Comic Con 09: Mouse Guard Panel

The Spotlight on David Petersen panel was one of the highlights of Comic-Con. I've been a fan of Mouse Guard for awhile now and I couldn't wait for David to talk about his book. I was hoping that this panel would wipe the disgusting taste of the Dark Horse panel away and I was right.

The panel started out with a Q&A between David and the moderator. The questions were very good and they answered a lot of my own questions about Mouse Guard. A question was asked about his process and he had a powerpoint that showed every step of the way, from the script all the way to the finished product.


The best part of the panel was the preview of his next book. David couldn't spoil much since most of the audience hadn't finished reading the Winter series yet. Howeever, he was able to show a spoiler pic of the Black Axe with yellow fur with an awesome looking weasel in the background. Let me just say that it looked amazing. He then revealed that after the Black Axe series, which starts in 2010, he will then do a book on the Weasel wars and then return to the current timeline.

The floor was then opened up to questions and I asked about the role-playing game. Since it just won the Origins award for best RPG I asked him if there were any plans for more source books. He said no because he didn't want to milk the fans so he tried to make the book as comprehensive as possible. Even though I wish there were more material out there to run a campaign, I will just have to do my best with the one book and the comics

At the end of the panel, they passed out a couple of prints which included the preview image of the Black Axe. I was stoked and so was the rest of the audience. It really was a great panel and hope he can do the same thing next year. I want to thank David for letting me blow my fan boy load all over him.

Comic Con 09: Dark Horse Panel

Let me preface this by telling you that I love Dark Horse comics. Hellboy, Buffy, and Conan are some of my favorites. Take this into consideration before reading the rant below.

I was looking forward to the Dark Horse Panel at Comic-Con more than any other. I couldn't wait to hear all the exciting news on Star Wars, Buffy, Conan, Hellboy, BPRD, Kull, Aliens, and Predator. This is just an excerpt of was the events guide said of the panel. "With breaking news on all of your favorite Dark Horse titles, major announcements and surprise guests, be the first to know about heroes, horror, and more!" When I read that I knew that this is where I needed to be at.

When the panel began, the president came on stage and told the audience that huge announcements were ahead. He definitely got us pumped up because he told us the best was going to saved for the end.

After a boring preview of virtual trading cards(stupid idea btw), Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) was introduced to discuss Umbrella Academy. The crowd went wild because no one thought that he was even an option for a surprise guest. This got me even more excited because if they brought in Gerard Way who else would be showing up? Maybe Mignola or even Joss Whedon?!? Then Eric Powell of the Goon came up to talk about his new stuff which was cool but he was only on stage for maybe one minute.

Then they shifted gears towards manga and talked about some new books being brought over from Japan. New movies were also talked about but none of them worth writing here. Soon they opened the floor to questions. I thought to myself that they were probably stalling for a big name to show up. Mostly the questions were related to the properties they didn't talk about like Buffy. Once nobody else had any questions, they thanked us for coming and there were some really big announcements that they wanted to share with us but they weren't quite ready yet?!?!? What the Fuck!

I have no idea what happened but I was almost speechless when they ended the panel. They didn't talk about any of the comics I love and the ones they did talk was only because someone in the audience brought it up. I think the best part of the panel was the slideshow. It was very poorly made and it previewed comics that they didn't even mention like Terminator. I can't believe I skipped an Adam Hughes panel so I could sit through this shit. How could they not even talk about Buffy. It's one of their best selling titles and by the looks of the crowd, they were only there to hear about Buffy. I am very disappointed in Dark Horse and I hope that next year they do a lot better.

Comic Con 09 Report

I'm finally back from the San Diego Comic Convention and I am very exhausted. I saw so much over the trip that I will probably forget most of what I saw.

Some highlights:

-Meeting Edward James Olmos.
This man was incredibly nice and he made sure to shake everyone's hands.
-Seeing Mark Hamill for the first time.
I was in shock when I saw him in person and it has now fully sunk in. I can't believe I got to see Luke Skywalker
-The Mouse Guard Panel.
David Peterson was very funny and it was great to hear how he came up with the idea of the comic. The free print was also a nice plus since it was a spoiler for the next series.

Even though Comic-Con is one of the best places on earth, its not without its disappointments:

-Attack of the Show panel.
The line for this was incredibly long and the room could only hold around 500 people. Lets just say that there was no chance that I could get in. Hopefully next year they will put them in a bigger room
-Dark Horse panel
This was my biggest disappointment of the the Con. I will write a whole post on this panel because it was really that bad.