Been noticing a random uptick of Hulk references in your daily newspaper lately? Has the local news been showing B-roll of people dressed up as obscure video game characters? Wondering what it all means? Well, it could mean any number of things, but most likely, that all-consuming beast known as "the media" has noticed that it's time for yet another San Diego Comic-Con, where geeks and nerds of all stripes gather to celebrate all things that might possibly be of any interest to them. There's still comics stuff, to be sure, but increasingly, it feels like that's just in the name. No, this is all about Hollywood co-option now, and, sadly, that's dragged more media attention to the four-day event than it possibly could have stood in the past.
"Hey," we here at The A.V. Club said, "we are in 'the media.' Perhaps we, too, should be covering this." So, once again, I'm heading down to San Diego to see what's going on and wander the halls. I'll simultaneously have a looser and tighter schedule than I did last year – when I often ended up just sitting in the same room all day, slowly going nuts – and I wanted to avoid the pitfalls of last year, when I often ended up sitting through panels you guys just weren't interested in. I'll warn you, of course, that a lot of my time spent at Comic-Con will be taken up by standing in lines, but I thought I'd throw this post up, that you guys might take a look at the schedule and let me know what I absolutely, positively must take a look at before the whole thing begins. I can't get to everything, but I'll try to hit some of the more out-of-the-way stuff.
Really, you can get coverage of every other movie panel in Hall H just about anywhere out there. If that's what you guys really wanted, though, I'd make every effort to be in there to see just what's up with Captain America or whatever. But I suspect you guys have some more esoteric interests, and I'd be fascinated to see what they are. I can't guarantee that I'll be the most knowledgeable person about every single topic covered at the Con, but I'm willing to check in and give you guys an honest accounting of what's going on. I hope to spend a little more time on the show floor than I did last year, and I've got certain other commitments to fill, but for most of the time, I'm yours. And if you need more immediate reactions, I'll be on Twitter as well.
So tell me what interests you, and I'll try and build my schedule thusly. I'll be back tonight with preliminary thoughts from Preview Night.