Showing posts with label special guests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label special guests. Show all posts

7th group of special guests announced

22 FEBRUARY 2016



Are we really up to the 7th group of San Diego Comic-Con special guests?

Yes, yes, we are. They are....

Cece Bell: Writer/artist - El Deafo
Deborah Harkness: Author - A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, The Book of Life
Paul Levitz: writer/editor/comics historian - 75 Years of DC Comics
Maggie Thompson: writer/editor/comics historian/blogger - Comics Buyers' Guide, Toucan


Does anyone else think it's cool that we're getting novelists as special guests? I like it.

More SDCC special guests

15 FEBRUARY 2016




It's Monday, which means we get another 4 names to anticipate this July as San Diego Comic-Con special guests.They are....

Mike Baron: writer - Nexus, Badger
Trina Robbins: writer/artist - The Brinkley Girls, Pretty in Ink
Michael Barrier: author/historian - Hollywood Cartoons, Funnybooks
Ben Hatke: writer/artist: Little Robot, Zita the Spacegirl


More on Open Reg in a bit.

More SDCC special guests are announced

1 FEBRUARY 2016





It's Monday, which means CCI has dribbled out yet another quartet of special guest names for San Diego Comic-Con. Those being:

Emily Carroll: writer/artist - Through the Woods
Marissa Meyer: author - Heartless
Keith Knight: cartoonist - The Knight Life
Matt Fraction: writer - Sex Criminals, Hawkeye


I've gotten a few emails on Open Reg; with the advent of February, it's time for your annual badge-and-hotel-sale anxiety to start building. I'll post on it shortly.

3rd group of SDCC special guests are up

25 JANUARY 2016



I'm pretty sure today's round of special guests is going to excite a lot of you. Without further ado...

Jamie McKelvie: artist - The Wicked + The Divine, Phonogram
Kieron Gillen: writer - The Wicked + The Divine, Phonogram
Noelle Stevenson: writer/artist - Lumberjanes
Jeff Smith: cartoonist/artist - Bone, RASL


Also - in the category of "painfully obvious" - if you're intrigued by the world of comic books but don't know where to start, any of SDCC's special guests are a good jumping off point. Not all of their work will be to your liking because comics contain a multiverse of styles and themes and vibes, but it's a safe bet that you'll encounter some work you do like. Just a thought.



2nd wave of SDCC special guests announced

18 JANUARY 2015





Happy MLK Day! CCI has released the 2nd group of special guests for San Diego Comic-Con this summer; let's see who they are.

Jason Aaron: Writer - Star Wars, Thor
Patrick Roth: Author - The Name of the wind
Paul Gulacy: Artist - Catwoman, Master of Kung Fu
Kate Beaton: Writer/Artist  - Step Aside, Pops, The Origin of Man


What do we think of CCI's jaunty new website design?

Are you ready for SDCC special guests?

13 JANUARY 2015



I don't know if I am. Regardless, we have the first group.

Daniel Clowes: Writer/artist - Ghost World, Mr. Wonderful, Eightball
Babs Tarr: Artist - Batgirl
Howard Chaykin: Artist/writer - American Flagg!, Star Wars
Brian Selznick: Author/illustrator-  The Marvels


CCI promises 4 more guests every week through March. So just shy of 50 guests, apparently. Last year we had 70. But the reduction might be a good thing, in that maybe it will allow more focus on the special guests who are there. Just a thought.

Final special guests announced for SDCC

11 MAY 2015



It's here: the final special guest announcement for San Diego Comic-Con 2015. This brings the total to 70, which means you should be able to find a favorite of yours somewhere in the batch.


They are:

Samuel L. Glanzman: writer/artist - A Sailor’s Story

Caitlin R. Kiernan: author - The Drowning Girl: A Memoir, The Dreaming

Dave McCaig: color artist - American Vampire, Superman: Birthright

Jim Steranko: writer, artist, publisher - Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Prevue Magazine

Kazuki Takahashi: creator - Yu-Gi-Oh!


And here is the complete list:

David Aja, Lalo Alcaraz, Sergio Aragonés, Franco Aureliani, Peter Bagge, Art Baltazar, Jerry Beck, Allie Brosh, Greg Capullo, Michael Cho, Katie Cook, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Michael DeForge, Mark Evanier, Carlos Ezquerra, Matt Fraction, Samuel L. Glanzman, Lev Grossman, Tom Grummett, Jackson (Butch) Guice, Asaf Hanuka, Tony Harris, Jonathan Hickman, Hugh Howey, Reginald Hudlin, Matthew Inman, Lora Innes, Chip Kidd, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Denis Kitchen, Boaz Lavie, Bob Layton, Jim Lee, Stan Lee, Paul Levitz, Steve Lieber, Laura Martin, A. Lee Martinez, Dave McCaig, Scott McCloud, Kevin Nowlan, Matt Phelan, Joe Phillips, Ed Piskor, Hilary B. Price, Humberto Ramos, Jimmie Robinson, Dave Roman, Rainbow Rowell, Luis Royo, Sara Ryan, Scott Shaw, Jeff Smith, Jen Sorensen, Richard Starkings, Eric Stephenson, Jim Steranko, J. Michael Straczynzki, William Stout, Kazuki Takahashi, Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki, Raina Telgemeirer, Jill Thompson, Maggie Thompson, Jhonen Vasquez, Bernie Wrightson, Craig Yoe, Skottie Young, and Chip Zdarsky.

The penultimate crop of special guests is out

4 MAY 2015





It's Monday and that means we find out more SDCC special guests. Today's announcement brings us....


Jackson (Butch) Guice - artist: Ninjak, Bloodshot, WinterWorld

Kevin Nowland - artist: Superman/Aliens, Jack B. Quick

Joe Phillips - artist: The Midsummer's Knight, Justice League

Hillary B. Price - writer/artist: Rhymes with Orange

Humberto Ramos - artist: Amazing Spider-Man, Impulse, Crimson


Next week we'll find out the final five, bringing the total to 70.  Am I the only one who thinks they should have gone for 75?

Say hi to the next group of SDCC special guests

27 APRIL 2015




Today's crop of San Diego Comic-Con special guests should make a few attendees happy:



Jonathan Hickman: writer - Secret Wars, Manhattan Projects, East of West

Stan Lee: writer/icon - X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, countless projects

Laura Martin: artist - Planetary, Star Wars

Scott Shawl: cartoonist - Captain Carrot, His Amazing Zoo Crew

J. Michael Straczynski: TV and comic book writer - Spider-Man, Babylon 5, Superman: Earth One



And that makes 60. 


And the new SDCC special guests are...

20 APRIL 2015




Happy Earth Day. To celebrate, CCI has dropped a rather showy group of special guests on us - and they say these Monday announcements will continue into May, so we'll definitely have 60 special guests at a minimum when all is said and done. Who knows, maybe they'll go straight to 75.

Random thought: it would be cool if CCI threw an annual attendee event with all of the special guests. Maybe a meet and greet, maybe a charity dinner where every table gets a different guest as their server, maybe a speed mentoring event. Not that I ever see that happening.

The special guests are...


Greg Capullo: artist - Batman, Spawn

Tony Harris: artist - Starman, Ex Machina

Skottie Young: writer, cartoonist - Oz Books, I Hate Fairyland, Rocket Raccoon

Jeff Smith: cartoonist - Bone, RASL

Maggie Thompson: writer, editor, comics historian - Comics Buyer's Guide



A salute for SDCC special guest Raina Telgemeier

14 APRIL 2015



If you're like a lot of nerds, libraries may have played a sacred role in your childhood - the place where you read so many weird/adult books that the librarian talked to your mom; the place where you ate lunch in middle school after getting bullied in the cafeteria; the place where you got to read the graphic novels your allowance wouldn't cover and your parents wouldn't buy you. Libraries are an amazing part of our universe, right?

So it's always depressing and irritating to find out about the people trying to drive certain books out of library walls - shutting down public access to knowledge and entertainment, essentially. Now the American Library Association has released its list of the books that make cranky people make phone calls (or emails). And what do you know, they tend to be: YA novels, graphic novels and books by people of color. Sometimes all three.

If you're a comic fan, a few of these probably sit on your bookshelf - and if you've been paying attention to SDCC2015 special guests, you'll definitely recognize one of these names.

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
3. And Tango Makes Three - Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
5. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
6. Saga by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
9. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
10. Drama by Raina Telgemeier

That's right, SDCC special guest Raina Telgemeier is among the ranks of the subversive. I haven't read her book Drama (though I plan to immediately) but Amazon describes it as "a diverse set of characters that humorously explores friendship, crushes and all-around drama!" So you can see why it would be a huge threat.

Possibly this is news to some, but comic books have always been targeted for censorship - hence the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Efforts at silencing have come from other cultures, political groups and of course, Concerned Parents. But there's quite a difference between picking out your own kid's reading material and trying to stop anyone in a library jurisdiction from reading a specific book. So this is a report worth paying attention to, especially in this regard:

"The lack of diverse books for young readers continues to fuel concern. Over the past 12 months the library community has fostered conversations and fueled a groundswell toward activism to address the lack of diversity reflected in children's literature - both in content and among writers and illustrators."

Yikes.

At any rate, we know we have an inspiring creator (one of many) in our midst this July. Let's hope there will be some good panels on fighting censorship and fostering diversity - which is just another word for humanity, remember! - in comics. And let's all hope people of all ages get even more exciting books and graphic novels in the future.

We're up to 50 SDCC special guests

13 APRIL 2015



Today SDCC rolled out the next 5 names in its quest to have the most special guests of any Con ever. Question: how many more guests can they announce before they stop qualifying as "special?" Apparently a few more; there were only 40 last year, but just over 60 in 2013. We'll see how many more Mondays this continues.

This week's lineup brings us:

Lalo Alcaraz - cartoonist: La Cucaracha
Asaf Hanuka - co-writer, artist: The Divine
Boaz Lavie - co-writer: The Divine
Rainbow Rowell - author: Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, Landline
Eric Stephenson - publisher: Image Comics; Writer, Nowhere Men, They’re Not Like Us

You can see all 50 here.

9th group of SDCC special guests announced

6 APRIL 2015




We have guests #41-45 for San Diego Comic-Con. They are:


Sergio Aragonda: cartoonist - Mad

Mark Evanier: writer, producer, comics historian - The Garfield Show

Dave Roman: writer, artist - Teen Boat, Astronaut Academy

Raina Teigemeier: writer, artist - Smile, Sisters, Drama

Craig Yoe: editor, author, designer - Yoel Books


As always, you can see all 45 guests here.




Another ECCC cancellation: Brandon Routh

24 MARCH 2015



Unbelievably, yet another Emerald City celebrity guest has canceled: Brandon Routh. Just like with the others, you can get a refund if you already bought a Photo Op.

That brings the list of cancellations to:

  • Karen Allen
  • Morena Baccarin
  • Steven Yeun (his panel was canceled)
  • LaVar Burton
  • Dante Basco
  • Jenna Coleman
  • Brandon Routh
That's 2 out of 3 for the ECCC Cinema Series; let's hope Stan Lee can still make it for The Avengers, and let's hope this is the last cancellation for ECCC.

Next crop of SDCC special guests

23 MARCH 2015




It seems hard to believe we're already up to the 8th round of special guests for San Diego Comic-Con - but we are.

This week we have...

Peter Bagge: writer, artist - HATE, Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story

Katie Cooke: writer, artist - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Toucan blogger

Denis Kitchen: writer, artist, publisher - Kitchen Sink Press

Matt Phelan: author, illustrator - The Storm in the Barn

Jhonen Vasquez: writer, artist - Johnny the Homicidal Maniac


You can see all forty guests - yes, forty - right here.

We have more special guests for SDCC

16 MARCH 2015




Lucky 7: we have our seventh crop of special guests, and it's an especially criminal bunch.


Matt Fraction: writer - Sex Criminals, Hawkeye

Lora Innes:  writer, artist - The Dreamer

A. Lee Martinez: author - Gil's All Fright Diner, The Automatic Detective

Ed Piskor: cartoonist - Wizzywig, Hip Hop Family Tree

Chip Zdarsky: artist, writer - Sex Criminals, Howard the Duck


That Sex Criminals panel is going to be packed. As always, you can see the full list here.



6th crop of SDCC special guests are here

9 MARCH 2015




CCI announced special guests 26-30 today. Maybe, just maybe, you've heard of a few of them.


Jerry Beck - author and animation historian, owner of Cartoon Research - The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes, The Hanna Barbara Treasure

Matthew Inman - writer/artist - The Oatmeal

Jim Lee - artist - Batman: Hush, Justice League; DC Entertainment; last year's beautiful Souvenir Guide cover

Richard Starkings - writer, designer - Hip Flask, Comicraft, Elephantmen

Jill Thompson - writer, artist - Beasts of Burden, Little Endless, The Scary Godmother, an amazing pillowcase featuring Death from Sandman which she sold to me on the floor last summer


There's nothing boring or one-dimensional about the special guests we're getting for SDCC 2015. The spotlight panels are going to draw big crowds.



More SDCC special guests are announced

2 MARCH 2015




We have our newest crop of special guests for 2015:


David Aja - artist on Hawkeye and Immortal Iron Fist

Allie Brosh - author, Hyperbole and a Half

Michael Deforge - writer and artist on Ant Colony and First Year Healthy

Bob Layton - artist and writer; Iron Man, X-Factor

Paul Levitz - writer, editor and publisher - Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel, Legion of Super-Heroes


That brings the total list so far to 25. You can see all special guests here.

More SDCC special guests announced

23 FEBRUARY 2015



They are:

Michael Cho - writer/artist for Shoplifter
Tom Grummett - artist for Fantastic Four, X-Men Forever and Teen Titans
Chip Kidd - author and designer for Peanuts: The Art of Charles M Schulz and Batman: Death By Design
Jen Sorensen - cartoonist
Bernie Wrightson - artist for Swamp Thing and Frankenstein

So far it looks like a good range of work has been represented. You can see all of the special guests so far here.


3rd crop of SDCC special guests announced

16 FEBRUARY 2015




Amidst all the registration fever, CCI has quietly released the names of the third crop of special guests. They are...


Franco Aureliani - writer, artist, of Tiny Titans and Itty Bitty Hellboy

Art Baltazar - writer, artist, of Tiny Titans and Itty Bitty Hellboy, DC Super Pets

Steve Lieber - artist, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Whiteout

Jimmie Robinson - writer, artist, of Five Weapons and Bomb Queen

Sara Ryan - writer, Bad Houses, Empress of the World


2015 keeps looking better and better.