Under the Tents 2023: XLE Productions, Mark Brooks, Geeky Hooker, Alex de Campi, Nan Hockin, James Silvani

It hasn’t been a week for massive SDCC news drops, but there have been a few notable blips that should be on your radar. We launched our new and expanded tiers for our Patreon, Funko initiated their Fan Rewards Program that includes sweepstakes with some SDCC-centric prizes (but has, as of Thursday, taken the program down temporarily.)

It has, however, been a pretty outstanding week for tiny bits of news. Lots of creator appearance confirmations, some sassy acrylic pins and potential party themes. We’ve got a little bit of a lotta different things.

Let’s take a look at all those little bits:

  • “Convention season” means many things to many people, but to the Geeky Hooker it means furious yarn and hook work to create adorable creations that are randomly “dropped” in public places for attendees to find. How fun is that? The year, you just might be able to find a Rocket Raccoon or the previously announced Ted Lasso Dani Rojas. Watch their site for more details!

  • Alex de Campi is teaming up with game designer Cliff Bleszinksi for a brand new series coming from Image Comics and it’s launching just in time for the big event. Scrapped #1 will release in July but Alex is already showing off the cover of issue #3, and adding in a casual SDCC announcement.

  • Sonic the Hedgehog writer and illustrator Ken Penders has confirmed that he will once again be in Artist Alley this year. Find him at table #II-24.

  • Booth #2001 will be the place to find The Yuan Twins at Comic-Con. Matt and John Yuan are triple threats in acting, writing and illustrating.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Art By Nan (@nanhockin)

  • The totally tubular toddland is teasing us with news about Comic-Con samples arriving. Might we see some American Dad Roger merchandise at the event? Seems likely!

  • We are less than a week away from XLE Productions announcing their popular San Diego Comic-Con parties, ticketed events that are deeply themed with no shortage of music and dancing. They have released hints for each nights theme on Instagram. Which one looks fun to you?
  • In the “could possibly be related to the previous item” department, the delightful 80s cover band The Flux Capacitors just happen to be booked solid for San Diego Comic-Con. Could they be playing the XLE Productions parties, as they have in the past? Maybe! We’ll just have to wait and see where we’ll be shakin’ our groove thing in July.

  • Pin-up artist Olivia De Berardinis is still working on original blank cover sketches. We love her style with these Barbie/Batman fusions! All her sketch covers will be auctioned off at her booth, #2129.

  • Patrick Ballesteros is hard at work, drawing almost as many steps as he is characters for this San Diego Comic-Con work in progress. We’ve been known to pop a squat on that staircase, at least before we’re told to “move along!”

  • Here’s a swell two-fer! Magnificent Eisner award nominated artist Mark Brooks tweeted a Scarlet Witch sketch cover he did, stating it would be available at SDCC in July. Now we know that Mark will be in attendance and that he’ll have at least one sketch cover. Fingers crossed for more!

  • Discord user arbitrarygenius dropped this little nugget of goodness in our server the other day. (If you haven’t had a chance to join our Discord, you can do so here. It’s a swell option to see all of our news, plus interact with other friends and followers.) Anyway! Back to the news! New York Times bestselling author Charles Soule will be embarking on a book tour for The Endless Vessel, with a confirmed stop at Comic-Con for panels and signings. 

  • We don’t traditionally deal in speculation but these two tweets seem to indicate that maybe, possibly, perhaps both James Tynion IV and Tim Seeley will both be attending San Diego Comic-Con. They will both for sure be in L.A. the week before.

  • Look, we like our Titans with a bit of sass and attitude and illustrator and designer Kevin Gemser has DELIVERED. These acrylic pins of Robin and Red Hood will be limited to 40 pieces each and available at Artist Alley booth #CC-13.

  • There are as many ways for an exhibitor to release exclusives as there are exhibitors and some methods are better than others, certainly. Priscilla Wilson is asking for YOUR opinion before deciding her method. You can weigh in on Twitter with your thoughts.

  • Time to break that piggy bank open! A little birdie was told by Comic Sketch Art that their roster of guests for San Diego Comic-Con will be truly mind-blowing. While we wait to hear all the firm details, here’s some of the names included:
    • Jeremy Adams
    • Rafael Grampa
    • David Pepose
    • Laura Braga
    • Collin Kelly
    • Jackson Lanzing
    • Nerf Alice
    • Tom Taylor
    • Jock
    • Joshua Cassara
    • Jim Zub
    • Swaby
    • Jody Houser
    • Clay Mann
    • Ryan Browne
    • Charles Soule
    • Frank Cho
    • Ryan Ottley
    • Mark Brooks
    • Mirka Andolfo
    • Greg Capullo
    • Ken Lashley
    • Mitch Gerads
    • Tom King
    • Agnes Garbowska
    • Scott Snyder
    • Frank Tieri
    • Dan Panosian
  • And finally today, Scott’s Collectables will also have some stellar talent at their booth, including Inhyuk Lee, Alan Quah, James Tynion IV, Marco Checchetto and Ram V. 

One final note, since this weekend is Mother’s Day. We wish the happiest of days to all Mothers, Grandmothers, Dads who take the place of Moms, Step Moms, people who nurture like Mothers, surrogate mothers, foster Moms, fur baby Moms, Mothers who have passed, Mothers with angels in heaven and anyone who has every had or lost a Mom. We wouldn’t be here without any of them. 💜

Anything we missed? Let us know by dropping us a line, or tweet us at @SD_Comic_Con.

If you missed our previous Under the Tents 2023 posts, you can find them HERE

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