San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog

There’s been lots of fanfare but little actual art of the new Justice League, relaunching in September. Well, Comic-Con International kindly reminds us that it’s the comics that made the con, by giving us an exclusive of the JL on the cover of this year’s official souvenir book, courtesy of Jim Lee himself. And remember, all attendees get one of these beauties free with their registration. We’re telling ya, that registration fee goes a looooooong way, doesn’t it?
Without further ado, here’s a pic of the cover by Jim Lee:

Anyone who has ever been to SDCC can tell you the one free give-away accessory that they absolutely can’t do without.  That accessory?  The huge bags from WB, into which con attendees can stuff all the other awesome swag they get on the convention floor.  The WB started to make and distribute the bags in 2006, and last year they teamed with Comic Con to make it the official bag of San Diego Comic Con.  In previous years, con attendees would stand in line at the WB booth to receive their bags, and the bag design being handed out would change passed on availability.  Last year, all attendees got a bag with registration, so stalking the WB booth for the bag you wanted was no longer a necessity.  Despite this “everyone gets a bag” policy, as previous attendees can tell you, lots of bag-swapping goes down!  This year, the bags convert into a backpack, making them even more of a “must-have.”

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SDCC is just around the corner (preview night’s in 9 days for those who are keeping count!), and TV Guide is getting in on the action.  As they did last year, they will be teaming with The WB to produce a Comic Con focused issue of TV Guide, and there will be four collectible covers.  This year, the shows being featured on the cover will be The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Fringe, and The Vampire Diaries.  The magazine will be distributed at the Warner Bros. booth (#4545) starting on preview night, July 20, 2011, and will be available on newsstands July 21- July 28.

As to what’s going to be inside the pages of this special issue?  Click past the jump to read the press release and view the covers.

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After a cross-country or intercontinental trip that would make the Griswolds blush, there’s no better way to get your Comic-Con weekend kicked off than to check into your hotel and get handed one of these as your room key:

Let me tell you, it’s kinda like how Hal Jordan felt when Abin Sur handed him his ring. Or when Optimus Prime held the Matrix of Leadership in his steel hands for the first time. Or countless other geeky clichés I could bore you with.

Instead, let me get right to the good stuff: Warner Bros. is once again providing area hotels with five different collectible, limited-edition key cards to celebrate Comic-Con. Nearly 40,000 of these will be produced to promote popular Warner Bros. properties across television, video games and new media.

And of course, this will be one key card you won’t want to turn in when you check out. Click past the jump to read the press release and see the other four key-card designs for this year’s Comic-Con.

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When news hit that Jon Favreau would be staging a big premiere of his upcoming summer blockbuster Cowboys & Aliens at Comic-Con, we reported that a big event was looking at using PETCO Park the Thursday during the con, per a tweet [since deleted] from Latino Review’s Elmayimbe.

It was later confirmed that the premiere was going to be held at the San Diego Civic Theater on Saturday, July 23. So what ever happened to that Thursday event at PETCO Park, then?

We now have the answer thanks to one of our readers.

Cirque Du Soleil will be performing a battle scene from their “KA” production, currently playing at the MGM Grand. Live at PETCO Park on Thursday July 21. The event will begin at sundown, and was featured in an advertisement in the July issue of Wired magazine. The best news yet, is that admission will be free and no ticket is required.

We’ve added this to our Offsite Events 2011 list as well, but thought this was cool enough to get separate mention.

SDCC Blog reader Zach Marcus sent in these reviews of the Scott Pilgrim Experience, Xbox Room at the Hard Rock Hotel, and Flynn’s Arcade. I thought I’d pass them along as I don’t think I’ll be able to visit all of these.

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Everyone at the Scott Pilgrim panel today got a huge surprise when Edgar Wright announced on stage that a portion of the audience will get to see the completed version of the film a mere hour from when the panel ended. Read on for what went down.

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I was going to review the experience of riding in Black Beauty (the Green Hornet car), but unfortunately I was unable to. When I arrived at the designated spot the employees said they couldn’t drive the car after dark because of its green headlights. Thus, I was stuck in the garage and couldn’t ride the car. Still, the garage was an interesting experience.

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I’m not a Comic-Con shopper. Outside of a few shirts and posters I don’t go around the con hunting for exclusives and collectibles. Still, I love free stuff and getting to try out video games and the chance to get my picture taken with awesome stuff makes Preview Night a must for me. So this year I braved the exhibit hall for a full hour and fought babies, wheelchairs, and annoying booth employees to bring you my thoughts.

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Brief: Nothing is known about how/when Marvel will distribute these but I’m guessing attendees to the Marvel Movies panel on Saturday will be picking them up. The images come from Yahoo. Take a look:

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