Conventions

§ As part of the process of de-crwdoing Comic-Con, organizers have been trying to move more events off site for a while now. Con...

A benefit auction for the Shel Dorf Artist Fund will be held throughout Comic-Con. Proceeds will help send a deserving artist to art school.

Top Cow has a big presence for their big event this year, ARTIFACTS, and appearances by Marc Silvestri, Ron Marz (Artifacts), Phil Hester (The Darkness), Michael Broussard (Artifacts), Kenneth Rocafort (Velocity), Jeremy Haun (Berserker), Eric Basaldua (Witchblade Annual), William Harms (Impaler), Rob Levin (Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box), Bryan Edward Hill (Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box), Nelson Blake II (Magdalena), Marc Bernardin (Genius), Adam Freeman (Genius), Jeff Wamester (The Darkness: Four Horsemen), David Hine (The Darkness: Four Horsemen), Jason Rubin (The Iron Saint), Joshua Ortega (Necromancer), Rick Loverd (Berserker), Sheldon Mitchell (The Darkness), Rahsan Ekedal (The Crazies, Echoes), Joshua Hale Fialkov (The Crazies, Echoes), Randy Queen (The Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom Pain), Sarah Queen (The Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom Pain), Jonathan Lincoln (Tracker), Rick Basaldua (The Darkness) and more.

Want to pick up some rare artifacts for a good cause? The CBLDF auction may be just what you're looking for. Original art by Dave McKean and a maquette by Tony DiTerlizzi are among the highlights.

Fans of classic comics art should check out the Flesk booth which will offer new books by and about William Stout, Petar Meseldžija, Harvey Dunn and Al Williamson. More info at their website.

Radical has a full list of signings by such folk as David Hine, Paul Gulacy, Arvid Nelson, and Jimmy Palmiotti. And Wesley Snipes and Sam Worthington, if that's how you roll. You can view the entire singing schedule here. Here's their event list. (More info here.)

Well, we know you have all been waiting for the big announcement about whether Comic-Con is staying San Diego or moving to Albuquerque as the crowning point of the Run-Up To Con; with the decision made, you could either waltz around the city thinking "So glad we'll be staying here; let's go to Stingaree!" or else wandering around in a haze of nostalgia thinking "It was on that corner that I met Mike Grell and asked him about Warlord! So many memories!" But it turns out the decision will not be made until after this year's show. And as the SD Union-Tribune reports, the reason is Hoteloween! There was a delay in hotels signing on to an agreement to hold room prices and make more rooms available, and then everyone running the show got Extremely Busy and just couldn't think about moving or not.

Where at Comic-Con will you see Stephen DeStefano signing with Moto Hagio? Did you even know such a thing was possible? IT IS! At the Fantagraphics booth where books by Charles Schulz, Jacques Tardi, Norman Pettigill, The Hernandez Brothers, Drew Friedman and C. Tyler will debut. And that's only a smattering of the treasures to be found. You can find a Fantagraphics Comic-Con 2010 Pocket Guide here if this is too much to take in. Clearly, this is the place to be.

D&Q, one of the finest comics publishers in the world, actually has all their news and debuts and what not at their blog. We urge you to go there for all the poop. We have taken the liberty of reproducing the covers to WILD KINGDOM, the new Kevin Huizenga and a new issue (hardcover) of PALOOKAVILLE by Seth. Also their signing schedule is below, with guests Vanessa Davis, Jillian Tamaki, Gabrielle Bell and James Sturm. These put the COMIC back in Comic-Con! Let's do this!

In the seasonal ocean of hype and comics companies whose main attraction is some actor signing some comic, there are still oases of good old comic books. And also people who send out fine little news releases and pictures of comics. Such a person is Randy Reynaldo who has been at this a while but still sends out a nice. concise news bit. And he always gets his own news item, like this. Because he did it right. This time out, Reynaldo will premiere the first ever collection of Rob Hanes, Adventurer. "Randy encourages everyone to support small independent comics publishers by visiting his booth (K1) and the other tables in the Small Press Pavilion." And so do we!

US-Japanese publisher Vertical spotlights creator Felipe Smith at the show with his, er, bold series PEEPO CHOO (which is NOT an all-ages book). PEEPO CHOO has been pubished in Japan but is now coming to the US. Here's the schedule:

You can see all of IDW's convention exclusives, panels and signings here but the short version is Michael Chiklis (Pantheon), Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County), Joe R. Lansdale, Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn), Scott Morse, Steve Niles, and the creative teams for True Blood, STAR TREK, TRANSFORMERS, and G.I. JOE at the booth and lots o' news on panels.