This year's Comic-Con International kicks off in San Diego with a Preview Night on July 19 and then the con runs July 20-23. As always, the convention will be about many things but a key one this year is Jack Kirby.
Of course, in a way the convention is always to a great extent about Jack. His influence, his style and characters he birthed or co-birthed are all over the place. But this year, they're going to make an extra-special fuss, starting with the striking cover on the souvenir book, executed by Bruce Timm with the lettering magic of Todd Klein. If you aren't familiar with what this is based on — even though we discussed the Don Rickles issues of Jimmy Olsen recently on this blog — this will tell you more about it.
This may change but I'm currently set to host twelve panels at the convention. Four of them are specifically about Jack and I'm sure his name will creep into a few others. (The full schedule will be posted two weeks before the con and we're not supposed to announce things yet…but I don't think they'll mind if I tell you that most of mine will be the same panels as last year and most will be in the same rooms on the same days at the same times. Hopefully, the content will be different.)
I'll be at the con the whole time…and for those who were wondering: We'll be announcing the recipients of this year's Bill Finger Award in a day or so. Can't believe it all starts in less than fifty days from today. I'd better do some of last year's laundry.