The 2015 San Diego Comic-Con circus folded its tents Sunday but not without leaving a trail of news and memories for the 130,000 attendees. Despite the show biz glitz now associated with the giant media presentations in Hall H, comics remain at the heart of Comic-Con, as proved by the avalanche of publishing announcements from the week.
One of the biggest announcements came on the final day when bestselling author Raina Telgemeier (Sisters, Smile) tweeted the name and promo image for her next graphic novel: Ghosts. It’s Telgemeier’s first original fiction graphic novel since Drama and according to her blog, it’s about two sisters who move to a town with some spooky secrets. Scholastic's Graphix imprint will publish the book next year.
Director/writer Joss Whedon announced he’s back to comics with Twist, a new title to be published by Dark Horse, described as a "female Victorian Batman." After making two of the biggest grossing films of all times, Whedon’s deal with Disney is coming to a close and he’s looking forward to making comics and smaller films again.
Warner Bros/DC Entertainment probably had the biggest presence at the show with an enormous slate of TV presentations, the first trailer for next year's film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and initial footage of Suicide Squad (coming to theaters next year), but they didn’t stint on comics announcement. Grant Morrison’s acclaimed Multiverse is coming back, as is the diversity focused Milestone imprint with a book written by director Reggie Hudlin and drawn by DC co-publisher Jim Lee.
Marvel’s profile was a bit lower than usual but they announced the return of a few popular books including Squirrel Girl and a Deadool/Spider-Man crossover.
All the excitement came just as news arrived that Comic-Con would be staying in San Diego through 2018. The size and fervor of the crowd gathered for the event made some wonder if the show would ever expand to Tuesday but that possibility is not on the table according to spokesman David Glanzer. However, expanding preview night hours has been discussed, he said. Currently preview night runs for three hours on Wednesday night.
Skybound, an multimedia company founded by comics writer and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, had a massive presence at this year's convention. While its "Skybound Comics" panel didn't reveal any new books, the "Skybound Entertainment" panel revealed a number of forthcoming projects with partners across media. Created by Darin Ross, its card game Superfight! will see a mobile release in the near future. Telltale Games, its partner in video game development, revealed concept art for new chapters from its Walking Dead adventure game. Also revealed was the world premiere of the trailer for Skybound's first feature film, AIR, starring Norman Reedus, who has a major role in AMC's Walking Dead TV series, and Djimon Hounsou, no stranger to film. Later at Comic-Con, Skybound and Cinemax revealed the first trailer for Outcast, a live action series based on Kirkman and artist Paul Azaceta's supernatural comic of the same name.
Correction: in an earlier version of this piece is was mistakenly said that Ghosts is Telgemeier's first fiction graphic novel. It is her second. And the image is a promo piece not the cover.
