My full write-up of Long Beach Comic Con is done! I looked at lots of art, caught some panels, got stuff signed by both Mark Waid and Geoff Johns, bought some books and prints, saw people in costumes, and did some sightseeing.
Here’s the coverage breakdown:
I had a great time at the con on Saturday, and will definitely go next year if they hold it again.
Thanks, everyone, for sticking around for reruns while I dealt with a busy month! I’m still busy, but things are a bit more under control, so I can get back to bringing you more new content!
I’ve got a few more flashback posts in reserve for the next time real life gets in the way of writing. Or I might start a “Flashback Fridays” or “Monday Memories” series.
Tomorrow I’m going to the first-ever Long Beach Comic Con. Among other things, I plan on attending the DC Nation panel, though I don’t expect there to be any big Flash news unless they’ve picked an artist for Kid Flash in the last week. Update: DC is planning to announce something big. I doubt it’ll be Flash-related, but who knows?
Keep an eye on this blog, on @SpeedForceOrg on Twitter, and my Flickr stream for reports and photos from the event!
Long Beach Comic-Con is only two weeks away! They’ve posted their programming schedule and floor map, and I’m happy to see that the panels I most want to see are (a) on the day I’m going and (b) not opposite each other!
Comic Con International has opened online registration for 2010. There’s a pretty steep price jump — the full week is $100 now. Admittedly, that comes out to $25 a day, so it’s not that bad when you think about it. But it’s still triple digits.
They’re trying to cut down on the Wednesday night crowds by selling two types of full-con tickets, one with Preview Night and one without. On one hand, that’s probably a good idea. “Preview” Night has gotten rather insane the last couple of years (since the last time Warren Ellis came out to San Diego, really). On the other hand…you need the Preview Night version to pick up your badge early. If you get the regular version, you have to wait until Thursday morning. Otherwise, I’d happily forgo Preview Night so that someone who really wants to go can have a slightly less crowded experience, since I rarely spend more than half an hour on Wednesday anyway.
WonderCon has announced the dates for next year’s convention: April 2-4, 2010. That’s later than it’s been the last few years, and puts it only 2 weeks before Wizard’s Anaheim Comic Con (April 16-18). It’s close enough to make me feel like there’s no point in going to both. WonderCon looks like a better idea for a lot of reasons…but Anaheim is so close that it feels like it would be a waste to not go.
Some weekend linkblogging.
The Speedster Site Forum wants to know: Who do you consider the Flash’s archenemy?
The Weekly Crisis posts thoughts on comics for November. Regarding Superboy Prime’s upcoming appearance in Adventure Comics #4 (a Blackest Night tie-in), Ryan says, “The only way this won’t make me even more annoyed with the end of Legion of Three Worlds is if the Superboy Prime scenes are actually just him ranting on message boards.”
ICv2’s Confessions of a Comic-Book Guy discusses two events in Justice League: Cry For Justice #2: one now infamous among comics discussion circles, the other the less-commented-on off-panel killing of Jay Garrick’s three dimwitted sidekicks.
Update: IO9 talks to Mark Waid about The Unknown, science, and death, and has the first issue online for free. The Unknown has been an excellent miniseries, and I’m really looking forward to the conclusion on Wednesday.
Photon Torpedoes looks at the use of ghost images to show the Flash’s speed in Blackest Night.
Adventure Comics artist Francis Manapul has posted photos of several convention sketches he’s done this year, including the Flash and Kid Flash! Elfgrove posts a scan of another Francics Manapul Kid Flash. Update: Manapul has posted a follow-up with more sketches after asking fans to send in their scans.
Update: Former Impulse artist Craig Rousseau shares a sketch of Bart Allen.
Geoff Johns drops a hint about his upcoming Smallville episode, “Society:”
The Justice Society will be heroes that come out of ‘retirement’ to see how the current generation operates. Can’t say much more than that right now. Sorry! 🙂
Superhero Shows spotlights the Flash’s TV appearances in cartoons and live-action, from the early Filmation cartoons of the 1960s through to recent appearances on Smallville and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Long Beach Comic-Con (October 2-4) is running a “Why Long Beach?” series on life outside the convention. So far they’ve posted nearby attractions and a restaurant guide.
Please help identify these Unknown Cosplay Characters from various conventions! I’ve got a few of my own photos in there of people who had interesting costumes, but I still have no idea who they were dressed as!
Some linkblogging related to Flash writers and artists:
Long Beach Comic-Con announces the full guest list for their first convention, and Geoff Johns is on it.
Comic Book Resources has some video from the Earth-2 Comics grand opening a few weeks ago with Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, and others.
Ethan Van Sciver will be signing at Comic Book Etc. in Woodstock, Georgia on July 18.
Newsarama interviews Mark Waid on Irredeemable.
Speaking of Mark Waid, he and Gail Simone got into a “Twitter War” yesterday, slinging silly accusations at each other and insisting that others choose sides. It’s a funny read, and you can catch up at @GailSimone and @MarkWaid.
Update: And one more Mark Waid story that I somehow missed: in Wednesday’s Cup o’ Joe column, he tells the story of a time when he was invited out to a signing at a comic store in a Vermont town, only to arrive and discover that there was no store…just “two comics fans who had pooled their lawnmowing money to pay for a LaGuardia-to-Vermont plane ticket for their very-soon-not-to-be-favorite writer so they could meet him and own him for a day.” It’s a really surreal story, and worth the read.
At CBR, Geoff Johns wants your questions! Submit questions for the next Q&A by Monday, June 29.
Scans_Daily demonstrates how Barry Allen kept his secret identity. Or, rather, didn’t.
Comic Bloc has Noah Van Sciver’s comedic recap of Flash: Rebirth #3.
An old post turned up on my other blog a few days ago, reminding me of those “world’s fastest man” commercials for MovieTickets.com. Remember those, with the superhero who had wings on his head, a round symbol on his chest, yellow boots, and a lightning motif (but the website was still faster)? Okay, so the costume was blue, but still…
I’ve written a guest review of Perhapanauts: First Blood at Collected Editions. Perhapanauts, an adventure series about strange creatures like Bigfoot, chupacabras etc. created by Impulse alumni Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau.
Robot 6 reports on Katelyn Rae Rochelle, first winner of the Ringo Scholarship. The Ringo is named after the late Mike Wieringo, who co-created Impulse during his run as Flash artist.
Lots of sites have linked to this guide to comic book message boards. Seems pretty accurate for the boards I visit from time to time. The DC Message Boards really are that scary, and Newsarama is only marginally better.
Tickets are now available for the Long Beach Comic-Con coming up in October. I’m going to have to figure out which day I want to go!