SDCC 2015

Some of us didn't get to go to the San Diego Comic Con, and have to live vicariously through those posting to social media (#SDCC2015 for comics fans on Twitter, and weirdly #ComicCon for those folks who don't know comics are involved, or at least that's how it seems), "Conan," and the reports from EW Radio this weekend.

For those who missed out, here are a few of the previews that dropped, including "Doctor Who," "The Walking Dead" (courtesy of Biff Bam Pop! right here), and its spin-off/origin story/prequel "Fear the Walking Dead."







Also, speaking of Biff Bam Pop!, super-cool Emily McGuiness has some great SDCC 2015 interviews up on the site, with Darin Henry, Jim LuJan, Lonnie Millsap, and Leen Isabel and Nguyen Dong. Check them out!

And if you are lucky enough to be in San Diego, enjoy!

San Diego Comic-Con Catch-Up

Yeah, I realize it's all over, and no one's really talking about this year's San Diego Comic-Con any more, but I've been busy, and haven't been able to chime in. So consider this your official wrap-up.

We learned new details about the upcoming season of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." including what role Lucy Lawless will play, and who the next big bad will be. Details are here at Biff Bam Pop!. On the "Agent Carter" front, Avengers fans will be pleased as Edwin Jarvis will be in the show, in his youthful prime, hopefully kicking ass and cleaning up. Sorry, butler joke, couldn't help it.

Other Marvel news included the official announcement the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel and animated series, an entertaining Avengers: Age of Ultron panel seen here, and a movie poster and details on the Ant-Man movie. Apparently we will have some kind of Wasp-ish character, and surprisingly, Yellowjacket, who's not Hank Pym, is the villain of the piece.

On the other side of the street at DC Comics, we finally got our first look at Wonder Woman from Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, for a full view, Biff Bam Pop! has it here. There was lots of TV news about "Constantine" and "Gotham," but the real stuff was all about Green Arrow and the Flash. Con goers got to see the pilot for the CW's "The Flash" which I reviewed here, and Ras Al Ghul was announced as the big bad on this season of "Arrow." And that's not even mentioning date night with Felicity or former movie Superman Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer. It's gonna be good.



Other news at the Comic-Con included Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah being in the Godzilla sequel, a King Kong prequel called Skull Island, and the trailer for the new season of "The Walking Dead." It was a good con, shame I missed it.

Dexter Season 5 Trailer

Direct from the San Diego Comic-Con. "Dexter" season five starts on Showtime September 26th 2010. Be there.

True Blood: Trouble

We find out that Franklin works for Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi, and we see his true dynamic. It's an interesting paradox, in his world, Franklin is a screw-up, but in our world a monster. I like it a lot. And of course the more we see of him, the more truly screwed up he appears. Franklin is really effed up. Man, Tara is in trouble.

Last week's cliffhanger is a complete bust. Like Stephen King's Rocketman analogy from Misery or a Brian Michael Bendis Avengers comic, we really don't see how Sookie escapes from a bar full of transforming werewolves. We just pick up her and Alcide on the run afterward. Boo hiss.

Some observations from "Trouble"... I am really warming to Russell's royal consort Talbot, and man, his electricity with Eric is something else. Also on the homoerotic horizon, it's really nice to see Lafayette finally getting some non-pay romance in his life. Jason's police subplot has advanced out of cartoonish territory and into sitcom maturity. I still see it as a waste of time better spent on more serious and important storylines. And Jessica has the best line of the episode - "Do not tip your waitress."

There is a nice tense moment with Sookie, Alcide and packmaster Colonel Flood that I liked quite a bit. Moments like this elevate the show past the cheese/camp level it's been rolling in since this season started and brings it back to basics again. Some folks love the cheese, but this is just my opinion.

On the opposite end of the cheese spectrum we get an Eric flashback, which are always more intriguing than Bill flashbacks. Not only do we get to see Eric's family, but we also find out why he hates werewolves so much - and we learn who the real big bad of this season truly is.

And it's nice to know that Bill still cares about Sookie. Especially after Alan Ball said he believed they were soul mates at the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend. At least we know where this will be going, eventually. And for the folks who have read all of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels - I haven't yet, so don't spoil my fun. Another great cliffhanger - I hope we get to see the other side of this one.

Baltimore Comic Con - "Day Three"

For most of us, there really was no “Day Three” at Baltimore, but most of the industry folks did stay one more day. It was for the big Diamond retailers meeting. This was the reason most of the announcements and news that usually flows from a major comic con did not do so during the weekend.

It all came out the next day, Monday. Comics being part of the entertainment business, we usually only think of it in the entertainment sense – but in reality, it is a business. As much as we don’t want to think this, this is about money. And Monday was not only for the news, it was for the money.

In my opinion, this was a good thing for the Baltimore Comic Con. It was a friendlier con and more people-oriented. Sure, it would have been nice to hear all about Siege and the Avengers returning to greatness and Dark Reign being over. And yes, it would have been cool to hear about DC bringing dead titles back to life as part of Blackest Night as well – but really, then this would have been like any other convention. Baltimore was better this way.

San Diego Comic-Con Wrap-Up

It’s Monday and Comic-Con is over. So what happened? To be perfectly honest, not much, at least not comic-related. When San Diego began, it was a comic book event, but now and in recent years it has become more of a Hollywood event – more about promoting upcoming movies and television series than about comics. Lucky thing that many comics are becoming films and TV shows.

There were screenings and sneak peeks at projects like District 9, Where the Wild Things Are, Legion, “Hero Up,” and amazing new video games from both Marvel and DC Comics. There were panels and buzz about “24,” the final season of “Lost,” “ Caprica” and “Smallville” the last of which promises Metallo, Zod and the Justice Society of America in its next season.

In comics news, Marvel made the intriguing announcement that they have secured the rights to Marvelman. On the other side, DC has similarly announced that they now have the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. We truly live in interesting times.