It’s early.  The three-ring circus and sideshow doesn’t begin until later this evening, but there is already stuff happening on the web.  Here are a few choice tidbits from yesterday and today, scoured by yours truly, from the air conditioned comfort of the Manhattan offices of The Beat:

Don’t have a ticket to reality bubble at the convention center?

There’s lots happening outside, all around San Diego!

Variety reports on the many exhibitions and off-site promotions companies are engaging in.  Godzilla!  Walking Dead!  MTV!  And Warner Brothers’ “Lawn Con“, over on the Bayfront Park next to the Hilton.

Deadline Hollywood lists various parties, as does the Hollywood Reporter!  DH doesn’t note which are private, but HR does!

My favorite?

Scholastic Comic-Con Party: Authors Jeff Brown, Brandon Mull, Greg Ruth and guests including James Burks, Jimmy Gownley, Jake Parker, Jeff Smith, Tom Sniegoski and Raina Telgemeier will be in attendance. 7-9:30 p.m. Summersalt Pool Deck & Lounge, Hotel Palomar, 1047 Fifth Ave. RSVP required.

Nice to see some awesome cartoonists enjoying the red carpet treatment!

Bear McCreary talks about composing music for ABC’s SHIELD tv series, and  how it differs from his work on Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: With a project like this there are so many questions from the get-go but is there a place you typically start that investigation? Do you start with pinning down facts or finding feelings?
BEAR MCCREARY: I like to bring something unique to every project I take on, something that can immediately hook the audience and tell them what show or film they’re watching, or game they’re playing. The furious tremolo strings at the beginning of The Walking Dead main title, or the heavy percussion of Battlestar Galactica are great examples. At first glance, I was nervous that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be difficult to approach. … It ties together a cinematic universe that spans years of characters, storylines and scores by talented composers. The instant I saw the pilot, I connected immediately with the characters.

wonderwoman postcard_0The Women’s Museum of California is hosting an exhibition of female cartoonists, with lots of original art!

Wonder Women: On Paper and Off features the historical collection of Trina Robbins, as well as contributions from Joyce Farmer (artist), Mary Fleener (artist), Carol Lay (artist), Ron May (collector), Peiter Ortiz (collector), Mimi Pond (artist) and Andrea Tsurumi (artist).

There’s a panel discussion Thursday, at 7:30 PM!

Lou Ferrigno stars in a new movie, with an interesting cast.  He plays a government-sponsored superhero who turns whistleblower.
bat f-150Now there’s a Bat-truck.  A Ford F-150 gets modded by the grandson of the original Batmobile creator!
Jared Barris designed the truck in collaboration with his grandfather, the legendary car customizer George Barris. The elder Barris created the Batmobile used in the 1960s TV series.

Star Wars fans run a lightsaber relay from the Bay Area (including stops at Google and Yahoo!) to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation!  Donate here!

Zondervan, noted Christian publisher, is partnering with the Christian Comic Arts Society.  Three events are scheduled:
  1. The Christian Comic Arts Society Mixer, Friday, 7/19/13, 8:30p.m. – 9:30p.m., Room: 26AB
  2. Spiritual Themes in Comics, Saturday, 7/20/13, 6:00p.m. – 7:00p.m., Room: 4
  3. The Christian Comics Arts Society General Meeting, Sunday, 7/21/13, 10:00a.m. – 11:00a.m., Room: 28DE

CCAS will be in the Small Press area #P08.  Click the link above, there are some big names on the panels!

And long before DC Care-Bear’d the Green Lanterns with the spectrum, LGBT creators and fans were celebrating the inclusiveness of fandom.

Aquaman pixel
http://designlov.com/super-herois-em-pixel.html

Poor Aquaman… he’s gone viral, and not in a good way

McAfee reveals the top Most Toxic Superheroes (#toxicsuperhero) that result in the greatest number of risky websites when you search for them online. The research found that searching for the latest “Aquaman and free torrent download,” “Aquaman and watch,” “Aquaman and online,” and “Aquaman and free trailer” yields a 18.6% chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.

If I mention his name in this post, will it be filtered?

CC13_BAG_3D_RNDR_CA#2EB8192 Once again, Warner Brothers is sponsoring the official CCISD bags.

This year, they can be used as backpacks (how many people can you sideswipe before someone goes Sinestro on yo’ ass?) and each comes with a detachable cape.

Here are the talking points:

  • The all-new 2013 edition is fashioned as a backpack and features a built-in cape — to assist the super hero in all of us race to panels, of course. The detachable cape can be worn separately, as can the backpack.
  • Each of the bags, designed by Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Marketing, feature double-sided artwork, with the all-new Comic-Con 2013 official design on one side and the other side highlighting titles from the Studio’s TV series, theatrical motion pictures and original animated movies.
  • The television show titles are Arrow, The Big Bang Theory, The Following, Revolution, Supernatural, Teen Titans Go! (with Beware the Batman cape!) and The Vampire Diaries.
  • Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s DC Universe Original Animated Movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox will be featured, as will the classic Batman TV series.
  • Attendees can also tote their swag in bags featuring artwork from the forthcoming motion pictures Godzilla, The LEGO® Movie and 300: Rise of an Empire.

comic-con-box-seatNBC raises the bar (or lowers the seat) with their cardboard seats.

Images from NBC’s Grimm and Dracula will be displayed on the three-sided chair as a way to spread awareness for the network’s presence at the event. Other NBC shows that will be represented at the best include Community, Revolution, and The Blacklist. The chairs will be available for free at NBC’s Comic-Con headquarters next week at the Tin Fish restaurant in the Gaslamp District, while supplies last.

From a marketing viewpoint, it’s brilliant.  From a practical viewpoint, it’s troublesome.  Will people stage flashmob sit-ins?  Who deals with the large amounts of abandoned cardboard?  But if Game of Thrones can give away actual portable chairs, why not NBC? (And how much will they go for on eBay?)

kia wonder womanFor the past year, DC and Kia have teamed to produce custom cars inspired by each member of the Justice League.  At San Diego, they will reveal the car inspired by the entire team!  Here’s the Wonder Woman Sportage, and there are pages devoted to each hero.

DC offers a trailer for the documentary, “Necessary Evil”, about the super-villains of DC Comics.  (On sale October 25, 2013)

What rent does CCI pay at the convention center?  How much do they make, as a non-profit?  What other deals concessions did they get?  And that hotel room in the Hyatt?  What would it really cost?  The San Diego Union-Tribune breaks it all down.

Lastly, the annual comic-con curmudgeon column criticizing CCI’s commitment to comics.  (Yeah, I agree, but there is still a lot of comics programming going on this weekend!)

Okay… it’s 8 PM here on the East Coast, so it’s time for me to grab a pitcher of mint juleps and join the tree octopus out on the penthouse veranda, to enjoy the sunset and the breeze.  Our West Coast crew will be along later to recap the day’s events in San Diego, and then our European bureau will staff the overnight feed.