Conventions

For the past week or so we've been getting emails about Neocomimi, a product which offers electronic cat ears which purport to be activated by our brain waves to show emotions. Like, when you want more Fancy Feast they go down, and when you hear the Fancy Feast can being opened they perk right up. That kind of thing.

As the urgent tide of con-related PR flows into the small hours, it seems like we already know everything about the upcoming show, which kicks off in a here 2 and a half days. Gleeps. Anyway here's our picks for what people will be taking pictures of and tweeting the most on Preview Night:

Well so much for our J.D. Salinger moment.This being the internet and all, not 30 minutes after I'd posted my mystery of the great 2011 Comic-Con Food Truck Burrito, someone on twitter had identified the truck and posted a picture of a half eaten lunch.

Only this morning we were congratulating actor/entrepreneur Zachary Levi for setting up Nerd HQ, a Comic-Con offsite that's essentially a mini comic-con in itself with panels and signings with major nerdlebrities -- with proceeds to go to charity. Well, it turns out that running even a mini-comi-con gives you major comic-con sized problems: when tickets for the event went on sales this morning, it resulted in complete server meltdown. Here's a bit of the increasingly desperate tweet trail:

Yet another carnival! This one, as we understand it, is set up next to the Gaslamp Hilton in that area where the Scott Pilgrim Experience once stood. It's a video game arcade set up by ShiftyLook. Details below, but the pr notes that the Shifty Look panel will feature Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub and an announcement so...add it up.

How a stop for a bit of hearty breakfast can change your life.

While the mental journey to Comic-Con 2012 started on the very last day of Comic-Con 2011 for some of us, an actual physical journey is kicking off this weekend: The Course of the Force, an Olympic-style charity relay run from the Santa Monica Pier to the gates of Comic-Con — with a Lightsaber as the torch — begins its real-life epic journey this Saturday. To kick off the kick-off, a new short film featuring Nerdist Chris Hardwick shows the origins of the journey— and reveals that the ILM lot is inhabited by real Ewoks, Boba Fett tools around in a van and one particular comics superstar likes to see people on their knees singing "Yub nub."

Over the holiday, the actual, real Comic-Con International page rolled out some vital info including autographs times, portfolio review schedule and the film festival schedule.

An amazing assortment of artists and creators attended the American Library Association annual conference in Anaheim last month, and ALA interviewed twenty-five creators, posting the video to YouTube!

Concerned that Comic-Con International won't have some awesome comics? IDW announces their convention exclusives!

Holy crap, the Con offsites are getting more and more elaborate and entrancing! From a few brave souls setting up a statue or two in the sandy lot next to the Gaslamp Hilton 7 years ago to this year's explosion of theme parks and exhibits, even without a con badge you'll have a lot to see and do. The Wb, NBC and Yahoo are all planning major set-ups. Other offsites: at least five art exhibits, the Cryptozoic pop-up store, and many other things we've forgotten. Here's what's going on:

Three new titles. A relaunch/reboot/facelift/makeover for the Marvel Universe. Hickman. Bendis. Remender. Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk, Cable and.... Jean Grey? We're going to have to really get in-depth with these new Marvel titles, you guys.