SDCC '12

Even comics news is coming out in advance of Comic-Con—in this case, new HEROIC SCALED booth art for Image (#2729). As past con-goers may be aware, Image's booth is anchored by a huge 16' x 32' "Wall of Art" which now features more of the new mega-creator themed stuff like SAGA, MIND THE GAP, AMERICA'S GOT POWERS, and something called THE WALKING DEAD.

With only a few weeks until this year's Comic-Con extravaganza, the big studios are rolling out their panel plans, and as we suspected, film studios are not going in pedal to the metal this year. Variety reports that Paramount, Fox and Relativity are definitely sitting things out, while Universal is iffy. Disney/Marvel sat out last year—they went to their own purpose built D23 show instead—but will be back. (Perhaps to announce the mystery 2014 movie?) WB is also expected to attend with Superman and (we pray) THE HOBBIT. Elsewhere, it's all a little sketchy:

Speak of the devil! Only hours ago we were making jokes about Chris Ware joining the Cirque du Soleil and now there is nows of an actual Cirque du Soleil comic! Sadly it is not from Ware—we can just imagine his version of Limber 12-year-old Chinese Acrobats Stories—instead, it's from Marvel, in a custom comic that ties in with the Vegas spectacle Kà which you will be able to get at this year's Comic-Con.

Our friends at Idle Hands have posted Diamond Select's SDCC exclusives. Yes, we're on a rolling avalanche that will end in about six weeks. All of these are available from Diamond Comic Distributors (Booth #2401) and Diamond Select Toys (#2607).

Anyone who was at last year's San Diego on the comics side probably remembers Tr!ckster as a highlight -- founded by cartoonist/animator Scott Morse and his friends as a comics-centric place to hang out, it featured books for sale, parties, concerts and an awesome spot right across the railroad tracks from the convention center where people could watch the madness and sit on the grass while drinking a glass of rose. Well, the venue is new this year (rumor has it a nasty old Hollywood studio stole the old spot) but it looks to be just as awesome :

Comic-Con has just announced a change to their terms and conditions regarding badges that indicate things are getting more real.

A letter has gone out to those who sought a badge for this year's show...basically, very few have been returned, and those that were will be sold as one-days. And if you want to participate in the sale, make sure you have a Member ID—registration for that closes Friday. Hurry, children, hurry!

Can I get a guest badge for my pro pass? Are there any hotels? Will there be a Wootstock this year? Read on for the best answers we can provide to all your questions about this year's Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Okay, one more SDCC story for the day: The long dreamed of convention center expansion got a little closer to reality when hotel owners agreed to a tax hike that will pay for the expansion over the next 30 years.

We're looking for a few good people to help cover this year's San Diego experience. What you get: a press badge. What you do: write.

So yesterday, Press reg finally opened for the San Diego Comic-Con. Member ID registration is now open. And you can apply. Emails were sent out to people who had previously been on the list. Emails told you whether you were "Verification not due" or...."Verification due."

Okay, hotel room reservation notification for this year's San Diego Comic-Con started rolling out last night...and it was a mixed bag. Although The Beat got a room at our second choice, lots of people didn't get a room at all. And based on an informal Twitter survey, it all seems to have been pretty random. People who got in between 9:03 and 9:09 seemed to run the gamut from first choice to no choice. Was this really just a lottery? SOMEWHERE, we SEEM to remember reading that time stamps within 3 minutes of each other would be treated as a tie and processed in random order....but now we can't find that language anywhere on the CCI site, so maybe we just imagined it? At any rate this kind of process would explain what happened.