Comic-Con International

Comic-Con and Warner Bros. Television proudly continue their annual Preview Night tradition with exclusive world premiere screenings of the pilot episodes of three of the most highly anticipated TV series pilots of the 2011-12 television season -- Alcatraz, Person of Interest, and The Secret Circle -- as well as Supernatural: The Anime Series, the first-ever anime adaptation of a U.S. television series. Alcatraz --From executive producer J. J. Abrams (Super 8, Fringe) and showrunner Elizabeth Sarnoff (Lost) comes Alcatraz, a chilling new drama revolving around America's most infamous prison and onetime home to the nation's worst criminals. The series stars Sarah Jones (Sons of Anarchy), Jorge Garcia (Lost), Jonny Coyne (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life), Parminder Nagra (ER), Santiago Cabrera (Heroes), and Jason Butler Harner (Fringe), with Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park). Abrams, Bryan Burk (Super 8, Fringe), and Sarnoff are executive producers; Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (both Kyle XY) are co-executive producers. Alcatraz will premiere in midseason and air Mondays 9/8c on FOX.

Person of Interest --Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line), Michael Emerson (Lost), and Taraji P. Henson (Hustle & Flow) team up in Person of Interest, a thought-provoking crime action-drama from The Dark Knight's Jonathan Nolan and J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions (Super 8, Fringe). Set in New York City, with all of its multifaceted elements of justice (cops, criminals, corruption), this procedural centers on an ex-CIA agent, presumed dead, who partners with a mysterious billionaire to prevent violent crimes. Kevin Chapman (Rescue Me) also stars in the series, which is executive produced by Nolan, Abrams, Greg Plageman (Cold Case), and Bryan Burk (Super 8, Fringe). Person of Interest is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The series will air Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS this fall.

The Secret Circle -- The ordinary becomes the extraordinary in The Secret Circle, a romantic drama full of mystery, intrigue, and danger from executive producer Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries) and based on the book series by L. J. Smith (The Vampire Diaries). The series chronicles the story of a young girl who discovers not only that she is a witch and part of a secret coven but that she is the key that will unlock a centuries-old battle of good versus evil. Britt Robertson (Scream 4), Thomas Dekker (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Gale Harold (Queer as Folk), Shelley Hennig (Days of Our Lives), Phoebe Tonkin (H20: Just Add Water), Louis Hunter (Out of the Blue), Jessica Parker Kennedy (Valemont), Ashley Crow (Heroes), and Natasha Henstridge (Species) star in the series, from executive producers Williamson, Leslie Morgenstein (The Vampire Diaries), Gina Girolamo (Alloy Entertainment), Andrew Miller (Nothing), and Richard Hatem (Supernatural). The series will air Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW this fall.

Supernatural: The Anime Series -- Warner Bros. Television's hit series Supernatural (Fridays 9/8c, The CW) makes history this summer as Supernatural: The Anime Series is released in the United States, the first-ever live-action series to be reimagined in Japanese anime style. Inspired by the U.S. series' sensational following oversees, Warner Home Video Japan and renowned animation studio Madhouse -- working with the full approval of series creator Eric Kripke -- produced the anime series, which mirrors the story arc of Supernatural's first two seasons, providing supplemental stories ranging from prequels and spinoffs to untold tales that fit within the Supernatural mythology. The all-new, 22-episode animated series will be distributed July 26 by Warner Home Video on Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand, and for Download.
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Which side of the convention table do you want to be on, professional or fan? And what's keeping you from getting there? If you've been inspired to create something but you're having trouble bringing it into reality, you need to attend this fun and informative goal-setting workshop, designed specifically for the Comic-Con crowd and back in San Diego for its fifth straight year. Douglas Neff (the "Tony Robbins of Geeks") will give you simple, proven tips for achieving what's most important to you. Whether you want to write your own screenplay, draw your first comic, or shoot your independent film, you're sure to walk away from this workshop with lots of new ideas and tools to help you reach your dream.
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And "P" is for preparation, the cornerstone of any creative enterprise. After all, rushing a new property out the door without the proper IP protections in place could be more costly down the road. Luckily, the popular Comic Book Law School will help by supplying the ABCs of legal protections for creators. In these Comic Book Law School sessions, noted IP attorney Michael Lovitz, author of The Trademark and Copyright Book comic book, assists attendees in establishing a basic foundation for their copyright and trademark rights. Up first: the basics of protection and ownership of ideas, works of authorship, characters, and names from conception through publication and beyond. Attendees are invited to participate in an interactive discussion about basic rights provided under U.S. copyright and trademark laws, as well as new decisions and changes in the law and how they could affect those rights. Along the way, there will be plenty to learn about the protections -- and pitfalls -- of the U.S. trademark and copyright systems. Note: The Comic Book Law School seminars are designed to provide relevant information and practice tips to practicing attorneys, as well as practical tips to creators and other professionals who may wish to attend. (This program is approved for 1.5 credits of California MCLE.)
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A continuation of the "I Can't Write, I Can't Draw, But I Love Comics!" panel series focusing on jobs in the comics, animation, and gaming industries requiring skills other than storytelling and illustration. This year, comics, animation, and gaming panelists Scott Agostoni (independent manager of comic creators and comics expert), Derron Ross (Blur Studio), and Rob Hill (Trion Worlds) talk about how they got their first jobs, what they do now, and how to break into their industries in today's market. Moderated by Susan Karlin (Fast Company).
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FUNimation Entertainment's marketing manager Adam Sheehan and social media manager Justin Rojas talk about all the newest info and updates out of North America's leader in anime, as well as answer questions from the audience.
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Representatives from the largest publisher in Japan discuss the exciting manga they'll be releasing in the coming months. Kumi Shimizu of Kodansha USA talks with Dallas Middaugh about the imprint's upcoming books, such as Bloody Monday, Cage of Eden, Love Hina, and, of course, Sailor Moon!
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The quintessential 1980s super robot anime series is taking the universe by cosmic storm in 2011, offering entertainment and collectibles to thrill original fans and inspire a new legion of Voltron followers. Comic-Con attendees will be the first to witness the full scope of Voltron's global franchise resurgence in the form of the new Nicktoons animated series Voltron Force, THQ's upcoming videogame, a cool Mattel line of toys, innovative comic books from VIZ Media and Dynamite Entertainment, and some blockbuster news of special Voltron events in the not-too-distant future. VH1 Big Morning Buzz Live / NGTV/ G4/ host Carrie Keegan moderates a diverse panel featuring World Event Productions' supervising producer Jeremy Corray, Voltron Force story editor Todd Garfield and creative director Bob Koplar, THQ executive producer Peter Armstrong, Nicktoons general manager Keith Dawkins, Mattel design manager Michael Montalvo, design director Steed Sun, and artist/designer Brandon Sopinsky, VIZ Media editor Traci Todd, and artist Jacob Chabot. Pay homage to Voltron's beloved origins, and get a glimpse of the franchise's future.
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After a slump during the great recession, the manga business seems to be coming back, with the older companies leaner and new companies focusing on both digital and print. But "leaner companies" is not usually good news for freelancers. Find out how the downturn has changed the industry from panelists William Flanagan (Kobato), Jonathan Tarbox (Fist of the Northstar), Mari Morimoto (Naruto), Stephen Paul (Yotsuba&!), and maybe some surprise guests.
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Robotech creative director Tommy Yune and Robotech.com webmaster Steve Yun showcase the latest animated and live action Robotech productions.
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The leaders of Japan's manga industry present an in-depth discussion of where the international manga industry is and where it is headed in the near future. Also, catch a sneak peak of jmanga.com, Japan's 39-publisher-strong Digital Comic Association's new manga portal website. Panelists include Sam Yoshiba (Kodansha), Takashi Watanabe (Shueisha), Toshitaka Tanaka (Shogakukan), Kouji Shimano (Futabasha), Naobumi Ashi (Kadokawa), Motoi Suzuki (Shueisha), and Sasaki Hisashi (editor-in-chief of Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump, the world's top-selling manga magazine).
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VIZ Media's 25th anniversary celebrations continue with a special panel packed with exciting news and prizes for our fans. VIZ Media staff will provide the latest updates on new acquisitions and upcoming releases, as well as give the scoop on groundbreaking projects they've yet to announce. Don't miss a chance to win prizes such as $25 iTunes gift cards, special prizes from VIZ's partners, and more!
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Have you ever dreamed of becoming a manga creator? This panel gives you an opportunity to learn the secrets to being a professional artist and a writer. Weekly Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Hisashi Sasaki will give you straightforward tips and advice on how to improve your manga. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the editor of Japan's #1 manga magazine! Plus, a chat with Hiroshi Matsuyama, the president of CyberConnnect2, about an upcoming Naruto Shippuden video game.
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Marvel Television and G4 take your favorite characters -- Iron Man, Wolverine, The X-Men, and Blade -- to Japan to tell their stories in a whole new way, beautifully animated by the anime masters at Madhouse. Hosted by Attack of the Show's Blair Butler, watch a never-before-seen episode with Marvel's head of TV Jeph Loeb and surprise guests. Plus, get a sneak peek at The X-Men's explosive first episode.
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With K-ON!, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, Gundam 00 the Movie, and The Disappearance of Haruhi Movie, Bandai Entertainment has a stellar lineup of eclectic anime titles for 2011. Join Bandai's Robert Napton, Loy Fruel, and some other notable guests for this informative hour that will feature news, trailers, Q&A, and giveaways.
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UPDATED: Tue, Jul 19, 07:11AM
Come talk with women who write, read, game, and perform in arenas that are statistically dominated by men. What happens when traditionally "male" genres are reinvented by female writers and embraced by female fans? Sex and the City it ain't. Meet the women who like to play with trucks and Barbies. And Wolverine action figures. And flux capacitors. Moderator Jenna Busch is joined by panelists Marti Noxon (screenwriter/producer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Mad Men, Fright Night), Gale Anne Hurd (producer, The Walking Dead, Terminator, Aliens), Jane Esperson (Torchwood: Miracle Day), Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar), and Marjorie Liu (writer, X-23, Daken: Dark Wolverine, Black Widow, Dirk & Steele novel series).
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There are a whole lot of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and manga-inspired comics out there -- but what's worth buying and reading, and what's not? Manga/comics bloggers/pundits Christopher Butcher (Comics212.net and The Beguiling), David Brothers (4th Letter!), Eva Volin (School Library Journal), Carlo Santos (Anime News Network), and Deb Aoki (About.com Manga) share their picks for the best new and continuing manga series for kids, teens, and grown-ups and jeer at the most annoying manga published in 2010-2011.
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The Yen Press crew -- publishing director Kurt Hassler, senior editor JuYoun Lee, and assistant editors Tania Biswas and Abby Blackman -- unveil exciting new projects for 2012 and take questions from the audience. And of course, the swag. We mustn't forget the swag!
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Representatives from UDON share their trade secrets, learned from working with a host of different comics and game companies over the past 10 years. Take a tour of winning design elements through UDON's vast portfolio of works, and get ready for special announcements of which comics, manga, artbooks, and video game properties they'll be working on next. Featuring Jim Zubkavich (Skullkickers), Jeffrey Cruz (RandomVeus), Long Vo (Inception), and Matt Moylan (Mega Man Tribute).
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Phil Foglio (Girl Genius), Kaja Foglio (Girl Genius), Greg Broadmore (WETA), Lon Muckey and Aaron Ginn-Forsberg (Mantecoza), and Thomas Willeford (Brute Force Leather) discuss the appeal of the Steampunk aesthetic and the reasons for its increasing popularity in media, the arts, and the entertainment industry, including literature, graphic novels, costuming, props, prosthetics, Internet, and film.
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The New York Times bestselling author and Comic-Con special guest Sherrilyn Kenyon talks about the joys of juggling numerous series, family life, and a collection of swords (we're pretty sure she doesn't really juggle the swords). With books that cross over into manga and graphic novels, Kenyon has captured the number-one bestselling slot 14 times in the past two years!
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Futurama is back! Again! On stage will be creator/executive producer Matt Groening, executive producer David X. Cohen, and stars Billy West (Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg), Katey Sagal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender), and Maurice LaMarche (Kif Kroker, Calculon, Morbo). Get a sneak peek at never-before-seen footage of Futurama reincarnated as Japanese anime, along with a thrilling preview of this summer's new season on Comedy Central. Moderated by Bill Morrison.
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Want to go in depth with a comics scholar? Or a whole room of comics scholars? Rather than presenting from the stage, the Poster Session scholars will be ranged around the room to discuss their presentations in small-group and one-on-one discussions. Marko Head and Nicole Smith (Henderson State University) present "The Workday Comic," an 8-hour student-project variation on Scott McCloud's 24-Hour Comic, including the daunting task of painting original art drawn by special guest contributor Kabuki artist David Mack.Real-World Consequences Poster Group- Kalani Largusa (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) explores the significance of Kato in his role as the Green Hornet's sidekick and the shaping of Asian identity; Nathan Wilson (graphic novel reporter) looks at the real-world consequences of the representation of Native Americans in comics.

Medical Issues Poster Group- Erica Ash (Henderson State University) traces the history of addiction and drug use in comics in the context of the Comics Code; Brian Lott (Henderson State University) outlines how Harvey Dent/Two-Face changed to meet criteria for dissociative identity when he became The Judge.

Adaptation Poster Group- Joyce Havstad (University of California, San Diego) charts the role of comics as a hybrid medium in facilitating adaptation to and from other media; David Mitchell (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) critically reads Enki Bilal's epic Nikopol Trilogy and its film adaptation Immortal to consider how the comic seamlessly integrates the unreal with the real, whereas the film separates the real and unreal between live action and CGI.

Superheroes Poster Group- Renee Lynn Couey and Lauren Penick (Henderson State University) surveyed college students, prison inmates, and fan convention attendees to examine correlations between respondents' self-concepts and their character preferences; Evan Moreno-Davis (University of Southern California) examines the assumptions of the genre that drive role-playing game designers; Dana Anderson (Maine Maritime Academy) defines the superhero phenomenologically through the visceral experience of "superheroness" in the world.

Comics History Poster Group- Adriana Estrada (University of Houston) uses moral panic theory and labeling theory to investigate the social construction of deviance that became associated with comic books in the anti-comics crusade of the 1940s and 1950s; Sam Doerge (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) finds Marvel's creation of the anti-heroic superhero rooted in the national identity crisis of the Cold War era.

Queer Poster Group- Courtney Schneider (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) compares the treatment of homosexuality in mainstream and nonmainstream serialized media; Ashley Pitcock (Henderson State University) asks whether Buffy the Vampire Slayer's movement into bisexuality was a sign of the times or a gimmick to sell Season Eight comics; Michael Harrison (Monmouth College) investigates how Spanish comics authors La Penya in Mondo Lirondo and Ivan Garcia in Capitan Eclipse use fantasy in distinct ways to communicate a 21st century queer Spanish identity.

Gender Poster Group- April Murphy (University of North Texas) seeks to examine how fears of female power, depicted in the new Batwoman and the relaunched Wonder Woman, are tied to a pattern of historical uneasiness with same-sex bonding; Independent scholar Ariel Schudson argues that the figure of Hit-Girl in Kick Ass maintains more positive iconography than negative and is really only behaving in a kind of "teen superhero normalcy," even if it does seem a bit violent.

Manga Poster Group- George Tsouris (Touro College) examines shared features of Yokoyama's manga and interviews to imagine what his manifesto for neomanga might look like; Kotaro Nakagaki (Daito Bunka University) focuses on the viewpoints of shojo in Sirato Sanpei's A Vanishing Girl and Kono Fumiyo At the Corner of This World to examine war representations, reconstruction and economic growth, and racial/social minorities and discriminations in war manga.
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Zanney Sperber (Honey), Ryan Silva (Kyouya), Rae Morgan (Renge), Aubrie Hollands (Tamaki), Amanda Coleman (Haruhi), and Jeriko Serranilla (Mori) are the SoCal Host Club: a group of handsome hosts with way too much time on their hands that entertain ladies who also have way too much time on their hands. Join the host club you know and love from the popular anime series Ouran High School Host Club for an hour of entertainment and roleplay!
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Director Katsuhiro Harada discusses the development of Tekken across Transmedia entertainment, including a sneak peek at the Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D movie with special guests Blood Vengeance screenwriter Dai Sato and two voice actresses from the movie, Carrie Keranen and Cristina Vee. Producer Hiroshi Matsuyama unveils details and a preview of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, and producer Hisaharu Tago shows the latest on Soulcalibur V. Namco Bandai vice president of marketing Carlson Choi and community manager Richard Bantegui (aka Filthierich) lead the discussion to offer insights on the creative process and development of fighting games in this era.
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David Karrow (Alpha League) and a team of artists from eigoMANGA will teach kids of all ages tutorials on manga illustrations and storytelling. 
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Bryan Tillman, author of Focal Press's Creative Character Design, talks about ways to bridge the gap between the technique of drawing characters and the theory of good character design.Topics include archetypes, color, design, silhouettes, story, and much more. Bryan is the academic director for Media Arts and Animation, Game Art and Design, Visual Game Programming and Motion Graphics and Visual Effects and a faculty member of the Animation Department within the Art Institute of Washington, DC. He is also the CEO and owner of Kaiser Studio Productions, which is a production studio for comics, animation, toys, and games.
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For the first time ever, the Supernatural panel will be in Hall H! Series stars Jared Padalecki (Friday the 13th [2009]) and Jensen Ackles (My Bloody Valentine 3D) and additional cast members and executive producers present an exclusive sneak peek at footage from the highly anticipated seventh season of this thrill-ride series. The panel will answer questions from the audience, show a portion of the special features from the upcoming Supernatural: The Complete Sixth Season DVD and Blu-ray release (in stores September 13), and give Comic-Con fans a sneak peek at Supernatural: The Anime Series, coming to DVD and Blu-ray on July 26. Supernatural airs Fridays at 9/8c on The CW and is produced by Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television.
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Yukarai Fujimoto (City University of New York) discusses the regulations concerning the specific characteristics of Japanese comics. Attorney Takashi Yamaguchi addresses the problem of these regulations from a legal point of view. Makoto Daniel Kanemitsu (Translativearts.com) examines the issue of censorship by comparing Japanese manga and American comics. Shige (CJ) Suzuki (City University of New York) investigates how the avant-garde gekiga comics appearing in the 1960s alternative magazine Garo created a space not only for experimental artistic expression but also for social criticism.
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Billy Martinez, publisher and artist of Neko Press, will demonstrate dynamic manga in action. This lesson will show step-by-step action poses with various characters in movement and foreshortening techniques. Perfect for beginners or seasoned artists. 
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