Damn, we are tuckered out. Two shows back to back will do that to you.

But no rest for the wicked! Heroes Con and Wizard World Philadelphia are looming…if you have some news to share, send it our way. Sadly, we won’t be going to Heroes Con this year, but it looks like it will be as much fun as always. Programming has been announced and here are a few highlights:

FRIDAY:

THE ART OF THE COMIC STRIP | Room 216
Andy Mansell sits down with some of the greats of strip cartooning, including Richard Thompson (Cul De Sac), Jim Scancarelli (Gasonline Alley), Marcus Hamilton (Dennis the Menace), and June Brigman (Brenda Starr). Don’t miss this look into one of America’s oldest and most unique artforms, the newspaper strip!

JEFF SMITH & ALEC LONGSTRETH: Two-Way Interview | Room 217A
With over two million copies of his creation BONE in print, and his new RASL series well underway, Jeff Smith may need no introduction. Alec Longstreth (PHASE 7, BASEWOOD), on the other hand, is somewhat less well-known, but is surely on the way to Smith-ian accomplishments. And who better to introduce you to him than Jeff Smith? Don’t miss this two-way interview, which will probably be one of the events of this year’s show!

SATURDAY

MAKING COMICS FOR ALL AGES | Room 217A
Join moderator Andy Mansell as he sits down with Jeff Smith (BONE, RASL), Roger Langridge (THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK, FRED THE CLOWN), David Petersen (MOUSE GUARD), Chris Schweizer (CROGAN’S VENGEANCE) and more as they discuss making comics that kids and adults alike can enjoy! Sure to be a can’t-miss conversation.

NEW MEDIA COMICS | Room 217BCD
Join writer Van Jensen, Andy Runton (OWLY), Longbox developer and COMIC BOOK TATTOO editor Rantz Hoseley, and IDW’s manager of ePublishing, Jeff Webber, for an eye-opening look into how comics are penetrating new media platforms like the iPhone, Kindle, and more!

SUNDAY
HISTORICAL COMICS | Room 217A
The Heroes Discussion Group’s own Andy Mansell sits down with three of comics most talented voices to discuss dealing with history (both real and imagined) in comics and graphic novels. Featuring Jason Lutes (BERLIN), Matt Kindt (SUPERSPY), and Jim Ottaviani (SUSPENDED IN LANGUAGE), this is sure to be a triple-fascinating panel discussion!

Good times!

Meanwhile, Wizard World Philly is also coming along. The 12 original WATCHMEN covers will be on display, and you know, there’s certain to be much of interest there.

Today is the day that the San Diego gate swings shut. Four-day and single-day tickets are sold out. Pro registration closed on May 5. And today, June 8th, is the last day that press can register to attend. With the size of the existing San Diego Convention Center placing a physical limit on how many people can attend the eagerly-awaited event, demand for a ticket to the big show is higher than ever. As we do each year, we checked in with CCI’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations David Glanzer to get a status report on the present and future of the four and a half day comic-con that has become one giant carnival.

One thing of note in the interview: there may still be some passes that go on sale closer to the show. Read on for details. Many thanks to David for taking time out to answer our questions.

THE BEAT: Were you surprised the show passes sold out so far in advance this year?

David Glanzer: Yes. We hadn’t done any real advertising for the show so we were kind of taken aback by the brisk sales.

The Beat: What do you think contributed to the fast sellout?

DG: I think people are just planning ahead. From what we’ve heard it seems that while some people are cutting down on vacations and travel, they’re opting to keep open bigger trips and I think Comic-Con falls into that category.
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No room at the con? Not if these plans for an expansion of the San Diego Convention Center are approved. The plans call for an additional 400,000 sq. ft, with 225,000 of them exhibition space. (The current facility is 814,000 sq. ft.) The expansion would keep SD in the top 13 US convention centers…AND include enough space for Comic-Con! But there would also be pedestrian bridges and a rooftop restaurant, as shown in an artist’s rendering, above.

The new wing would sit in front of the existing building, on the bay side. It would rise 40 feet above the southern wing but stand about as tall as the structure’s signature “sails,” officials said.

The design team discarded another site — across Harbor Drive on parking lots now used by Petco Park, including Tailgate Park — because a previously unknown finger of the Rose Canyon earthquake fault was discovered there.

One eye-catching element of the bayfront design would be a 57-foot-high pedestrian bridge stretching from Fourth Avenue, across the Convention Center, to the water. Currently, walkers must summit a mountain of steps or take a slow-moving elevator to get from the Harbor Drive side to the bay side of the long building.

While we’re alarmed by the idea of a nearby fault line, it seems the new Hilton will populate the once-mysterious waterfront on the southern end of the center, so you might as well go fro broke.

For San Diego Kremlinologists, there’s a site devoted entirely to the expansion task force, with nostalgic photos of SD through the years, and more artist’s renderings, such as this.

As you can see, it is inaccurate because none of the people walking around is dressed like Boba Fett.

BTW, despite the San Diego Comic-Con’s meager contribution to the city till, the San Diego Tribune already has a guide and countdown calendar online for those attending.

Speaking of comic-cons, apparently someone in the UK is going around claiming they have one with Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, and Alan Moore as guests. The claims don’t hold up to much scrutiny, as the Forbidden Planet blog reports:

Strangely for an event with such a guest list I’m struggling to find a website for it it (as were most on the forum discussion), which seems odd as according to the article it starts on June 18th and runs through to the end of July. And I haven’t heard mention elsewhere about the 5 by 5 event, much less confirmation of venues or the impressive sounding guest list (and a whole range of comics pros on Dez’s forums, from publishers to artists to store owners knew nothing about it either), which is a bit odd this close to the start of it - if Stan Lee is coming surely he’s be all over the comics blogosphere about it? I mean Stan isn’t backwards about coming forwards about projects and events he’s involved with (I mean that in a nice way, its not a dig, we wouldn’t change him). And Alan Moore is not given to doing conventions and festivals like this normally so it would be out of character. Do any of our readers know of this festival or are even taking part in it? If so drop us a line, we’d love to hear more about it and if there is an actual site with details on it that people can check out with solid information about the events, guests, venues and dates.

Considering that at least one website already ran news of this bogus show as a San Diego spin-off, it would seem that communication, at the very least, has been quite messed up about this.

Spurge reports rumors that a few more folks have left Wizard. Vice-President of Production and Circulation Darren Sanchez left against his will, while photographer Dylan Brucie quit.

Meanwhile, over at Blog@, Lucas Siegel rounds up a heaping helping of complaints over the Wizard Store’s customer service.

If you visit Wizard’s Storefront Feedback at Amazon.com, it appears something bad has happened of late. The 90 day feedback shows 23% negative, but the 30 day feedback shows 53%. Exploring the full feedback, 35 out of the 50 most recent are 1 star out of 5. These have some interesting comments attached to them:

There’s much more, including a response from Wizard’s press person, April Wiggins, who explains that customers not getting what they ordered is due to merchandise that was damaged in a recent move. You can follow along at the Wizard message board, where complaints are rife.

In more positive Wizardly news, according to a recent email, Wizard World Phillie is still coming along:

If you want to exhibit at Wizard World Philadelphia, June 19-21, 2009, and have your name appear in our program guide, you must commit by this week! Here are some highlights of what you can expect! (For those of you who already committed, you may want to make sure you have product covering the following guests). By far our biggest event ever, we have over 220 guests and over 40 Exclusives! Yes, over 40! We have also committed a huge TV ad campaign to the local CBS affiliates that begins on June 8th, look for it!

The deadline is given as this Friday. Wizard personnel listed in the email who are still there include Larry Ernst (East Coast sales), James Spinello (Midwest & West Coast sales), Benji DeJohn and press contact April Wiggins.

The 27th annual Salón Internacional del Cómic de Barcelona is underway, if locals can rouse themselves from their post-Champions League triumphal celebrations. While the above site is in Spanish, you may find this photo from Carla Michelle’s Twitter stream of guests Mark Waid, Jim Lee, Marta Martinez, Diego Olmos, Jordi Marti, David Hernando, and a special guest following a press conference amusing.

Can the LA area support a big comics show? Many have tried, and many have had mixed results. Now Martha Donato, a long time force at running past Wizard World shows, is trying to get a new show off the ground, the 1st Annual Long Beach Comic Con. We’ve been hearing about the show’s effort from behind the scenes for months now, but now the website is fleshing out some of the story:

Fall just got more exciting with the premiere of the Long Beach Comic Con. This October 2-4th will boast an exciting line-up of screenings, exhibitors, artists, writers, celebrities, previews PLUS some surprises!

LBCC wants to do one thing - make you love comic books more than you did when you first set foot on our show floor.

Not just the exclusives and toy deals.

Not just autographs and sketches.

Not just the teaser trailers and game demos.

We love everything about the medium and the message - from Silver Age bottle cities, to indy mini-comics based on poetry. We want you to experience it all. That’s why we’re lining up more than the trendy guests and sneak peeks that Hollywood wants you to see (though we’ve got that, too!).

We’re getting the best, the coolest, the most experimental and the … well, quite simply, the grooviest stuff we can.

The show enters a market that has never really developed a signature big show. While the unsnappily named Los Angeles Comicbook and Science Fiction Convention has been running monthly one-day shows at the downtown Shrine for decades, most comic-friendly Angelenos zip up or down the coast for San Diego or WonderCon for their big con thrills.

Wizard World launched in Los Angeles, a few years back, but despite its name, it was actually held in Long Beach, which seemed to make for a fun, well-positioned show. After a few years, it was moved to the actual LA convention center in downtown, and many felt the show never recovered its momentum. This year’s show was slated for March but has been postponed with no new date given.

The Long Beach setting for the new LBCC has a pleasant, seaside vibe reminiscent of a mini-San Diego. While it’s a natural setting in a market that seems underserved, launching a new show in a tough economy and a tough market is a big undertaking. More as it develops.

More info here.

We misplaced the link to Tom Spurgeon’s always indispensable tips for enjoying San Diego Comic-Con. Every tip has much wisdom, but we thought we’d spotlight this one:

Tip #15. Get Your Pre-Convention Stuff Done One Full Week In Advance
If you’re preparing anything at all for the show — resumes, business cards, art to sell, opening lines, books to sell, art to show, scripts to pass around, your camera, a freelance assignment — get everything done by July 15. This gives you a day or two leeway if something is screwed up, but it also means you won’t be a basket case when you arrive on the convention floor because you stayed up for 37 hours stapling your mini-comic biography of Phil Seuling. Forget entirely getting something done while you’re there. It’s not convenient and you’ll find 10,000 excuses to skip it.

So true. Over the years we remember talking to artists who would go back to their rooms to ink, or writers who were doing some script punch-up in their spare time. Or, ourselves, running back and forth to the Kinko’s in the lobby to make some last minute (and expensive) copies of something we should have done the week before. Such foolishness is no longer allowed.

Also, hasn’t everyone learned that having the printer air-ship the copies to the con at the last minute, just isn’t a good idea? How many times have we seen people standing wryly before an empty table explaining that “The issues didn’t get here from the printer.” EVERY CON!!!! That’s money you left on the table, people, money lost for the shipping, and money lost for missed sales. Ahead of time means “ahead of time”, not “at the con.”

As planned, we stopped in at the Maine Comics Art Festival in Portland yesterday. Now, before going any further, we should point out that we’re boosters for the show — anything that furthers the cause of comics in Maine is something we’re for!

That said, we were really, really curious about how this show would play out. Maine’s economy is variable in the best of times, and it has been hit by the current economic downturn pretty hard. Plus, Mainers are not really into, well, luxuries. The show was launched by Casablanca Comics‘ Rick Lowell with a strong emphasis on art comics and kids comics, and while there were a few local superhero creators on hand, MeCAF was headlined by creators who were definitely not “mainstream.” Seeing how a local first time show fared in a tough market would be a good test of whether the comics economy’s continuing strength was momentum or something with more staying power.

Judging by the enthusiasm and crowd, we’d say “Staying power.” Lowell reports that nearly 1000 people showed up for the day, an impressive figure. When we arrived, the venue was jammed with mostly families with children. (Kids got in free.) Jay Piscopo, creator of Cap’n Eli, and Kean Soo of Jellaby had lots of young admirers on hand. Otherwise, the show was a mini-SPX, with CCS students dominating and Gabrielle Bell, Chris Giarusso, and Becky Cloonan rounding out the guest list.

But, as one observer mentioned to us, the woods of Maine are “lousy” with cartoonists. Maine’s rocky coast and wooded hills have always had a strong appeal for illustrators, whether as summer guests or year long residents, and there were several of these crossover artists exhibiting as well. Throw in a bunch of New York’s most exciting young cartoonists, like Becky Cloonan, Julia Wertz, Sarah Glidden, and Austin English, and you have a lively little show.

Saleswise, this probably wasn’t a blockbuster, but we didn’t see too many people at the end of the day looking sad and gloomy like we have when things go badly, and everyone sold something. The one question we did hear was that mixing indie type comics with a very kid-friendly show might not be maximizing the potential audience for either; given the number of small kids on hand, we’d say that’s a real growth area for this show.

Lowell announced that there will be a MeCAF next year, and it’s a colorful addition to the indie comics circuit. The venue is small but very airy, with giant windows overlooking the Casco Bay. Seagulls and the clashing of waves are the background sounds. PLUS, the con hotel (where we stayed last night) is the picturesque Inn on Peaks Island, which is a short ferry ride from the mainland, so you get to take a sea journey. Plus, much to the delight of Future Mr. Beat, there is tasty Shipyard Ale everywhere around the show.

All in all, it was a very positive day and showed that even In This Economy, comics are bucking the trends.

NEWS NOTE: We moderated an enlightening panel with guests Cloonan, Bell, Giarusso, and Soo, and got to hear everyone talk about the creative process. The one thing that really caught our ear was Soo’s idea for his next book — best described as the adventures of a “fact checking octopus.” Sign us up.

Becky Cloonan and her step-dad.

Sunset on Peaks Island.

Wow, from all the rapturous Tweets and blog posts, it sounds like this weekend’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival was the bomb, the bee’s knees and the cat’s pajamas all rolled into one. Sequential has a great link roundup. Jamie Coville (among many others) has a photo gallery, and it looks like there were about a kabillion people there — and that’s SUNDAY. We recommend just starting with Sequential and working your way through some of the stories, like this report on the Doug Wright Awards, but from all accounts, it was an astounding weekend showcasing the greatness and vibrancy of comics and we’ll be hearing a lot more about it in the days to come.

This year’s Bristol Comics Expo was a bit of a stripped down affair, and we couldn’t find much online just yet (or else no one had recovered from their pub time) but Cheryl Morgan has a live blog and some video, and her Twitter stream recaps the weekend. Also, Lee “Budgie” Barnett put up a few photos at his Live Journal, including this one, which seems, to us, anyway, to fall firmly into the category of Steampunk. Reports welcome!

Via PR, the Big Apple Con, newly acquired by Gareb Shamus, has announced its first guests:

Gareb Shamus, CEO of New York-based Wizard Entertainment, today announced that Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, and Jim Lee creator/publisher of DC Comics’ WildStorm Productions, will be co-Guests of Honor at “The 2009 National,” October 16-18, 2009 at Pier 94 in Manhattan.

“Jim, Joe and I grew up together and are long-time friends. Having them as co-Guests of Honor in NYC is historic, because they are the two most influential creators in comics today.” Shamus said. “Jim and Joe are both modern day legends. They represent everything that’s great about what we are passionate about.”
“I was honored when Gareb called me to be his inaugural guest of honor,” Lee said. “New York has always been a big part of my career and I can’t wait to go there and meet the fans.”

“Having grown up in New York, I was thrilled to be named guest of honor for the first new Big Apple con,” Quesada added. “I look forward to sharing my excitement with the hometown crowd and helping make “The 2009 National” a must attend event.”

The Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo, or SPACE, as it is known, one of the original old-time indie comics fests, takes place this weekend in Columbus, OH. It runs April 18 & 19, 2009 at the Aladdin Shrine Center, Columbus.

10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Saturday and
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Sunday

Admission $5.00 for one day and $8.00 for both

Highlights include a Carol Tyler art show, and lots of debuting comics. Exhibitors include Matt Feazell, Jay Hosler, Dara Naraghi, Nate Powell, and LOTS MORE. Here’s another preview at Blog@.

It isn’t just American comics shows that are still hot in an ailing economy; the Bristol International Comics Expo has sold out of tickets — a month ahead of its May dates. We’ve posted the entire press release here, as it contains lots of hype and info on the show, but according to the PR, no tickets will be available at the door, and anyone wishing to attend will need to get on a reserve list.

It should be noted that the show — longest running and best established in the UK — is being held at a much smaller venue this year, the Ramada Plaza Hotel on 9th and 10th May 2009, and additionally, the Mercure Holland House Hotel on Saturday. Previous shows were held at much roomier venues, including the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum and the famed Bristol “train shed.”

• ICv2 talks with Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus about his acquisition of the Big Apple Con, announced yesterday.

We asked Shamus what plans he had for the Big Apple shows other than the National (the fall show), and he said that “we’re still working that out.” Carbonaro had run as many as three other Big Apple shows annually, in addition to the National.

We also asked Shamus for clarification on the ownership structure, and he said that he will own Big Apple, and that Wizard Entertainment will run it. Asked why he chose that ownership structure, Shamus replied, “I’ve always wanted to own a show in New York. This is just something that was very near and dear to me.”

• According to Twitter and the grapevine , yesterday, in addition to announcing the Shamus/Wizard/Big Apple deal, Brett White, the news editor for Wizard’s website, was let go. Another layoff was also rumored.

Rumors have been floating around for a while that something was up with the Big Apple Con, the New York show run by retailer Michael Carbonaro. Now, according to a press release, the show has been purchased by Wizard and will move to a new venue — Pier 94 – and an October date for this year.  Should this date hold for next year, it would put the show in direct competition with the New York Comic-Con, which is moving to a fall date in 2010.

The Big Apple Con had been held at the Pennsylvania Hotel, a crumbling landmark which was much the worse for wear and contributed to what many considered a less-than-sparkling display for comics and their media guests. The hotel had been slated for demolition, but the housing bust has put that on hold.

Wizard has been running conventions for a while, of course, but had faced rocky roads this year with the cancellation of one show (Texas) and the postponement of another (Los Angeles.) The Chicago and Philly shows are still planned. As with other Wizard shows, the new Big Apple Con will be partnered with another pop culture show, this time the Video Game Expo. Complete PR follows.

Gareb Shamus, CEO of New York-based Wizard Entertainment,  today announced he has acquired Big Apple Con, one of the trailblazing brands in the comic book and pop culture world, and the longest running annual show in New York City. The “new” Big Apple Con is moving to Pier 94 in Manhattan the weekend of October 16-18, 2009.

“I’ve been going to shows in New York City since I was a kid and I have a fondness for Big Apple Con,” Shamus said. “Today’s acquisition fulfills a dream of running a mega-show in New York City unlike anything there’s ever been.”

This move also enjoys tremendous support and enthusiasm from industry leaders. “Diamond is really looking forward to working closely with our friends at Wizard as they expand into the New York market,” said Bill Schanes, Vice President for Purchasing at Diamond Comics. “We anticipate a great event based on their ability to attract key talent, to promote and market the event, and at the same time to give consumers a tremendous value for their admission price.”

Ed Fleming, CEO/Founder of Video Game Expo (VGXPO), the largest East Coast expo of its kind, announced recently its partnership with Wizard World Philly. Now, VGXPO will expand its relationship to include Chicago Comic-Con and Big Apple Con as well. “Our partnership provides VGXPO with the ability to rapidly grow our footprint from Philadelphia to Chicago and now New York City,” he said. “We look forward to working and sharing our passion for video games with all the fans in New York.”

Michael Carbonaro , the longtime and current producer of the show, will continue to provide his limitless creativity and enthusiasm to the show.

Benji DeJohn is listed as Show Manager and Joe Favorito as Media Relations contact.

San Diego Comic-Con has officially sold out of four-day passes for the weekend.

In March.

What recession????

Technorati Tags: SDCC ‘09

Looks like the answer is YES! As of 2:30 this afternoon, this was what the San Diego Comic-Con site was showing for four-day passes:

Only a few hours before, the bar was YELLOW. So if you’re planning to go…better haul ass over there to buy a pass!

Pro Reg opens on Sunday. Hotel registration is on Thursday. Looks like it will all be over but the shouting (and day passes and hotel room swapping) within a week!

[image from CNet]
by Matt Maxwell

Take it away, Lift to Experience. “Hear the train a-comin’” indeed. Saturday was a runaway train, full tilt roto, unstoppable on the tracks without a Superman in sight to slow it down. But even runaway trains lose momentum over time.

And that was Sunday. Now, in reality, at least for me, Sunday was better than Friday, which is a little screwy it seems. I guess more people come down for just a Sunday visit than I thought, or they finally made up their minds to spend money that they’d been holding on to all weekend.

The quiet of before the show opening never quite shook off, though people did start to filter down in larger numbers after noon. I spent the extra hour before show opening (incredulously having to wait until 10am to be let in, just like every other exhibitor who seemed just as incredulous) picking up a couple things for the kids. Oh, and a nice copy of TOTH: BLACK AND WHITE for myself, as well as the last couple CRIMINAL books. Bought ‘em from a guy who hailed from my home town, such as it is, of Dana Point. Okay, so I’m really from Laguna Niguel, but close enough. I went to high school in Dana Point. So it’s like a home town.

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by Matt Maxwell

Saturday was rough, a reckoning of several nights with little sleep capped off by a 3:30 bedtime and five hours of sleep that morning. Maybe you cool kids do that every night, with your energy drinks and your crystal meth. Me, I get by with coffee and a little stumbling and having to think things through a few more times than usual. But one can’t disappoint one’s adoring public. Or the vastly indifferent one, either.

So I got to be vaguely shellshocked whilst sitting behind my table, propped up by breakfast at Mel’s washed down with too many cups of coffee (or was that too few?). Didn’t take long for the crowds to start up. Apparently there was a pretty solid line to get through on Saturday morning, not that such would be an issue for me with my mystical hot pink badge, which allowed me full access without interruption or distraction. But…hot pink? I guess it’s good for visibility.

Saturday in a word? Busy. There were a lot of people in the hall, more crowded than I’ve seen it before. But to be fair, in the past when it’s been this busy I usually just hide out at one of the book dealers or go get some lunch and wait for it to blow over. But I couldn’t do that now. That would be deserting the post, punishable by death or five days in the tiger cage or the hotbox. I wouldn’t punk out, not me.

Good thing too, because Saturday yielded three times the sales of MURDER MOON that Friday had. I sold more copies that day than I usually do on entire weekends at other shows. Maybe the serialization thing is paying off after all. I know that more than one buyer on Saturday told me that they’d read the online preview the night before after getting the postcard with said information, and then deciding that it would indeed be worth parting with a measly sawbuck to get the rest of the story. And yes, a sawbuck is a mere ten dollars, not twenty as a misguided customer had informed me that afternoon.

Technorati Tags: WonderCon 09

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Both coasts of the US get their con on this weekend as WonderCon and MegaCon both strut their stuff.

§ We’ve been spotlighting WonderCon, held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, all morning. Guests include Brian Azzarello, Jim Lee, Trina Robbins, Dave Johnson, Stan Sakai, Sergio Aragones and Matt Fraction. There’s a special screening of WATCHMEN tonight at midnight, incredible programming and more cartoonists than you can shake a stick at. In short: YOU CAN’T GO WRONG AT THIS SHOW! We haven’t been out to WonderCon in eight or nine years but one of these days…

§ MegaCon is taking place today through Sunday in Hall D of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. We’ve never been there, but the show has the rep as one of the funnest, best run, just plain entertaining cons in the US. Guests include George Perez, Amanda Conner, Mark Waid, Jimmy Palmiotti, and author Peter S. Beagle.

Good times for all. Us? We’ll be home sorting through boxes of little pieces of paper. Send us your reports!

Viz Is a last minute surprise at WonderCon:

VIZ Media has received a last minute opportunity to support the WonderCon show (sister-show to San Deigo Comic-Con) in San Francisco this weekend as an exhibitor this year.

VIZ Media will be in booth # 835 highlighting our two expanding imprints - the VIZ Signature imprint and the VIZ KIDS imprint.

VIZ Signature is the company’s dynamic outlet for classic and literary manga titles aimed at more mature and sophisticated readers - some of the titles included are 20th CENTURY BOYS, PLUTO, BLACK LAGOON and VAGABOND among others.

Also featured at the show will be VIZ Media’s VIZKIDS imprint, which is designed for younger readers.
Some of those titles to be featured at the show include; POKÉMON, LEGEND OF ZELDA, DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION Chapter Books, NARUTO Chapter Books and more

Technorati Tags: WonderCon 09

Image has a big show planned with a WonderCon Exclusive edition of SAVAGE DRAGON #145 which features the most popular president currently in charge of the US taking on a dirty rotten terrorist. Won’t someone save us a copy?

This weekend thousands of comic fans will flood San Francisco’s Moscone Hall for WonderCon 2009 to meet their favorite creators and the publisher who brings it better than any other, the Bay Area’s very own Image Comics!

“It’s always fun to travel to conventions, but nothing beats the hometown show,” Image Comics Founder and Illustrator of the WonderCon Exclusive SAVAGE DRAGON #145 Erik Larsen said. “It may not be the biggest, but it’s certainly one of the best! Plus, it’s a particularly important con for me as this week marks the big relaunch of SAVAGE DRAGON! I’m excited to hear what the fans have to say about the big issue!”

Throughout the weekend Larsen along with VIKING’s Ivan Brandon, ELEPHANTMEN’s Richard Starkings & Moritat, DARKNESS’ Michael Broussard and Top Cow Productions Publisher Filip Sablik and will be available at the Image Comics booth signing autographs and selling exclusive items! However, the convention doesn’t truly begin until Friday’s Image Comics Show at 3-4 PM in room 103 featuring Larsen, Starkings, THE GREAT UNKNOWN’s Duncan Rouleau and Champions Online writer John Layman with the first word on an all-new project! In addition, the already much coveted SAVAGE DRAGON #145 variant featuring President Barack Obama taking on Osama Bin Laden will be available starting Friday for a very limited amount of time with a select few fans randomly winning a copy during the Friday panel. If that’s not enough GODLAND’s Joe Casey, PHERONE’s Viktor Kalvachev, NEW BRIGHTON ARCHELOGICAL SOCIETY’s Mark Andrew Smith and many more will stop by the booth!

Image Comics can be found at booth #407 during Wondercon, February 27 - March 1st 2009, taking place in the San Francisco Moscone Center.

Technorati Tags: WonderCon 09

The Hero Initiative announced today its plans for WonderCon, the West Coast’s second largest comics convention, taking place at the Moscone Center South from Feb. 27 to March 1 in San Francisco.

Celebrated artist Darick Robertson (The Boys, Transmetropolitan, Wolverine) will make the Hero booth (#913) his home away from home at WonderCon, appearing for five signing sessions throughout the weekend. He can also be found spending time at The Comic Outpost booth (#1108).

“As always, I’m looking forward to helping The Hero Initiative for aging and needful creators,” said Robertson. “They do great work, and I’m always happy to be a part of it.”

Fans will also be able to get their first opportunity all weekend to meet writer Matt Fraction (Invincible Iron Man, The Uncanny X-Men, Punisher War Journal, The Immortal Iron Fist), as the Marvel superstar will appear at the Hero booth first thing on Friday.

The Hero Initiative can be found at Booth #913. Fans can stop by to make donations, purchase exclusive signed items, sign up for memberships and get their items signed by Robertson, Fraction and some of their other favorite creators. Here is the schedule of appearances at The Hero Initiative Booth during the weekend (all times Pacific):

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