We wanted to let all of you in on our coverage plans for this year’s Comic-Con.

First, we’re planning on updating the blog from Wednesday through Sunday, day and night. We’ll be experimenting with live photos and videos from the show floor, for as long and as often as we have a signal to upload the goods to the site. So be on the lookout for tons of sights and sounds directly from the big show.

Second, we’re going to live blog during panels to pass along the news as we hear it. Big panels, small panels, we want to bring you as much as we we think you’ll want to read. We also know many of you will be at the con, too; so we want to be your eyes and ears for the panels you won’t be able to attend.

Third, we fully accept that we even we won’t be able to attend every panel and event, so we’re going to look for you for help. In years past, we’ve had some readers provide us with reports of offsite events that we’ve posted to the site for everyone to read. We’d like to extend that to this year’s con as well. Every night we’ll be compiling readers’ comments and photos from panels and events to bring you best and the most complete coverage of each day at Comic-Con. If you would like your comments on the site, send us an email or tweet us at our Twitter account.

And speaking of Twitter, yes, we’ll be tweeting everything we post to the blog, as well as retweeting anything we see that we want to pass along to all of you. Suffice to say, we’ve been giving our thumbs a lot of practice the past few weeks so you’ve been forewarned!

Okay, we’re ready – let’s get this show on the road!

Ever since Jon Favreau spilled the beans on the Cowboys & Aliens premiere during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, everyone’s been asking how they can get their hands on tickets to what is undoubtedly the Event of the Con. It was announced that 2,000 fans would have a chance to attend, but details have been scarce thus far. The fever pitch surrounding the event reminds us of what Charlie had to go through to get a Golden Ticket to get into Wonka’s.

Well, make that a Golden Brick.

The big Cowboys & Aliens banner going up on the side of the Hilton Bayfront has a text number on the bottom to receive info on how to score tickets. The banner wasn’t complete but we did some deductive reasoning to complete the instructions and came up with the info. By texting the word “Cowboys” to 834-567 we received the following response:

Be on the look out for Cowboys & Aliens gold bricks – get one and you could win tickets to the World Premiere at the San Diego Civic Theater, Saturday, July 23!

So that’s one way to get into the premiere. There may be others, and as soon as we hear of any we’ll pass along the info.

Color us surprised when we didn’t see a Cartoon Network booth or events during the Comic-Con 2011 announcement season. Adult Swim seems to be taking on a life of its own at the con, but for great family fare it looked like it was going to be orphaned to its parent, Warner Bros.

Well, worry no more, because there will be a Cartoon Network booth. Sort of.

Between the time the convention center doors close on Saturday and reopen on Sunday, the Warner Bros. booth will be transformed, or rather “tooned up” into the official Cartoon Network booth for Family Day. The day’s events will feature signings from your favorite CN shows, the Tweety Bird car give-a-way, costumed characters for the kids,and more fun for kids of all ages. And you betcha you’ll catch us at the Scooby-Doo signing – man, we love that show.

Hope they use something a little more snazzy than that black and white from last year. Click past the jump to read the press release.

WARNER BROS. BOOTH WILL GET FAMILY DAY “TOON UP”
COURTESY OF CARTOON NETWORK
SUNDAY, JULY 24 AT COMIC-CON 2011

BURBANK, Calif. (July 15, 2011) — Sunday is family day at Comic-Con, and this year for the first time, Warner Bros. Entertainment will partner with Time Warner sister company Cartoon Network on a daylong “booth takeover” initiative. On Sunday, July 24, at Comic-Con International: San Diego, the Warner Bros. booth — with its distinctive 30-foot tall replica of the iconic Warner Bros. water tower — will transform overnight into the Cartoon Network booth to create a fun, family friendly environment designed just for kids.

In celebration of family day, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. will present a day’s worth of kid-friendly events at the booth, including:

• Signings by stars and creators from “Regular Show,” “Adventure Time,” “The Looney Tunes Show,” “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated” and “Young Justice”
•  The return of last year’s smash success kids’ Dance Party, featuring costumed characters like Scooby-Doo and Bugs Bunny. For 2011, dance party revelers will show off their hottest moves on a custom-made Liquid Fusion floor, allowing them to walk on water! (Figuratively, of course.)

• Live demonstrations by cartoonists and other artists, including iconic “MAD” illustrator Sergio Aragones

• One-of-a-kind giveaways and premiums from Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation, including the live giveaway of the Tweety car

• And more!

Thirty-five workers will work over 500 combined hours to engineer a Cartoon Network rebrand of the 3,600-square-foot Warner Bros. booth, literally overnight, hanging all-new banners and booth signage to create an all-new environment.

CARTOON NETWORK BOOTH EVENT SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, JULY 24

• “The Looney Tunes Show” autograph signing, 10:15 a.m.

• “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated” autograph signing, 10:15 a.m.
• “Adventure Time” signing, 11:00 a.m.
• “Young Justice” signing, 11:15 a.m.
• Cartoon Network Dance Party, 12:00 Noon–12:45 p.m.
• Tweety car giveaway, 12:45 p.m.
• Sergio Aragones live cartooning presentation, 1:00 p.m.
• “Regular Show” signing, 1:45 p.m.

For additional information about Warner Bros. Television activities at Comic-Con, follow us on Twitter @TheWBdotcom (hashtag #WBSDCC) and visit www.thewb.com/comiccon.

But they might have given up something far more delectable.

Here’s the quote:

The entrance will be off 1st Ave, right next to the Comedy Central interactive park.  Warner Brothers and Disney will also be doing projects in the lot.

What could it be? Warner Bros. is all over the show, so it could be anything from a big blockbuster movie to a push for a new TV show. And what about Disney? Could it be a tie-in with a Disney XD show, like Tron: Uprising? Hands on their Disney Universe game from Disney Interactive? Or when they say Disney do they mean Marvel? Only a couple of days until we all find out.

Thanks to readers Zach Marcus and Jeremy Wein who pointed out this buried treasure.

UPDATE 1 7/18/11: Seat42f has posted details on the Captain America screenings throughout the day. Starting at noon on Thursday, July 21 you’ll be able to purchase a ticket to screenings throughout the day, with prizes, giveaways and other promotions for attendees to the early screenings for fans in the San Diego area:

In addition to being among the first to see the movie, all CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER ticketholders will receive RealD® 3D Collector’s Custom red, white and blue Captain America: The First Avenger glasses and a limited edition poster designed exclusively for the fans. A grand prize package of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER merchandise and other Marvel items will be given away to a select audience member at each screening. USO-costumed women will be standing at the American Flag Pole in the Horton Plaza passing out free tickets every hour beginning at 11:00 A.M. to the first 10 people who come dressed as Captain America.

The screenings will be held at the Horton Plaza and tickets will be available for purchase on Fandango, but as of this update the showtimes were not yet available for purchase.

UPDATE 7/15/11: LatinoReview gave away passes to the 10am red carpet screening via GoFobo yesterday (yes, we missed this too), and they might have given away the super secret location of the early screenings throughout the day. The star-studded premiere will be held at the Horton Plaza Theater in San Diego. We don’t know yet if this is going to be the same theater throughout the day, but we’ll let everyone know when we hear.

Today, new details emerged from San Diego 6′s @SD6ComicCon Twitter account.

FIrst, @SD6ComicCon confirmed that Captain America would be screened for attendees at Comic-Con this year.

You heard it here first. Captain America will open at the con one day early to the public! Stay tuned for details.#sdcc #CaptainAmerica

July 13, 2011 10:50 AM via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@SD6ComicCon

SD6 Comic-Con

That’s right, Captain America would be opening on Thursday for the public, which means you will not need a SDCC pass to attend. What it does mean, however, is it’s like any other early theatrical release, where you must purchase a ticket for the showing. Still, for folks tied up with panels and activities all weekend, this is a nice gesture for fans. We don’t yet know the times or the location of the early screenings, but once we do we’ll update everyone.

We also know, to confirm Nerd Reactor’s report from a couple of weeks ago, there will be a special red carpet screening which will not be open to the general public. From Nerd Reactor’s scoop:

That’s right, Chris Evans and Hugo Weaving will be at San Diego Comic-Con 2011 for one day. The movie screening location is still unknown, but word on the street is that it will all happen on Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 10am. We’re not sure how fans will get a chance to attend, but it’s likely they might throw some sort of raffle to lucky Comic-Con goers.

This information is consistent with the tweets we saw over the past two days, also from @SD6ComicCon, which is throwing a contest to win tickets to the event:

Are you the ultimate Captain America fan? Want passes to a very special #sdcc screening of the film? Can you prove it? http://t.co/TbnTiFO

July 12, 2011 1:34 PM via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@SD6ComicCon

SD6 Comic-Con

And to read the information from the San Diego 6 web site on the contest:

Email you submissions by Monday July 19th , we will choose two winners and have them come on Thursday’s morning show to compete. The screening is the same day Thursday July 21st at 10am at a Secret Location with Special Guests.

@SD6ComicCon updated their contest rules today to state that it was open to all fans of Captain America:

Prove to us your the ult Cap fan and we’ll send you to a very special screening. Pictures of collections, tattoos, etc. now accepted.

July 13, 2011 4:42 PM via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@SD6ComicCon

SD6 Comic-Con

So if you want to win tickets to the red carpet event, send your pics to comiccon@sandiego6.com now! And to read the official contest guidelines, check out San Diego 6′s Comic-Con page for details.

A couple of days ago we posted some info on the onsite pre-registration process for 2012 that had a lot of you disappointed, and some even more so. Well, CCI updated the official Comic-Con site with the details, and it’s what we expected. Registration will be held in Douglass Pavilion at the Manchester Grand Hyatt from 8am to 11am Thursday through Sunday.

Click through the jump to find out the good, the bad, and the just-plain-weird.

Here’s the good:

• A 2011 ticket holder can buy one ticket for themselves and one for one other person.
• They’re spreading out all available tickets equally throughout each of the four days, so that everyone has a chance to purchase their tickets.
• Single day tickets will also be on sale.
• You can only go through the pre-registration process once.

Here’s the bad:

• You can only pre-register for 2012 on the days your 2011 ticket is valid. That means, if you only have a Saturday pass, you’ll have to wait until then to pre-register.
• Since they’re holding back available tickets each day to ensure everyone has a chance to purchase their preferred type, there’s a chance that they’ll sell out of any ticket by the time it’s your time to buy.
• Yes, prices for 4-Day with Preview Night did go up to $175

And the just-plain-weird:

• Once you’ve pre-registered, you haven’t really pre-registered. You’ll have to check your email and create a Member ID, a new requirement for 2012 which is supposed to “improve the efficiency of the online registration system”. You’ll have to go through the requirements emailed to you to complete the process. No complete, no pass!
• And although you’re allowed to buy two 4-day or 8 single day tickets, and can only buy for yourself and one other person, you can’t buy two single tickets for the same day. I have no idea how this math works…

Check out the official page for the complete details. And good luck!

The “Countdown to Comic-Con” continues, with a mere four days until Preview Night! We can hardly believe it ourselves, and we can’t wait to be on that jumbo jet, San Diego bound.

The folks at Comic-Con International, organizers for the big show, can’t wait to see all of us either, and they’ve been unveiling news and schedules on a daily basis leading up to the con which have been making the wait to opening night just that much more unbearable. Thanks, CCI. We appreciate the tease!

The latest batch of updates contain things for fans and artists alike. For all the otaku attending, check out the all-night Anime screening schedule held annually in the Marriott Marquis & Marina. For cinema buffs and future filmmakers, be sure to drop in the Comic-Con Independent Film Festival, which is also in the Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel. For Family Day on Sunday, treat your kids to short films for all ages at the Comic-Con International Children’s Film Festival in room 9 of the convention center

For artists trying to break into the industry, make sure you sign up for a Portfolio Review and get your art critiqued by industry professionals and get answers to your questions on how to take it to the next level.

But the one thing that makes Comic-Con so cool is the accessibility of celebrities. Whether you catch them wandering the show floor, guesting at an exhibitor booth, or the personal touch of an autograph session, nothing makes attendees more excited than to exchange a few words of praise with their favorite stars of the page or screen.

That’s why the unveiling of  the autograph schedule for Sails Pavilion has most of us jumping up and down with anticipation for next week. You’re sure to find someone worth the wait in line, as the list of celebrities attending is pretty extensive. Check out the schedule and find out when and where you have to be in order to snag a Comic-Con moment to remember. A word: Many exhibitors are holding their own autograph schedules, such as Warner Bros. and Dark Horse. Check the individual exhibitor schedules for these autograph events.

It seems as if CCI is having trouble getting these new schedules added to the MySCHED app, so if you are using that to organize your weekend, be patient! They will update everyone via Twitter and Facebook, and of course we’ll retweet as soon as we see that it’s been fixed.

With everything going on after the doors to the convention center close for the night, you’ll want to be close to all of this action. If you’re one of the thousands staying within walking distance to the con, your transportation needs are basically how comfortable your sneakers are. But the popularity of the weekend has pushed thousands more to stay farther out into the city.

For the past several years, CCI has been offering a shuttle service to get people to and from their hotel. They’ve just updated their official site with a PDF of the shuttle schedule, and you’ll want to keep this handy and know when you need to catch the bus to make your don’t-miss panels. The shuttles run at regular intervals and well into the early morning for those who just don’t want to leave. Keep this one on your smartphone so you’re never stuck looking for a cab home. The shuttle is also free, by the way, for all con ticket holders.

The MTS trolley is another way to get to the Convention Center, if for some reason the shuttle service isn’t going to work for you. A one-way fare is $2.50, but a one-day pass is $5 and a four-day pass is $15. Check out the San Diego MTS website for more information.

First, Comic-Con International has updated the official web page with the registration process for everyone attending next week. Here are the highlights:

• Offsite Pickup: If you are a ticket holder of a 4-day Pass, a 4-day Pass with Preview Night or a Single Day Thursday-Only Pass, you can pick up your passes offsite at the Town & Country Hotel Convention Center. To get there, you can take the Comic-Con shuttle to the Town & Country on the Mission Valley Comic-Con shuttle route (the shuttle schedule hasn’t yet been posted, but watch this page for updates closer to the con), or you can take the MTS Trolley Service. The pickup dates and times at the Town & Country are Wednesday, July 20 from 3pm – 8:30pm; and Thursday, July 21 from 9am – 12pm.
• Preview Night Pick-Up: If you are a ticket holder of a 4-day Pass with Preview Night, you can pick up your pass at the Convention Center in Sails Pavilion on Wednesday, July 20 from 3pm – 8:30pm.
• The Rest: All 4-day passes, either with or without Preview Night, can be picked up at the Convention Center in Sails Pavilion Thursday through Sunday of the con. Single Day Passes can only be picked up for the day they are for.  Here’s the fine print for the Single Day passes:

For single day badges, you may only pick-up your badge on the day you have purchased the badge for. If you have purchased multiple single day badges, you may pick them all up at once at the San Diego Convention Center, after Wednesday, only. Multiple single day badge pick-up will not be available at the Town & Country Hotel. If you choose to pick up your multiple single day badges at the Convention Center, you will have to wait in the general attendee line first for your badges, and then wait in a second line for multiple badge holder pick-up. You may only pick up your multiple single day badges starting on the day of your first badge, (ie: You may pick up your Friday and Saturday badge starting on Friday only. You may not pick these up on Thursday).

Makes sense? Clear as mud? All we know is that we’ll be waiting in that Town & Country line on Wednesday afternoon, so if you see us, say hi!

Now we were all surprised, and a bit disappointed, to hear that all 4-Day with Preview Night passes were sold out by the time last year’s con ended. Amazing. And we all had to deal with the craziness that was the online process for this year’s registration. So if you’re like us, you’re not going to want to leave this year’s con without registration in hand for next year.

Comic-Con International knows this was a difficult and trying process for the fans as well, so they’re aiming to make some improvements. The Beat scored an exclusive with CCI outlining these changes for those wanting to pre-register for 2012.

“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.”

And as a sign of the times, the prices across all badges increased from last year, with the 4-Day with Preview commands a $25 premium over the regular 4-Day passes (all 4-Day passes used to be the same price).

We say, while all the Twi-hards are in Hall H Thursday AM, it might be a good time to high-tail it to the Manchester Grand Hyatt and get your 2012 passes so you can spend the rest of the week worrying about getting into your favorite 2011 panels. For the complete interview with CCI Director of Marketing & PR David Glanzer, give The Beat’s scoop a read.

The guide has been a great resource in year’s past, and this year is no different. You can select a specific company from a drop down and get the lowdown on all of their exclusive merchandise, including price and limited run.

It doesn’t look like it’s complete yet – for example, no HasbroToyShop or MattyCollector as selectable companies – which means they’re probably holding back until as more exclusives are announced. Keep this bookmarked, and make your checklists now!