San Diego Comic Con – The SWAG Collector

Comic-Con Museum Hosts WonderCon Exhibition, Opening Night Gala w Jen Bartel

WonderCon 2020 Program Cover Image by Jen Bartel

Last March, the images that graced the walls of the Comic-Con Museum “Cover Story: The Art of Comic-Con 50” exhibition perfectly illustrated San Diego Comic-Con’s (SDCC) finger on the pulse of pop-culture, throughout the years. And the museum’s new exhibition, “Sense of Wonder: The Art of WonderCon Anaheim”, does the same for SDCC’s sister convention in Anaheim, CA, April 10-12.

Similar to “Cover Story’s” focus on SDCC program cover illustrations, “Sense of Wonder” (running select days from Wednesday, Feb. 19 through Sunday, May 31) exhibits the commissioned, WonderCon program cover illustrations in various stages of the creation process.

The Walls outside the exhibition display a mural of WonderCon Covers, while inside is a gallery of drafts, thumbnails, and original pieces!

Unlike last year’s event, that focused only on past SDCC program covers, the “Sense of Wonder,” opening night event on Wednesday, February 19, took the opportunity to also DEBUT the 2020 WonderCon program cover!
And to the delight of all attendees, the Comic-Con Museum invited cover artist Jen Bartel along to help debut the cover and participate in a panel Q&A!

Museum Curatorial Director Gary Sassaman and Artist Jen Bartel debut the WonderCon Program Cover to resounding applause!

From cover debut… to past covers exhibits… to an entertaining and informative panel/Q&A… Comic-Con Museum charter members and guests were treated to a nice night celebrating WonderCon and this year’s talented cover artist.

Flyer, bookmark, and signed (In the rocks!) WonderCon program cover poster!

AND BEST OF ALL… Attendees walked away with glorious SWAG, in the form of a BEAUTIFUL poster showcasing the WonderCon 2020 cover illustration, SIGNED by Bartel!

The Underappreciated Women of Black Lightning

The CW Black Lightning superhero television show follows high school principal, Jefferson Pierce, as he tries to better and save his community as a civilian and as his vigilante alter ego.

Much like the other Berlanti-verse programs, Black Lightning had a significant presence at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. They held a panel teasing season three and hosted a signing with most of the main cast.

What many don’t know was there was a second signing for the show. Away from the flashy Warner Bros. booth on the show floor, in the Sails Pavilion, the women behind Black Lightning had their own signing.

The signing featured writers, costume designers, and a few ancillary characters. Though not as glamorous as the cast signing, it was nice to meet some of the underappreciated members of the show. Plus, the autographed extra-sized poster was great SWAG!

Black Lightning recently returned for its third season. Watch it Monday nights at 9pm on the CW.

Primal: An Unlikely Pairing To Survive The Prehistoric Landscape

Genndy Tartakovsky has had a prominent career in animation. He is the talent behind such favorites as Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack. After spending time in movies with the Hotel Transylvania franchise, the creator is set to make his return to television.

Tartakovsky’s mature themes series, Primal, explores the relationship between a caveman and dinosaur, after tragedy unites them. The unlikely pair must work together to survive the prehistoric landscape.

Primal had a nice presence at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, with a panel and events at the offsite, Adult Swim On the Green. At the latter, the first two episodes were screened, followed by a Q&A.

Primal goes against current trends by being completely hand drawn with no dialog save for occasional grunts and growls. The engaging and compelling show is a testament to Tartakovsky and crew’s story-telling prowess. The combination of art and score are effective in communicating emotion and tone, throughout, and the action sequences are brutal and intense.

Tartakovsky also held a signing at On the Green. Those fortunate enough to score a ticket received an autographed card and a pin.

More news or sneak peaks for Primal can be expected during New York Comic Con, where the show will also have a panel. The first episode airs Monday, October 7, at midnight on Adult Swim.

Titans Season Two; Fan-Faves Perfect For DCU Push at NYCC

This past summer, when the DC Universe (DCU) streaming service showed-up at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) with a Titans subscriber-appreciation poster, inexplicably the poster image gave no indication of what to expect from season two. This was a huge, missed-opportunity to get subscribers and potential subscribers excited for the debut of fan-favorite characters, Deathstroke, Superboy and Krypto. Fortunately, after wrapping-up the season one cliffhanger, the Titans season two premiere episode (dropped September 6) spent the last few minutes giving viewers a glimpse of these new faces (including Bruce Wayne, sans cape & cowl).

Titans poster given to DCU subscribers at SDCC. Nice… but no sign of season two characters.

Last year, Titans debuted at New York Comic Con (NYCC) with a Wednesday night, pre-convention premiere. And as the content provider’s inaugural, original series, Titans was featured on much of the DCU promotional SWAG.

Titans posters, comics, & pins were a big part of the DCU promotional SWAG at NYCC 2019

Hopefully, this year’s Titans SWAG at NYCC incorporates the new characters seen at the end of S2:E1, and the characters introduced later in season one: Wonder Girl and Robin (Jason Todd). DCU would do well to highlight these characters as fan favorites, capable of enticing new subscribers.

Part of the DCU Titans promotional SWAG at NYCC 2018 included an autograph signing featuring many of season one’s heroes (Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, Hawk & Dove). And it’d be outstanding if part of the NYCC 2019, DCU Titans SWAG included an autograph signing featuring the other important characters (Wonder Girl, Jason Todd, Superboy, Krypto, Deathstroke and Bruce Wayne/Batman).

This would be an absolutely perfect companion piece to last year’s autograph poster …and an indication to subscribers that the DCU has a Long-term, well-thought-out plan for the Titans, that’s well worth the price of admission!

NYCC 2018 autograph poster for DCU Titans

New episodes of Titans, season two, drops every Friday on DCU.

It: Chapter Two: From SWAG Heavy Hype To Theaters

As the week’s widest theatrical release, It: Chapter Two is sure to come away as the weekend box office champ.
The movie’s dominating presence in theaters is reminiscent of its huge San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) presence this past July 17-21. It: Chapter Two was all over San Diego, and as a result, the movie’s Sept. 6, release may have seemed a long-time-coming to SDCC attendees. But the time has come… and audiences are finally getting a chance to see if “It” lives up to the hype.

Part of that hype is the SWAG created to market and promote the horror flick.

With It: Chapter Two as the centerpiece of both the Wednesday taping of the Conan Show, and the Warner Brothers (WB) hosted, ScareDiego annual event, the movie was the biggest and most desired game in town during SDCC Preview Night.

At both events, Conan O’Brien hosted a Q & A featuring the movie cast, and gifted audiences with the coveted Pennywise, Conan Funko Pop!. Other than the exclusive footage shown at ScareDiego, the events were very similar. However, in addition to the Funko Pop!, The ScareDiego audience also received an enamel pin of the iconic “It” red balloons.

The Funko Pop! was highly prized, but the most exclusive It: Chapter Two SWAG at SDCC was the coveted movie cast signing!

On Thursday, the first full day of the convention, WB hosted a cast signing at their huge booth on the convention showroom floor. The signing event could only be attended by those lucky-enough to score wristbands through an online lottery, and was limited to less than 100 people.

The poster was signed by the whole, “Losers” cast, including:

Jay Ryan
Jessica Chastain
James McAvoy
Isaiah Mustafa
Bill Hader
James Ransone
Andy Bean
Andy Muschietti- Director

While the signed poster SWAG was available exclusively to attendees of the signing event, It: Chapter Two SWAG at SDCC could also be had by any & everyone walking around downtown San Diego during the five-day event. As the cover subject of the Entertainment Weekly (EW), Comic-Con Bonus Issue, the movie was front-&-center-of-attention, as street teams passed-out copies of the magazine to passers-by.

With the Conan show, ScareDiego, a cast signing, and an EW cover story, it seems the It: Chapter Two marketing and promotion teams were hellbent on making sure most, if not ALL, con-goers walked away from SDCC with an awareness of the movie’s impending release. And with SWAG as physical souvenirs of the It presence in San Diego, the movie hasn’t been far from the minds of SDCC attendees since late July- when the convention ended.

Now, with the movie finally in theaters, it’s difficult to tell what effect the SDCC awareness will have on box office receipts. But if the movie does well… ESPECIALLY on opening weekend, hopefully the WB marketing machine and other promotions teams will take note of, and emulate, the “It” formula…

…Just think of all the wonderful SWAG opportunities!

The evil clown Pennywise has returned to torment the grown-up members of the Losers’ Club and can be seen in theaters now!

DuckTales: Incorporating The Disney Afternoon Universe

In the 90’s, quality children’s animated programming could be found on broadcast syndicated television every weekday afternoon.

Young viewers were ready for an escape after arriving home from school. Some of the most memorable programming came from Disney Afternoon with shows like TaleSpin, Chip ‘n Dales Rescue Rangers and Gargoyles.

One favorite, DuckTales was recently relaunched in 2017 — bringing the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and company to a new generation.

The show’s second season has served as a springboard to reintroduce characters from Disney Afternoon. Already, new versions of Darkwing Duck and Don Karnage have debuted.

Then at this year’s DuckTales panel during San Diego Comic Con, it was announced even more fan favorites will be making a comeback in the third season. These include Darkwing’s Gosalyn Duck and Taurus Bulba and TaleSpin’s Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham.

Appearing from other cartoons will be the Rescue Rangers and obscure characters, Rhinokey and Butterbear from The Wuzzles. Even classic characters, Daisy Duck and Goofy plan to visit Duckburg.

Many of these announced characters (and those unannounced like Bubba the Caveduck and Gene the Genie) join the already extensive existing cast on the awesome poster given to attendees at the signing.

Talent included:

Matt Youngberg – Developer
Sergio Angones – Developer
Tad Stones – Creator of Darkwing Duck
Kate Micucci – Webby Vanderquack
Ben Schwartz – Dewey Duck
Bobby Moynihan – Louie Duck
Paget Brewster – Della Duck

The original art serves both as a nod to the present and a glimpse to the future of DuckTales, making the poster great promotional SWAG. Knowing that beloved characters from the past are coming next season generates excitement and nostalgia. Plus, meeting celebrities and receiving autographs is always a fun experience.

DuckTales recently returned from hiatus and the rest of the second season can be viewed weekday afternoons at 3:00 pm Disney Channel or weekday mornings at 7:00 am on Disney XD.

Autograph Signing- Deadly Class at SDCC

At large pop culture conventions, it’s a given that you’re gonna spend a bit of time waiting in line. As a result, having something to read can be a godsend.

Last year at the start of San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), SYFY announced their convention plans included hosting an autograph signing and panel for their live-action adaptation of the comic book, Deadly Class.

I love seeing comic books adapted into other media (especially live-action tv or movies). It’s fun and interesting to compare the page to the screen.
…So when I noticed Deadly Class Vol. 1: Reagan Youth available on ComiXology Unlimited, I decided it would be a good book to help pass my “SDCC line-time”.

Signed copy of Deadly Class issue #1, provided to attendees of the SDCC Autograph Signing.

Needless to say, by the end of the first day of SDCC, I’d become a huge fan of Deadly Class, and couldn’t wait for the panel and signing! But as is often the case at SDCC, a schedule conflict got in-the-way, and prevented me from attending the panel. However, I WAS fortunate to obtain a wristband to attend the signing!

At the Image Comics booth, wristband holders were provided a nice, live-action cover variant of Deadly Class issue 1 as an item to be signed. The comic book is a nice change from the typical poster that is usually given at cast signings. And from a marketing perspective, its a great promotional tool to entice those who are interested in the tv show to “delve-deeper” into the source material.

Cast members and creatives on-hand for the event included:

Rick Remender- creator /writer
Wes Craig-creator/artist
Miles Orion Feldsott- showrunner
Mick Betancourt- showrunner
Benjamin Wadsworth- Marcus
Benedict Wong- Master Lin
Lana Condor- Saya Kuroki
María Gabriela De Faría- Maria Salazar
Luke Tennie- Willie Lewis

Writer Rick Remender and Artist Wes Craig couldn’t have seemed more proud, as they signed alongside the actors cast to bring their creations to life!

Benedict Wong and Benjamin Wadsworth signing at the SDCC Image Comics Booth.

Thanks to Dr Strange and Infinity War, Actor Benedict Wong was the most well-known talent at the autograph table. Wong was very nice and gracious when signing, but his lesser-known, young costars seemed downright ecstatic and very happy to be at SDCC as part of the Deadly Class cast!

Lana Condor and María Gabriela De Faría signing at the SDCC Image Comics Booth.

Actors Lana Condor & Luke Tennie were especially engaging and helped make for a fun signing event.

The first episode of Deadly Class dropped on YouTube in late December. Those who have already caught the episode know SYFY appears to have a hit on their hands!

The show can now be seen on the SYFY website, and begins its run on the cable network on January 16.
If subsequent episodes are as good as the first episode, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t give the show a try!

*Heads-up… Deadly Class Vol. 1: Reagan Youth is still currently available as part of the ComiXology Unlimited subscription service!

Autograph Signing- Aquaman at SDCC

Not since Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy have I left the theater so satisfied after watching a DCUniverse motion picture!
Aquaman is a fun, visual spectacle that delivered exactly what’s promised!
And after seeing the King of Atlantis defeat the weekend box office, I couldn’t help but reminisce about one of my favorite San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) SWAG events of 2018.

Every year at SDCC there’s a signing that’s considered the “Holy Grail” of all signings.

In 2018, there were two such signing events.

With creative talent full of big name stars, and high anticipation for the upcoming movies, Aquaman and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald were fighting for first place in the hearts of autograph seekers.

SWAGCollector family member with Eddie Redmayne of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The SWAGCollector family had a nice close-encounter with the Fantastic Beast cast but unfortunately didn’t get to attend the autograph signing.

However, we were lucky to be able to attend the amazing Aquaman autograph signing at the DC booth!

Included in the signing was:

Director James Wan
Jason Momoa- Aquaman
Nicole Kidman- Atlanna
Amber Heard- Mera
Patrick Wilson- Ocean Master
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II- Black Manta

The talent assembled were all gracious, but Nicole Kidman and James Wan were standouts for being especially friendly…

When I mentioned to Nicole that my son was a huge fan (after falling for Satine from Moulin Rouge), but couldn’t get into the signing, she asked,
“Where is he?”
I pointed to my son standing in the crowd behind her.
The wonderful Nicole Kidman then abruptly stood, turned, and vigorously waived and blew a kiss directly to him!

…Such a sweetheart!

Director James Wan at the SDCC ScareDiego panel

James Wan was also fun to talk to, as we had a brief exchange about the “Scare Diego” panel/offsite held during preview night of SDCC.

The autographed poster that resulted from the signing is an amazing piece of SWAG! …And if that wasn’t enough, DC also provided autograph wristband holders with a second poster and a SDCC Exclusive t-shirt!

After such an amazing autograph signing experience, it’s great to hear all the positive word-of-mouth Aquaman, the movie, is getting from fans and press. The SWAGCollector family had been eagerly awaiting the December 21 release of Aquaman. And fortunately, the movie was well worth the wait!

If you haven’t seen Aquaman yet… What are you waiting for?!?!

…Hurry and get to the theater before the holidays are over!

Once Upon A Deadpool- FINE! Take My Money!

Really…

“Once Upon A Deadpool”???

What the heck is this all about?!?!

I mean, COME ON! The movie has already gone to home video…
And I’ve got the SWAG to prove it!

20th Century Fox, booth animatronics entertain on the SDCC exhibit floor to promote the home video release of Deadpool 2 (image courtesy @MarvelMorris.

At San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), 20th Century Fox set-up shop to promote the home video release of Deadpool 2, and had one of the more popular booths on the showroom floor. The booth’s Chuck-E.-Cheese-like, life-size, singing, animatronic band was an attention grabber, but the booth’s main draw was its daily t-shirt SWAG giveaway!

DeadPool 2 t-shirt SWAG: #ALittlePeterinAllofUs

On Thursday and Friday, attendees who made it to the booth within the first hour of the convention had no problem snagging a t-shirt, but by Saturday, it seemed more people became aware of the shirt giveaway, causing the SWAG lines for Saturday and Sunday to reach capacity almost immediately upon the opening of the convention doors!

Deadpool 2 t-shirt SWAG: #DeadPoolsFamily

As a result, much to my dismay, I wasn’t able to get a complete set of all four Deadpool 2 SWAG t-shirts*. But getting two-of-four t-shits allowed me to walk away from SDCC feeling good about Deadpool 2, and agreeable to spending a few more bucks on the home video version…

…hence completing the gentleman’s agreement between Deadpool and I.
Or so I thought.

But now… this “Once Upon A Deadpool” nonsense comes along, trying to nab MORE moola from my wallet!

And oooohhhh, how “convenient” that the re-release takes place the week before another blockbuster superhero film will be begging for my attention!

I’m not in the habit of going to the theater to see a movie more than once… But word on the street (Twitter) is that there’s enough new material in “Once Upon A Deadpool” that it’s essentially a different movie than Deadpool 2.
And considering the fact that Deadpool 2 was one of the best movies of the year… DANG IT! How can I resist?!?!?!

FINE Deadpool! Take my money!

*SIDE NOTE: Because the SWAGCollector usually travels in packs, sometimes I happen upon extra SWAG.
I have an extra of both the Thurs & Fri Deadpool 2 SDCC SWAG t-shirts. If anyone has the Sat or Sun shirts & are interested in trading, PLEASE contact me!!!

NYCC Attendees Channel Their Inner Thanos For Sideshow SWAG

Companies don’t always announce ahead of time what SWAG they intend to bring to a convention. However, this year Sideshow Collectibles gave both San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) and New York Comic Con (NYCC) attendees an advanced heads-up of their SWAG intentions.

Both NYCC and SDCC attendees received exclusive, branded Infinity Gauntlet lapel pins!

For both shows, Sideshow gave-out bright, shinny, highly-desirable, gem-encrusted, Infinity Gauntlet lapel pins! And best of all, the pins were branded with the SDCC or NYCC initials.

The announcement of the giveaway included instruction on how to obtain a pin. And the pin’s limited quantities made the Sideshow Booth a popular first-stop for quite a few attendees.

At SDCC attendees just had to be among the first 500 visitors to the Sideshow booth to get a pin.

At NYCC, a bit more work was required to get the Gauntlet…

Seekers didn’t have to comb the universe like Thanos, but a pin could only be had through exchanging a card stamped with marks collected by visiting three of seven different booths on the convention floor.

The scavenger-hunt for the correct booths was actually a fun, additional component that made the NYCC Infinity Gauntlet SWAG-hunt that much more fun. Hopefully the booths involved with the hunt saw some additional sales and activity as a result of their involvement!

These pins are way too cool not to wear or display in some manner. I’d put them on my gym bag, but the way I throw that thing around, they’d surely fall off and get lost.

How/where do you display your SWAG pins? What’s some cool places to wear nerd SWAG and get appreciation? Do you have any suggestions? Let me know in the comments…