Amber Benson signs at Mysterious Galaxy on February 28th at 7:30pm.

Press Release:

Join Mysterious Galaxy in celebrating the return of Amber Benson and Calliope Reaper-Jones, at the launch party for How to be Death.  In her fourth outing, Death’s daughter Callie has evolved into Death proper, as the new president of Death, Inc. With the “help” of her family, and the incredibly powerful tome, How to be Death (A Fully Annotated Guide), she should have no problem assuming her new role, right? Amber will also discuss her latest film and television projects.

This is a numbered event. Numbers for the signing line are available with purchase of How to be Death from Mysterious Galaxy, on sale beginning February 28.

If you are planning to attend the event, please do not place your order through the web site as all such orders are handled after the event. Instead, please call the store and purchase the book over the phone on or after the on-sale date.

Mysterious Galaxy
2810 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
310.542.6000

Actor/mime Doug Jones, signs his latest project the new book Mime Own Book on Saturday February 11, 2012 at 7:00 PM. Doug will be joined by photographer Eric Curtis and authors Adam Mock and Scott Perry.

Barnes & Noble
The Promenade, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd Suite 1340, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
818-704-3850

Press Release:

Celebrate the release of the new Peanuts comic book series Saturday, February 25th at 1pm with how-to-draw Peanuts workshops, a panel discussion, and comic book signing with its creators including Paige Braddock (Jane’s World), Shane Houghton (Reed Gunther), Matt Whitlock (Family Guy), Lex Fajardo (Kid Beowulf), Vicki Scott (Peanuts illustrator), and Justin Thompson (MythTickle). Programs are free with the price of Museum admission. Comic book creators will give an illustrated, behind-the-scenes look at the process and show how new Peanuts stories and artwork are being developed. The presentation will be followed by a comic book signing and workshops on how to draw your own Peanuts characters with artists Matt Whitlock and Vicki Scott.

In January BOOM! Studios and Peanuts Worldwide, LLC kicked off this ongoing comic book series with original stories seen for the first time alongside classic Peanuts Sunday strips. The Peanuts Sunday strips were written and drawn by Charles M. Schulz with additional stories by Vicki Scott, Shane Houghton, and Matt Whitlock.

Charles M. Schulz Museum
2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Meet Ernest Borgnine when he visits to sign copies of his memoir on Saturday February 11, 2012 at 2:00 PM. For more than 50 years, Ernest Borgnine — “Ernie” to his friends — has been a respected and talented actor — and a living legend. Meet this Academy Award winner today!

Barnes & Noble – The Grove at Farmers Market
189 Grove Drive Suite K 30, Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-525-0270

The 2012 edition of Comic-Con Annual is now available online. This all-new publication is a veritable 80-page giant, and features an exclusive new cover photo of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield from the upcoming movie The Amazing Spider-Man. Interviews with Stone and director Marc Webb are part of the Annual’s “Year of the Spider” coverage, which also includes articles on the Webslinger’s 50th anniversary in comics, focusing on Stan Lee, Steve Ditko (by Blake Bell), and the father/son team of artists John Romita Sr. and John Romita Jr. (by Tom Spurgeon). Additional feature articles celebrate the 75th anniversary of Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant (by Foster biographer Brian M. Kane), and the 30th anniversary of Love & Rockets (by Charles Brownstein). Plus a Comic-Con 2011 photo album, advance looks at Comic-Con International, WonderCon, and APE in 2012, and much more! The online version of the Annual features embedded links to specific Comic-Con.org website pages for the latest information on all three events. Click on the links in the purple boxes to visit the website for updates! View below or download your own personal PDF!

Robert Kirkman

Press Release:

In 1992, seven of the most popular comic book artists in the world joined forces to create Image Comics, a company specializing in the publication of creator-owned comics and graphic novels. The first wave of Image Comics were an immediate hit with fans, and the company has grown over the past two decades to become one of the largest comics publishers in North America. In addition to publishing work by the Image partners, they give a voice to work by numerous independent creators. Its best-known series include Spawn, Savage Dragon, Witchblade, The Darkness, Invincible and The Walking Dead.

The Cartoon Art Museum’s exhibition Image Comics: A 20th Anniversary Celebration features over 40 pieces of original artwork spanning 20 years, including works from all seven Image founders, Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), Jim Lee (WildC.A.T.s), Rob Liefeld (Youngblood), Todd McFarlane (Spawn), Whilce Portacio (Wetworks), Marc Silvestri (Cyberforce), and Jim Valentino (Shadowhawk). Works from Image partner Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) will also be included in this historic exhibition.

The opening reception for Image Comics: A 20th Anniversary Celebration will be held on Thursday, February 23, 2012 from 7:00-9:00pm. Special guests include Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead, Invincible), Fiona Staples (Saga), Ryan Ottley (Invincible) and many more to be announced, as well as a few last-minute surprises. Please visit the Cartoon Art Museum’s website, cartoonart.org for updates. Admission to this party will be $5-$50, with tickets sold on a sliding scale. This party kicks off the three-day Image Expo which will be held at the Oakland Convention Center from Friday, February 24 through Sunday, February 26. Please visit imagecomicexpo.com for details.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

ABOUT IMAGE EXPO
Image Expo is the premier Northern California comics convention in 2012. The three-day event takes place at the Oakland Convention Center February 24, 25 and 26. Celebrating the creative spirit of independence, Image Expo commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the formation of Image Comics. But more than just looking to the past, the event showcases the evolving the comic market by spotlighting the future of independent publishing.

Headline guests include Image Comics Founders & Partners Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino. Special guests for Image Comic Expo include Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples, Blair Butler, Ed Brubaker, Joe Casey, John Layman, Jonathan Hickman, and many more!

Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

For all the Sonic the Hedgehog fans out there, Sega has announced the return of Sonic Boom:

Sonic Boom will be held in San Diego, CA on Friday, July 13^th (during San Diego Comic Con) at the House of Blues. We’ll have more information about ticketing in the future, but you will not be required to have a Comic Con badge to attend Sonic Boom. Hotels in the San Diego area fill up quickly for Comic Con, so if you will need a hotel room, we suggest that you book early and/or consult the San Diego Comic Con hotel page.

At the first Sonic Boom last year, fans had a chance to play Sonic Generations, get some great swag, enjoy a great musical performance from Crush40, and more. We don’t want to give too much away about what’s in the works for this year (at least, not right now!), but we’re aiming to make it a great time for Sonic fans of all ages. We hope you’ll come hang out with us, Sonic, and a bunch of Sonic fans!

Actor Doug Jones, authors Adam Mock and Scott Allen Perry, and photographer Eric Curtis sign on February 11 at 2 p.m.

Dark Delicacies
3512 W. Magnolia, Burbank, CA 91505

HASBRO has starting revealing their G.I. JOE: Retaliation movie line, including 3 exclusives for Comic-Con International 2012.

Via HASBRO.com:

HASBRO is proud to unveil the official movie action figure and toy line for the new “G.I. JOE: Retaliation” movie starring Dwayne Johnson & Bruce Willis! The new line reflects the movie magic, including the epic battle between the G.I. JOE team and arch-nemesis COBRA, which, led by COBRA COMMANDER, is once again intent on taking over the world.

The G.I. JOE movie toy line features your favorite G.I. JOE characters, including an all-new, super-heroic take on ROADBLOCK, as well as JOE COLTON, the original founder of the G.I. JOE team, and an imposing COBRA COMMANDER action figure! Also featured is an array of incredible new ninja toys, including an unprecedented line-up of “ninja-tastic” action figures, vehicles, swords, masks, and throwing stars. And don’t forget the action-packed toy vehicles: “Wherever there’s trouble, G.I. JOE is there,” whether by land, sea, or air!

We hope you enjoy the new G.I. JOE movie line of your favorite “A Real American Hero” as much as we enjoyed making it! “Yo Joe”!

Press Release:

Lay, Snyder, Wheaton and Even More Guests Flock to WonderCon

WonderCon in Anaheim features increasingly stellar lineup 

Anaheim, CA – WonderCon, part of Comic-Con International’s (CCI) family of nonprofit comics conventions, announced the latest additions to a guest list that already has fans buying passes at an unprecedented pace for the three-day celebration of comics and related popular art forms. The additions include fan favorites cartoonist Carol Lay (WayLay, The Simpsons), award-winning writer Scott Snyder (Batman, American Vampire, Swamp Thing), and actor/author Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Big Bang Theory). WonderCon will be held March 16-18, 2012.

            Passes and hotel accommodations for WonderCon became available on www.comic-con.org/wc/ in December. The event, traditionally held in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1987, relocated the Anaheim Convention Center for 2012 due to renovations at the usual venue. Organizers for the event are pleased to offer southern Californian fans a chance to attend WonderCon who otherwise may not have been able to make the trek to San Francisco. Fans from Orange County and the Los Angeles area have expressed delight in having an event akin to San Diego Comic-Con at their doorstep.

            WonderCon’s format resembles the world-renowned Comic-Con albeit on a reduced scale. The 2011 WonderCon welcomed nearly 50,000 attendees, which is less than half of the 130,000 who attended the 2011 San Diego show.

            Joining Lay, Snyder, and Wheaton among the newly announced special guests are Renae De Liz (artist/editor, Womanthology, The Last Unicorn), Rebekah Isaacs (artist, Angel & Faith, Magus), Todd Nauck (artist, Amazing Spider-Man, Young Justice), Humberto Ramos (artist, Amazing Spider-Man, Impulse, Crimson), and Ryan Sook (artist, The Spectre; cover artist, Justice League Dark, DCU Presents). For a complete list and bios of the previously announced special guests, who include award-winning comics writers and artists as well as novelists and screenwriters, visit www.comic-con.org/wc/wc_guests.php.          

            “The guest list just keeps getting more impressive,” said David Glanzer, director of marketing and public relations for WonderCon and parent company, Comic-Con International. “That, along with rapid badge sales, indicates WonderCon will be just as exciting, if not more so, than the 2011 blockbuster show.”

About WonderCon:

WonderCon, one of the country’s best comics and popular arts conventions, is part of Comic-Con International (CCI), a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular art forms. The organization achieves its mission primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture. In addition to WonderCon each spring, CCI organizes San Diego Comic-Con each summer (the world’s largest comics convention of its kind) and San Francisco’s Alternative Press Expo (APE) each fall. On the web: WonderCon.org, Facebook.com/comiccon,Twitter.com/wondercon.