SDCC’14: Top 10 Stories from Comic-Con 2014 #sdcc

It was a very crazy couple of days in Southern California as the San Diego Comic Con took over the city. With movie stars, cosplayers, comic professionals, and hundreds of thousands of fans in attendance, there was certain to be some big news revealed at the show. With the hundreds of stories posted over the last couple of days, Major Spoilers runs down the Top Ten Stories from Comic-Con 2014.

10. Jason Inman was selected as a finalist for the Thrillbent Open Pitch Session

Jason Inman, who you know from Jason Reads Comics, Geek History Lesson, and all around awesome productions was a the San Diego Comic Con this weekend and participated in the Thrillbent Come Pitch at Our Panel presentation. The “contestants” had to deliver and sell one story to move forward, with the selected “winners” getting their story produced and showcased on Thrillbent.com.  Jason will have more on this in the next few days I’m sure.

Thanks to some help from a great guy and boss, I nailed the pitch to Mark Waid & Thrillbent. #superhappy #SDCC

— Jason Inman (@Jawiin) July 25, 2014

I know that may not be one of the biggest stories, but we at Major Spoilers are proud of all of our past, current, and future contributors, and are super excited when they achieve success.  We only hope that Jason remembers us little people when he’s lighting his cee-gars with one-hundred dollar bills.

9.  Mile High Comics won’t return to convention next year

A staple at the San Diego Comic Con for years, Mile High Comics sent out a very sad announcement yesterday stating it will no longer be a part of the convention, as the focus has been more on the publishers figuring out ways to cover their booth costs with exclusives and variants, than on the retailers that are there to sell comics.

If more comic vendors are suffering the same fate, either A) Comic Con will get smaller in the coming years and the convention hall won’t have to worry about expanding, or B) publishers will see the error of their ways and not try to screw over the retailers that sell their wares.

8.  Locke & Key looks to be a trilogy of movies

During the Horns panel, Joe Hill (who wrote the story the movie is based on) told fans that Universal Pictures is happy with the script, written by Albert Torres, that the studio wants the movie to be a trilogy.  This is exciting news for Locke & Key fans as the series is one of the best finite run series of all time. Yes – ALL TIME.  

The way I see it, the first movie could easily be Welcome to Lovecraft, with the second film focusing on the quest for the keys. The final film most certainly would be the Omega arc.

7. Mike Tyson Mysteries from Adult Swim

I haven’t laughed at stupid cartoons in a while, but the trailer for Mike Tyson Mysteries, had me giggling so hard that I’m considering learning how our new DVR works so I can record this show every time it airs. I hope this isn’t a one trick pony, and that each episode is better than the one before. I also hope Adult Swim doesn’t cap the show at 10 episodes and then replay those 10 episodes for three years before deciding it’s time to order more.

In Mike Tyson Mysteries, a new half-hour animated adult comedy series, Mike Tyson is taking the fight from the boxing ring to the streets … by solving mysteries! Aided by the Mike Tyson Mystery Team – the Ghost of the Marquess of Queensbury, Mike’s adopted Korean daughter, and a pigeon who was once a man – Mike Tyson will answer any plea sent to him. If you have a problem that needs solving, Iron Mike is in your corner. The series incorporates live-action appearances featuring Mighty Mike himself, and the gloves come off as the former heavyweight champ and his team gear up for weekly adventures as they put unsolved mysteries down for the count. The series stars Mike Tyson, Norm Macdonald (Saturday Night Live), Rachel Ramras (MAD), and Jim Rash (The Way Way Back, Community). Mike Tyson Mysteries is produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

Mike Tyson Mysteries | San Diego Comic Con 2014 Sneak Peek | Adult Swim

Mike Tyson Mysteries – starring Mike Tyson, Norm Macdonald, Jim Rash, and Rachel Ramras. Coming Fall 2014 to Adult Swim!Watch Full Episodes: http://asw.im/R1…

6.  San Diego Comic Con sends cease and desist to Salt Lake City Comic Con

Call it one of the weirdest stories to come out of Comic-Con, but CCI, which stands for Comic-Con International, sent a cease and desist letter to the Salt Lake Comic Con over the use of the words Comic Con.  Seems Comic-Con International has a trade mark on Comic-Con and doesn’t want any other comic book conventions horning in on its action. I’m not a lawyer, so I’ll let the lawyers speak up on this one, but it seem to me that CCI uses Comic-Con with a hyphen whereas Salt Lake City Comic Con is without the hyphen.  The dispute started several weeks ago, when SLCC planned to bring a logo wrapped car to the convention and CCI: San Diego asked them not to. From there it seems to have escalated. In a press release, SLCC founder Bryan Brandenburg explained

San Diego Comic-Con International is threatening not only us, but all the other Comic Cons by trying to prohibit them from using the term for their events. San Diego Comic-Con attempted to trademark ‘Comic Con’ in 1995 and the application failed. Furthermore, precedence for the mark ‘Comic Con’ was set when Denver Comic Con received a trademark for their convention on November 26, 2013. Nobody owns the words ‘Comic Con’ (short for comic convention) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office has already ruled on this. – via The Outhouse

It is interesting that this letter arrives in or around the date of the convention, a convention that has been capped at 150,000 convention goers.  At the time of this posting we don’t know final numbers, but word on the Intardwebz has the flow on the show floor easier to navigate than in year’s past.  Could CCI: San Diego feel threatened by SLCC, which is now the third largest convention in the country (New York Comic Con is second)? Interestingly, SDCC went after the Chicago Comic Con a few years ago and failed in its lawsuit. There’s been no word from the Wizard World Comic Con organizers if CCI has sent them any letters in the past. At least one big revelation has happened in all of this; we finally know why there is an all seeing eye in the Comic-Con logo… it’s all part of the Illuminati conspiracy.

5. Star Trek Meets Planet of the Apes

It’s the comic book crossover you never imagined, but now that IDW Publishing and BOOM! Studios are making it happen, it is the crossover you’ve been waiting your entire life to read!

IDW will publish the crossover, which will mark the first time BOOM! Studios has partnered with another publisher on a series. Together they will bring Star Trek, licensed by CBS Consumer Products, and 20th Century Fox’s Planet of the Apes together in a way that is sure to delight existing fans and make new ones. The series will pair the original U.S.S. Enterprise crew with Taylor, Nova and the cast from the original Planet of the Apes film.

Call me crazy, but this is the strangest Star Trek crossover I’ve ever seen. Sure there have been the Star Trek meets the X-Men and Star Trek meets the Legion of Super-Heroes, but Star Trek Meets Planet of the Apes? I will be picking this up just so I can see Shatner in a cage screaming “It’s a madhouse! MADHOUSE!” and Spock seeing the fallen Statue of Liberty and saying “Fascinating.”

4. Marvel Studios panel had some announcements and some non-announcements

Marvel destroyed Hall H on Saturday night with their Marvel Studios panel. As expected fans were able to get a glimpse of what is coming in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and they did get an update on Ant-Man.  The much needed update on Ant-Man included a start date for shooting, as well as announcements of Evangeline Lilly and Corey Stoll joining the cast.

Also announced, though not really a huge surprise was the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. James Gunn had previously stated that he would write and direct the sequel if the movie did well, and after the premiere resulted in a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it was pretty much a done deal.

Look for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to arrive July 28, 2017.

Marvel also released eight posters for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, and while the studio/publisher claims the posters are concept art, the one thing that everyone noticed was the first appearance of The Vision.

What Marvel didn’t announce was anything related to the Doctor Strange movie, or other phase 3 films.  This was a surprise to everyone, but considering the muck up Ant-Man has become, maybe it is better that Marvel doesn’t announce things too far in advance.

3. New Star Wars comics on the way from Marvel Comics

With new Star Wars movies on the way, and the property now being owned by Disney, it was only a matter of time before Marvel announced a new line of Star Wars comics. And the publisher announced the comics in a big way.

Star Wars will be written by Jason Aaron and drawn by John Cassaday and set after A New Hope. A Darth Vader series is being written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larocca set during the same time period, but seen from the Empire’s side.

For those wanting strong female characters in their comics, look for a five issue mini-series featuring Princess Leia written by Mark Waid and drawn by Terry Dodson.  This has the potential of being a big hit for the company, and could eventually be an ongoing series.

2.  Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

We’ve been waiting months to see what Warner Bros. would do with Wonder Woman, and during the Hall H presentation on Saturday, fans got to see Gal Gadot in her full Wonder Woman costume for the upcoming Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie. She looks fantastic!

Though many people are complaining about the lack of color in this promotional image, the more important thing that people have to remember is Wonder Woman has to be the strong female hero that movie audiences need if we are to see more female lead movies in the future.

I have this dream that the Wonder Woman in the movie is awesome and people love her. THAT IS MY DREAM.

— Gail Simone (@GailSimone) July 26, 2014

1. ComiXology goes DRM-free (mostly)

The biggest story from the convention has to be the announcement that comiXology users can now download many of their purchased comics DRM-free from the site. Not all of the publishers are on board (notably Marvel and DC) but if you want to download your digital comics, you can do it from a handful of publishers.

The first wave of participating publishers making their books available as DRM-free backups include Image Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Zenescope Entertainment, MonkeyBrain Comics, Thrillbent, and Top Shelf Productions. In addition, creators and publishers that are self-publishing through comiXology Submit are now able to choose to make their books available with a DRM-free backup.

The big thing to note on this announcement is that the publishers involved, like Image Comics, and Mark Waid’s Thrillbent, already offer DRM-free purchases. This move is simply adding that convenience to the comiXology experience. Still, this move should push other publishers to get on board, and is the biggest story out of the convention!

There were literally hundreds of stories coming out of the San Diego Comic Con, and though we have narrowed the list down to ten, there is probably a story that you think deserves some attention.  Use the comment section below to share the stories you thought were big and important at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con.