SDCC '11

One of the greatest joys of Comic-Con is the quest for food, as regular Beat readers know. From a filling lunch consisting of a handful of carrots to a hearty dinner of clawing at the last crumbs of chips at the Wired Cafe happy hour, Comic-Con is a food orgy for the hardworking folks at Stately Beat Manor. Luckily some people have a clearer idea of where to go to grab a bite. The folks at CCI haveput up an exhaustive list of restaurants, including many con specials where you need to just show your badge to get extra goodies or a discount. The locals love Comic-Con --it's official!

Do you even NEED to go inside the convention hall any more? Besides Tr!ckster, the comic book pavilion, Cirque Du Soleil, a South Park carnival and all the other hoohah, video games are setting up camp on the streets of San Diego big time, Forbes reports:

Frank Miller and editor Bob Schreck will be revealing details of HOLY TERROR and the rest of the Legendary Comics slate at Comic-Con. And The Beat will be moderating. I have been told there will be special guests and I'm psyched.

2:00-3:00 Legendary Comics— For its inaugural year at Comic-Con, join iconic writer/artist Frank Miller (300), Legendary Comics editor-in-chief Bob Schreck (All-Star Superman), and other artists from the Legendary stable to find out about upcoming releases, including Miller's Holy Terror. Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront Tags:  Comics

This is one of the few comics-oriented panels being held in one of the big off-site rooms, so I've got my work cut out for me. I've also seen about 1/3 of HOLY TERROR and it looks amazing.

Hi, I’m Lauren, and I’m a Comic-Con virgin. I’m also a graduate student in Fine Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where I’m currently preparing for advancement to MFA candidacy in the form of my first solo exhibition. I’m attending Comic-Con this year mostly to do research for said solo exhibition. Most of my work in the past year has been concerned with the idea of romantic love— Is it real? If so, how’s it work? How are our perceptions of love influenced by pop culture, or are they even, perhaps, entirely resulting from it?

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Hi, I’m Ali. And I’m a Comic-Con Virgin. That’s right, next week I’ll be flying out to San Diego for my First Time with the biggest, baddest, craziest, most epic, mother of all comic book conventions. Some how, I don’t think SDCC will be gentle.

CCI: SD is changing how they are selling their badges for next year's show: instead of selling passes to the 2012 edition inside the convention center, sales are being moved to the Manchester Grand Hyatt, where pre-registration will be available Thursday through Sunday from 8 am to 11 am.

PLEASE NOTE WE ARE A SPONSOR AND PARTICIPANT IN THIS EVENT! HYPE ALERT! That said we wouldn't be involved if we didn't feel it is an excellent line-up and the conference is sure to make a lot of headlines.

In conjunction with the Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, Diamond is helping launch the Fandom Advisory Network, a collecting oriented advocacy network for all kinds of collectors. The organization will launch at Comic-Con of course, with signings and a contest to be named the Ultimate Fan of 2011.

Last year the Bayfront Hilton adjacent to the SD Convention Center made a huge splash with a giant Scott Pilgrim wrapping -- and some sadi this was as far as it was going to go. However, according to the above tweet, the Hilton is getting wrapped again! Will Universal take the plunge again for COWBOYS & ALIENS? Or will it be something else?

We all know what it's like for the average attendee of Comic-Con -- comics, lines, swag, expensive hot dogs -- but what is it like for the Green Room crowd? Nerdlebrities are people too, and the first time appearance at Comic-Con is akin to going over the equator for sailors: following their debut, first-timers put on clothes of the opposite sex, are put in stocks, and forced to eat eggs in the shell. Okay, maybe that isn't quite what happens, but The Hollywood Reporter has been interviewing various nerdlebrities about their Con experiences and there is much to be gleaned.