Comic-Con: A destination convention for TV too

'TRUE BLOOD': Anna Paquin, with Joe Manganiello, is among cast members expected at Comic Con.

The annual fanboy confab has become a can't-miss marketing spot for the small screen too, with networks and studios hawking their latest shows, no matter how slight the geek connection.





Homer Simpson, Stewie Griffin and SpongeBob SquarePants are the kinds of characters you'd expect to see hanging around the teeming corridors of Comic-Con, the annual comics, games and toys convention that gathers through this weekend in San Diego.

But what about those crooning kids from "Glee," Fox's live-action hit? Where exactly is the comic-book connection to USA's crime procedural "White Collar"? Tell us again why there's a panel devoted to "Dexter," Showtime's sly serial killer drama, which was adapted from a novel, but not one of the graphic variety?

Asking such questions may be beside the point at Comic-Con, which for TV executives � following in the steps of their movie brethren � has become a can't-miss marketing destination where networks and studios jostle to hawk their latest wares while swag-toting throngs of eager fanboys and fangirls appreciatively (well, mostly) eat it all up. More than 125,000 attendees and nearly 1,000 exhibitors are expected to swarm the San Diego Convention Center this weekend. People have had to be turned away � about 400 companies hoping to set up booths were sent away this year � due to space limits, which is a key factor driving organizers to investigate possibly moving the gathering to larger facilities in Anaheim or Los Angeles (Comic-Con is booked in San Diego through at least 2012).


"The fans who come to Comic-Con get an opportunity to talk to the people who actually make" entertainment, said David Glanzer, the longtime spokesman for the convention. "There's a benefit to listening to the people who will end up tuning in to your show." Glanzer cited the examples of "Family Guy" and "Futurama," two shows that were brought back by popular demand after the network canceled them. And fans' rescue of the original "Star Trek" TV series after it was axed by NBC in the mid-1960s has attained mythic status within the sci-fi community.

"It helps us reach this audience," Showtime Executive Vice President Len Fogge said of the convention. "They're tastemakers. They're online-savvy and they get the word out." He added that, due to the spread of Twitter and other social media, "now, word-of-mouth is one mouth to 500" people, which helps enhance a marketing campaign for a relatively small investment.

Notable TV panels this year include a session on Syfy's " Caprica," targeted at the same fan base that embraced "Battlestar Galactica"; another visit from Alan Ball, creator of HBO's vampire hit "True Blood" and cast members, including Anna Paquin; and an exchange between J.J. Abrams (" Lost," "Fringe," "Alias") and Joss Whedon ( "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), who among the Comic-Con faithful count as nothing less than gods.

George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing Group, said that he and other executives at the company's No. 1-rated broadcast network decided to ramp up their involvement this year, including its first-ever booth on the convention floor and some panels nerdy enough to please the most discriminating purist: " CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" creator Anthony Zuiker will talk about the explosion of gadgetry on TV shows, and the cast of the geek-sitcom hit "Big Bang Theory" will also hold court.

"Comic-Con helped launch that show," Schweitzer said of "Big Bang." "That has shrine status."

CBS also decided, less obviously, to bring along its new remake of " Hawaii Five-O," which had less to do with the cop franchise itself and more with the fact that it is being overseen by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who worked on Abrams' hit feature remake of "Star Trek." "Fans want to keep up with the people they love from television and movies and they want to know the next big thing they're doing," Schweitzer said.

At last year's Comic-Con, Fox gave a boost to the fledgling "Glee" by premiering an entire episode to a boisterous, standing-room-only crowd; this time, creator Ryan Murphy is bringing some previously unseen footage and promising to answer fan questions.

"Comic-Con is a unique opportunity to reach the biggest of those fans," said Gary Newman, chairman of 20th Century Fox Television, the studio behind "Glee" and "The Simpsons." "The people who will blog about our shows, the early adopters of shows, the people who care deeply about television and content � and, by the way, the people who will buy your merchandise, buy your DVDs � follow it from platform to platform."

OK, but is "Glee" really a natural fit at perhaps the only place on Earth where a packed roomful of grown-ups can get seriously excited by the Season 2 premiere of "Hot Wheels Battle Force 5"? "I think the characters in 'Glee' would've been at home in Comic-Con," Newman said. Fox is taking only one new show this year � the midseason animated series "Bob's Burgers" � because its other premieres simply didn't mesh well with Comic-Con's sensibility, Newman said.

Some studios "try to take shows that don't really belong there," Newman said. "We've tried to stay away from that."

Marvel launches small screen division

Marvel Television will develop programmes and short films based on lesser known characters.

LOS ANGELES, June 30 � Marvel Entertainment has created a small-screen division, Marvel Television. The company named award-winning comic book and TV writer Jeph Loeb at the head.

He will oversee turning Marvel�s comic book characters into television shows for both live-action and animation formats.

Loeb has written comics for both DC and Marvel. He won awards for �Batman: The Long Halloween,� �Batman/The Spirit� and �Superman for All Seasons.�



With television, he has worked as a producer and writer on Lost, executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series, and most recently as an executive producer for series Heroes.

Also, Marvel Studios plans to release film shorts featuring lesser known comic book characters such as Doctor Strange, Dazzler, Black Panther, and Power Pack, according to the websites Latino Review and Cinematical.

These short 10-minute films could be run before Marvel�s major movies, such as Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. It is considered less risky than producing a full-length film and an inexpensive way to introduce newer characters.

These shorts will be both live-action and animated films and could also be released online.

Based on the success of Pixar�s �Night and Day� film short that is running with the theatrical release of Toy Story 3, other studios may follow. Recently, Warner Brothers announced it will produce a series of new Looney Tunes shorts in 3D to be attached to upcoming feature films. Bugs Bunny is one of its best-known animated characters

'Kick-Ass' Sequel In Jeopardy After Weak Opening?-Comic book movie's future as a franchise is less than certain following $20 million opening weekend.

Despite the lack of an A-list star in the title role or a long-established fanbase, "Kick-Ass" seemed set to hit the #1 box-office spot over the weekend and launch the start of a new comic book movie franchise. But instead of fulfilling projections that fell in the $25-30 million range, "Kick-Ass" didn't quite cross the $20 million plateau by Sunday night, and now the green light for a sequel seems far from certain.

That's quite a turnaround from weeks and months past, when "Kick-Ass" director Matthew Vaughn and stars Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz talked of their plans for a sequel.




"We have an idea for the sequel. We have a lot of options," Vaughn told MTV News at South by Southwest in March, declining to elaborate, since the film hadn't yet come out.

Perhaps that was a wise decision on his part. While Mark Millar, who wrote the "Kick-Ass" comic, has plans to pen a sequel, it's unclear whether that comic will form the basis for a second film.

Johnson, who plays the title character, was looking forward to seeing what Millar has planned and how it might have figured into a sequel film.

"His mind is out there and elaborate, and he's got some fantastic ideas and he's got a huge fanbase," the actor said. "So, it'd be exciting to see what the second comic's going to say, because he's going to bring it out probably summertime next year."

Johnson was pulling for a sequel in which his character, a mild-mannered teen who decides to become a green-suited crime fighter, develops some abilities more in line with his alter ego's name, Kick-Ass. "It'd be great if I could learn how to fight," he said. "If he doesn't, he doesn't. I don't think the character should develop into some superhero. He's forever Dave Lizewski, this kid that's got a lot of heart and he's really sensitive. I don't think you can f--- around with the character so much."

Moretz, meanwhile, had hopes that her Hit-Girl superhero would start riding a purple Ducati outfitted with Gatling guns.

What are the chances that will happen after the first film's middling box office bow? It's not unheard of for a movie that doesn't rake in huge dollars to gain a sequel. Arriving on U.S. soil in 1980, "Mad Max" grossed just $8.6 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, but it launched Mel Gibson's career and led to two more films � the second grossing $36.2 million in 1985. A year earlier, "The Terminator" pulled in just over $4 million � good for the #1 spot but hardly huge numbers at that time � yet it went on to become a franchise. More recent examples like "Final Destination," "Resident Evil" and "The Transporter" show that a first film doesn't have to do gangbuster numbers to spawn further installments.

So what's the fate of "Kick-Ass"? We'll have to wait to see how the movie performs in the coming weeks to have a better idea of its cinematic future. Only then will we know the answer to co-star Mark Strong's stance: "I'm sure it can go on and on if they want it to."