Conventions

The expected tsunami of San Diego news is well under way, and we'll start our annual mega posting tomorrow. In the meantime apologies for the erratic Beat posting schedule of late due to conflicting deadlines on a variety of fronts; juggling all this stuff seems to take as much time as getting it accomplished. Despite all the problems, I hope you can stick with me. Of course, I'll be in San Diego to report on as much of it as one human possibly can -- we'll have a few stringers and correspondents on the scene as well and hopefully we can dig a little into the behind the scenes of the hype and hoopla.

Looking at the Sunday Programming for each year's San Diego always makes us wistful, as we imagine the brain-blasted exhaustion we'll be experiencing as...

It's here! Some highlights below: 10:00-11:00 Spotlight on Carla Speed McNeil— Comic-Con special guest Carla Speed McNeil is best known for her creator-owned title Finder....

As the SD10 schedule drifts out, the big movie panels are shaping up, and one of the biggest comic book movies at this year's...

It's up! Quick highlights:  10:00-11:00 Publishing Comics— Four publishers—Matt Gagnon (BOOM!), Gary Groth (Fantagraphics), Dallas Middaugh (Del Rey Manga), and Mark Siegel (First Second Books) --...

Panels on imprint, their Henson and Lucid projects and All Ages comics highlight the Archaia panels, and guests include Brian Froud and David Petersen.

Read it and get exhausted all over again. Sob, sob, why did they have to put The Expendables opposite Look Around You? Some quick...

San Diego Preview Night kicks off in exactly two weeks. A fortnight. And as of today we have exactly ONE PRESS RELEASE FROM A COMIC BOOK...

In our San Diego news round-up yesterday we neglected to mention that a contest to win a pass to The Big Show is underway -- and one of its hosts is right here at the Beat! Just click on the Comic-Con banner ad at the top of the pae (if it isn't visible hit refresh and it should be) and the ink will take you to a page where you can enter the contest. Via PR, a few lucky folks have already won four-day passes:

We're gonna try not to have minutely news updates on this year's San Diego, but it's probably gonna be daily from here on out, so here's a round-up of pertinent links and ephemera. Which reminds us....isn't it time San Diego was renamed Douche Prom?

Suck it, gastroentologists! Comic-Con does SO make lots of money for the city of San Diego! At long last an in-depth survey has shown what most long suspected: the San Diego Comic-Con is a cash cow for the local economy. While the con's own internal estimates have the economic impact of the 130,000+ fans who attend Comic-Con every year at more than $50 million, official estimates by the local convention bureau had the show's fiscal impact much lower -- $32 million in 2008. However, an actual survey of con attendees in 2008 has revealed the stunning truth: the con brings in $163 million a year, QUADRUPLE what was thought.

Okay we're not going to post EVERY tv PR we find about Comic-Con, but this one struck very near and dear to our hearts -- it seems Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, the stars of LOOK AROUND YOU are coming to comic-con. Yet another one of our favorite BBC cult shows, LOOK AROUND YOU has run on Adult Swim and if you've seen it you know that science has never been the same since these classic experiments, such as the creation of "sulphagne" or driving while asleep.