Witty Comic-Con title.

Let's stop screwing around and get to it, shall we?

Thursday

11th Annual Musical Anatomy of a Superhero and Other Heroes | Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront | 10:00a - Every year, I extoll the potential joys and virtues of going to an honest-to-God panel of composers and nerding out with fellow film music fans, but though I recognize most of the names spotlighted here, I'm still getting the biggest "They took the idols and smashed them! And who do we got now? Some nobodies!" sensation. Maybe, it's time for something different to kick off Comic-Con.

Great Cartoonists and Comedians We Have Known | Room 9 | 10:00a - Apparently, Leonard Maltin and Mark Evanier will be regaling an audience with stories of the incredible talent they've met. This sounds way more fulfilling than getting a composer to explain why a tone-deaf executive didn't want any hummable themes in their scores.

Rhapsody PR’s 17th Annual Behind-the-Music Panel: Supersonic | Room 29CD | 11:30a - Pretty much all the stuff I said above, but what the fuck else am I gonna do with this time? Talk to people?!

2nd Annual From Script to Screen: Behind the Camera of Film and TV | Room 7AB | 12:00p - Even more composers here, but other creatives are here as well, going into the parts that make up our favorite movies.

Weird Al-Gorithim Live: 40 Years of "Dare to Be Stupid" | Neil Morgan Auditorium, San Diego Central Library | 12:00p - A podcast does a deep dive on the Weird Al album. Mad love for the title track and there are some solid bangers supporting it ("Like a Surgeon", "One More Minute", "This is the Life").

Malcolm and Friends | Room 6A | 12:30p - Not sure what kind of pull the guy from "Timeless" has to swing a panel like this, but I hope I get it someday.

2nd Annual Fan Favorites: Behind the Scenes of Popular Film and TV Shows | Room 7AB | 1:00p - Another panel of various creatives bringing projects to life.

Hallmark Hallstars | Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront | 1:45p - Okay, now I've seen everything. A bevy of Hallmark movie stars talking up their future projects. Didn't see this coming.

Nightmare Notes | Room 29AB | 2:00p - Animation writers have dealt with a number of idiotic network notes and some of them are gonna share. Given that some of them worked in the 1980s, they definitely have some doozies.

1985: Greatest Geek Year III | Room 5AB | 3:00p - Having done a cram session of roughly 25 scores in two days for FSM‘s forthcoming Retro FSMies - 1985 article, I feel I’m uniquely qualified to attend this panel.

The Blerd Panel | Room 7AB | 4:00p - I am Blerd, hear me roar. There have got to be all kinds of different experiences I could hear about here.

CBR's Magnificent Trivia and Hijinx Gauntlet | Grand 10 and 11, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina | 4:00p - Because I couldn't possibly resist a fake game show setting at a convention.

The Choice Behind the Voice | Room 23ABC | 7:00p - Voice actors go into how they came up with the voices for their characters. Sounds fascinating.

The 28th Annual Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza | Room 6A | 8:00p - An assemblage of guests, clips, previews and, no doubt, the words "Holy shit!" exclaimed repeatedly and excitedly.

Friday

The Black Panel | Room 5AB | 10:00a - What once felt like an obligation may have turned very necessary. I consider myself reasonably talented, but how do I break in when the industry seems more and more calculated to keep me out?

Star Wars and More Movie Memories | Room 7AB | 12:00p - Not that familiar with Craig Miller, but there's no doubt that a man who marketed movies and wrote for cartoon shows has stories worth listening to. 

You’re Still Wrong, Leonard Maltin | Room 23ABC | 4:00p - If nothing else, the legendary critic is a good sport for being so willing to admit when he (and his team) badly misjudged a movie.

WTF Did I Just Watch? 25 Years of Titmouse's Craziest Animation Moments | Room 5AB | 7:30p - I've been a fan of Titmouse as far back as the cruelly underrated "Downtown". Wonderful that they've managed to stay in the game for so long. Their most recent project is "Kiff", quite the turnaround from the hallucination scenes of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.

Ghostface’s Killer Trivia | Room 25ABC | 9:00p - There's something perverse about a trivia panel hosted by the voice of Ghostface, but, come on, you'd want to go, too.

Saturday

Coyote v. Acme | Hall H | 10:00a - Well, it’s finally happening. The outfit that bought and released The Day the Earth Blew Up managed to get their hands on this and, next year, it will be bloody happening in theaters. Fuck you with fifty rusty bayonets all at the same time, David Zaslav. Fuck you very much.

Real Stories, Real People: Why Representation in Film Matters | Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront | 10:00a - I'm working on quite a few scripts featuring POC leads, so it never hurts to have a support system to reassure you why this is a good idea.

DreamWorks Animation's The Bad Guys 2 | Hall H | 11:15a - A promising trailer + an uproarious short film before Dog Man = consider me hyped.

In Sync: Directors and Composers | Room 10 | 12:30p - Pretty much the same song, but it's all women here. Maybe, I should just walk away.

Cartoon Voices 1 | Room 6BCF | 1:00p - It's always fun to hear voice actors tear their way through a pre-existing script.

Moderated by Matt: the Art of Editing | Omni San Diego Hotel, Omni Grand Ballroom DE, 4th Floor | 1:00p - I think I need to know the ins and outs of editing if I'm to make it in the business.

What is the Best Superpower? | Room 25ABC | 4:00p - Because I will never be able to say it enough: shapeshifting.

Dread the Hall H: (Fictional) Comic Convention Horror Stories | Room 23ABC | 5:00p - Some 12 years ago brought the underrated comic "Fanboys vs. Zombies". Presumably more based in reality is this. I imagine that real life ordeals can yield fun stories.

Spider-Man: the Animated Series 30th Anniversary | Room 5AB | 5:30p - If only for the underscoring, I should do a re-watch of this show, but the writing should make it a neat revisit, as well.

MeTV's Svengoolie and the Sven Squad Make Their Comic-Con Debut! | Room 7AB | 7:30p - It's just not Saturday night without "The Three Stooges"* and "Svengoolie". (*Note: that’s Larry, Curly, Moe, Shemp and sometimes Joe, not the Sven Squad.)

The Animation Showrunner | Room 5AB | 7:30p - What goes into putting an animated cartoon series together? These folks know pretty well, I wager.

Sunday

Cartoon Voices II | Room 6A | 11:45a - Because I can never resist one of these panels...or two, as the case may be. We're being spoiled here.

Andreas Deja: 30 Years of Disney Villains | Room 6BCF | 1:00p - It was a behind the scenes special on Beauty and the Beast that I first heard his name. He was the lead animator for Gaston and he would go on to perform the same function for Jafar on Aladdin and Scar on The Lion King. Not a bad run.

An Afternoon with George Takei | Room 6A | 1:30p - A life like his is no doubt loaded with fascinating stories. I should look into getting his graphic novel.

From Indies to Blockbusters: The Power of Equity in Storytelling | Room 6DE | 1:45p - A panel about the lives of a number of creatives and the importance of giving a leg up to those who need the opportunities they aren't always afforded.

Starship Smackdown XXXVI: The Ship Hits the Fan Celebrity Showrunner Edition | Room 6A | 2:45p - What seems to be "Family Feud", but with genre showrunners as the contestants. Sounds fun.

Where Do Ideas Come From? | Room 28DE | 3:00p - How to get past writers' block. Lord knows it's something I could use.

Lugosi and Karloff: The Twin Titans of Terror | Room 32AB | 4:00p - A look at their careers and the movies they made together. Not a bad way to end Comic-Con.

July 24th. Let's flipping go.