We’re about halfway through our first slam of SD07 reactions, and they are ALL OVER THE BOARD. Many of the things we’ve written here are being flatly contradicted here by people whose opinions you trust. Some people say sales were great; some say Saturday was a bust. Some say the Eisners the most fun ever; others a grueling award show Iditarod. Can all these opinions be correct? Yes, in the blind man and elephant sense. Even more so than in the past, the San Diego Experience can only be comprehended afterwards when you hit your RSS feed.

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UpDATE: Sorry about all the WP/Firefox/DIVX issues. Click on the above pic or here to see the vid, and thanks to Ford Gilmore for setting it up.

It was big!

San Diego Comic-Con wrapped up on Sunday, after a blow-out success of a show that dwarfed all previous years in attendance, exhibitor expenditures, special events, and media coverage. Three days of the show, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, sold out, the first time the show has sold out any days in its entire 38 year history (see “Interview with David Glanzer”).

A handy dandy one-stop shopping place for your SD linkage.

CBR Index of Stories
Newsarama Index of Stories
IGN Index of Stories
Heidi’s Mortal Enemy

Mispellings soon to be fixed. Also Firefox isn’t working nicely with these vids — apologies.
click on pic or here for vid.

In a Packed San Diego, Entertainment Worlds Collide:

Much like the Cannes Film Festival — but with more at stake — Comic-Con has also begun to draw entertainment dealmakers, who have been trolling for meetings with comic artists and writers. Hollywood’s Endeavor talent agency, for instance, has at least eight agents attending, along with a large contingent of clients.

More than a few veterans of the event are bemused by its evolution.

“This will be my 14th year,” said James Thompson, who teaches a course in genre film, television and comics for Duke University’s visiting program at the University of Southern California. “My first year, it was in danger of hitting 30,000 people, and everybody said it was really getting too big.”

Mr. Thompson said that the biggest changes he had seen at the convention included an expanding international presence, a growing tendency of movie news to drown out that of the comics industry and an increasing social frenzy. “Now it’s all about the parties, just like we were going to the Oscars,” he said.

Day five already…the day of farewells, the day of the setting sun. Can it be that this wonderful fairyland of opportunity is already fading away? So soon! Only a few times have we consumed the wonderful pretzels of the lobby, for a fleeting moment been to the panel rooms, and only briefly tasted the freedom of the terrace lounge.

Now that our calluses have toughened into battle scars, we’re ready to run the race all over again. So many hellos left unsaid.

*****

As day 5 dawns we enter uncharted waters — traditional Sunday is a quiet day filled with empty halls, but the announcement of a sell-out has everyone whivering in fear.

Much talk of traffic patterns and new ways of doing things among exhibitors and attendees. Sales Preview night and Thursday were great, but everyone says they were disappointing for Friday and Saturday, as thousands of people stood in line to get into Hall H or get bags or just gawk at girls in skimpy costumes.

One idea being floated is breaking up the “Studio City” in the middle of the hall. Indeed, the gauntlet of Star Wars, Disney and the Paramount-Fox Atomic- Warner Bros Bermuda triangle has led to people almost getting trampled, and endless jostlings without remorse or pity.

Artist extraordinaire Scott Morse and The Beat chat about RATATTOUILLE and Morse’s new books. Click on vid or here for interview.

Our Pals at PulpSecret cover Iron Man’s unveiling and other things we were too busy to see ourselves.

For those of you that aren’t in SD, DC Comics is giving you a way to feel like you were there.

For at least the second year in a row, DC has podcasts available from some of the panels. There are shows from Thursday, Friday and Saturday offered.

You can find them at DC’s webpage or on iTunes.

If any other studios or publishers are doing them, let The Beat know and we’ll add them to the list.

Posted by Mark Coale

Click on pic or here for sidesplitting video.

Vote on the best costumes!

Thanks Beat Spy Jonathan.

Neil talks about the Eisner Kiss and other things

CBR on Guice’s Marvel Exclusive

CBR on the WB DVD panel

more soon.

Posted Mark Coale

Only a few mintues before we have to get to our panel. Everyone assumes this is the busy day, but we think every day bas been busy.

We left the Eisners halfway through to go to the Oni party and try to go to the MySpace party (fire marshal problems) and then went back to the Eisners — doding people getting out of the PetCo Park screening of 300 while clutching their Spartan shields — just in time to hear how great it was and how we missed the greatest moments in Eisner history when Jonathan Ross and Neil Gaiman kissed up on stage. Ross is a Brit television presenter and his superior wits and firepower apparently brought the house down with a long discussion of masturbation and so on. Worthy folk like Paul Pope, Gene Yang, Jill Thompson and Ed Brubaker were wandering around with Eisners, so it seems all went well.

Many conversations about how long and grueling the show has become. With all the sell-outs, the population of a good sized city is wandering the hall each day, prowling for goodies. The city needs food, water, rest. Resources are not always available.

More in a bit including our CLIVE OWEN sightings!

Best Short Story
“A Frog’s Eye View,” by Bill Willingham and James Jean, in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Batman/The Spirit #1: “Crime Convention,” by Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Best Continuing Series
All Star Superman, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)

Best Limited Series
Batman: Year 100, by Paul Pope (DC)

Best New Series
Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Marvel Icon)

Best Title for a Younger Audience
Gumby, by Bob Burden and Rick Geary (Wildcard)

Best Humor Publication
Flaming Carrot Comics, by Bob Burden (Desperado/Image)

Best Anthology
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, by Bill Willingham and various (Vertigo/DC)

Best Digital Comic
Sam and Max, by Steve Purcell

Best Reality-Based Work
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)

Best Graphic Album - New
American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang (First Second)

Best Graphic Album - Reprint
Absolute DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips
The Complete Peanuts, 1959-1960, 1961-1962, by Charles Schulz (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Books
Absolute Sandman, vol. 1, by Neil Gaiman and various (Vertigo/DC)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
The Left Bank Gang, by Jason (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Japan
Old Boy, by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi (Dark Horse Manga)

Best Writer
Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Daredevil (Marvel); Criminal (Marvel Icon)

Best Writer/Artist
Paul Pope, Batman: Year 100 (DC)

Best Writer/Artist - Humor
Tony Millionaire, Billy Hazelnuts (Fantagraphics); Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident (Dark Horse)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Mark Buckingham/Steve Leialoha, Fables (Vertigo/DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Jill Thompson, “A Dog and His Boy” in The Dark Horse Book of Monsters; “Love Triangle” in Sexy Chix (Dark Horse); “Fair Division,” in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)

Best Cover Artist
James Jean, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)

Best Coloring
Dave Stewart, BPRD, Conan, The Escapists, Hellboy (Dark Horse); Action Comics, Batman/The Spirit, Superman (DC)

Best Lettering
Todd Klein, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall; Pride of Baghdad, Testament (Vertigo/DC); Fantastic Four: 1602, Eternals (Marvel); Lost Girls (Top Shelf)

Special Recognition
Hope Larson, Gray Horses (Oni)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)

Best Comics-Related Book
The Art of Brian Bolland, edited by Joe Pruett (Desperado/Image)

Best Publication Design
Absolute DC: The New Frontier, designed by Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Hall of Fame
Judges’ Choices (2): Robert Kanigher and Ogden Whitney
- Ross Andru & Mike Esposito
- Dick Ayers
- Wayne Boring
- Joe Orlando

Other Awards:

Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comics Writing: Gardner Fox, George Gladir

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: David Petersen

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Neil Gaiman

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award:
Earth-2, Sherman Oaks, CA, owned by Carr D’Angelo

Hey there, we decided to love blog the Eisner Awards! Our spot by a power outlet doesn’t allow for very good pictures, but we’ll have all the banter and excitement.

The evening begins with Jackie Estrada introducing MC Bill MOrrison, who recounts a wonderful deram of comics before admitting he’s having a nightmare of nervousness appearing before the gathered crowd. Of course he is silly as everyone loves Bill Morrison. Morrison introduces the even more loved Jane Weidlin, who was once a member of the much-loved Go-Gos.

And we’re off!

The Bill Finger Award is first up and Paul Dini and Mark Evanier are presenting it. WHO WILL GET THE FINGER THIS TIME?

Why it’s Gardner Fox as the deceased winner. Roy Thomas accepts who recounts Fox’s career creating many great characters. “Google him!” Thomas urges.

The living iwnner is Sabrina creator George Gladir, who has a 47-year career writing Archie comics. Gladir acknowledges the “Ahtists” he worked with and says they really deserve the awards.

A break in the action as Jackie describes the rules and introduces judges and sponsors.

Jerru Duggan and Brian Posehn are the first “celebrity” presenters, although we know they are just nerds like us. Posehn is wearing the Alex Ross Vampire George Bush t-shirt. Posehn goes on to say that just being nominated sucks because you don’t win! Preach it, Brian! First award —

Best Publication for a Younger Audience
* Gumby, by Bob Burden and Rick Geary (Wildcard)

Yay! Burden and Geary! Burden brings up a gang of helpers to share the high. Burden thanks editors Diana Shutz and Bob Schreack for getting the Gumby comic started 20 yeras ago, which they won an Eisner for back then, as well. “One of the things about Gumby that really echoes throughout the whole book and the business is it’s supposed to be fun, so let’s have some fun.” urges Burden. Geary thanks Steve Oliff the colorist and his wife Deborah for her tolerance for his bizarre career.

Nest award is Digital Coimics, and the presenter s struggling manfully over some of the names, but Posehn apologies.

Best Digital Comic
* Sam and Max, by Steve Purcell, telltalegames.com/community/comics/samandmax/issue-3

Legardy Purcell is on hand to accept wearing a straw boater. Purcell sgives a good piece of advice: don’t pick the cute girl bicycle cab driver — the burly guy is better to make it on time back to the awards.

The next award is announced in Klingon by Posehn!!! A great moment in Eisner history. This is getting pretty funny, although his accent is more Romulan, in our opinion. Kasimir Strzepek is already in Kingon!

Special Recognition
* Hope Larson, Gray Horses (Oni)

Larson friend Mike Holmes from Halifax is up to accept. Living in Halifax everyone is friends!

Morrison announces that Paramount has optioned “Esiner AWards: The MOtion Pictures” with Michael Chiklis as Bill Morrison. Wiedlin will be portrayed by William Shatner.

James Sime and Kristen Blaylock are nest presenters. Sime is his usual natty self in a striped suit, and Blaylock is elegant in a black jewel-nacked dress.

Best Coloring
* Dave Stewart, BPRD, Conan, The Escapists, Hellboy (Dark Horse); Action Comics, Batman/The Spirit, Superman (DC)

Well that was no surprise…to anyone but Stewart who is humble in the face of his overwhelming excellence.

Next up lettering…will Todd Klein win AGAIN?

Best Lettering
* Todd Klein, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, Pride of Baghdad, Testament (Vertigo/DC); Fantastic Four: 1602, Eternals (Marvel); Lost Girls (Top Shelf)

YES! “Here I am again,” says the oft winning Klein. “IO appreciate this very much as always,” says the lettering master, even while mourning his lost luggage.

Back for best Anthology. A tight category! So many indie favorites here.

Best Anthology
* Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, by Bill Willingham and various (Vertigo/DC)

….annnnnd to no one’s surprise the more mainstream — but still indie-powered anthology wins. Shelly Bond and Jill Thomson are on stage as Bill Willingham accepts. Bond looks sharp in a white Pop inspired ensemble, and Thompson is rocking a long white dress. Jeams Jean and Mark Wheatley are also on the stage wearing more casual attire. At least they are wearing long pants.

Next up! Russ Manning Award presented by Steve Rude, a former winner. We should note here that the presenters and winners are being accompanied by music cues, including the Star Wars theme for Rude. Rude is emotional remembering his win back in the 80s. ‘He tells a story, “Drawing is not enough, you must have a style. Style is not enough you must be able to tell a story. If you have all that and you have spirit you have grabbed all the elements to be a superior talent.”

Rude messes up and forgets to name the nominees but the winner is Mouse Guard’s David Petersen.

MC Morrison acknowledges the nominee snafu and mentions the noms so they can get their applause.

PERSONAL ASIDE: Everyone says the Eisners are …a long night….but with our new spot over on the side live blogging it’s a whole new thrill.

The next opresenters are….PAUL POPE AND WHITNEY MATHESON???? Hsssssssssssss! Whitney is wearing a balck and white frock and Paul Pope is wearing a black wifebeater. WHITNEY MATHESON! We were a judge in the 90s! We were a presenter when you were just a pig tailed school girl! Boo! Hiss

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
* The Complete Peanuts, 1959–1960, 1961–1962, by Charles Schulz (Fantagraphics)

Eric REynolds accept,s and we all know Eric has a big Crush on Jane Wiedlin! Sure enough he gets his pictures taken with her and waves with triumph! This is the comic book equivalent of Adrien Brody and Halle Berry.

Whitney is calling Paul Foxy during a computer glitch. WHITNEY YOU HUSSEY! LEAVE PAUL ALOLNE! WE SAW HIM FIRST! Paul is talking about old archival comics to defuse the tension. Come on now kis, Whitney is using old jokes from the monolog. Come on now if the BEat were there there would be laughs galore.

OH DEAR GOD, they are reduced to a PALDROME CONTEST. A MAN A PLAN A CANAL PANAMA! Come on kids. Sit on a potato pan Otis. Luckily Matheson and Pope are the cutest presenters so far.
Time out for AV problems. Av the achilles heel of all live presenters.

Matheson says I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DOWNFALL OF THE EISNER AWARDS. Our Triumph is complete.

YAY BACK!!!!

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
* Absolute Sandman, vol. 1, by Neil Gaiman and various (Vertigo/DC)

“I’ve been joking about the fact that you could actually kill somebody with Absolute Sandman. It hasn’t happened so far,” quips Gaiman who calls up colorist Danny Vozzo, the hero of the reprint. Gaiman thanks everyone who was stupid enough to carry one around in case they ran into Gaiman to sign it, “the biggest the heaviest and the most likely to kill you.”

We’ve had a few glasses of wine now, so buckle your seat belts, you’re in for a bumpy ride.

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
* The Left Bank Gang, by Jason (Fantagraphics)

YAY we love Jason, and now Eric can complete his stalking of Jane Wiedlin!

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan
* Old Boy, by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi (Dark Horse Manga)

Samantha Robinson from Dark Horse is up to accept.

Next up, Bill Morrison mentions that Sergio Aragones is in his 25th year of Groo and is up to present the Hall of Fame Awards. YAY first a wonderful moment as Ramona Fradon comes up to accept her award that she wasn’t here to get last year. She gets a well-deserved standing ovation.

“They always said, if you live long enough you get one of these,” says Fradon. “I want to thank the folks at DC for always having an open door for me, particularly Paul Levitz, who I’ve watched grow into a fine young man now.” She thanks her editors and Will Eisner always a hero of hers. “I want to say fianlly to thank all you folks out there who have refused to grow and continued to support comics over the years.

The first HoF is Robert Kanigher, Paul Levitz, that young whipper snapper, accepts. Levitz was just over at the Zuda party showing us the interface. Levitz admits that Kanigher was a “notoriously difficult” writer and editor, but a great contributor to comics, creating Metal Men.

The second Judges choice is Ogden Whitney, accepted by Dan Nadel. who is wearing a blue and white striped polo shirt. Why is it that women know they have to get dressed up for this but a guy can wear a black wife beater.

Next the regular awards We’re rooting for Cliff Sterett.

Ross Andru and Mike Esposito are the first winners. Daniel Herman, Esposito’s publisher accepts on their behalf with…a long speech that involves prosecco.

The next winner is Dick Ayers, upholding the tradition of a LIVING Hall of Famer! Ayers is very honored and thanks Eisner up in the sky, and “you fans, and you people who put out this convention.” He goes into how he met Eisner …in 1942 he was aware of his work but didn’t meet him…we traverse the years in which Eisner lived in the same town as Ayers, then somehow an insurance guy hooks them up. Ayers admits he proud and speechless because he never thought it would happen, but “I got it!”

Okay, we are now an hour in. there are, by our count, 18 AWARDS to go. Now you know why people joke about the Eisners. Especially when you are sitting on the floor hooked up to a power outlet.

There is another HoF winner…Wayne Boring. The jokes write themselves. Mike Carlin accepts. “Wayne Boring drew a kick ass Superman,” says Carlin, demonstrating a Wayne Boring Superman pose.

WAIT THERE IS A FOURTH WINNER…huh? Were there that many in the past. It’s Joe Orlando, and Levitz is back and admits it’s very special to get it from Sergio, one of Orlando’s dearest friends. Levitz reads a note from Karen Orlando.

We’re happy for all the winners, but sad that Lilly Renee didn’t win when she is in attendance at the con.

ASIDE, it’s very cold in the corner we’re sitting in, and our laptop is the warmest thing within reach.

Next up retailer Joe Ferrera comes up accompanied by his own recording of “If I were a Rich man.”

The Spirit of Retailing Award is Carr D’Angelo of Earth 2. People texting us from the Oni Party. Temptation.

Ellen Forney and Alison Bechdel are the next presenters. Bechdel is natty in a white shirt, Forney has a form fitting green dress.

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
* Mark Buckingham/Steve Leialoha, Fables (Vertigo/DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
* Jill Thompson, “A Dog and His Boy” in The Dark Horse Book of Monsters; “Love Triangle” in Sexy Chix (Dark Horse);”Fair Division,” in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)

Winner Thompson thanks Steve Rude for teaching her about Andrew Loomis.

Forney and Bechdel stop the show to salute women cartoonsits by saluting Madonna and Britney Spears and kissing. HAWT!!!!

Best Cover Artist
* James Jean, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
We are always happy when James wins an award since we helped discover him, but it’s his fourth win in a row, and he humbly claims JG Jones should have won for drawing weekly covers for 52.

Eric Powell and sidekick come up in some comedy gear and go into a long comedy routine to announce …
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
* Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)

Well, we’re thrilled by this result, for many reasons…losing feeling in our fingers and forced to leave the room….So cold…losing feeling…Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you……

News spread rapidly over the floor that Mark Waid has been named Editor-in-Chief of Boom! Studios. No other details available.

UPDATE: PR

In a surprise announcement that rocked the comic-book world, BOOM! Studios revealed that fan-favorite scribe Mark Waid will become BOOM!’s Editor-in-Chief effective August 1st, 2007. Waid will fill a key position in the company previously held informally by Publisher and co-owner, Ross Richie.
“BOOM! Studios is the next generation comic book company. They are doing innovative work of astounding quality,” Waid says. “Co-owners Ross Richie and Andy Cosby have an incredible vision for the future of the industry and the company, and they approached me to partner with them to realize that vision. ‘Here’s a comic-book company,’ says Ross. ‘Go run it, and run it your way.’ It’s an unbelievable offer.”

“Mark is as close to the Leonardo DaVinci of comics as you can get. There’s nothing he hasn’t done. The man can write. The man can edit. He designs characters, he can do production and layout, I’ve gotten files on his books back with the colors Photoshop-corrected by the man himself. He knows comics inside and out. And he is just an honest-to-goodness genuine human being who loves this medium and got taught all the right lessons by the heroes he grew up reading. His standing in the comics community speaks for itself,” said BOOM! Publisher and co-owner Ross Richie. “Mark is at the top of his game and we look forward to him taking BOOM! into the stratosphere.”

Chief among Waid’s duties will be to institute a steady hand at a company that has seen explosive growth. Day-to-day, he will oversee the creation of all the BOOM! titles, work with established and non-established talent on new properties designed to ignite the medium’s boundaries, and shepherd BOOM!’s exciting slate of licensed properties.
“BOOM!’s exploded - quite literally — in the last two years. Mark’s two decades of experience will help us bring our A-game to the fans,” co-owner Andrew Cosby said.
Waid’s relationship with BOOM! grew organically given his involvement with the company since its inception two years ago.

“Back when BOOM! started as four guys in a barn, they corralled me into writing for their first comic, ZOMBIE TALES, and the experience was terrific. They earned my trust, so I brought them my new creation, POTTER’S FIELD with artist Paul Azaceta. That led to the E-I-C offer. Working with Ross and Andy and all their little office Boomlets has been a pleasure,” Waid said.

Fans who enjoy Waid’s mainstream superhero series such as FLASH or BRAVE AND BOLD need not fret; the award-winning writer has no plans to abandon his outside commitments, but BOOM! will serve as the home for his upcoming–and numerous–creator-owned projects.

While most recently in the spotlight as part of the writing team that spawned DC’s sales mammoth 52 which Waid wrote on a weekly basis along with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Geoff Johns, Waid began his career as an editor. Waid’s editorial accomplishments include Morrison’s run on DOOM PATROL, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, SECRET ORIGINS, and a host of one-shot titles. Waid has written stories for every major comics publisher, including well-loved stints on DC Comics’ THE FLASH and Marvel Comics’ CAPTAIN AMERICA and FANTASTIC FOUR. Waid and Alex Ross’ seminal graphic novel, KINGDOM COME, is one of the best-selling graphic novels of all time.

The relationship with Waid solidifies BOOM! as a leader in the industry, particularly on the heels of Thursday’s announcement regarding the acquisition of THE GODFATHER license. THE GODFATHER will be one of the many titles Waid will oversee in his new position when it launches Winter 2007.
BOOM! has gone through a growth spurt like no other publisher this past year. At the 2007 Book Expo in New York, BOOM! announced their new mass market book distribution deal via Perseus, a unique relationship for a comic book publisher that positions BOOM! with one of the market leaders to book retailers. Perseus just recently acquired Publisher’s Group West and continues to grow and expand its reach into the mass market.
By the end of this summer, BOOM! will be offering a line of trade paperback graphic novels collecting their popular series, including TALENT, HERO SQUARED, TAG, DEATH VALLEY, and X ISLE.
In the last twelve months, BOOM! has sold three of its comic book series to Hollywood: THE FOUNDATION was just bought in a preemptive pre-publication bid by Paramount Pictures, while Universal Studios bought TALENT and TAG last year.

Last December’s launch of WARHAMMER 40,000: DAMNATION CRUSADE initiated a new, successful series of comic books and graphic novels followed up by the summer’s launch of WARHAMMER: FORGE OF WAR. BOOM! enjoys the unique position of being one of only four licensors of Games Workshop material, and will continue to grow and expand its line of WARHAMMER 40,000 and WARHAMMER series.

Following on the heels of its success with these comics, BOOM! announced a comic book and graphic novels license with Epic Games’ mega-selling GEARS OF WAR video game. This fall will see a huge launch for this exciting new property.

Prior to joining BOOM!, Waid was under exclusive contract to DC Comics.

Posting live from the promised land of Hall H. The loud speaker reminds the people who have been camped out here all day that there is food available, but they need to remove their garbage to keep it clean.

There are seats here, but getting in is still a hassle. Not only was Kate Beckinsale delayed for the WHITEOUT panel by getting stuck on the other side of the train tracks, but word is that the executive producer of the movie and artist Steve Lieber — who were supposed to be ON the panel — couldn’t find the people who had their passes and had to stand in line.

OFF TOPIC: Big ups to Thunderbird Laura Ciporen for getting the comments running again. Also thanks to Mark Coale for manning the home internet connection.

What’s up with the viral game tied into the Batman movie going on at the Con this afternoon?

It apparently started this morning with the Why So Serious website giving out coordinates this morning to a location right outside the convention center.

As of this writing (3:30 ET), the website says “Checkpoint 1″ and a cryptic message scrawled across the page:

Ready to play a joke? Tell your stooges on the ground to look up. They’ll tell you what to do next.

There’s also a place to apparently enter a password. No word on what that is yet.

According to Rich Johnston, it all ends up leading to the new DARK KNIGHT trailer, the one that was up on You Tube yesterday and can be seen in front of THE SIMPSONS movie.

the trailer is back up on You Tube.

edit: Here’s the screen as of now (5:00 ET). The police report (when clicked) talks about a dead “Joker” who was found in an abandoned van (from this morning?) and holding something that said “See you in December.” The small pixel on the right takes you to the trailer.

Posted by Mark Coale

A few photos from the panoply of Day 0. Above, Andrew Pepoy, a gentleman whose name we did not write down, The Beat, Lee Nordling (The Pack) and Disney Legend Floyd Norman.
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STAY AWAY! No one goes there; it’s too crowded! Another sell-out at Comic-Con:

Comic-Con, the nation¹s largest comic book and pop culture event announced that Sunday admissions have sold out.

“I guess this was bound to happen, but it¹s still surprising,” said David Glanzer, spokesperson for the non profit event, “for the first time in our 38 year history, Comic-Con has sold out of Friday, Saturday and= now Sunday admissions.”

Because of capacity concerns during last years Comic-Con, organizers made a concerted effort to address potential overcrowding.

“One way to anticipate attendance was to encourage early online registration,” continued Glanzer “which progressed much quicker than in previous years.” Pointing out that while registration was closed for a time last year the facility never reached capacity.

Comic-Con¹s efforts at early registration presumably will help them better control crowd issues at what has become the largest comic book and pop culture event in the United States.

Comic-Con International is a non profit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.

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The handset constantly listens for personal bad loans credti signal being received from the surrounding base stations.

The secret word is DIGITAL! You can’t spell Web 2.0 without COMICS, it seems, as all sorts of digital deals are being announced at this year’s San Diego, or else bubbling under the surface. Today’s big news: MySpace and Dark Horse are teaming to bring back the digital version of DARK HORSE PRESENTS with creators such as Joss Whedon, Rick Geary and Gerard Way on tap. The site goes live today.

More: PWCW’s son coverage.

MySpace, the nation’s most trafficked website, and Dark Horse Comics, pioneers of creator owned and licensed comics material, today announced a partnership to revive one of the most celebrated comic anthologies with the launch of a new online comic book, “MySpace Dark Horse Presents” (http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents). The online series will include original content by top creators and premiere artists, all available exclusively on MySpace and free of charge to users. The announcement was made on-site at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

“MySpace Dark Horse Presents” takes its cues from the original Dark Horse Presents, a hard copy comic book published from 1986 to 2000, where high celebrated comics including Frank Miller’s Sin City and Paul Chadwick’s Concrete, made their mark in issues of the anthology and were later spun off into their own standalone comic franchises.

(more…)

One of the biggest buzz books of Preview Night at San Diego was a sneak peek of Jeff Smith’s new series Rasl. While the preview was only six pages long, the oversize 11×17 format was definitely eye-catching. Published by Cartoon Books, Smith’s own company, in a limited edition of 2200, it’s expected to sell out quickly.

Much of the excitement is due to this being Smith’s first original series since finishing his epic fantasy Bone and Shazam:Monster Society of Evil for DC. Rather than sitting back and riding the popularity of the neo-classic Bone, Smith is getting back in the game with a stark SF thriller about a thief with an amazing artifact that he can only use at a price. “Rasl is an art thief who created a spectral immersion suit,” Smith explained. “He can go through the light in between dimensions. But using it is very painful—it sometimes takes him days to recover. In the meantime, he drinks and smokes and gambles. He’s needs all these human pleasures of the flesh to help him recover from the blinding pain. Then he has to go through it all again to get back to where he came from.”

Rasl’s job as an art thief and who is financing him is the subject of some mystery that will unfold as the series progresses. “He has a lot of stories,” said Smith. “There’s a tattoo of woman his arm, who is another man’s wife; he’s got issues.”

Smith plans the ongoing comics periodical to start some time next year. “I’m trying to mix the old market with the new market, so it will probably be about 2 years of comic books for the direct sales market. In the end I’ll collect it into a graphic novel.” The ongoing series will be oversized and in black and white, while the collection will be in a smaller, color version of about 250 pages.

Smith is enjoying his post-Bone work, and says that he works on Rasl much more loosely. The idea for the story came from some of his reading in popular science books by Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking and Brian Green. “I started thinking about all these other dimensions. Since Rasl can go to different universes, if a collector wanted to pay enough money to get a Mona Lisa, Rasl would go to another dimension to get him one. That’s his life.”

Rasl is the first of what Smith hopes will be many new series from his pen. “I’ve got tons of ideas and energy left. I want to keep working. This is the first show in a while where I’ll have a new indie project.”

While few Rasl copies are available at the show, a few copies have been held back to for Smith’s appearance at this October’s Small Press Expo in Bethesda