Conventions

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.

As reported here and a few other places, the San Diego Padres baseball team's schedule for July 16th contained an intriguing item called "Comic-Con...

Via pr -- GLEE is coming again and it's gonna be huuuuuge; also lots and lots of Fox cartoons. Fox TV just sent out...

If you read ONE local paper story about a comic-con/nerdlerbrity fest/back issue bonanza, it should be this one by Micaela Hood in the Miami Herald on this weekend's Supercon, because it nicely captures the peaceful intermingling of the fans in their homemade costumes, the dealers selling stickers, and the aging stars with nowhere else to go. As "Comic-Con" has become a brand name for an entrainment event where you can expect all this and MORE, the various strata of con-world must learn to live with one another. Just what IS going through Richard "Shaft" Roundtree's mind, anyway?

As you may know, in recent years, the Padres are scheduled to be on the road during Comic-Con, to alleviate congestion down by the...

Archie Comics has a big presence planned, and they even have Stan Lee. (Is there a publisher that doesn't have Stan Lee this year?) Other participants in Archie activity include Michael Uslan, Dan Parent, Batton Lash, Kevin Keller, Rich Koslowski and Tania del Rio.

This popped up somewhere in our RSS feed: The Unauthorized San Diego Comic-Con Survival Guideby Doug Kline from popculturegeek.com. This self published guide is a small pocket-sized book that sells for $7 plus shipping and includes info on surviving the ordeal of a lifetime, or at least the month. BUt if you ask us, you don't really need a book to figure out most of this stuff:

The first time we mentioned Morgan Spurlock's upcoming documentary set at Comic-Con, both we and commenters were a bit skeptical that the casting call...

We didn't get a chance to cover Wizard World Philly this year, although Mike Manley promises his usual Babymen update, however as you can see from the above, as wrestler Lisa Marie Varon tweeted, it was a great chance for nerdlebrities to hang out.

Although we're probably the very last person to get our HeroesCon thoughts online, it was such a good time, it would be wrong not to enumerate a few of the ways it rocked. Although everyone knows that Shelton Drum, Dustin Harbin and the rest of the Heroes crew know how to extend Southern hospitality to convention guests in a relaxed, unassuming way, the show -- the largest HeroesCon yet by all signs -- also served as a near-perfect capsule of the comics industry, thanks to a wide ranging, well-deployed guest list showcased in diverse, entertaining programming. While Indie Island is Harbin's baby and remains a hotbed of amazing talent, the rest of the show showed off other elements of the cartooning world -- there was a wall of strip cartoonists, for instance, and the "mainstream mainland" included an amazing lineup of artists from Brian Bolland to Jill Thompson to Adam Hughes and Tony Harris.