io9
We're gearing up for Comic-Con next week, joining the over 100 thousand other nerds who are converging on San Diego to find out what the studios, publishers and toymakers have in store for us next year. All your editors will be there — Annalee Newitz (that would be me), Charlie Jane Anders, Meredith Woerner, and Graeme McMillan — and we'll be joined in our scifi mania by amazing videographer Eddie Codel. We're even doing a panel on Thursday from 2-3. Though there are over 400 panels and even more events going on at Comic-Con, we've pared down the list for you so you can get a sense of what's making us freak out. Below, see our (semi) annotated picks for what to do and watch at Comic-Con.
Wednesday, July 23
Nothing much happening tonight except a preview screening of Fringe. We've seen it, and it's great — so if you are here early and need something to do, definitely check this out.
Thursday:
10:00 Masters of the Web
If it contains the words "master" and "web" then we're there. Even if there is a giant "no girls allowed" sign on the door.
10:45-11:45 Reinventing the Page: Stan Lee and Grant Morrison Talk Virgin Comics
11:00-12:00 LGBT Portayal in Comics
Queer people - yay! Comics - yay! Gail Simone - yay! I don't know if you figured it out, but we like comics about queer people written by Gail Simone. At this panel, you'll get that.
11:15-12:15 30th Anniversary Battlestar Galactica Panel
Meet Richard Hatch (Zarek/Apollo), composer Bear McCreary, and other folks who will talk about the long history of this franchise.
11:30-12:30 Hasbro
Get the scoop on the latest toys — we're excited about anything related to G.I. Joe. Bring back the kung-fu grip please!
11:30-1:00 20th Century Fox: The Day The Earth Stood Still and Max Payne
Clips from the remake of Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu. Check it out! Plus mega-cop Max Payne.
11:45-12:45 Knight Rider: First Look at the New Series and Q&A with Cast and Executive Producers
12:00-1:00 Doctor Who
We promise not to drool too much on Steven Moffat if you promise too.
12:30-1:30 DC: Superman: Man of Tomorrow
Meet a bunch of the people in charge of making Superman do what he does, including Geoff Johns.
1:00-2:00 Torchwood
Russel T. Davies, showrunner on Doctor Who and creator of Torchwood, joined by Moffat and all the main actors from Torchwood. I think this calls for major SQUEE.
1:15-2:45 Summit Pictures - Push
Check out footage from Push and meet Dakota Fanning, star of this cool psychic conspiracy thriller set in Hong Kong.
1:45-2:45 Marvel: X-Men
It's X-Men.
2:00-3:00 Science Fiction That Will Change Your Life
It's the io9 and pals panel, featuring Annalee Newitz, Charlie Jane Anders, and Graeme McMillan, and joined by Austin Grossman (author of Soon I Will Be Invincible and occasional io9 contributor) and Patrick Lee, the kickass editor of SciFi Wire. Come say hi! We'll be giving out limited-edition io9 pins and stickers.
2:00-3:00 The Middleman
OK, well if you don't want to come hang out with io9 people, definitely check out the panel for this awesome TV show which is like a blend of Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Angel.
3:30-4:30 Entertainment Weekly’s The Visionaries: Comic Creators
Mike Mignola, Grant Morrison, and Colleen Doran in the same room. YES.
3:30-4:30 Quantum Quest
Cool science movie.
4:15-5:15 Lionsgate/Marvel: Hulk vs. Wolverine
Who wins? Hulk or Wolverine?
4:30 HBO's True Blood
True Blood = vampires of the science age. Meet Alan Ball, creator of this show as well as Six Feet Under and director of American Beauty. Ball has it all. No, really.
4:45-5:45 Mondo Marvel
5:00 to 6:00 Eye on the Past
Our favorite alternate-history writers Jacqueline Carey (author of the Kushiel series), Naomi Novik (dragons!!!), and Peter David (what can I say? Peter David rules!) talk about science fiction that deals with real (or alternate) history.
5:30-6:30 The Science Behind Science Fiction
We promise not to drool on Phil Plait, the guy behind BadAstronomy.com.
6:00-7:00 DC Nation
6:00 Random House Publishing
>Find out what's up with Del Rey, Del Rey Manga, Ballantine, and Villard Graphic Novels. W00t.
8:30-10:00 Star Wars Fan Film Awards
Hell yeah.
9:00 Repo: The Genetic Opera
More hell yeah.
Friday:
10:00-11:00: Shonen Jump panel with Viz
Find out what's up with awesome manga publisher Viz, and the manga anthology that rules, Shonen Jump.
10:00-11:00 Marvel: Your Universe
10:00-11:00 Batman: Brave & Bold (New cartoon)
Are you sick of Batman yet?
10:00 Designing the Clone Wars
Concept designers explain it all to you.
10:30 Spotlight on Max Brooks
The man who wrote World War Z and single-handedly made zombies both cool and literary? Yes, I think I will have one of those.
10:45-1:00: Stargate panels in Ballroom 20
Spend all morning jumping through Stargates, meeting the actors and creators, and basically immersing yourself in all things Stargate.
10:50 Clone Wars 3-D modeling
Special effects = Yes.
11:00-12:00 Masquerade 101
Get ready for the Big Huge Costume Ball on Saturday night.
11:30 Comics Studies with Douglas Wolk
Eisner Award nominee Wolk talks about the deeper meaning of comics and makes us all about 500 thousand times smarter.
11:30-12:30 Marvel Cup o’ Joe
Hang out with Joe Quesada and ask him about really weird things.
11:55-1:30 Warner Bros.: Watchmen
Let me put this to you gently and eloquently: FUCK YEAH HOLY CRAP YEAH.
12:30-1:30 The Art of Adapting Comics to the Screen
Join Stan Lee, Zak Penn, Mark Fergus, and others. Talk about making comics that go boom on the silver screen.
12:30 Connie Willis spotlight
Say hi to Willis, author of Doomsday Book, one of the coolest time-travel novels ever.
1:00 Resident Evil: Degeneration
Introducing the all-CGI Resident Evil movie. Plus, giant monster lover alert: Makoto Kamiya, who did special effects on Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack, will be there.
1:00 Production Designers
Hear from the production designers on Watchmen, Iron Man, Wolverine, Terminator, and Battlestar Galactica. Should be awesome.
1:30-2:30 Joss Whedon
Joss. Joss. Joss. Joss. Joss. JOSS JOSS JOSS JOSS!!!! Great muppity Odin, it's Joss!
1:45 Entertainment Weekly showrunners panel
Meet the showrunners from Lost, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Chuck. Give them lots of love, because they have really hard jobs and nobody ever asks to lick their palms or have their autographs or anything like that.
2:15-3:15 DC: Batman: No Rest for The Dark Knight
2:45 Lions Gate: The Spirit
Do we really want to see more clips from The Spirit? Yeah, kinda.
3:00-4:00 Spotlight on Lynda Barry
She doesn't write science fiction, but you've got to meet the creator of Ernie Pook's Comeek, author of Cruddy, and now author of her new semi-autobiographical graphic novel What It Is. She is like a legend among us.
3:30-4:30 Marvel to the Nth Degree
Major announcement rumored! Hopefully cooler than those Skrull masks they had at the last Comic-Con in NYC!
4:00-5:00 All Hail the Transformers!
Feelin' mega.
4:00 Spotlight on Robert Sawyer
He writes about love between humans and Neanderthals, so he must be rad.
4:00-5:00 Image Comics Show
4:00 Star Wars 2008
Whee!
4:30-5:30 Vertigo: View of the Future
What's next for Vertigo?
5:00 ABC Family Party Interview with Dragaon Ball Z Jamie Chung
Dragon Ball Z — yes!
5:15-6:15 Entertainment Weekly’s The Visionaries: Filmmakers
Frank Miller, Zach Snyder, Kevin Smith, and (weirdly) Judd Apatow hang out and shoot the breeze. I am really hoping they get naked and mud wrestle.
5:30 Venture Bros.
Meet Jackson Publick, the creator of Venture Bros. And maybe you could bow down before him? You know, like once?
6:00-7:00 DCU: Final Crisis Management
Therapy for superheroes with Dan DiDio and Grant Morrison. Let's work through our trust issues.
6:30 Working in genre TV
It's like regular TV, except with spaceships.
7:15 MS3K anniversary reunion
So fucking awesome. Like, Godzilla-level awesome. And not the 1990s Godzilla, OK? The really dorky one from the 1960s who did the Highland Fling and shit.
8:30 Eisner Awards
They're the Oscars of the comic book world!
10:45-12:00 Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Yes, I want to sing along with this musical about a supervillain and his Freeze Ray.
Saturday:
10:00 Iron Man animated adventures screening
10:00 Eye on the Future
I will try to contain my urge to SQUEE as I contemplate hearing from Charles Stross, Tobias Buckell, Ann Aguirre, Robert Sawyer, and all the other awesome scifi authors on this panel.
10:00 The Black Panel
Method Man from Wu Tang Clan mixes it up with Rusty Cundieff (Tales from the Hood), and Faith Cheltenham (Tor.com). Do not drool on Rusty even though he fucking rules.
10:00 Futurama
10:45 Heroes
Exclusive first look at the new season, with Jeph Loeb, Tim Kring, and a giant gang of actors who are not all sleeping together apparently.
11:00 Watching the Watchmen
Hang out with brainiacs and talk about Watchmen, the comic book.
11:00 Hellboy
Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy the comic book, is my personal Moloch. Sadly, he hates technology and probably doesn't read blogs. Despite that, I love him so.
11:30 Terminator
Chat with show creators and stars of Sarah Connor Chronicles.
12:00 Lost
Talk to producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof about the show that's making your mind bleed.
12:45 Dan Didio
What will happen when Dan DiDio faces a room full of crazed DC fans? Bring your spatter shield.
1:00 Dollhouse
Talk to the creators and actors involved with Joss Whedon's new series about mind-wiping? Sign me up please.
1:15 Terminator 4
Check out clips from Terminator: Salvation, starring Batman.
2:15 Battlestar Galactica
A chance to hear from show creators David Eick and Ron Moore, plus a handful of the coolest actors from the show. Awesome. Do not ask about Bionic Woman, though. Eick might cry.
2:30 Disney/Pixar
What's next for the studio that brought you the best scifi movie of the year, Wall-E?
3:30 Chuck screening and Q/A
Remember your pal Chuck, whose brain is packed with random crap from the CIA? Come chat with him.
3:45 The Mummy and Death Race
Undead ancient beings and cars that kill. A great combination. Check out clips and meet the filmmakers.
4:30 Marvel Secret Invasion
5:00 Starship Troopers 3
5:30 - 7:00 Quarantine screening
8:30 International Masquerade
Come out to see the fashionistas of the scifi world and be seriously dazzled.
10:00 world premiere of Mutant Chronicles
Be sure to check this one out. It's going to rock.
Sunday:
10:00 Smallville Q/A
11:45 DC Nation
1:00 TV writers of Marvel
2:45-3:45 Grant Morrison and Deepak Chopra
Together at last!!!!!!!!!!! To talk about Virgin Comics, of course.
