Hard to believe but it's less than a month before Comic-Con International convenes down in San Diego so…
- No, I don't know where you can find a hotel room and no, you can't crash in mine.
- No, I can't help you get a badge no matter how many dying children you have with just this on their bucket lists.
- And no, I especially can't help you arrange a panel to promote your new project. The programming schedule was locked a long time ago, fella.
Speaking of that schedule: I'm goofing off this year and only hosting eight panels, down from a career high of (I think) fourteen. I'm not supposed to announce them until the official list is released, which should happen two weeks before the con kicks off. Preview night is Wednesday, July 8 and then the non-preview part runs Thursday, July 9 through Sunday, July 12. So they should start posting the programming schedule on June 24.
But I will tell you that I'll be doing all of your old faves (Quick Draw!, The Sergio & Mark Show, Cover Story, the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel and so on) and that I'm especially excited about the Cartoon Voice panels where you'll meet the voices of Avengers, Turtles, Justice Leaguers, Rugrats, Jedi Knights and a recently-retired Gay Robot Skeleton. Also on Sunday, we have this panel I do each year called The Business of Cartoon Voices, which is a serious attempt to give sound, pragmatic and free advice to folks who aspire to become voiceover performers. One of our guests on the panel this year is a gent I've been trying to land for years…one of the best agents that field has ever seen. Gonna be quite a panel.
I'll post some convention-going tips here shortly but a big one is to keep your eye on the convention website. It's really good and at least half the questions people call or write me to ask can be found there with just a mouse-click or two. And when the programming schedule is posted, study it carefully. You might even find an event there that's worth attending even though it's not hosted by me.