Highlights From Comic-Con 2012

Comic-Con 2012 got underway yesterday, and some interesting bits of news have been filtering out. Digital comic sales boomed over the past year — something to be expected given the trend with ebooks and newspapers. But oddly, print comic sales are up as well, to the tune of 18%. At a Firefly panel, Joss Whedon spoke briefly about how the series would have ended if he could have done it on his own terms. "I don’t think I would have killed anybody," he said. TV shows are a strong theme this year, which much discussion around The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. All in all, about 80 television programs are represented at Comic-Con. The show is also highlighting the recent trend away from strict superhero stories. "Image Comics is indeed banking on 'superhero-ed out' readers, not only with Kirkman's The Walking Dead, (Kirkman has been called the 'unofficial mayor of Comic-Con') but with books like the spy-fi The Activity. The title's second issue, out next week, was co-plotted with actual Navy SEALs."

Comments

Let me summarize

[masternerdguy]

Lots of fat white people.

Re:Let me summarize

[crazyjj]

Yes, they're fat, white nerds. But this is slashdot. They're *OUR* fat, white nerds!

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

Lots of fat white people.

Hey I once thought comics were cool. Then I turned 13 and discovered girls. Never been back to comics since.

Re:Let me summarize

[Anubis IV]

A summary generally has a verb somewhere in it. Here are some alternatives for what you wrote, all of which include verbs (some even include direct objects!).

"Lots of fat white people talked."

"Lots of fat white people met together."

"Lots of fat white people got to see things that I wish I could have been there to see."

"Lots of fat white people, many of whom look quite similar to me, got to bask in the glory of celebrities that I've been dying to meet."

"Lots of fat white people with comic collections larger and more impressive than my own were able to do something special that they will be able to talk about with friends for months to come, while I've been stuck at work this week filing TPS reports."

Granted, those are just alternatives. Whether they were what you intended to say or not is something that I'll leave to you and everyone else to decide.

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

Hear, hear!

Re:Let me summarize

[busyqth]

Lots of fat white people.

Hey I once thought comics were cool. Then I turned 13 and discovered girls. Never been back to comics since.

Then you discovered Slashdot. Never been back to girls since.

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

"Lots of fat white people talked." "Lots of fat white people met together." "Lots of fat white people got to see things that I wish I could have been there to see." "Lots of fat white people, many of whom look quite similar to me, got to bask in the glory of celebrities that I've been dying to meet."

None of that changes the fact that they are disgusting fatasses, though.

Re:Let me summarize

[pegasustonans]

Yes, they're fat, white nerds. But this is slashdot. They're *OUR* fat, white nerds!

Hey! That's unfair to the slightly off-white blueish nerds, freckled pinkish nerds and all the other myriads!

To paraphrase Roy: It's a delicate ecosystem!

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

Lots of fat white people.

Hey I once thought comics were cool. Then I turned 13 and discovered girls. Never been back to comics since.

Then you discovered Slashdot. Never been back to girls since.

That's called Freudian projection. I.e. _you_ see them as mutually exclusive. Doesn't mean anyone else does.

This may shock you very much but lots of users here post in their spare time which might be small. They otherwise have spouses, jobs, families, responsibilities, and other things that deserve higher priority.

I've never seen a grown man who cares about Comic-Con who had those things. Except maybe the authors of course. They're just making their living the same as a construction worker or a programmer.

When you remedy your sexual frustrations and figure out that not everybody else has them (indeed you are not the center of the universe) you will understand. I know you were trying to be clever there and turn the tables on me. Hate to burst your bubble there.

Re:Let me summarize

[Grayhand]

Yes, they're fat, white nerds. But this is slashdot. They're *OUR* fat, white nerds!

I'm still waiting for the 250lb Princess Leias on mobility scooters.

Re:Let me summarize

[ackthpt]

Yes, they're fat, white nerds. But this is slashdot. They're *OUR* fat, white nerds!

I'm still waiting for the 250lb Princess Leias on mobility scooters.

I'm afraid most of them are 250lb Galadriels, hanging out at the various Renfests.

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

that they are disgusting fatasses

Is there any other kind of fatass? Of course not.

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

When you remedy your sexual frustrations and figure out that not everybody else has them (indeed you are not the center of the universe) you will understand. I know you were trying to be clever there and turn the tables on me. Hate to burst your bubble there.

It was a joke, and IME, the most true of all truisms about dating is that women dig dudes with a sense of humor.

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

When you remedy your sexual frustrations and figure out that not everybody else has them (indeed you are not the center of the universe) you will understand. I know you were trying to be clever there and turn the tables on me. Hate to burst your bubble there.

It was a joke, and IME, the most true of all truisms about dating is that women dig dudes with a sense of humor.

Yes, of course! When you fuck up, by all means don't man up and admit it. Nah. Tell us "those was just jokes!" Yes, how believable.

Re:Let me summarize

[Tyler Durden]

Troll much?

Re:Let me summarize

[Curunir_wolf]

Yea, sure. But "Highlights" from Comic-con should be from the persistent photographers that comb through the throngs of fat geeks to find the rare hot chicks dressed in skimpy fantasy costumes. False advertising, Slashdot! Where are the pics?

Dammit./p?

Re:Let me summarize

[drkim]

That's called Freudian projection.

Sometimes a projection is just a projection...

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, they're fat, white nerds. But this is slashdot. They're *OUR* fat, white nerds!

I'm still waiting for the 250lb Princess Leias on mobility scooters.

I'm afraid most of them are 250lb Galadriels, hanging out at the various Renfests.

Hey! Bumblebee elves have feelings, too!

Re:Let me summarize

[Hognoxious]

Lots of boobies. Not many pussies.

Re:Let me summarize

[Hognoxious]

Get married. You'll be back on the comics, umm, I mean graphic novels soon enough.

So I'm told.

Re:Let me summarize

[Anonymous Coward]

I've seen the women you date. You need a sense of humor.

yeah yeah whatever

[Anonymous Coward]

But were there ponies?

Re:yeah yeah whatever

[desdinova 216]

I don't know about that, but there probably a few bronies.

Re:yeah yeah whatever

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Princess Slashdottia,

"Does this answer your question?"

Your faithful student,
Pinkamena Fourthwallbrecha Pie.

P.S.: Can anypony help animator Lauren Faust find Derpy?

Re:yeah yeah whatever

[ZorinLynx]

Slashdot Bronies represent! *brohoof*

(I feel silly doing that but what the hay)

Re:yeah yeah whatever

[Anonymous Coward]

But were there ponies?

I am going to buy a pony. Just so I can shoot the pony in the head. I'll put the video on YouTube and link it every time some 'tard mentions ponies.

Fantasies about having ponies are for little girls. This is Slashdot. You're not little, you're probably obese. You're definitely not a girl (well we got a few lesbos and fat chicks but they don't count). The end.

Re:yeah yeah whatever

[ZorinLynx]

...and this is precisely the sort of thinking that awesome people like Lauren Faust is trying to get rid of.

Thank you for providing an excellent example of the problem!

Re:yeah yeah whatever

[serviscope_minor]

brohoofs all round.

Please bow your heads

[Anonymous Coward]

in memory of that old woman who got run over while crossing the street to wait in line to see some actors.

Re:Please bow your heads

[busyqth]

I thought she was on her way to listen to the lecture by renowned comic critic Dr. Ramone Smith, who was to lecture on the topic: "A Hegelian Analysis of Action Comics nos. 1-50", but who, upon hearing the news of the old woman's untimely death, instead ran into the street and threw himself under a passing sanitation truck in order to restore the cosmic balance of the universe.

Serenity Spoilers

[Marc_Hawke]

I have a friend that wrote off Joss Whedon and all his 'stuff' because of what happened in Serenity. (Even Dr. Horrible.) While he understands the dramatic tension aspect of it, and agree's that it worked completely, he said, "NOTHING was worth that."

Pretty funny.

Re:Serenity Spoilers

[ZorinLynx]

I still think it was done to prevent any possibility of there ever being a sequel or a continuation of the series. The rightsholders wanted it to end, and they got their wish.

Re:Serenity Spoilers

[ackthpt]

I still think it was done to prevent any possibility of there ever being a sequel or a continuation of the series. The rightsholders wanted it to end, and they got their wish.

Nothing is ever over. Haven't you seen enough ret-coning, re-imagining, re-booting to tell you that, yet? Besides, there's always room for a Prequel and one that forks the story at that (a la Prometheus.)

Tee-vee

[PeanutButterBreath]

So its TV-Con now, with a highlight being yet more discussion of a short lived, long dead show that still manages to be at least as interesting as anything that has been made since.

Re:Tee-vee

[decipher_saint]

...let me tell you about Star Trek

Re:Tee-vee

[ackthpt]

So its TV-Con now, with a highlight being yet more discussion of a short lived, long dead show that still manages to be at least as interesting as anything that has been made since.

All in all, about 80 television programs are represented at Comic-Con.

It's becoming Media-Con and people are letting it. Which is why I have no interest in attending. I'd rather go to a show closer to home which Hollywood isn't trying to take over. It's called Comic -Con and should seriously consider getting back to the business of Comics.

Re:Tee-vee

[Anubis IV]

Why would they ever do that? This is more profitable.
</cynic>

Re:Tee-vee

[ackthpt]

Why would they ever do that? This is more profitable.
</cynic>

I know.

Attendance is higher and with all those feet (and in a few instances, wheels) paying to get in, why change .. unless the act of selling out dilutes the original attraction of the show and comics fans lose interest in attending. I think this has happened before ...

Re:Tee-vee

[macwhizkid]

It's becoming Media-Con and people are letting it. Which is why I have no interest in attending. I'd rather go to a show closer to home which Hollywood isn't trying to take over. It's called Comic -Con and should seriously consider getting back to the business of Comics.

A comic book is just a medium for telling a particular story. The notion of a "comic strip" was originally telling a story with a sequence of pictures. Television and film is arguably just an evolution along that path. In other words, focusing on stories regardless of the medium they're told in is going back to the original business of comics.

Personally, I have a hard time seeing Comic-Con as anything but a win for everyone involved. Fans love it for the interactivity, writers, artists and actors love it for the chance to get fans excited about their work, and I'm sure it makes plenty of money for the ownership. I suspect very few people in those groups want the event to go back to focusing solely on comic books.

Re:Tee-vee

[Anonymous Coward]

I miss comic con. Live in San Diego, went to my first one when I was in hi school (would have been year 2-3), went every year for about 15 years, and quit 3 years ago because it's just too damn crowded.

Going downtown for lunch tomorrow though just to check out the crowd.

Re:Tee-vee

[taustin]

Becoming? It's been a Hollywood trade show for about a decade.

Re:Tee-vee

[taustin]

Missed the mark. Comic-Con, the Comic-Con, is non-profit, run by unpaid volunteers. Last I heard, the biggest convention in the world run by amateurs.

No, the reason they've sold out utterly and completely to Hollywood is that the people who make those decsions, the organizers, get "all access" badges. That means they can go anywhere and everywhere, inlcuding the green room, to rub elbows with Angelina Jolie (that was the year the sell-out really started) and Hugh Jackman. So far as I can tell, the organizers would perform human sacrifices under the Sails if it kept the A-list Hollywood types coming every year.

Re:Tee-vee

[taustin]

Attendance has been capped as what the fire marshalls will allow in the building (about 140,000, IIRC) for years. It's not about money, it's about the organizers getting meet the A-listers, without having to stand in line.

Re:Tee-vee

[PeanutButterBreath]

Personally, I have a hard time seeing Comic-Con as anything but a win for everyone involved. Fans love it for the interactivity, writers, artists and actors love it for the chance to get fans excited about their work, and I'm sure it makes plenty of money for the ownership. I suspect very few people in those groups want the event to go back to focusing solely on comic books.

I suspect that MTV, the cast of Jersey Shore and their millions of "fans" (i.e. people that get a sick thrill out of watching trashy idiots humiliate themselves) wouldn't want MTV to go back to showing music videos. However, the fact that MTV has abandoned its original premise in order to chase cheaper content and easier ratings is not a "win" for music videos. It is a "win" for an alternative form of entertainment and its fans, perhaps. It is certainly a win for MTV, which likely get better ratings for content that clears a much lower bar, and which can be churned out ad nauseam.

However, reality tv is not music tv, regardless of the venue. MTVs ratings don't change this fact. Nor are television and film the same as comic books. You are into the meta "its all just stories" angle and don't care about the distinction? Fine. But that doesn't change the fact that there are distinctions that matter to others.

Its not like there is no venue for TV and film to showcase their projects and talent. Let Comic-Con be about comics.

Re:Tee-vee

[srmalloy]

Ride the trolley in; from what I saw yesterday, trying to get a car in and out of downtown, unless you're doing something like going straight to Horton Plaza to eat at one of the places up on the top floors, then heading straight out, is going to leave you stuck in traffic for far longer than you'd ever want, with hordes of people utterly ignoring the traffic signals.

On the whole, I miss Comic-Con, too; looking back over the years I've attended, the years I worked, and the years I was on committee, what I've been attending hasn't been Comic-Con for a good many years, and I'm thinking that it's time I let it go and look at other cons around that block of time that are still run by and for the fans, not as a baldly commercial four-day marketing tool.

Re:Tee-vee

[PCM2]

Why would they ever do that? This is more profitable.

I kind of agree with you, but it's worth mentioning that Comic-Con is run by a nonprofit organization.

Re:Tee-vee

[tlhIngan]

It's becoming Media-Con and people are letting it. Which is why I have no interest in attending. I'd rather go to a show closer to home which Hollywood isn't trying to take over. It's called Comic -Con and should seriously consider getting back to the business of Comics.

That's like saying we should all abandon the web and go back to gopher. Media evolves - and comic books cover all sorts of topics these days. From TV shows and movies having backstories filled in by comics, to cancelled programs living on through comics.

Then this year it seems it's the age of the comic book movie, with Avengers, Batman and others hitting the big screen. Now, admittedly, Marvel was annoyed at Hollywood so they created their own studios to make those films, but still.

Everything is going multi-platform - books becoming comics, comics becoming books, video games and comics, movies, etc. To focus strictly on comics would keep the vent small, and nothing more than a "gathering of smelly nerds in a dark basement".

Of course, Comic-Con also suffers from "it was good before it was popular" trope as well.

But I see Comic-Con as a way for all those "nerds" to get together in a fairly safe environment and be social, and better yet, prove to the general public that they're an economic force to be listened to.

Hell, I think people on /. could learn a thing or two about how Comic-Con works to help spread the word about open-source, legal issues, etc to th. The public notices Comic-Con more than any other comic-book convention out there, more so than practically all the other comic book conventions out there, so there's no reason why technology geeks can't do something similar.

Re:Tee-vee

[AmiMoJo]

MTV had to change because showing music videos is cheap and there are dozens of other channels doing it. They would have been lost in a sea of copycat dross, channels run by a bloke in a basement doing little more than creating YouTube playlists for the audience mixed with some ads. Original programming was necessary.

I agree most of what they do is crap, but since there are plenty of other channels doing what MTV used to I don't think we have lost anything.

Re:Tee-vee

[allamericancomp]

Yeah I think the biggest joke was Ryan Renalds being the new highlander is that really the best they could come up with for a legendary actor like Christopher Lambert.

Reboot

[phorm]

Spider man recently had a second "reboot".
Superman has been somewhat rebooted.
Batman has been rebooted countless times
Star trek... many different series, and now a TOS reboot.

There are a lot of book or even game-based movies/series coming out. Nnot that it's bad, some are very good, but sometimes the networks seem to scrape fairly far down the barrel for original stuff. Why not reboot Firefly? Hell, they could probably make a killing by turning it into a kickstarter project or whatever.

Re:Reboot

[ackthpt]

Reboot .. Retcon .. Reimagining .. it's all about the money.

Re:Reboot

[Anubis IV]

If you think Spider-man is bad, you should look at Punisher or . I think that literally every single live action film or TV series in both of those franchises has been considered a reboot (with the exception of The Avengers, which, while using a different actor for the Hulk, is considered to be in the same continuity, nonetheless), and both of them stretch back a few decades and include some rather hilarious '80s editions.

Re:Reboot

[bill_mcgonigle]

Superman has been somewhat rebooted.

If there's an immediate kernel panic, does it still qualify as a reboot?

Re:Reboot

[TheGoodNamesWereGone]

From what I gather the Siegel & Shuster lawsuit against DC prohibits the company from using certain aspects of the Superman mythos but I don't know which ones. The Superman being presented now is anything but the guy I grew up reading about-- they've gone gritty and dark and turned him into Batman. If comic sales are on the upswing I can't imagine it's because they're attracting new readers. Instead they retreat further and further into freakishness and fanboy pandering. I used to buy them, then I'd pirate them. Now I don't even bother with that. I hope you die DC. I hope you die a horrible death, and I hope the Siegel and Shuster heirs are there to laugh and piss on your graves.

The "New" Move Away from Superheroes??

[Anonymous Coward]

What is this? 1988?

Superheroes have been less and less dominant in comics for 20+ years, walk into any comic shop and you'll see many more genres these days on shelves once dominated solely by the super-powered set.

Re:The "New" Move Away from Superheroes??

[ackthpt]

What is this? 1988?

Superheroes have been less and less dominant in comics for 20+ years, walk into any comic shop and you'll see many more genres these days on shelves once dominated solely by the super-powered set.

Superheroes have also turned into Soaps. How many of them are now being explored for personality issues, character flaws, self doubt, etc.? To be fair, in the mid-50s, before the Comics Code, there were some pretty deep stories in some of the EC comics, one I recall featured bodies of dead soldiers floating down a river in Korea. But these were soldiers and reality inspired publications, where Superman, Batman, et al are about as unreal as you can get.

first sci fi starts dying now comics superheros

[Anonymous Coward]

its all in the corporate control plan
they cant have you hold on to any hope after all....
thats the light side

Some of us can only afford to go to NY Comic-Con.

[moogla]

At least I'll get Mike Mignola's autograph.

Neil Gaiman Sandman Announcement

[MSRedfox]

The most exciting news out of Comic-Con so far for me has been Neil Gaiman announcing his Sandman prequel. Official announcement video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GndnR7oSYYk

Re:Neil Gaiman Sandman Announcement

[busyqth]

The most exciting news out of Comic-Con so far for me has been Neil Gaiman announcing his Sandman prequel. Official announcement video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GndnR7oSYYk

That was truly very exciting. I couldn't contain myself.

Re:Neil Gaiman Sandman Announcement

[Anonymous Coward]

clean up in aisle slashdot.

Re: But were there ponies?

[MSRedfox]

Why yes, there were ponies and girls. I know, it's hard to believe so here's a photo from Comic-Con proving both: http://twitter.com/bonniegrrl/status/223841022533304321/photo/1/large

Re: But were there ponies?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why yes, there were ponies and girls. I know, it's hard to believe so here's a photo from Comic-Con proving both: http://twitter.com/bonniegrrl/status/223841022533304321/photo/1/large

Do females have any idea how incredibly shallow and stupid "grrl" is?

MLP?

[toupsz]

What about all the pony news? :D

Re:MLP?

[LionKimbro]

Pfft... Slashdot is for Nerds.

For News that Matters, you've gotta trot off elsewhere.

Re:MLP?

[Anonymous Coward]

Came here to say this.

News of SDCC and not mentioning MLP? Bias much?

Re:MLP?

[Anonymous Coward]

For News that Matters, you've gotta trot off elsewhere.

What?

Even after the 2006 Site Redesign, Slashdot's always been a consistent advocate for Better Copyright through Fair Use.

OK, that's the last serious link in the post. But it really is to the point; MLP kicked off a Cambrian explosion of internet remix culture, and Hasbro deserves credit for taking the advice of the show's creators: take as light an approach as possible to IP. In the real world of content creation, it turns out that your trademark rights aren't in anywhere near as much jeopardy as your IP lawyers fear they might be, and by expanding your audience, you get to sell (and license) more of your copyrighted content and trademarked characters to manufacturers.

It's amazingly good business practice to love and tolerate your fans' derivative works, parodies, and creativity.

Pfft... Slashdot is for Nerds.

But apparently that's not nerdy. Do you want to see nerdy? This is nerdy!

Playing Portal and fiddling with machinima with suitably-modded Skyrim and TF2. And just to make this post 20% nerdier, I'll finish with a classic chemistry lesson from Tom Lehrer: The Elements.

Duh

[Volda]

Who cares about comics. Bring on the girls in cosplay!

Farewell to Fringe

[damn_registrars]

I heard that Fringe will be starting its final season (and an abridged final season, at that) and the cast will be at Comic-Con. IMHO it is one of the best sci-fi series set on present-day earth that we've seen since ... well maybe ever. I would have loved to have seen several more seasons but apparently this is it.

Really, it had practically everything a sci-fi guy could ask for in a series:

• Alternate universes
• Leonard Nimoy
• Time Travel
• Leonard Nimoy
• A hot leading lady
• Leonard Nimoy
• Quirky characters
• Leonard Nimoy
• Cool, but not completely outlandish, technology
• Leonard Nimoy
• A Cryptography system that rewards viewers for watching multiple episodes
• Leonard Nimoy

And did I mention Leonard Nimoy is in it?

It should also get credit for the smartest soundtrack on broadcast television since The Wonder Years (actually it's even better than that).

Re:Farewell to Fringe

[Brett Buck]

Don't forget it had Eric the Midget's head explode.

Here it is - real "highlights"

[Curunir_wolf]

Dude - seriously. When you post a headline that says "Comic-Con Highlights", people click on your click on your link looking for THIS. I mean, come on, right?.

The purported ending of Firefly

[Zmee]

The VERY small text regarding the ending of Firefly:

1:33: A fan asks how Firefly would have ended if Joss had known it was going to be canceled: “I don’t think I would have killed anybody,” Joss says and Tudyk raises his hands in victory. “A film is a different animal and has different needs,” Whedon continues. “We would have learned about the Blue Sun conspiracy, Inara and Shepherd Book.”

Re: But were there ponies?

[Raenex]

Do females have any idea how incredibly shallow and stupid "grrl" is?

About as much as guys do calling each other "bro", or the, *shudder*, "bra".

The Gentleman's Guide To Forum Spies

[Anonymous Coward]

The Gentleman's Guide To Forum Spies
http://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm