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Full schedule is here. I am full on pumped now, you guys. Full on.
Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schultz and the Art of Peanuts
Celebrate the 65th anniversary of Peanuts with Chip Kidd (graphic designer, editor-at-large for Pantheon), and Paige Braddock (creative director at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates) as they preview their upcoming coffee table book, Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts. See rare and never-before seen highlights from the extraordinary archives at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California, including unpublished strips and preliminary artwork photographed by award-winning photographer Geoff Spear that reveal a rare glimpse into the creative process of the world's most beloved and influential cartoonist.
Sunday July 12, 2015 10:00am - 11:00am
Room 29AB
The Last Day of Summer: TV Guide Magazine's Farewell to Phineas and Ferb
After more than 200 best days ever, the ride's over for Phineas and Ferb and their pals, not to mention Perry the Platypus and archnemesis Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. For a final trip to the Tri-State Area,TV Guide Magazine chief content officer Michael Schneider gathers the creators/executive producers of Phineas and Ferb, Dan Povenmire (voice of Doofenshmirtz) and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (Major Monogram), along with stars Vincent Martella (Phineas), Alyson Stoner (Isabella), and Dee Bradley Baker (Perry) to seize the day, one more time.
Sunday July 12, 2015 10:00am - 11:00am
Room 6BCF
The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel
It's been 21 years since we lost him and we still can't stop talking about the man some called The King of the Comics. Jack Kirby may have been the greatest creative talent the field has ever seen and once again, some of his friends and fans will be discussing why. This time, it's Rob Liefeld (Spawn), Marv Wolfman (Tomb of Dracula), J. David Spurlock (Vanguard Productions) and Paul S. Levine (attorney who represented Jack). Naturally, your moderator is Kirby assistant and biographer Mark Evanier.
Sunday July 12, 2015 10:00am - 11:15am
Room 5AB
How We Tell Stories
Comics stories can be told in innovative ways that make the reading experience engaging, immersive, and fun for the reader. Heidi Macdonald of Publishers Weekly and The Beat will speak to four groundbreaking authors, asking how they adapt their storytelling techniques for different audiences and different formats. Marc Bell (Stroppy), Michael DeForge (Ant Colony, First Year Healthy), Ed Piskor (Hip Hop Family Tree), and Anders Nilsen (Poetry Is Useless) will talk about their strategies for telling stories and how these change when you're writing for online (DeForge, Piskor), alt-weekly magazines (Bell), or your own sketchbook (Nilsen).
Sunday July 12, 2015 11:00am - 12:00pm
Room 28DE
Sixty Years of Gumby
Joe and Joan Clokey show behind-the-scene clips from Gumby's studio (Clokey Productions) and answer questions with a panel that includes Gumby animation director Anthony Scott (Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline), longtime Gumby animator and FX guru Harry Walton (Indiana Jones, Nightmare Before Christmas), Gumby comic book writer Bob Burden (Mystery Men, Flaming Carrot), Gumby comic book illustrator Rick Geary (National Cartoonist award winner), and Mary Flynn.
Sunday July 12, 2015 11:00am - 12:00pm
Room 29AB
Cartoon Voices 2
Another panel of experts at voicing animated characters convenes for your edification. They'll tell you what they do, show you what they do and probably fracture a fairy tale in the process. This time, we have Julie Nathanson (Final Fantasy, Spider-Man), Bob Bergen (Porky Pig, Star Wars), Misty Lee (Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk and the Agents of SMASH), Wally Wingert (Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Garfield Show) and Chris Edgerly (The Simpsons, Dreamworks Dragons). Hosting and directing is Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show).
Sunday July 12, 2015 11:30am - 12:45pm
Room 6A
Danger Mouse New Series: Exclusive Reveal
He's the greatest. He's fantastic. And he's back! Ahead of the iconic series return to CBBC (UK) later this year and Netflix (U.S. and internationally) in 2016, members of theDanger Mouse production team, Sarah Muller (executive producer, head of CBBC acquisitions, animation and drama development, Wolfblood, Strange Hill High) and Chapman Maddox (director of development, FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment Grojband, Max Steel) invite you to join this lively panel moderated by Bob Higgins (executive producer, FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment, Aquabats Supershow, The Ricky Gervais Show). The panelists will discuss the series return, provide exclusive character reveals, and offer a sneak peek at this surreal new spinout animated comedy series.
Sunday July 12, 2015 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Room 29AB
Spotlight on Matthew Inman
The Oatmeal talks about cats, bears, Tesla, Exploding Kittens, and what it means to be a cartoonist in 2015.
Sunday July 12, 2015 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Room 28DE
American Horror Story and Scream Queens
Get ready to scream! It's a Comic-Con horror fest when members of the all-star cast of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan's Scream Queens (Jamie Lee Curtis, the original scream queen, Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Skyler Samuels, and Keke Palmer) come face to face with the stars of Murphy and Falchuk's American Horror Story: Freak Show and upcoming American Horror Story: Hotel (Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and Matt Bomer). Moderated by Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly, this lively gathering of headliners promises laughs, scares and secrets from the sets.
Sunday July 12, 2015 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Hall H
Children's Hospital Special Video Presentation and Q&A
Adult Swim's two-time Emmy-winning live-action comedy returns to Comic-Con for a sixth year. Creator and star Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) will be joined onstage by select cast for a lively and medically accurate Q&A. From Abominable Pictures, The Corddry Company, and Warner Bros. Television Group's Studio 2.0.
Sunday July 12, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 25ABC
Hip Hop Comics Connection
Ed Piskor, author of the New York Times bestselling series Hip Hop Family Tree, examines the 40-year relationship between Comics and Hip Hop culture. The journey begins with Vaughn Bodé characters painted on trains, to cartoonists creating rap album covers, to rap artists creating comic books, to the ultimate merging of the two cultures into Ed's current work
Sunday July 12, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 28DE
Spotlight on William Stout: From Antarctica to Zombies
Artist/writer William Stout reviews an adventure-filled life. From scaling Mount Kilimanjaro to scuba diving under the ice in Antarctica, from making movies likeConan the Barbarian, Return of the Living Dead, Masters of the Universe, and Pan's Labyrinth to drawing "overground" comics as diverse as Tarzan of the Apes, Alien Worlds, and Little Annie Fanny and underground comix like Slow Death and Mickey at 60, come meet the only Comic-Con special guest (except for maybe Sergio Aragonés) to have journeyed to all seven continents, with a richly illustrated talk that will leave you both entertained and amazed. And yes, there will be dinosaurs.
Sunday July 12, 2015 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Room 32AB
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
Get an exclusive, inside look at the development process of recently released LEGO Marvel Super Heroes products, special LEGO Marvel Super Heroes animated content, and the upcoming LEGO Marvel Super Heroes console video game with Marcos Bessa (senior designer, The LEGO Group), Adam Corbally (senior graphic designer, The LEGO Group), Jason Cosler (senior manager content development, The LEGO Group), Cort Lane (VP animation development and partnerships, Marvel), Mike Jones (executive producer, Marvel), and Arthur Parsons (game director, TT Games). Discover how the toys, animated content, and video game come to life with the teams behind their development. Moderated by Brian Bowler (marketing director, The LEGO Group).
Sunday July 12, 2015 2:45pm - 3:45pm
Room 5AB
Buffy Musical: Once More With Feeling & Juliet Landau Q&A
Let's end this show with a bang! For the first time since 2008, Juliet Landau (Buffy/Angel) is attending Comic-Con just to join the fans for a quick rollicking Q&A and special announcements about her latest project, "A Place Among The Undead" with a special Comic-Con exclusive sneak peek, as well as special announcements about our own upcoming event, Whedonopolis 2016. Then Juliet will help us kick off the closing event with a bang: The powers that be behind Whendonopolis.com, FandomCharities.org and Whedonopolis 2016 present an interactive screening of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More With Feeling," as Comic-Con's big closing event! Many say that this is the finest, funniest, most ingenious episode ever to come out of the Buffyverse. But remember, the best part of the show is up to you! This episode was made for talkin', back that is, and singing, shouting and dancing in the aisles, with or without your dry cleaning! Audience participation: it isn't just for flashmobs and hipsters anymore.
Sunday July 12, 2015 2:45pm - 4:15pm
Room 6BCF
FX TV Block Featuring Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, The Strain, and a Sneak Peek of The Bastard Executioner
Kick out the jams with Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, premiering on FX on July 16 at 10 pm ET/PT. Denis Leary stars as the lead singer of a legendary '90s band called The Heathens, who were on the brink of stardom when they broke up and now, years later, are looking to recapture some of the old glory. Creator/executive producer writer/director Denis Leary will be joined on stage by actors Elizabeth Gillies, Elaine Hendrix, Robert Kelly, and John Ales to discuss the new series and present an exclusive sneak peek of the show. Then catch The Strain, a thriller based on the best-selling vampire novel trilogy of the same title that will debut its second season on July 12 at 10 pm ET/PT. Fans will get an exclusive screening of all-new material, including two original pieces created specifically for SDCC and an insightful discussion with showrunner/executive producer Carlton Cuse, co-creator/executive producer/writer Guillermo del Toro, co-creator/executive producer/writerChuck Hogan, and actors Corey Stoll, David Bradley,Mia Maestro, Kevin Durand, Ruta Gedmintas, Richard Sammel, and Natalie Brown. And for an epic finale, get an exclusive world premiere first-look at Sons of Anarchy, creator Kurt Sutter's highly anticipated new series The Bastard Executioner.
Sunday July 12, 2015 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Hall H
Full-Time Creative Work on a Part-Time Schedule
Back for another year! This panel deals with the basic, though imperative, approaches and concepts for what you need to know to accomplish any project in any media with any goal. The panelists represent a broad cross section of levels of authority, departments, work pipelines, and sizes of organizations, as well as a wide array of media. They include Topher Davila (art director, GeekdomWear), Sean Glumace (Adobe education leader), Brendan Creecy (Radio BrendoMan podcast), Ron Coleman Ph.D. (molecular geneticist), Stephen Burns (Photoshop digital artist, author , lecturer), Jonelle Davila (creative director, TheGeekGirlProject), Jody Patterson (Photoshop), and Mario Martinez (co-creator, TomatoTV). You could attend this panel for a fourth time and learn new tips, wisdom, dos, and don'ts. As an added bonus to help get your creative work life further along, there will be a giveaway of a one-year subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud.
Sunday July 12, 2015 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Room 24ABC
Once again I have been invited to sit in on the Full-Time Creative Work on a Part-Time Schedule panel to close out Sunday. It's always fun and inspiring. I highly recommend it to any creators out there. No Community panel. Bummer. See you all in San Diego!
Full schedule is here.
Are You Ready, Kids?: Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants
The cast of SpongeBob is back! All your Bikini Bottom favorites are on hand to perform Idiot Box at a live table read as chosen by the fans online. Featuring Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), and Dee Bradley Baker (all other Biukini Bottomites.. Following the performance will be a Q&A with the cast and creative director, Vincent Waller. Plus, a sneak peek at a new episode and fan trivia with prizes. Hosted by Claudia Spinelli, VP of current series animation for Nickelodeon. All landlubbers welcome.
Saturday July 11, 2015 10:00am - 11:00am
Room 6A
Land of the Lost Series Reunion
This year's Saturday morning cartoons Happy Hour takes a routine expedition down memory lane to Sid & Marty Krofft's live-action classic Land of the Lost. Moderator Corey Rothermel hosts the party as guests Wesley Eure (Will Marshall), Kathy Coleman (Holly Marshall), Phil Paley (Cha-Ka), and David Gerrold (writer/story editor) recount and reminisce about their time spent in the "original" Jurassic world. They will cover everything from Sleestaks to Selima, from Pylons to Pakuni. So if you're nostalgic for the Saturday morning programs of old or want to discover them for the very first time, meet up with this panel for the happiest hour at Comic-Con.
Saturday July 11, 2015 10:00am - 11:00am
Room 29AB
MARCH with Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
His first visit to Comic-Con made national news; now the legendary civil rights icon, U.S. congressman, and #1 bestselling graphic novel author John Lewis returns. Congressman Lewis, co-author Andrew Aydin, and artist Nate Powell re-team to share their award-winning March series. You'll hear about the incredible tour that's brought the message of March to schools, universities, libraries, and corporate headquarters from coast to coast. You'll see glimpses of the much-anticipated March: Book Three, covering Mississippi Freedom Summer and the unforgettable Selma-Montgomery March. And of course, you'll hear Congressman Lewis's firsthand memories of sit-ins, Freedom Rides, the march on Washington, Selma, and beyond, and the vital power of his message of transformative nonviolence in the world today.
Saturday July 11, 2015 10:00am - 11:00am
Room 23ABC
The Last Man on Earth
What would you do if you were the last person on Earth? Star and creator Will Forte (Nebraska, Saturday Night Live), Kristen Schaal (Bob's Burgers, Flight of the Conchords), January Jones (Mad Men), and director/executive producer Chris Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street) discuss the surprising twists and turns of the first season as well as tease the upcoming second season
Saturday July 11, 2015 10:00am - 11:00am
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Warner Bros. Presentation
A "sneak peek" at a few upcoming releases from Warner Bros.
Saturday July 11, 2015 10:30am - 12:00pm
Hall H
Andre the Giant: The Man Behind the Legend
The beloved pro wrestler's daughter Robin Christensen joins the creative team of Lion Forge's authorized graphic novel biography includeing Brandon Easton (Andre the Giant: Closer to Heaven) and Shannon Eric Denton (senior editor, Lion Forge Comics) to discuss the real man known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." Join this panel to reminisce about one of sports entertainment's most legendary figures. Surprise guests will be featured.
Saturday July 11, 2015 11:00am - 12:00pm
Room 29AB
Book to Screen
We're in a heyday for science fiction and fantasy on screen, whether it's the big screen or the small. Some of the most popular series out there take advantage of the in-depth world and character building of book series to populate their vivid worlds. Ernie Cline (author of Ready Player One, soon to be adapted for the screen by Steven Spielberg), Melissa de la Cruz (author of Witches of East End, Lifetime show by the same name), Andy Weir (author of The Martian, a Ridley Scott-directed adaptation will be released later this year), Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (as James S. A. Corey, author of Leviathan Wakes, on which the upcoming Syfy show The Expanse is based), Lev Grossman (author of The Magicians, soon to be a Syfy show), and Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings (as Christina Lauren, author of Beautiful Bastard, which has been optioned by Constantin Film) discuss how their creations are coming to life on screen.
Saturday July 11, 2015 11:00am - 12:00pm
Room 7AB
TV Guide Magazine: Fan Favorites
TV Guide Magazine brings the screams to San Diego again for this all-star, must-see panel. Moderated by senior writer Damian Holbrook, stars from TV's hottest shows provide a lively discussion filled with behind-the-scenes scoops. Panelists include David Anders (iZombie), Yvette Nicole Brown (The Odd Couple), Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), Eliza Taylor (The 100), Ming-Na Wen (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones).
Saturday July 11, 2015 11:00am - 11:45pm
Ballroom 20
Inside the Writers' Room: The Pilot: Part One
Before there can be a hit series (or even a Manimal), there has to be a pilot, and this panel of expert creators and writers will share their experiences-the good, bad, and the very ugly-in selling and making a television pilot. Get the straight scoop from some of today's most talented and outspoken creators. Moderated by Sony Pictures Television's senior VP of drama development and production, Chris Parnell. Panelists include Sarah Watson (Parenthood, About a Boy), Javier Grillo-Marxuach (The Middleman, Lost, Helix), Ashley E. Miller (Terminator, Fringe), Craig Engler (Z Nation), Kay Reindl (Scream, Millennium), Steve Kriozere (Agent X, NCIS), Amy Berg (Caper, Da Vinci's Demons) and Thomas P. Vitale (Fmr. EVP Chiller Strategic Operations, SYFY Original Movies and co-productions).
Saturday July 11, 2015 11:30am - 12:30pm
Room 24ABC
Quick Draw!
Once again, three supercharged cartoonists duel to their dooms with Sharpies, each attempting to outdraw all opponents. It's one of the most popular Comic-Con events, and this year it's personal. Our returning champion Sergio Aragonés (MAD, Groo the Wanderer) goes mano a mano against Scott Shaw! (The Simpsons, The Flintstones) and Disney legend Floyd Norman. Plus, you can expect a few other cartoonists to get their licks in. Presiding over it all is your Quick Draw! Quizmaster, Mark Evanier. No wagering, please.
Saturday July 11, 2015 11:45am - 1:00pm
Room 6BCF
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies A zombie outbreak has fallen upon the land in Jane Austen's classic tale of the tangled relationships between lovers from different social classes in 19th-century England. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) is a master of martial arts and weaponry, and the handsome Mr. Darcy (Sam Reilly) is a fierce zombie killer, yet the epitome of upper-class prejudice. As the zombie outbreak intensifies, they must swallow their pride and join forces on the blood-soaked battlefield. Cast members Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Jack Huston and Matt Smith along with writer/director Burr Steers and the book's author Seth Grahame-Smith for a first look at Screen Gem's adaptation of his acclaimed twist on the classic novel. Patient Zero An uprecedented global pandemic of a super strain of rabies has turned the majority of humankind into highly intelligent, streamlined killers known as 'The Infected'. One victim, Morgan (Matt Smith), who is asymptomatic and can communicate with the infected, leads the last survivors on a hunt for Patient Zero and a cure. Join cast members Matt Smith, John Bradley, Natalie Dormer, and Clive Standen along with director Stefan Ruzowitzky and screenwriter Mike Le for an exclusive first look of the film. Both panels will be moderated by Dalton Ross (Entertainment Weekly).
Saturday July 11, 2015 12:15pm - 1:15pm
Hall H
Sid & Marty Krofft: A Look at the Future, Present, and the Past
Cesar Millan joins Sid & Marty Krofft's panel as a guest moderator for this very exclusive event at Comic-Con. Brothers Sid & Marty Krofft have been producing quality family entertainment for over 40 years. They are currently producing a new series at Nickelodeon, Mutt & Stuff with Cesar Millan. They are also producing Sigmund and the Sea Monsters at Amazon Studios and Electra Woman and Dyna Girl at Legendary Pictures. The brothers became a household name in the'70s with a series of remarkable programs that featured elaborate sets and fanciful characters.
Saturday July 11, 2015 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Room 5AB
Nerdist Industries with Chris Hardwick
Chris Hardwick (Comedy Central's @Midnight, AMC's Talking Dead) is joined by Jessica Chobot (Nerdist News, Battlebots) and the editorial team from Nerdist online, including Rachel Heine (editor-in-chief of Nerdist), Dan Casey (The Dan Cave), Malik Forté (Nerdist Play), Matt Grosinger (Celebrity Playlist), Kyle Hill (Because Science), Nerdist Podcast Network producer Katie Levine, and a special guest or two. Join this panel for a lively conversation about the big things to come for Nerdist in the near future. Surprises, announcements, and, of course, quemments await. Come and enjoy your burrito!
Saturday July 11, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Cartoon Voices 1
The fine art of giving voice to animated characters is again demonstrated by a dais of the best. This year, join Keone Young (Star Wars Rebels, G.I. Joe), Pat Musick (Rugrats, Extreme Ghostbusters), Eric Bauza (Ben 10, The Adventures of Puss in Boots), Jessica DiCicco (Gravity Falls, Pound Puppies), Phil Morris (Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Ultimate Spider-Man) and Josh Robert Thompson (Family Guy, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson). Mark Evanier, as usual, gets these talented folks to demonstrate what they do so well.
Saturday July 11, 2015 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Room 6BCF
Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight
Academy Award-winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino brings fans an exclusive look at his highly anticipated 8th film, The Hateful Eight. Followed by a Q&A session with the cast.
Saturday July 11, 2015 1:30pm - 2:15pm
Hall H
VIZ Media and Perfect Square: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Hey, listen! Take up your Master Sword and join VIZ Media staff and special guests for a celebration of one of the best video games of all time, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. You will get a behind-the-scenes look at the return of the classic graphic novel originally featured in Nintendo Power, answers to your questions, prizes, and more.
Saturday July 11, 2015 1:30pm - 2:30pm
Room 5AB
The Return of Invader Zim
Join Oni Press, Jhonen Vasquez (creator of Invader Zim), and the legendary creative team of the new Invader Zim comic for world domination and a panel about the revival of this much-loved series.
Saturday July 11, 2015 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Room 29AB
Legendary Pictures
Filmmakers and talent from Legendary's upcoming Warcraft and Crimson Peak, distributed by Universal Pictures, will discuss the innovative slate and present never-before-seen material. Chris Hardwick (AMC's Talking Dead) hosts the panel that will also include surprises from highly anticipated legendary movies, including Great Wall, Krampus, and more.
Saturday July 11, 2015 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Hall H
Anything Goes with John Barrowman
John Barrowman (Arrow, Torchwood, Doctor Who) is an entertainer with a capital "E." He sings, he dances, he acts, he presents, he judges; ask him anything!
Saturday July 11, 2015 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Outcast TV Series: A First Look with Robert Kirkman
Be the first to get possessed by Outcast! From Cinemax and FOX comes the exclusive first look at the TV adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Paul Azaceta's hit comic book by the same name. Outcast chronicles Kyle Barnes; a young man who has been plagued by demonic possession all his life. Now, with the help of the Reverend Anderson, a preacher with personal demons of his own, Kyle embarks on a journey to find answers and regain the normal life he lost. But what Kyle discovers could change his fate, and the fate of the world, forever. Executive producers Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and Chris Black (Desperate Housewives), cast members Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous, Gone Girl), Philip Glenister (Life on Mars), and Wrenn Schmidt (Boardwalk Empire), and special surprise guests, in a panel moderated by Kumail Najiani (HBO's Silicon Valley) discuss the highly anticipated series and debut a sneak peek of Season 1; coming worldwide in 2016.
Saturday July 11, 2015 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Room 6DE
The Muppet Show Coming to ABC
The Muppets return to primetime television this fall on ABC in a way they've never been seen before! Filmed in a documentary style with cut-to interviews, the Muppets come to life, giving audiences a chance to explore their rich inner lives and intense interpersonal relationships, romances, break-ups, achievements, disappointments, wants, and desires. Co-creators and executive producers Bill Prady (Big Bang Theory) and Bob Kushell (The Simpsons), executive producer/director Randall Einhorn (The Office) and executive producer Bill Barretta (The Muppets) screen the video presentation that inspired the series and discuss the first season of this new, more grown-up Muppet show for kids and adults of all ages. The panel will also feature a few of the brilliant Muppet performers, giving you a rare opportunity to witness them bringing some of your favorite characters to life.
Saturday July 11, 2015 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Room 6A
Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created MAD and Revolutionized Humor in America
Bill Schelly (author) talks to Gary Groth (publisher) about Harvey Kurtzman, editor, artist, and sole writer of the original MAD comic book and magazine-one of the greatest publishing successes of the 20th century. They will cover Harvey's cultural impact, legal battles with MAD publisher William M. Gaines, and much more.
Saturday July 11, 2015 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Room 26AB
Entertainment Weekly: Women Who Kick Ass
A discussion among fierce, fearless, actresses Gal Gabot (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter), Kathy Bates (American Horror Story), and other flat out fantastic females, who will open up about the power and privilege of playing women who redefine the rules and refuse to yield. Moderated by Sara Vilkomerson.
Saturday July 11, 2015 3:45pm - 4:30pm
Hall H
Oddball Comics Live!
Cartoonist Scott Shaw! (Captain Carrot And His Amazing Zoo Crew!, Sonic The Hedgehog, Simpsons Comics, Annoying Orange) once again presents his uniquely hilarious slideshow of "the craziest comic books ever published!" Once you've seen this mind-roasting presentation-which has played to standing room only crowds in San Diego for the better part of four decades-you'll never forget such covers as those of the "crotch-centric" issues of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, those with someone getting slapped with a "fish-in-the-face", and those Silver Age issues of Batman and Detective Comics with "Robin-in-the-corner"! Scott promises, "Even if you've seen my acclaimed slideshow presentation many times before, when you see their covers blown up to the size of the side of a barn, you'll be amazed and delighted at the unbelievable imagery that' are revealed!" See for yourself why Stan Lee calls Scott's show "the wildest, wackiest exposé of some of the craziest comic books I've ever seen!"
Saturday July 11, 2015 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Room 7AB
Dark Horse: An Afternoon with Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon has rewarded fans the world over with some of the most compelling characters and plot lines in the history of comics, television, and movies. Here's your chance to find out what he has in store next, and get exclusive insights into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, and much, much more.
Saturday July 11, 2015 4:45pm - 5:30pm
Hall H
Storytelling in the 21st Century
During this panel, Will Wright, the legendary game designer and creator of multi-billion-dollar franchises The Sims, SimCity, and SPORE, talks about new methods and formats for storytelling that are being enabled by interactive technology. In his own work, Will has experimented with this in several areas including The Sims, Bar Karma (a.k.a. Creation TV), and most recently the content creation platform app, THRED. Wright will discuss how regular people can be enabled to create and share compelling stories by using technology to "amplify" their natural creative abilities. Before diving into experiments and technology, he'll first present a brief look at the fundamentals of what stories are and why everyone enjoys consuming them.
Saturday July 11, 2015 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Room 26AB
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox Presentation.
Saturday July 11, 2015 5:45pm - 7:30pm
Hall H
Spotlight on Reginald Hudlin
Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Django Unchained, Black Panther), the writer/director/producer of movies, TV shows, and comics, will have a no-holding-back discussion of both upcoming projects and classic work like the Black Panther comic book and animated series; the return of Milestone Media, including the upcoming Static Shock live action series; and the Django/Zorro comic book, as well as his experiences on groundbreaking projects like The Boondocks, Bebe's Kids, Boomerang, and more. There will be several special guest stars, including CNN host Van Jones.
Saturday July 11, 2015 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Room 9
The Walking Dead: An Inside Look with Robert Kirkman
Dive into the world of the Eisner Award-winning comic book series The Walking Dead with creator Robert Kirkman and Skybound editorial director Sean Mackiewicz.
Saturday July 11, 2015 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Room 6DE
Fight Club 2
Acclaimed novelist Chuck Palahniuk continues one of his most beloved works with Fight Club 2! Join Dark Horse for a discussion of the creation of this story with Chuck Palahniuk, editor Scott Allie, and artists David Mack and Cameron Stewart.
Saturday July 11, 2015 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Room 5AB
An Hour with Adam Savage
Sure, Adam Savage is one of the stars of MythBusters, but he's so much more: maker, cosplayer, movie fan, and problem solver. He's not here to promote anything; he's here to enjoy Comic-Con, like you. And as part of that, he's opening himself up to fans for one hour, with no agenda; ask him anything.
Saturday July 11, 2015 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Room 6BCF
Not So Strange Bedfellows: The Relationship Between Comics and Pro Wrestling
Some have called the spectacle of pro wrestling a "comic book come to life." That is not far from the truth. From the heroics of Hulk Hogan, antiheroes such as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and villains like Ric Flair, panelists from both worlds will explore the parallels that exist in character development and storyline advancement between these outrageous forms of. Featuring Rik Offenberger (First Comic News website), Francis Szyskowski (The Massacre Twins), Scott Lost (The 2nd Shift), Eburonson (The 2nd Shift), Michael Kingston (Headlocked), and Flobo Boyce (Silver Streek). Moderated by Joshua Waldrop (Red Guerrilla Media).
Saturday July 11, 2015 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Room 29AB
The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Evolved
The Thrilling Adventure Hour has come a long way from their monthly LA Largo show, which just ended a 10-year run. The stage show, in the style of old-time radio, has captured the attention of audiences across the globe with sold-out shows in San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, New York, Chicago, Australia and New Zealand. With their hit Nerdist podcast, Eisner-nominated graphic novel, concert film, a new Image Comics series, an international tour and new comic adaptation shows, they're still at it. Moderated by co-creators Ben Acker and Ben Blacker and featuring The WorkJuice Players and special guests, you won't want to miss this chat.
Saturday July 11, 2015 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Room 23ABC
Scream Queens: World Premiere Screening
Be the first in the world to see Fox's comedy-horror anthology series Scream Queens. From Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning executive producers Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, this killer new series stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Abigal Breslin, Nasim Pedrad, Oliver Hudson, Skyler Samuels, Keke Palmer, Billie Lourd, Diego Bonita, Glen Powell, Lucien Laviscount, Niecy Nash, Nick Jonas, and Ariana Grande. The show centers on a string of college campus muders. Kappa House, the most sought-after sorority for pledges, is ruled with an iron fist (in a designer glove) by its Queen Bitch, Chanel Oberlin (Roberts). But when anti-Kappa Dean Munsch (Curtis) decrees that Kappa must accept all new pledges and not just the school's silver-spooned elite, all hell is about to break loose, as a 20-year-old mystery and a devil-clad killer begins wreaking havoc.
Saturday July 11, 2015 9:15pm - 10:15pm
Room 6DE
Hey look! It's the return of the ambiguous Hall H panel descriptions. Supposedly the WB panel is going to reveal Justice League in addition to the expected Batman V Superman stuff. I'm not terribly interested and there are tons of cool smaller panels on Saturday. Lots of tough choices. Usually the crowd makes those decisions for you and you just have to ride with it. That's my biggest tip to new attendees. Just roll with it. There's always something going on somewhere so if you can't get into that thing you want, I guarantee you something else cool is happening within walking distance that you can get into. If that fails there is always the Nintendo Lounge. SDCC is Streetpass city if you have a 3DS. Armed with that, your program guide, good shoes, water, an open mind, and some snacks, I firmly believe that anyone can have an amazing experience. My one other take away from the Saturday schedule is that I sure hope Community is on the Sunday schedule.
Check out the full schedule here. I am getting super excited!!!
Writing for TV: From First Draft to Getting Staffed
Moderator Spiro Skentzos (Grimm), panelist Phil Klemmer (DC's Legends of Tomorrow), Wendy Mericle (Arrow), Kerry Ehrin (Bates Motel), Karen Horne (VP, NBCUniversal), Cori Wellins (agent, WME) and Steve Iwanyk (manager, The Gotham Group) as they discuss navigating the TV spec terrain, including beginner's mistakes, what they look for in a writer and what it takes for you to write a killer spec that will stand above the crowd. There will be a huge Q&A component, so bring your questions.
Friday July 10, 2015 10:30am - 11:30am
Room 24ABC
AMC's The Walking Dead
Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, Sonequa Martin-Green, Michael Cudlitz, and Lennie James join executive producer and showrunner Scott M. Gimple, executive producer Robert Kirkman, executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, executive producer Dave Alpert, and special effects makeup supervisor and executive producer Greg Nicotero in a panel moderated by Chris Hardwick (The Nerdist, Talking Dead). The panelists will discuss the shocking finale of Season 5 and what to look forward to in Season 6, debuting this fall on AMC. Join the panelists for a Q&A session and an official sneak preview of Season 6.
Friday July 10, 2015 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Hall H
Twisted Roots of the Comics Industry
Gerard Jones (Men of Tomorrow), Danny Fingeroth (Disguised as Clark Kent, editor for Marvel Comics), Brad Ricca (Super Boys), and Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson (co-author of a forthcoming bio of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson) reveal the stories of the gangsters, bootleggers, and eccentric geniuses who founded the comic book business. Moderated by Michael Uslan, producer of the Batman movies.
Friday July 10, 2015 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Room 8
AMC's Fear the Walking Dead
Cliff Curtis, Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Elizabeth Rodriquez, Lorenzo James Henrie, Ruben Blades and Mercedes Mason join executive producer and showrunner Dave Erickson, executive producer Robert Kirkman, executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, executive producer Dave Alpert, and special effects makeup supervisor and executive producer Greg Nicotero to discuss the anticipated series premiere of Fear the Walking Dead coming this summer. Join the panelists for a Q&A session and an official sneak preview of the new series.
Friday July 10, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Hall H
Archie Forever
Hot off the blockbuster launch of the first Archie #1 in over 75 years, this is one panel Archie fans can't miss. Get exclusive news on the Archie Horror titles, the new Jughead ongoing series, and more. The panel features Jon Goldwater (co-CEO/publisher), Victor Gorelick (co-president/editor-in-chief), Mike Pellerito (president), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (chief creative officer/writer of Afterlife with Archie, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Mark Waid (writer of Archie), Dan Parent (writer/artist, Kevin Keller), your favorite Archie writers and artists, with moderator Alex Segura (SVP, publicity and marketing/editor of Dark Circle Comics). Plus, an exclusive gift bag ticket!
Friday July 10, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 4
From Novel to Comic to Film: Turning Books into Other Forms of Pop Culture
New York Times bestselling author Hugh Howey sits down with his literary agent Kristin Nelson, John Nee (co-CEO of Cryptozoic Entertainment and book packager), Paul Morrissey (Eisner-nominated editor, Jet City Comics), Jimmy Palmiotti (writer and owner of paperfilms), Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Gary Whitta (Book of Eli) to discuss how popular novels are turned into comic adaptations and feature films. Get the behind-the-scenes and nitty gritty, from selling options to major film studios to working with visual artists and comic book writers in their adaptations. Hugh Howey's novel WOOL is in development with Ridley Scott, and the comic adaptation and graphic novel are available from Jet City Comics. Gary Whitta is also adopting Howey's novel SAND for television.
Friday July 10, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 29AB
[adult swim]: Rick and Morty
UPDATED: Fri, Jun 26, 11:13AM
Executive producers Dan Harmon (Community) and Justin Roiland (Adventure Time), as well as Rick and Morty cast members invite fans for a sneak peek of the upcoming second season, premiering July 26 on Adult Swim.
Friday July 10, 2015 1:15pm - 2:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Disney Animators: The Power of 2D
A luminary panel of former and current Disney animators spanning from Lady and the Tramp to Moana talk about the importance of 2D animation in the history of Disney, as well as the part it plays in guiding advancement of its future. Panelists are Willie Ito (Lady and the Tramp, Inkpot Award-winning animator), Dale Baer (Robin Hood to Moana), Randy Haycock (The Lion King to Moana), Tom Sito (The Little Mermaid, author of Moving Innovation), Adam Dykstra (Tangled, Tarzan), and Mike Polvani (Hercules, 2D Animation School founder). Changes in technology, artistic expression, and the value of cooperative interplay between 2D and 3D artists to create the best animation will be discussed. There will be a Q&A moderated by Leslie Combemale (Animation expert, ArtInsights Gallery).
Friday July 10, 2015 1:30pm - 2:30pm
Room 24ABC
Minority Report
Be one of the first to take a look at FOX's new fall sci-fi action thriller. Based on the hit futuristic Steven Spielberg feature, Minority Report follows the unlikely partnership between a man haunted by the future and a cop haunted by her past, as they race to stop the worst crimes of the year 2065 before they happen. Join Stark Sands (Inside Llewyn Davis), Meagan Good (Think Like a Man franchise, Californication) along with other cast and producers for a special screening followed by a Q&A.
Friday July 10, 2015 1:45pm - 2:45pm
Ballroom 20
Ghostbusters: Sony, IDW and Cryptozoic Entertainment
Celebrate over 30 years of Ghostbusters, the classic supernatural franchise that defined an era. Learn about new products and plans firsthand from Sony Pictures Consumer Products, hear insights on the ongoing comic series by IDW Publishing, and see a demo of the successfully crowdfunded game by Cryptozoic Entertainment.
Friday July 10, 2015 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Room 25ABC
ILM 40th Anniversary
For forty years, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most memorable images in the history of modern cinema. From advances in the photo chemical process, optical compositing, motion control, and models and miniatures to the company's pioneering efforts in computer graphics, digital compositing, film scanning and recording, morphing, digital environments, performance capture, character animation, and modern digital pipelines, ILM continues to break new ground in visual effects for film, television, themed attractions, and new forms of entertainment. The presenters will discuss the company's work from its earliest days and breakthroughs along the way.
Friday July 10, 2015 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Room 7AB
[adult swim]: Mike Tyson Mysteries
It was a unanimous victory last year, but Iron Mike Tyson is taking on Comic-Con again; and this rematch is sure to live up to all the hype. After a season of solving mysteries, the Mike Tyson Mystery Team will be back at it again with all-new episodes on Adult Swim this fall. Join Mike Tyson, Rachel Ramras (MAD), and producer Hugh Davidson (The Looney Tunes Show) for a first look at the upcoming second season. Moderated by Jon Hein (Howard Stern).
Friday July 10, 2015 2:15pm - 3:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Amazon: The Man in the High Castle
Amazon will introduce Comic-Con audiences to a one-hour drama series based on Philip K. Dick's Hugo Award-winning 1962 alternative history novel The Man in the High Castle. The series explores the world that would have resulted if the Allied Powers had lost World War II. America and much of the world have now been split between global dominating powers Japan and Germany. As tension mounts between the two, resistance builds against the oppressive regimes amid questions over what is real and what is not. Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen will be the moderator with panelists that include executive producer Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), producers David Zucker (The Good Wife) and Isa Dick Hackett, and cast members Alexa Davalos (Clash of the Titans), Luke Kleintank (Pretty Little Liars), Rupert Evans (Hellboy), Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat Legacy), and Rufus Sewell (Killing Jesus).
Friday July 10, 2015 2:15pm - 3:15pm
Room 6A
Game of Thrones Panel and Q&A Session
Based on the bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, HBO's Game of Thrones concluded its 10-episode fifth season in June and will begin filming its sixth season this summer. The series, executive produced and written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, is an epic story of treachery and nobility, set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years. Panelists include (in alphabetical order) Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy/Reek, John Bradley as Samwell Tarly, Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth, Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell, Conleth Hill as Varys, David Nutter (director), Hannah Murray as Gilly, Carolyn Strauss (executive producer), Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark, Carice van Houten as Melisandre, and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark.
Friday July 10, 2015 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Hall H
How Comic Books Took Over Hollywood
Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, Fanboys director Kyle Newman, Batman: The Animated Series writer/producer Paul Dini, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein discuss why Hollywood "gets" comic book storytelling now when for decades it didn't. Panelists will participate in a Q&A session moderated by Christian Blauvelt (Deputy Culture Editor, BBC online).
Friday July 10, 2015 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Room 25ABC
Marvel Television Presents
Jeph Loeb (Marvel's head of television) brings you exclusive news and surprises about your favorite action-packed Marvel series on ABC. Join Jeph, showrunners, and the casts of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter for this can't-miss panel that'll have everyone talking!
Friday July 10, 2015 3:00pm - 4:15pm
Ballroom 20
[adult swim]: Robot Chicken
Co-creators/executive producers Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, executive producer/co-head writer Tom Root, and actor/writer Breckin Meyer discuss their Emmy-winning series, which returns for its eighth season this fall on Adult Swim. DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns will also be joining the panel for an early look at the upcoming third Robot Chicken DC Comics Special.
Friday July 10, 2015 3:15pm - 4:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Bob's Burgers
The always-entertaining cast and creators behind Bob's Burgers bring their Emmy award-winning animated series back to San Diego. Creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard, executive producer Jim Dauterive, and the hilarious cast including H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal and Larry Murphy will entertain with never-before-seen footage, followed by a Q&A panel discussion.
Friday July 10, 2015 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
IDW: The Best Panel in Recorded History
This is the big one! Join IDW chief creative officer/editor-in-chief Chris Ryall and VP of marketing Dirk Wood lay waste to a room of shocked comic fans. Panlists include Gabriel Rodriguez, John Layman, James Tynion IV, Ulises Farinas, and special guests. Shocking announcements, amazing prizes, and a Q&A.
Friday July 10, 2015 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Room 4
MTV's Scream
The cast and producers of MTV's highly anticipated thriller series Scream share details from the new series, show an exclusive clip, and answer fans questions.
Friday July 10, 2015 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Room 5AB
Nerdist Podcast Network Podcast Jam
Get some audible chocolate in your audio peanut butter as hosts from your favorite Nerdist Podcast Network shows come together for a super podcast crossover. Moderated by Jonah Ray (Nerdist, Jonah Raydio, The Meltdown), enjoy a lively conversation from panelists Pete Holmes (You Made It Weird, The Pete Holmes Show), Emily Gordon (The Indoor Kids), Kumail Nanjiani (The Indoor Kids, The Meltdown), and Sandra Daughtery (Sex Nerd Sandra).
Friday July 10, 2015 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Horton Grand Theatre
Archer, the award-winning animated comedy about a spy agency whose employees constantly undermine, sabotage, and betray each other for personal gain, will bring together creator Adam Reed and executive producer Matt Thompson, along with the voice cast of H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, Amber Nash, and Lucky Yates. In addition to the panel, fans will see an exclusive screening of a "best of" reel highlighting many of the series' best moments.
Friday July 10, 2015 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
In Your Own Time: Webcomics on Your Own Schedule
Webcomics are a hugely popular medium, and with popularity comes responsibility. What is it really like to be your own boss and work on your own schedule? These popular creators can offer insight into the crazy world of web comics and what it means to be solely responsible for all that entails. Moderator Mark Waid (Thrillbent) speaks with Matthew Inman (The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances), Lora Innes (The Dreamer), and Allie Brosh (Hyperbole and a Half) about what it is like working in web comics today.
Friday July 10, 2015 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Room 29AB
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
After winning a 2014 Education Documentary Peabody Award for its "dazzling visual tour of the final frontier and its energetic evangelizing for science," as well as four Emmy Awards from 12 Emmy nominations,Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (National Geographic Channel, FOX) returns to Comic-Con with a Q&A with executive producer Seth MacFarlane, writer/executive producer/director Ann Druyan, and renowned astrophysicist and host Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Friday July 10, 2015 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Room 6DE
Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Kennedy, director J.J. Abrams, writer Lawrence Kasdan, and special guests provide a special look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Friday July 10, 2015 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Hall H
iZombie Special Video Presentation and Q&A
After the shocking events in the season finale of brainy hit iZombie, be among the first to get the scoop on what's in store for Season 2. Now that Liv (Rose McIver) gave the cure for zombie-ism to Blaine and Major (one that she desperately wanted to take herself!) will Ravi find a way to develop another cure? Will Clive remain in the dark about the existence of zombies? A special video presentation will be followed by a Q&A with series stars as well as executive producers Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and Diane Ruggiero-Wright (Veronica Mars). From Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Spondoolie Productions and Warner Bros. Television and based on characters created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, published by DC Entertainment's Vertigo imprint, iZombie returns this fall with all-new episodes on Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW. iZombie: The Complete First Season will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 29.
Friday July 10, 2015 5:45pm - 6:45pm
Ballroom 20
Starz: Ash vs. Evil Dead
Original filmmakers Sam Raimi (executive producer, director, writer), Rob Tapert (executive producer), Bruce Campbell (executive producer and star of the series, Ash), Ivan Raimi (co-exeuctive producer), and Craig DiGregorio (executive producer), along with Lucy Lawless (Ruby), discuss the highly anticipated new series and what fans can expect in the premiere season.
Friday July 10, 2015 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Room 6A
The Visit
Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious series) discuss The Visit, their upcoming thriller from Universal Pictures.
Friday July 10, 2015 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Horton Grand Theatre
Going Back in Time: A Discussion and Q&A with the Filmmakers Behind the Back to the Future Feature Documentary
Director Jason Aron, executive producer Louis Krubich, and producer Lee Leshen discuss, take questions, and show clips from their upcoming film Back in Time, the feature-length documentary that shows the films' influence on the public 30 years later. Dean Cundey (legendary cinematographer for all three Back to the Future films, in addition to iconic movies such as Hook, Jurassic Park and many more), will join the discussion and be available for questions during the Q&A.
Friday July 10, 2015 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Room 24ABC
Kung Fury: The Best Movie of All Time
The team behind viral sensation Kung Fury discuss the record-breaking and critically acclaimed journey, from Kickstarter to Cannes to Comic-Con. Director David Sandberg is joined on stage by the "True Survivor" David Hasselhoff (Hoff 9000), and cast members Jorma Taccone (Hitler), Eleni Young (Barbarianna), Leopold Nilsson (Hacker Man), Andreas Cahling (Thor), as well as Seth Grahame-Smith (producer of the upcoming feature) and moderator Drew McWeeny.
Friday July 10, 2015 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Room 6BCF
World Premiere of Justice League: Gods & Monsters
Animation legend Bruce Timm returns to the popular DC Universe Original Movies with his unique new vision of a Justice League you've never seen before. Justice League: Gods & Monsters features a Superman born of General Zod's blood, a Batman with a healthy dose of bat in the man, and a Wonder Woman rising from the ranks of the New Gods. This ain't your daddy's Justice League. They are as likely the world's saviors as Earth's despotic rulers. When a group of famed scientists experience untimely "accidents," a government task force follows the trail of clues to the Justice League into a high-stakes game of intrigue, mystery, and action that asks the question: How do you serve justice to those above the law? The all-star voice cast includes Michael C. Hall (Dexter) as Batman, Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order, 24) as Superman, Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter films, Dig) as Lex Luthor, Richard Chamberlain (Dr. Kildare, The Thorn Birds) as Highfather, and Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica) as Steve Trevor. Witness the first public screening of this all-new film, then stay for an entertaining panel led by executive producer Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series); Tamara Taylor (Bones), voice of Wonder Woman; C. Thomas Howell (E.T., Southland), voice of Dr. Will Magnus; Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds), voice of Lois Lane, director Sam Liu; co-producer/screenwriter Alan Burnett; dialogue director Andrea Romano; and members of the voice cast. As is tradition, there will be special announcements, moderator Victor Lucas (Electric Playground) will present exclusive prizes for a few lucky fans, and there just might be a few potential surprises. Justice League: Gods & Monsters will be available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital HD on July 14 and as a Blu-ray Combo Pack on July 28.
Friday July 10, 2015 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ballroom 20
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Join stars Ian Ziering (Fin Shepard), Tara Reid (April Wexler), Cassie Scerbo (Nova Clarke), and David Hasselhoff (Gil Shepard), director Anthony C. Ferrante, and writer Thunder Levin for a fin-tastic behind-the-scenes journey into the global pop culture sensation, followed by a Q&A session.
Friday July 10, 2015 7:15pm - 8:15pm
Room 6A
Yoga Hosers
An evening with Kevin Smith. After all the interesting and exciting movie panels are over, Hall H belongs to a middle-aged loser who dresses like a 12-year-old! Ask Kev questions about AMC's Comic Book Men and his forthcoming Mallrats sequel Mallbrats, and see the world premiere of the trailer to his new movie, Yoga Hosers. Wrap up a busy Friday with the Clown Prince of Comic-Con! With special guests from the Yoga Hosers cast.
Friday July 10, 2015 7:15pm - 9:00pm
Hall H
Your Opinion Sucks!: Rotten Tomatoes Critics vs. Fans
Face off with your favorite Rotten Tomatoes critics when they join editor-in-chief Matt Atchity and senior editor Grae Drake of Rotten Tomatoes, along with their editorial team. As Matt and Grae invite audience members to share movies and TV shows they love, hate, or love to hate, everyone in the room uses their "Personal Tomatometer Paddle" to dis/agree with the score.
Friday July 10, 2015 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Room 5AB
I can say one thing for certain about Friday. Hall H is going to be NUTS. Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, all topped off by Kevin Smith. If you want to go to any of those, you should probably be in line by Thursday evening. Have fun camping out. My one thing I really want to try for is Bob's Burgers. There's lots of great panels in the Indigo Ballroom all day on Friday so we'll see how that goes. Lots of other good stuff though.
I was bummed to note that I haven't done this the last two years for some reason. That's a shame. So here we go! You can get the full schedule here. My highlights are as follows:
A Rare Chit Chat: Past and Future
Developers from legendary game studio Rare celebrate 30 years of creating hits like Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark. Explore the origins of classic titles, see how the rare magic continues to shape future projects and share over 70 years of combined experience by meeting the team behind some of gaming's best-loved icons.
Thursday July 9, 2015 10:30am - 11:30am
Room 24ABC
God Is Disappointed in You
Hey, nothing personal; that's what the book says! Writer Mark Russell (Prez) and Eisner Award-winning artist Shannon Wheeler (The New Yorker, Too Much Coffee Man) bring to life their hilariously irreverent retelling of the Bible, God Is Disappointed in You (published by Top Shelf). They'll perform their infamous "Bible in Ten Minutes" slide show, and play a selection from the audiobook, as read by James Urbaniak (The Venture Brothers); recently nominated for an Audie Award for Best Comedy Audiobook. They will also give a sneak preview of the hotly anticipated sequel, Apocrypha Now.
Thursday July 9, 2015 11:00am - 12:00pm
Room 28DE
The Crowd: How Creatives Are Using New Means to Connect with Their Audience
Hugh Howey (author of the self-published Silo trilogy), Gary Whitta (author of the debut novel Abomination, crowdfunded through Inkshares, co-writer of Star Wars: Rogue One), and Lora Innes (author of The Dreamer, crowdfunded through Patreon, co-host of the Paper Wings Show) discuss crowdfunding and crowdsourcing models that allow creatives to connect directly with their audience to produce their work. Gary and Lora will participate in a Q&A session moderated by Veronica Belmont (host of The Sword & Laser, crowdfunded through Patreon, and Dear Veronica for Engadget).
Thursday July 9, 2015 11:00am - 12:00pm
Room 7AB
The Pitching Hour
Ted Biaselli (VP programming, The Hub Network), Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt (producer, Marvel Animation), Derek Hoffman (VP, Donner Co.), Jaime Burke, (executive producer, Sequestered), Lindsay Rostal (game producer, The Odd Gentlemen), Jennie Kong (PR strategist), a surprise guest or two, and moderator Dan Evans III (creative director, DC Entertainment) will take an idea from conception through production for various media. This process will include creating a pitch document, obtaining agents, and getting a pitch meeting. The panelists will explain, through hypothetical examples and humorous stories, the process that new creators should adapt to make their way through the creative battleground of the entertainment industry. Knowing that each project is unique, there will be a Q&A to allow the audience to really hone in on the solutions to obstacles they may encounter. Also on hand will be Brendan McFeely (IP lawyer, Kane Kessler) to give creators insight on protecting their ideas as they navigate Hollywood!
Thursday July 9, 2015 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Room 5AB
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
Lionsgate presents an exclusive first look at one of the studio's highly anticipated films coming to theaters this fall. Get a sneak peek into the powerful final chapter of the epic The Hunger Games film franchise. Attendees will be shown exclusive, never-before-seen footage from Mockingjay: Part 2 and treated to a cast and filmmaker Q&A session revealing details on the big-screen finale.
Thursday July 9, 2015 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Hall H
Geek and Sundry with Felicia Day
Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton, and friends chat with you, the audience, about everything you want to know-favorite shows, upcoming projects, the latest happenings at Geek & Sundry. Felicia will give a sneak peek at her book You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost).
Thursday July 9, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Historical Comics and Graphic Novels
Not all comics are about superheroes. In fact, there are some amazing graphic novels, comics and web comics that deal with events from history. Some are personal stories, some are historical accounts and some are the creator's own take, but they all bring history alive. Creators Ed Piskor (Hip-Hop Family Tree), Matt Phelan (The Storm in the Barn), Sara Ryan (Escape From Alcatraz), and Lora Innes (The Dreamer), discuss their historical works with moderator Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics).
Thursday July 9, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 29AB
Mattel and WWE: NXT Superstar of Tomorrow
Once again, Mattel and WWE have teamed up to bring you an action-packed SDCC panel. WWE & NXT Superstars and Mattel personnel will discuss the tremendous growth in popularity of NXT, weigh in on the next generation of WWE Superstars, and give exclusive sneak peeks of Mattel's upcoming WWE figure releases. Incredible guest appearances by William Regal, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Charlotte, and additional special guests.
Thursday July 9, 2015 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 5AB
Doctor Who: BBC America's Official Panel
Following his record-breaking first season as the Doctor, Peter Capaldi will make his first ever appearance at Comic-Con with stars Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) and Michelle Gomez (Missy), lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, and executive producer Brian Minchin. Doctor Who follows the adventures of the Doctor, the time traveler who will continue to journey through all of space and time in epic adventures in the new season premiering this fall. Capaldi's first season delivered BBC America its highest rated season ever and is available now on all digital platforms.
Thursday July 9, 2015 2:15pm - 3:15pm
Hall H
Looney Tunes Legacy: Linda Jones and Ruth Clampett on The Life and Art of Animation
Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett are two of the most important animators in cartoon history. Their daughters, Linda Jones (Emmy Award-winning producer, founder of Linda Jones Enterprises) and Ruth Clampett (founder of Clampett Studio Collections, former head of Warner Brothers art program) keep their dads' legacies alive. These powerful Hollywood businesswomen also made collecting the art of animation and film accepted and embraced around the world and own all rights to sell official Warner Brothers cartoon art, Vintage WB movie art, DC comics art, and the art of Harry Potter. They'll talk about growing up with two geniuses and how they built empires of their own making geek art cool. Moderated by Leslie Combemale (ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery).
Powers: Ordinary Heroes, Extraordinary Possibilites: A Deeper Look at the Hit PlayStation Series
The executive producers/co-creators of the Powers comics, Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, are joined by showrunner Remi Aubuchon and cast members Susan Heyward (Det. Pilgrim), and Olesya Rulin (Calista) for a sneak peek at the upcoming Season 1 Blu-ray, and what's to come in the second season of PlayStation's hit original series.
Thursday July 9, 2015 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Room 6A
Writing 101: What to Think About Before You Start Writing
Multiple award-winning writer and recipient of the Eisner Hall of Fame award Marv Wolfman uses his 47 years of writing professionally to bring his writer's beginning class back to San Diego where it began. Marv will talk about what to think about before you start writing-how to approach coming up with your plot, story, and theme, how to put them together, and-the question most newbies ask-how to create characters. And best of all there will be plenty of time for specific questions.
Thursday July 9, 2015 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Room 30CDE
Sergio & Mark Show
The men who bring you Groo the Wanderer show their faces and explain just how and why it is they bring you Groo the Wanderer, as well as other silly comics. It's the award-winning duo of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, accompanied by the equally heralded Stan Sakai (creator of Usagi Yojimbo), and coloring whiz Tom Luth (if he can get away); holding court, answering your questions, and doing what they do best, which obviously is not writing little blurbs like this for the Comic-Con Events Guide.
Thursday July 9, 2015 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Room 8
Con Man: The Fan Revolt 13 Years in the Making
Alan Tudyk's dream show based on his global convention experiences seemed impossible with the compromises Hollywood demanded. Instead he went directly to fans; over 46,000 responded, with a recordbreaking $3.2 million raised on Indiegogo, and Con Man was officially born. With filming wrapped and a Vimeo on-demand release on the horizon, Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion, P. J. Haarsma, Mindy Sterling, and others talk Con Man and the crazy ride that made his dream project a reality.
Thursday July 9, 2015 3:45pm - 5:15pm
Hall H
Nerdstrong: Getting Fit for Cosplay, Geekdom, and Life
Andrew Deutsch (Nerdstrong partner, head coach), Marla Hudnall (Nerdstrong partner, coach), Christy Black (Nerdstrong coach, Healthy Is the New Skinny), Kimi Balcomb (Nerdstrong coach, Golden Lasso Cosplay), Andrew Seely (Nerdstrong coach, gaming director), Mairghread Scott (Nerdstrong member, writer Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Swords of Sorrow), and Mel Caylo (Nerdstrong member, marketing manager at BOOM! Studios) discuss fitness, body image, and confidence in a geek world. Moderated by Blair Herter (Nerdstrong Partner, TV host).
Thursday July 9, 2015 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Room 14A
Funny Pages
Join Ben Blacker (writer, Thunderbolts; The Thrilling Adventure Hour) and Paul F. Tompkins (Comedy Bang Bang; Bojack Horseman) for a brand new conversation: comics on comics; comedians discussing comics, that is. This panel brings together your favorite comedians from TV, film, and animation as they discuss their favorite comics. Don't miss this brand new panel!
Thursday July 9, 2015 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Horton Grand Theatre
First Look at Crackle's SuperMansion
Calling all Stoopid Buddy Stoodios fans! Be the first to catch a sneak peek at the new stop-motion animated comedy series SuperMansion. The cast, voiced by Emmy-award winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Seth Green (Family Guy), Jillian Bell (Workaholics), Matthew Senreich, and Zeb Wells (Robot Chicken) discuss the world of superheroes and more. Special surprises may occur.
Thursday July 9, 2015 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
On June 5 Netflix debuted one of their most controversial and provocative new series, Sense8. Be on hand for the very first panel discussion of this new series, hosted by co-creator/writer and executive producer J. Michael Straczynski.
Thursday July 9, 2015 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Room 5AB
Mad about MAD
MAD, the country's #1-selling humor magazine (in a field of 1), is dumber than ever! MAD magazine editor John Ficarra and art director Sam Viviano present a ridiculous peek at what's happening at the magazine, and an epically, moronic Q&A that's bound to be, well, MAD! Prizes will be awarded for most moronic questions.
Thursday July 9, 2015 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Room 4
Miami Vice 30th Anniversary Retrospective
Talent from the original smash hit NBC primetime series including Michael Talbott (Det. Stanley Switek), Olivia Brown (Det. Switek), Edward James Olmos (Lt. Castillo), writer Anthony Yerkovich (creator of Miami Vice), writer Jonathan London (Miami Vice graphic novel) will join Lion Forge Comics senior editor Shannon Eric Denton to discuss the enduring legacy of the show that spawned decades of neo-noir cop shows to follow, and the music, the colors, the alligators, and the action that made it such a hit.
Thursday July 9, 2015 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Room 29AB
Comedy Central: Drunk History and Another Period
Come learn about the history of Drunk History! Derek Waters (co-creator/host/director) and Jeremy Konner (co-creator/director) walk you through how this historically accurate, yet slightly slurred show works to portray little-known events and figures in history from the perspective of an intoxicated narrator. From humble beginnings as a digital series to two seasons on Comedy Central, with season 3 ready to premiere on September 1, Derek and Jeremy have plenty of stories to tell from the making of the show, including an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming new season. The panel will include Taran Killam (SNL), who has guest starred on all three seasons of the show, along with other guest stars and narrators. There will be a Q&A, an interactive live event, and plenty more fun and debauchery as only Drunk History can create. Following that, the party continues with a look at Comedy Central's new series, Another Period, premiering Tuesday, June 23. The turn-of-the-century historical and satirical scripted series follows the insanely ridiculous and debaucherous life of the Bellacourts, who have more servants than relatives and whose days are filled with money, sex, drugs, and more money. Another Period centers on the Bellacourt sisters, Lillian (Natasha Leggero) and Beatrice (Riki Lindhome), who only care about being rich and becoming super famous. Series creators and stars Natasha and Riki lead an all-star cast, including Michael Ian Black, David Wain, Christina Hendricks, Jason Ritter, and Paget Brewster. Get an exclusive look at Comedy Central's latest hit with the stars and other guests as they discuss their new show with moderator and writer Moshe Kasher.
Thursday July 9, 2015 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
World Premiere of Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery!
Starchild, Demon, Catman, and Spaceman join everyone's favorite teen sleuths in an explosive, new, must-see musical adventure no KISS Army member will want to miss. In Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery, the Mystery Inc. gang travels to KISS World, an amusement park dedicated to the band, for a special Halloween concert headlined by the legendary rock group. Six KISS songs are featured alongside an original new song performed by the band written just for the film. Be part of the first audience to see this landmark merging of pop culture icons, then stay for a panel featuring KISS legends Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, NCIS star Pauley Perrette, and longtime Shaggy and Daphne voices Matthew Lillard (The Bridge) and Grey Griffin (Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated). Director Tony Cervone (Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon) and writer Kevin Shinick (Mad, Robot Chicken) will also be in attendance. Moderated by director/actor/writer Kevin Smith, who also has a role in the film. Scooby-Doo and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery arrives from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, and Digital HD on July 21.
Thursday July 9, 2015 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Hall H
Webcomics Advocates and the Webcomics Gathering
Webcomics Advocates co-founders Phil Vecchio and Brendan Creecy (Brax the Alien Rocker, Radio BrendoMan podcast) celebrate and discuss the exciting world of webcomics. Joined by Patrick Scullin (Super Siblings) and moderator Josh Anderson (Extra Damage podcast), they will give any webcomic creators in the audience 30 seconds to promote their comic to the crowd.
Thursday July 9, 2015 8:30pm - 9:30pm
Room 4
Hey look at that awesome panel at the bottom of the schedule! That's the one you really want to check out. I let Hall H go a few years ago but I still have to acknowledge it. You never know when there will be no line. It still happens. There's a lot of interesting stuff out there, a lot of cool sounding comics and creative stuff I might check out. My musts on Thursday besides my own panel are definitely Mattel/WWE and Mad. I went to the Mad panel with Derick last year and it was fantastic. I haven't watched Sense 8 or Powers yet but they are both on my radar. The idea of Kevin Smith on stage with KISS sounds pretty awesome, maybe I can finagle my way in there. Let's see what tomorrow brings us!
So I just turned 35. At first I didn't think it was a big deal, then I was browsing through this site and I realized that I was 21 when this blog started. That's kind of nuts. But I don't want to do another introspective what does it all mean type thing because I feel like that's what all of my blog posts have been about for the last few years. Heck, I just noticed I didn't even bother to do the annual Comic-Con schedule post in 2013 or 2014. What's up with that? I'm totally doing it this year!
What this post is all about is that right now I'm kind of freaking out and I need to remind myself that things are OK. Phil usually does that for me but he is on vacation right now and it would probably be weird if I called him with yet another Brendo freak out call. I'm sure a lot of you guys and gals would be happy to take that Brendo freak out call but it's OK. The whole point is I don't need to make that freak out call because I have this and I think I forgot how much it can sooth me to just write stuff down.
So I've been unemployed since December 7th. In 2009 I was unemployed for 9 months. We're not there yet but it sure as hell feels like it. The reason being is that unlike then when lots of people were unemployed, now things are better in theory so you only get 6 months of unemployment money. My last check was deposited this week. No more money. I am not 100% sure how I'm going to pay my bills for July but I think I have it figured out. Anyways, I need a job like yesterday and right now I am waiting to hear back on if I got one job. I have two tests this week for two different IT positions at the same school district and I have an interview at another. That's 4 jobs. Out of like hundreds I have applied for. I really need one of these to pan out. Everyone keeps telling me it's going to work out, because it always does, but what the hell is that? I guess it's because the alternative is misery and pain and that's just pointless because I've done all I can and the rest is up to forces out of my control. It's still scary and when you have a lot of free time you end up spending a lot of time staring into that abyss. I can't help it. It's there. I guess you just have to acknowledge it and keep going on with your life.
So yeah, that's what is going on job wise. Other than that I have a lot of cool shit going on and I am trying to remind myself of that. First off, Comic-Con is a little over two weeks away and Phil and I are doing our Webcomics Advocates panel. I went to my first Comic-Con panel when I was 17. It wasn't even in my realm of possibilities for that young version of me that one day I would be up on that stage, let alone be asked back again. So that is awesome. Phil and I also just funded our second Kickstarter and we're making freaking Radio BrendoMan records. Just writing that makes me squee a little. I've loved records my whole life. Phil re-instilled that passion in me when we were in college and would spend hours in the used bins at any record store we could find. Now we're making a record with our names on it. I'm super excited. We're also making a real BrendoMan All-Stars EP and another Brax book. Again, amazing.
This is all amazing and I need to remind myself of that. I am 35 years old, currently unemployed, but that doesn't say anything about me as a person. Some company bought the company I work for and I got laid off. I guess the feelings of inadequacy are coming from the fact that even after trying to better myself by taking some classes and getting a certification I haven't gotten a job yet. Who cares about that though? I shouldn't. I am trying. Besides, I am not Brendan Creecy, guy who does some type of computer work. I am Brendan Creecy, AKA BrendoMan. Writer, podcaster, creator, geek, dreamer. And that guy is doing all right.
Remember when most of this site's authors were fundamentalist Christians? We were Bible college students, pastors, and missionaries. Now we're mostly skeptical of religion and mostly politically liberal. I know that's an oversimplification. We've always been a group with diverse beliefs. But it's been fun to see the changes we've all gone through. For me, the conversations I had on this site were a big part of that. I've just reread some of the posts about politics from 2003-2004. Those conversations may be happening more on Facebook now, but I'm very happy that I've been able to stay in touch with Brendan, Brian, Henry, and Dave.
We are rapidly approaching the 13th anniversary of the day I started this blog with some of my dearest friends. I was a 21 year old bible college student. I don't really know what to do with this space anymore but I know it needs to stay here. It's one of my comforts, being able to type it in and see all that history. I figured something I could do since I have the time is reflect on some of those moments. Here we go.
10 years ago:
In the end, this is a deeply personal blog. It was started nearly three years ago by me and five of my best friends (Henry, Smiles, Gringo, Jeri, and Eric (who never got his own subdomain off the ground). I barely knew what a blog was but I knew it was something I could do well and it was a great way to interact with my friends. Then we grew. And grew some more. And it's awesome. Three years later and here I am sitting in an internet cafe in Chiang Mai, Thailand and I still feel just as close to my friends thanks to this blog, this community.
So that being said, I want to keep that spirit alive by being open and honest with you guys. I've been holding stuff from pretty much everyone for awhile. Most of you know I struggle with depression. I learned this past year that going to a foreign country doesn't take away your problems. It almost always magnifies them. But I was too proud and too scared to seek some help. This kind of made things worse. I went through some really dark times in Harbin. But thankfully we have a God who really does love us and is bigger than all that. He has shown me a lot of stuff these past couple weeks and has given me the strength to finally admit I can't do this on my own. Thankfully the organization I work for provided a counselor for me to talk to and he suggested something I've been hearing for awhile. I'm going back on medication. But that is just the beginning. I'm going to be make some serious lifestyle changes with the help of my teammates and hopefully with the help of you guys.
10 years ago yesterday I wrote a pretty heart felt post from an internet cafe in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I was still trying to make the China thing work. I was really trying to still make the God thing work. What I failed to mention in this post is that before I left Harbin in January I had tried to kill myself. I don't think I was ready to acknowledge that, let alone process it. I had seen a counselor in Thailand but I gave him some vague answers about being depressed. He recommended I go back on medication. It was my first time on Paxil and when I got back from Thailand I started having panic attacks and more suicidal thoughts. A month later, I was on a plane back to the States. My final destination was a treatment facility in Fresno.
Yeah, in case you didn't know I spent a few months at a residential mental health treatment center. It was for people like me who had done missions work in foreign countries and had experienced mental health problems due to this work. I met with both a psychologist and a spiritual counselor every day as well as group therapy sessions. I wasn't locked up or anything. I had a studio apartment on the property and I could come and go as I pleased. I stayed there for a few months while I got my meds figured out and talked through some problems. I still wasn't ready to talk about the deeper issues that were troubling me though. I was still clinging to the last shreds of faith that I had left. I absolutely don't regret agreeing to go to that place, though. It was much needed and it helped me along the path that would lead me to the person I am now.
At first when I think about 10 years ago, it doesn't seem like it's been that long. Then I think about everything that has happened in the last ten years and it is absolutely overwhelming. And I am so thankful for all of it. Most of the time.
In geeky fun things, Danny posted about the debut of Google Maps. The fact that brendoman.com is older than Google Maps is strange and awesome.
People have been asking how I've managed to record Radio BrendoMan and Pop Sickles since I've been living in hotels with very unreliable internet access and my desktop computer is in storage. It took some trial and error as we almost lost a Radio BrendoMan episode in the process. Right now for gear I have an ancient Dell laptop running XP and my Yeti microphone. I tried recording using our traditional method of using Google Hangouts and Audacity on my laptop but running but Hangouts on Air brought my laptop to a standstill and the hotel wifi was practically useless. Next we tried using Skype and Audacity and this seemed to work until I tried to sync our two tracks together. It appears that running both Skype and Audacity caused Audacity to stutter a bit resulting in out of sync tracks. Phil was able to fix it by painstakingly listening to the files in real time and deleting the gaps as he found them but it was not a viable option going forward. Back to the drawing board I went.
Pop Sickles was the next test and this time everything worked. After messing around with Hangouts on my Galaxy S4 I determined that the audio quality was pretty great when using my 4G connection. I plugged in my headphones on the phone, started a group hangout with Derick and Benson, and fired up Audacity on my laptop. The recording went off without a hitch since Audacity was no longer competing for processing power. Everything synced up perfectly. It's not super ideal since you can't use Hangouts on Air with the mobile app so you don't have the YouTube video you can use as backup in case something goes wrong and you don't have the stream for people to tune into and chat on but it gets the job done when the next option is not podcast at all.
Feel free to comment with your suggestions or questions. The main thing I've learned from this experience is that you really can put together a podcast in almost any circumstance and with even the crappiest of gear. Seriously you guys, this laptop I am using to run Audacity is probably 10 years old. It takes a while to encode files but it gets the job done. If you really want to make a podcast, gear shouldn't be holding you back. As I've said before, I recorded the original Radio BrendoMan on my sub-par laptop with a $2 PC microphone and I was behind the Great Firewall of China. Phil uses a Rock Band microphone. One of the first podcasts I listened to on a regular basis was a show some guy recorded on his Palm Treo in his car. If you've got a good idea, just do it. Figure out the rest as you go.
Hello. Is this thing still on? Looks like it. 2014 has been quite the year. We were told at the beginning of the year that our company was moving to Austin and most of us in tech support would be laid off on December 5th. If we stayed until then we would get a retention bonus plus a severance package. For me this totaled up to about 3 months pay. That's a pretty large sum of cash but I had no intention of staying on a sinking ship for almost a year. The company started training a huge amount of new techs in Austin to replace us. People here in San Diego started bailing out like crazy and were not replaced. Our work loads went up. Stress went up with that. If you've listened to the podcast at all this year you've heard my tales of work related woe. Meanwhile I started going to interviews and applying for jobs with little success. Mostly temp positions that paid much less than I was making or I was lacking some of the certifications to put me ahead of the giant pack of applicants. That's kind of the way it tends to go when you finagled your way in the door 5 years ago and have been working non-stop since then with no time to work on those certs you told yourself you'd get eventually.
Things calmed down a bit once the new techs started on the phones and took on some of the workload. I was still trying to find a way out though. Then I got an offer at the beginning of the summer to stay on and move to Austin. It was a pretty sweet deal so I made a verbal commitment and waited for a formal offer letter. Then I waited. And waited. Then I waited some more. Things shifted over the summer at the company and they were trying to cut costs. I found out at the end of September that the Austin job wasn't happening. This both bummed me out and relieved me. It bummed me out because I had come to terms with moving to Austin. Part of me was excited for it. San Diego is crazy expensive. I knew I couldn't afford to stay here if I didn't have a job. I was barely able to afford my apartment even with a job. The relief came because I realized that I could finally do what I really wanted to do, which was get the heck out of tech support, and I could stay in Southern California. The wrench in everything was that my lease ran out on October 19th and I didn't want to renew it since my job was now ending on December 5th. That's where the elaborate plan commenced.
On October 19th I moved out the apartment I'd lived in for two years. It was a bit of a bummer. After crunching the numbers I decided that putting my stuff into storage and living in cheap hotels until December 5th was the best way to go. So that is what I'm doing now. At first transient life took some getting used to but it's not so bad anymore. What's next? On December 6th I am moving to Yucaipa. It's way inland and it's way cheap. It's also where Phil and Janelle live. I am getting a two bedroom apartment for half of what I was paying for a one bedroom in San Diego. Phil and I are going to set up a studio in the spare bedroom to record podcasts and work on our other various projects. I'm also going to be working on certifications and taking online classes. Once I'm done I'm hoping to find some kind of server admin job or something like that. I might try programming again. I do know that I am ready to move on from tech support. The dream is that one of our creative projects will take off. I will always keep that dream. In the meantime I will better my skills so I can support that dream with a good job that doesn't drive me nuts.
So that's what is going on. Once I am settled in and everything, I plan on writing here a lot more. So you have that to look forward to, I guess. Hope everyone is doing all right.
Yes it has been 4 months since I posted on here and I think that is a new record but let's forget about that, shall we? If 2014 is half as good as 2013 was for me, I will be stoked. 2013 saw me lose 75 pounds, successfully fund a Kickstarter with Phil for Radio BrendoMan, and fulfill a life goal by being on a panel at Comic-Con, among other things. This was also my first full year back in San Diego after a 12 year absence. It's been pretty great. I miss my OC and L.A. friends every day but this was definitely the right choice. Things are a little up in the air at my current job due to a buyout situation rather similar to the one at my last job, but that is outside of my control so I am doing my best to just enjoy each day as it happens. I hope you all are doing the same. Much love to all of you in this new year. I have so many great memories of 2013 but this is the one that I keep coming back to:
Keep on dreaming.
It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything. Most of my energy is given to the three podcasts I am a part of, all of which can be found at Benview Network. Things have also really ramped up at work as I am now supporting all of our Web products. When I get home every day I am pretty wiped. I need to stop using that as an excuse though. If I can sit in front of the TV and play Animal Crossing until bedtime, I can probably do things like write, play guitar, work on website stuff. I hate how our brain lies to us pretty much all the time.
On the fitness front I still can't seem to break the 300 pound barrier. It's getting more difficult to stay on track with my diet but that is partially my fault as sometimes when I get home from work I rationalize eating something I'm not supposed to. From there it just snowballs. I am working out every day still so that helps a lot but I just need to keep on the diet and I should be OK. It's really hard though.
I hit a wall with the memoir project due to circumstances out of my control so that is on hold. I am trying to come up with a new idea. It would probably help if I actually sat down to write but Animal Crossing is too hard to resist. I finally started watching Gilmore Girls. I am already on season two and I love it, as I knew I would.
Comic-Con was amazing as always. We talk about it a lot on Radio BrendoMan and Pop Sickles so I won't get into it here. I can't believe we did a panel at the con and it was amazing. Now I have to find a new dream to achieve.
Thank you to everyone for being so supportive and encouraging. I am sorry if I am not always the most communicative guy. I fall into routines and it is easy to forget there are other people out there sometimes. Hope you are all doing awesome. Know that I love you all and want to hear how you are doing all the time, even if I don't always ask.
It's a little rough but I feel like it's ready to go out to all 10 or so of you who have been reading it. I will definitely be revising after I finish the whole thing. There's still quite a few chapters to go. Feel free to comment or email with your thoughts. Thanks for reading!
Get all the chapters at the book page here.
Universal Studios Orlando Is Building The Simpsons' Springfield - Topless Robot - Nerd news, humor and self-loathing.
If they pull this off it will be more exciting to me than Harry Potter world and I am pretty stinking excited about that. Here's hoping they bring it to L.A. as well!
If you are a podcaster headed to Comic-Con in July and you are looking for a venue to conduct interviews and record your podcasts, I have an opportunity for you! Some colleagues and I have a venue available very close to the convention center and all the gear to record so you would only need to bring you and your guests. If you or someone you know are interested please contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com and I can give you more information.
I've been meaning to publish this for awhile so thank you to Jason Paul for sending in this email to get me motivated:
Hey man,
Just took your advice and got setup with Archive.org to host my podcast. I have my wordpress site up and running but my question is what do you use to generate your RSS feed? My first thought is feedburner, is that correct? If so how do you make sure the RSS feed picks the podcast up as an audiofile ( I use the archive.org code to stream my podcast on my site)? Also, do you know of anyway to migrate my old rss feed to the new one (itunes subscribers)? Sorry for these random questions but I know you probably know a shit load more than I would find out pecking around on Google. Not sure if this is a show email or not but feel free to respond anyway you see fit.
Here was my response and I am publishing it here as I know others are curious:
If you are on Wordpress you don't need to use Feedburner. Use a podcasting plugin. I use BluBrry Powerpress. It is easy to use and install. http://www.blubrry.com/powerpress/
Do you have control over your old feed? The only way to really do it is to add the itunes:new-feed-url tag to your feed and point to the new URL. You can find more info about itunes tags here:
Let me know if you need any more help.
If you were trying to get to Brax, this blog, My brother's site, or most of the other sites on our server for the last several days you may have noticed they were not available. We've been getting slammed by what looks like a DDOS attack of some sort. I'm not sure what warranted the trouble but I'm kind of flattered. In the effort to patch the hole that caused the issue I spent yesterday evening and most of today updating our main blog software, b2evolution. This is no easy task when your blog has been around for 10 years and has 40 (!) sub blogs and 13,000+ total posts. Also due to the attack some of our database tables had grown insanely huge so the update scripts were timing out. I ended up having to run the update piece by piece and going through the code mostly step by step. It reminded me of the long hours I spent sitting up late at night in my dorm room back at Central going through CGI scripts and various template files back in the early days of the blog. I'm happy to discover those skills are still there. Danny has done a lot of the heaving lifting for the last several years when it comes to the site and it's made me a little lazy. It was fun working more in tandem with him on this project and I think the site is in a much better place because of it.
Chapter Two of my Untitled Memoir Project is now available for download and to celebrate that I have created a dedicated page here for the book. You can get both chapters here. I am currently working on Chapter Three but I am not sure when it will be ready. As I've said before I have a lot of irons in the fire right now but I am taking time each day to write at least a paragraph, usually more. Feel free to hit me up with any feedback or suggestions and thank you very much for reading!
Do you want to know how I know who has listened to me on Bagged and Boarded? It's really easy. I know who has listened to me on Bagged and Boarded because those are the people who know I am gay. I came out on the show 3 years ago during the second episode I hosted. If you didn't know I was gay until just now, then you didn't listen to my show and that bums me out a little but I understand because we cussed a lot on that show and I guess that makes some people uncomfortable. I know many people might not understand, especially if you've known me for a long period of time. I don't have all the answers you guys. I just know a few things. First, I know that I first thought I was gay when I was very young but I remember my dad telling me that was bad so I put it out of my head. I also didn't know anyone who was gay until high school so it was easy to think that all gay people were bad people. Then I became a Christian when I was 13 and that made it easy to think I wasn't actually gay since I was taught no one was really gay, it was a sinful choice they made and they were all going to hell unless they were celibate forever and even then it was kind of a gray area. So I lived with that for years. Always thinking in the back of head that maybe I would be more happy if I could be myself. No, I didn't want to go out and have gay sex. I still don't really want to go out and have gay sex. Sex period kind of freaks me out you guys but that is a whole other thing.
I feel like I'm dropping a bunch of bombs right now on my friends and loved ones and I am sorry. I've been so scared to share this with anybody, let alone you guys so I hope you can forgive me. I love everybody and I don't want anybody to be mad at me but I know that's an unrealistic thing and I just have to get over it. So what changed? So much changed. I could write a whole book about it and in fact I will once I finish the book I am working on right now. When I got back from China in 2005 I was a mess. As I slowly rebuilt the pieces that were once a Christian leader named Brendan, I realized that guy wasn't really me. I wanted to still love God, I wanted to follow Jesus but I had done that all the way to China and I only found pain, emptiness, and misery. Again, that is kind of a separate topic so I'll move on from that since this isn't about religion or anything like that. This is about a guy who was trying to figure out who he really was and one day his friend got him a job at Disneyland, the happiest place on earth. I loved it at Disneyland, for the most part. My favorite thing to do was work guest control during parades because I got to talk to people and walk around and I got to watch the parade. It was great. One day on my parade shift I met this guy named Greg. We started talking and realized we had a whole lot in common. We had pretty religious backgrounds that we were both trying to move on from, we both never really dated, and we had a passion for life that most people just didn't seem to understand. We quickly became best friends.
It was probably a few months into our friendship that I realized I was falling in love with Greg. While our relationship was never physical and we were both afraid of what our relationship meant given our backgrounds, it was more intimate than any relationship I've ever had. He was the only person I've ever felt I could truly be myself around, that I could truly be vulnerable. He was the only person who knew everything and he never judged me. The more we talked, the closer we came. If that's not intimacy, then I don't know what is. I knew it was different than a normal friendship because I already had a best friend, as most of you know. Phil is my best friend. But as Jay always says in Kevin Smith movies, he is my "hetero-lifemate." While Phil knew me pretty well, better than most people, there were still things I kept from him. Both out of the fact that we were two friends and I respected our boundaries and also just because it's really hard to show your full self to anybody. Greg told me he loved me, and I know he meant it. No one besides my family and some very close friends had ever said that to me and not in this way ever. It was the happiest I have ever been in my whole life but the whole time I still was so conflicted with my own sexuality that I tried to be straight. I tried dating women. And don't get me wrong, there are some beautiful ladies out there and I'm still not 100% sure I'm completely unattracted to them, BUT I know I don't want to date them really or have sex with them. I think women are cool though and my female friends are awesome. So please don't think I hate the ladies. I just know when I'm with a girl I have to force it and even then it is awkward at best. Every girl I have ever attempted to have a relationship with can definitely attest to this. Any of my friends who have ever witnessed me try to date a girl or woo a girl can attest to this. The main reason is because I was playing a part the whole time. Doing what I thought was normal, doing what I thought I had to do otherwise I would be labeled UNCLEAN or god forbid a "faggot" a word I had heard all too often when I was younger. So I would make attempts to date girls, they would fail, and I would be angry single guy for months on end. A lot of that anger came from the fact that I had no idea who I really was or what I really wanted. That all changed when I met Greg. Then it all went to hell.
As most of you know, Greg killed himself in 2007. Aside from the death of my father, that day was the worst day of my life. The worst thing about it was that I had to hide my true grief since I couldn't tell people the love of my life had just abandoned me. I could only say my good friend died. And no one knew the truth. Nobody. I fell back into a depression that would last for years. I also thought I had gotten my answer about whether or not it was OK to be gay. It seemed like that was a big no. So I just withdrew from dating period for over 3 years.
Then some other stuff happened and I ended up on a stage on a Friday night at Smodcastle, telling my story in front of a bunch of people and for thousands of listeners of our show. I told some friends, I told my brother, but that was it. I was too scared to tell anyone else. I was kind of out, but not really. That all changed today. Due in part to the recent supreme court hearings over Prop 8 and DOMA and due in part to the facebook postings of some of my less tolerant friends, I decided I can no longer ride that fence. I am standing by my fellow gay brothers and sisters with my head held high. As I wrote on my friend's facebook wall just a few minutes ago:
"I'm tired of being afraid of my own friends, I'm tired of hearing people I respect say stupid things about fellow human beings. I'm just tired man."
That's basically what this all comes down to. I'm tired. I'm also sorry I haven't done this sooner. I love you all. Thank you.
Tugg - Battle Royale in San Diego, CA on Wednesday, April 10, 7:30pm
I am hosting a one time only screening of Battle Royale on Wednesday April 10th at AMC Fashion Valley. I honestly thought it would be sold out by now due to the fact it's Battle Royale. Instead I am the only person who has bought a ticket and it's bumming me out you guys. If you know anyone who would be interested, please pass this along. I just want this to happen. I don't make any money off of this but if it goes well I am hoping to turn it into a screening series. I think it would be fun! If 71 people don't buy tickets in 6 days, the screening doesn't happen so jump on it!
I got asked for webcomics advice on Reddit yesterday. It made me feel pretty good. I thought I would share what I wrote to the guy.
In Record Time. : comics
Here are my tips:
1) Start with a schedule you know you can keep. Can you keep up with a daily? If you don't think you can, might want to dial it back a bit. The key to retaining and gaining readers is making a schedule and sticking to it. Nothing will cause your readers to disappear like missing several updates.
2) Have fun and make sure you have something to say using your material. If you're constantly struggling to find ideas, this may be a sign you might want to re-evaluate your subject matter.
3) Just keep going. Write like no one is reading. At the beginning, be aware that not many people are and be happy about this because this will give you the chance to hone your craft.
4) Honing your craft takes time. Not just days, weeks, or months, but years. Seriously.
I love webcomics and I write them because of that. I don't write to get famous or be rich. I think that is the key. Enjoy it! It is so much fun and things WILL happen if you keep it up. I am just now starting to see good things from my work after doing our strip for 4 years now and 400 strips. I still haven't seen very much money, but my partner and I have gone to tons of cons for free (including SDCC for the last 4 years), done panels at major conventions, met tons of cool people, published a book, and tons of other little cool things. It is beyond worth it. Never stop learning, never stop adapting, and you will be golden. I hope that helps man.
Also, I highly highly highly recommend the book How to Make Webcomics by Scott Kurtz, Kris Straub, Brad Guigar, and Dave Kellett. They are all super awesome and helpful dudes, both online and in real life and this book is the thing that got me and my friend from an idea to having our comic up and now 4 years later with 400 strips and a book. And we are two dudes with little motivation and follow through and neither of us are artists. So if you take anything away from this, take that. Buy that book, it's 10 bucks and I guarantee it will teach you and motivate you.
Here is his comic. I think it's pretty funny and he has lots of potential. Find more great webcomics and share your finds at Webcomics Advocates.
This was something that happened to me while on my walk yesterday. It was pretty nuts. My leg still hurts a little bit and I have a gnarly bruise on my back, but other than that I am fine. Just scraped up a little. It was worth it though as I don't think those dogs would have made it out of the canyon. Be sure to keep your dogs' tags up to date! If I hadn't been able to get a hold of the owner, I'm not sure what I would have done. I probably would have had to take them to a shelter or something.
This was emailed to me today and I thought it was really cool. Spoilers though. If you want to get a quick catch up on the events of the TV show just scroll through it and it will take you all over Westeros, episode by episode.
I'm kind of speechless right now. I'm also really feeling the love. We just passed the $1000 mark and hit our third stretch goal on our Kickstarter. Thank you so much to everyone who has pledged and shared and retweeted. You guys did this, not just Phil and me! To reward you for all your hard work we've added additional rewards and stretch goals. There's tons of cool stuff to be had!
I am in the process of writing a book. It is something I have been wanting to do for basically half my life. It is basically the story of my youth and the death of my father and how that affected me. There's both humor and heartbreak. I want to thank my team of folks who read the treatment for the book and gave me a lot of great feedback. This is very much a work in progress but I feel pretty good about chapter one. You can download it at archive.org here. I am working on getting the PDF converted to other formats. If anyone wants to help me with that, feel free. The PDF is CC licensed, no commercial, share and share alike.
Hey there everybody. I guess this is my first post here of 2013. I find myself posting things I used to post here on Facebook instead. I don't know how I feel about that. I do have some plans for this blog this year. I will probably be posting more long form stuff here and maybe some of my writing projects that I am working on.
The reason I am posting today is to alert you to the Radio BrendoMan T-Shirts Kickstarter that Phil and I launched last week. We already reached our $500 goal and will be posting some awesome stretch goals soon. I would highly recommend checking it out. Also please give the show a listen if you haven't yet.
What's going on with everyone on this side? If you're not on Facebook, you probably aren't aware that I have lost 36 pounds since December 30th and I am on track to lose much more. I will detail that sometime on here. I also successfully migrated Radio BrendoMan off of Podbean and we are now hosting our files at Archive.org. I learned a lot through this process and also plan to share what I learned sometime soon. I've got a lot of irons in the fire right now though so I can't promise any timeframe.