This post will be a bit of a preview for San Diego Comic Con.
The event starts on Thursday with the preview night before continuing over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
In terms of Avatar Stuff going on the main thing is of course the Korra Panel on Friday in Ballroom 20 at 11:15am San Diego time.
Korra Book 3 Panel
This panel is going to be a book 3 panel, they will be airing an episode, which we assume will be K308 The Terror Within which will air later on Friday night. The rest of the panel seems set to be like many we have had before with the panelists talking about the concepts and art behind the Book. There is also a chance that they will show us a trailer for the second half of the book. In addition to this the panelists will be answering some fan questions, unfortunately it won't be a live mic based on what we have heard so far, they will just be choosing questions people submitted online, which if it goes like last year, don't expect any interesting questions to get answered. The panelists are Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartinto, Janet Varney (Korra), David Faustino (Mako), Seychelle Gabriel (Asami), Mindy Sterling (Lin Beifong) and John Michael Higgins (Varrick).
My thoughts
I just am not as excited about this years panel as I have been about panels in past years. The issue I have is that this is advertised completely as a book 3 panel, when by the time the panel rolls around the book will be over in 2 weeks and a few hours, much of what will be shown/said at this panel will be forgotten in just a few weeks. We will see all of the episodes shortly, and the Book 3 Art Book will show us much of the concept art shown at the panel. I hope they answer some interesting fan questions, but after last year I don't have much hope.
What I really want is for there to be something surprising at the panel, I think they need to say something about Book 4, even if it just the title of the book. This would be talked about more than any Book 3 thing mentioned. Other than that I hope they perhaps talk about the upcoming Korra video game and maybe even the upcoming Korra merchandise line.
Other Avatar things going on at SDCC
As ever we have an Avatar fan panel which will be the Saturday of the convention at 10:30am in room 24ABC. This will feature: Avatar_Mom, Kevin Coppa (Puppetbenders), Elizabeth Furr (fan artist/Amira Ink!), Gene Luen Yang (writer/cartoonist), Angela Song Mueller (character designer), Josh Hamilton (writer), and Jessie Flower (voice actor for Toph).
These are usually fun, and definitely worth checking out. There is rarely anything newsworthy at these panels, but in terms of fans interacting with some of the guests in a fun way they are very good. There are usually some funny videos to come out of these panels. There is also a cosplay contest too.
Next is the Nick Booth Signing
1:15PM – 3:15PM – The Legend of Korra
Next up is the Dark Horse Signing
2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. HB AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER & THE LEGEND OF KORRA: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru, Jessie Flower (WRISTBAND REQUIRED. In addition to distribution by drawing on Friday and Saturday at show opening, there will be some wristbands given as prizes during the Avatar: The Last Airbender—Legend and Legacy panel on Saturday, July 26, 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. in Room 24ABC.)
We usually hear a few tidbits of information from people attending the signing who talked to the guests.
Last but not least, Dark Horse have confirmed that at some stage over the course of SDCC that they will be revealing some of the Korra Merchandise items.
Thoughts
As I mentioned the fan panel and signings are interesting when we hear about them, but they are very much primarily for attendees and all about the experience of actually being there, so there is no real news for us fans not attending the convention.
What I am interested in is the merchandise reveals, this Dark Horse deluxe line up to now has been HORRIBLY organised in terms of information getting out to us fans. We have seen pictures of many of the items like lunchboxes, pint glasses and magnets, but we know we are getting statues and figurines and we have heard rumours of action figures, though we have yet to see pictures of this stuff. If Dark Horse were to reveal Avatar/Korra action figures, for me that would be THE comic con reveal.
Site Coverage
You may be wondering how we will cover SDCC news on the site.
We will do it much the same as we have the last few SDCCs, when attendees start posting pictures of the exclusive merchandise (Posters etc) we will post them as news straight away. Then come Friday I will put up a news post about the panel before it starts and I will be updating that post live as the panel happens, compiling information from various sources. This post will be updated throughout the weekend as more information comes out.
We have done SDCC podcast specials in the past, but this year with us getting 2 episodes every week, it means that we just do not have the time to record a separate podcast this year and also review the episodes, so instead our comic con discussion will be at the start of our Korra Roundtable Podcast on Saturday and Sunday for K308 The Terror Within and K309 The Stakeout.
The event starts on Thursday with the preview night before continuing over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
In terms of Avatar Stuff going on the main thing is of course the Korra Panel on Friday in Ballroom 20 at 11:15am San Diego time.
Korra Book 3 Panel
This panel is going to be a book 3 panel, they will be airing an episode, which we assume will be K308 The Terror Within which will air later on Friday night. The rest of the panel seems set to be like many we have had before with the panelists talking about the concepts and art behind the Book. There is also a chance that they will show us a trailer for the second half of the book. In addition to this the panelists will be answering some fan questions, unfortunately it won't be a live mic based on what we have heard so far, they will just be choosing questions people submitted online, which if it goes like last year, don't expect any interesting questions to get answered. The panelists are Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartinto, Janet Varney (Korra), David Faustino (Mako), Seychelle Gabriel (Asami), Mindy Sterling (Lin Beifong) and John Michael Higgins (Varrick).
My thoughts
I just am not as excited about this years panel as I have been about panels in past years. The issue I have is that this is advertised completely as a book 3 panel, when by the time the panel rolls around the book will be over in 2 weeks and a few hours, much of what will be shown/said at this panel will be forgotten in just a few weeks. We will see all of the episodes shortly, and the Book 3 Art Book will show us much of the concept art shown at the panel. I hope they answer some interesting fan questions, but after last year I don't have much hope.
What I really want is for there to be something surprising at the panel, I think they need to say something about Book 4, even if it just the title of the book. This would be talked about more than any Book 3 thing mentioned. Other than that I hope they perhaps talk about the upcoming Korra video game and maybe even the upcoming Korra merchandise line.
Other Avatar things going on at SDCC
As ever we have an Avatar fan panel which will be the Saturday of the convention at 10:30am in room 24ABC. This will feature: Avatar_Mom, Kevin Coppa (Puppetbenders), Elizabeth Furr (fan artist/Amira Ink!), Gene Luen Yang (writer/cartoonist), Angela Song Mueller (character designer), Josh Hamilton (writer), and Jessie Flower (voice actor for Toph).
These are usually fun, and definitely worth checking out. There is rarely anything newsworthy at these panels, but in terms of fans interacting with some of the guests in a fun way they are very good. There are usually some funny videos to come out of these panels. There is also a cosplay contest too.
Next is the Nick Booth Signing
1:15PM – 3:15PM – The Legend of Korra
Next up is the Dark Horse Signing
2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. HB AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER & THE LEGEND OF KORRA: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru, Jessie Flower (WRISTBAND REQUIRED. In addition to distribution by drawing on Friday and Saturday at show opening, there will be some wristbands given as prizes during the Avatar: The Last Airbender—Legend and Legacy panel on Saturday, July 26, 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. in Room 24ABC.)
We usually hear a few tidbits of information from people attending the signing who talked to the guests.
Last but not least, Dark Horse have confirmed that at some stage over the course of SDCC that they will be revealing some of the Korra Merchandise items.
Thoughts
As I mentioned the fan panel and signings are interesting when we hear about them, but they are very much primarily for attendees and all about the experience of actually being there, so there is no real news for us fans not attending the convention.
What I am interested in is the merchandise reveals, this Dark Horse deluxe line up to now has been HORRIBLY organised in terms of information getting out to us fans. We have seen pictures of many of the items like lunchboxes, pint glasses and magnets, but we know we are getting statues and figurines and we have heard rumours of action figures, though we have yet to see pictures of this stuff. If Dark Horse were to reveal Avatar/Korra action figures, for me that would be THE comic con reveal.
Site Coverage
You may be wondering how we will cover SDCC news on the site.
We will do it much the same as we have the last few SDCCs, when attendees start posting pictures of the exclusive merchandise (Posters etc) we will post them as news straight away. Then come Friday I will put up a news post about the panel before it starts and I will be updating that post live as the panel happens, compiling information from various sources. This post will be updated throughout the weekend as more information comes out.
We have done SDCC podcast specials in the past, but this year with us getting 2 episodes every week, it means that we just do not have the time to record a separate podcast this year and also review the episodes, so instead our comic con discussion will be at the start of our Korra Roundtable Podcast on Saturday and Sunday for K308 The Terror Within and K309 The Stakeout.
