San Diego Comic Con Starts Today

Actually, today is Preview Day, but as Comic Con has grown to attract crowds of 100K+, Preview Night is often the best night. It's reserved for industry "insiders" or at least those who have a badge that says they are. You can actually move around on the floor, see people and stuff, and it's not yet so manic, but energy levels start ramping up.

Tomorrow, the true unveiling of Comic Con happens, as the doors open to the adoring nerd public. I'm not sure anymore what year the tide turned, and Comic Con went from being a real geek fest, mostly just a place that facilitated the interaction between comic creators and those who love their work. And a few miscellaneous others.

It was probably about 5 years ago, when the city remodeled the convention center floor (AGAIN) that the population size grew substantially and shifted. Around that time (or because of it?) Hollywood realized that if they could get supports from the geeks - especially those who are connected to legions of other geeks/nerds/dweebs - for their current project, they could turn over a hefty profit. And bringing in more Hollywood naturally brings in more fans and more media attention. And the cycle has continued so that Comic Con is one of the most covered events of the year.

For 2010, 4-day passes sold out in October. October. That is crazy. I believe individual day passes sold out soon after. Hotels - which the SD Gaslamp is sorely short on - typically sell out early in the year. I think this year it was around February. But you know what? Despite all that, it's still fun. Maybe it's out of habit more than anything else, but Comic Con serves as a "family reunion" of sorts with some of my favorite folks in the world. We get to talk about art, comics, movies, super heroes, costumes, and celebrity sightings. And we get to do it while working a booth, over drinks, in the hotel bars, at Masquerade, during a Zombie parade, or mingling with the other geeks as well as the SD locals.

So, I am a ginormously sad panda this weekend to be missing it. With Twiter and Facebook I am able to monitor the whole thing, but it's not the same. Actually, it's worse. Because I know how crazy and awesome and overwhelming it all is, and it's just not the same. Sniff.

A few images of what I'm missing this weekend.

The booth where I should be working Thursday - Sunday (mad props to the folks @ Allen Spiegel Fine Arts. miss you guys)




An awesome commissioned Mr. Freeze piece by my hugely talented friend, Scott Morse:



And a scene only Hollywood could create -- a huge movie banner for Scott Pilgrim "wrapping" the SD Hilton (via SuperHero Hype):

More Movie Costumes

More images coming out from upcoming Marvel movies. Just wait - the next week will be ridiculous for this kind of stuff.

This time, it is Anthony Hopkins as Odin, from Thor (via The Beat).



I know they've "re-worked" some of the costuming on this one, but I tend to agree with the other bloggers and comments that it all looks a little too plastic-y. How can the armor in 300 be so right, but this feel so wrong? (Totally disregard that these are completely different historical periods. These are not the droids you are looking for...) However, I dig the hair and the beard.

Looking for Your 2010 Comic Con Costume?

The good folks over at io9 have some suggestions for your 2010 Comic Con costume here. Remember, there are big prizes to be won at the Masquerade!

A few of my favorite suggestions include pretty much anything from Venture Bros (or Archer, though not mentioned here) (and h/t to Rich for introducing me to both).



Dressing up small children will make them much more tolerable as you hold up the packed aisles with strollers and screaming babies. I'm all for indoctrinating the young, but it's a tough scene for adults, let alone the newbs.




Finally, anything that is just ahead of the curve or right on time is always good. This year, it's gotta be costumes inspired by Kick Ass and Scott Pilgrim. If you're lucky, you might get some Walking Dead zombies (oh yeah, be on the lookout for the zombie parade through the Gaslamp!). However, this also means that anything that was over-exposed in the last year or 2 is O-U-T (Watchmen, Heath Ledger Joker, others?).



Take and post some of the best costumes you see, please! It's one of my favorite parts of Comic Con -- there are some really creative, talented geeks out there, and this is their time to shine.

Red

SuperHeroHype posted images of two new promo posters for the movie, "Red" based on the Warren Ellis comic book of the same name.





The primary characters of the story are ex-CIA agents who are now targeted by the Agency.

Now framed for assassination, they must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers and stay alive. To stop the operation, the team embarks on an impossible, cross-country mission to break into the top-secret CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history.

The movie stars Helen Mirren (featured above, looking stunning!), John Malkovish (also above), Morgan Freeman, and Bruce Willis, and is anticipated in theaters ~10/15. I'm sure we will hear more about it via Comic Con next week...

Looks like I will take in late August to start getting caught up on my comic book/graphic novel reading, so I'll be adding this one to the list!

New Green Lantern Photo

There are a bunch of neat gems coming out in preparation for Comic Con (or "Nerd Prom" as Warren Ellis termed it years ago), which takes place in San Diego next week. After 14 years, I can't make it this year (*@#*$#**%$#) so I have to live vicariously through the Internets, Twitters, and random news/images I can glean.

Entertainment Weekly's Comic Con preview issue is out tomorrow with a new pic of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern.



I give it an "ehhhh." I don't love this picture, maybe because the suit looks a little too "human bodyish" or muscley. Also, too CGI. I hope the images from the actual movie are better.