VI range, the E.V.A. and the C.Q.B. helmets.

All three are now available to pre-order. In very short editions of 300 of each, so don’t delay.

And finally — the Master Chief and Arbiter and the Master Chief and Flood will be arriving in our warehouses at the end of September!

Hello Halo!

This is how you find us online! http://fans.wetaNZ.com/Magnus/ | Twitter: @wetaworkshop | Facebook: Weta Workshop

Three Keyboard Cat Moon

from Threadless:

The Internet spreads ideas like a rabid wolfpack let loose in a gated community. It’s scary, but weirdly fun too. We’ve learned this with this newest tee, “Three Keyboard Cat Moon.” Once there were two separate internet memes: Keyboard Cat — the loveable slapstick video closer, and Three Wolf Moon — the tee that launched a thousand satirical comments. In an instant last Friday, these two met on our website and made Threadless history: highest score ever, most votes ever, most I’d buy it’s ever (most controversy ever too, if you could vote on that)… AND this is the first time we’ve printed a submission before scoring has ended!

But don’t let this rabid outbreak of memes deter you — ironic jokes are just one fraction of what makes Threadless such an amazing community. So keep on designing, folks — and bring on all the artistic diversity — keyboards, cats, wolves, and otherwise!

Split Reason’s Summer Promo and Nintendo Contest

from Split Reason:

This month was busy as we’re still hooked on Fight Night Round 4 and Red Faction; excellent titles that warrant serious playtime. Let’s not forget another title update for Gears of War 2, Worms 2: Armageddon on XBLA, and a laughable sequel to Transformers. All while trying to crank out another wave of new T’s. Nothing we can’t handle. Extend awake hours, reduce sleep, and get a few extra battery packs to charge controllers in rotation.

Before we move on to new products, no newsletter would be complete without a way to shave a few bucks off the price tag. It’s hot out there so we’re going to put some change into your Slurpee fund. Save 10% by entering promo code SLURPEE at check-out. We’re also running a nifty contest this month to give-a-way a Nintendo DSi, click this link for your chance to win!

Also, check out this footage of giant alien robots nuking Tokyo.

Preparing for Launch! Galaxy Girls to touchdown at San Diego’s Cosmic Con ’09

from Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls:

Greetings Earthlings! Once again Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls will invade Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center from July 23-26. Plenty of MWGG merchandise will be available, including some brand new tees available in kids’ sizes for the very first time! Plus a truly ASTRONOMICAL ANNOUNCEMENT that will change the state of the Girlaxy forever!!!

Check us out and meet creator Lauren Faust at Booth 4834 and check the MWGG Blog for further announcements and details as we COUNTDOWN TO COSMIC-CON!!

Over and Out, Mother Earth

Jill Thompson Comic-Con Schedule and Info

from Jill Thompson:

If you’re looking for me at the big Comic-Con this week in San Diego– or– if you have generously volunteered some of your time to Booth sit for me while I’m on a panel or doing a signing at a Publishers booth… Here is my current run down. Or, if you have access to one of those palanquins and some strong fellows and want to whisk me thru the con like a fancy princess…

You can find me at my booth #1322. I’ll be sitting with Cliff Chiang, Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba! Yes, we have a super awesome table and I’m proud to be sharing with such a talented bunch of creators.
Here’s my current schedule–

WEDNESDAY — Preview Nite Booth #1322 sketching, signing, chatting etc.

THURSDAY Booth #1322 til 11:30. Then I rush off to
CBLDF MASTER SESSION room 30CDE where I shall paint and explain how I use watercolor to create my comics. Also painting, the amazing Charles Vess. Two watercolorists, two approaches, two different styles, but– same format — Comics!

FRIDAY 10 am booth #1322, but– I have a meeting there, so I won’t be signing and sketching straight away. Thanks for waiting.
12 noon-1 Dark Horse Booth #2615 signing and talking about Beasts of Burden.
Come see a preview of the art for the series!
&
EISNER AWARD CEREMONY I’ll be there for most of it, as I am nominated for an award (I hope I hope I hope I win!)
But– I’ll be dashing across town to the AMANDA PALMER/CBLDF benefit where I shall be drawing quick sketches of Amanda as she performs. It will feel all kind of Toulouse-Lautrec-ish, I think. The “drawing a beautiful performer and wild, bohemian, entertainmenty” part. Not the “artist drinks heavily to deal with the crowd’s ridicule and falls into alcoholism and has to be committed to a sanitorium” part… Also all the art goes to the cause. I’ll take pix and tweet the art for all to see.
Hopefully I won’t be too late, and I also hope I’ll have an award under my arm and a bottle of champagne in my hand to celebrate a win. I’ll be the one in the gold silky gown (at least that’s my plan) rushing in the door during the middle of things.

SATURDAY all day at booth #1322 until
DC Booth signing from 4-5 pm
dinner with the Fables Crew
SATURDAY NITE much laughing, shop talking, revelry. Please come join me if you see me! Who knows what we’ll all be up to.

SUNDAY also DC Booth Signing from 10:30-11:30 am

When I’m at other booths, I won’t be able to take commissioned drawing because I’m only there an hour. All I can accommodate are signatures. So please save all sketch requests for booth 1322.

What will I have available for sale at booth #1322?
Embroidered Patches– Bug-A-Boo, the Boozle, Scary Godmother are $10 each, Scratches and the bats are $5 each. $45.00 US for the whole set.
Magic Trixie Books — cover price
Sandman Painted art — prices vary
black and white line art sketches $100.00, with tone $200.00
Signatures are free. But, please, take all comics and books and prints and whatnot out of their protective packaging before you get up to the head of the line. Then I can sign them quickly and efficiently for you and no tape gets stuck to your comic.

Each day I will take a new list for sketches so new con attendees will have a chance to get on the list. Check with me in the morning to get on the list, and later in the afternoon to see if a spot opened up. Or if someone never came back for their sketch. You’d be surprised how many times I go home with an unclaimed drawing of Death or something.

If I am drawing and my head is down PLEASE do not think I am ignoring you! I’m just drawing! It’s the only way I know how to do it– with the looking at the paper and all that… Just start to talk to me– introduce yourself. My witchy face has a tendency to look all serious and stern when I’m looking down and concentrating on my paper. That’s just what my perspective does to us oval faces. I am quite approachable. But you have to approach me! Ok? Cool!

Rules and Regs– just for the sake of everyone’s books and sketches, PLEASE do not lean on or bump into the table! And, if there is art on the table for viewing– please do not put your books or boxes on them, or your iced coffees.

If I am away from my table, my wonderful Booth Elves will be fielding questions, taking commission requests and selling books. Please feel free to interact with them.

You can follow me on Twitter as I’ll be digitally thinking for all to see (perhaps not IN THE EXHIBIT HALL where there is no WI FI-? WTF? that’s where we want to tweet from! let’s see if AT&T’s 3G works in that convention center — don’t let me down again AT&T…) Love the li’l Jesus phone so far…

Yeesh– not sure if I’ve forgotten anything, but I suppose we’ll find out in three days! THREE DAYS!!! It should be crazy, too crowded but quite a blast!