The Spy's Guide To Comic-Con 2009

The website for the San Diego Comic-Con (which I'm sure most readers are aware actually caters to far more pop culture media than just comic books) has finally been updated with the 2009 schedule of events, and there are quite a lot worth braving the lines and crowds for spy fans. Here are the ones I caught in a quick perusal, pasted in from the Con guide, but if you see some I missed, please feel free to post in the comments section!

Thursday, July 23

2:30-3:30 USA Network's Burn Notice— Bruce Campbell (Sam Axe), Matt Nix (creator and executive producer) and Alfredo Barrios, Jr. (co-executive producer) host a panel discussion and answer questions about the creative process of evolving an embryonic idea into a finished episode of cable's #1 hit show. Fans will gain an intimate look inside the world of Burn Notice, complete with war stories from the writer's room and filming on location in Miami. Exclusive video content will include tips on how to survive Comic-Con from your favorite burned spy, Michael Westen (played by Jeffrey Donovan), highlights from the previous two seasons, and an exclusive sneak peek at future season 3 episodes, including the half-season finale and beyond. Ballroom 20

Friday, July 24

10:00-12:30 Warner Bros.— Join WB for a look at their much anticipated slate of upcoming genre films, including Where The Wild Things Are, The Book of Eli, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Box, Jonah Hex, and Sherlock Holmes. Hall H

11:30-12:30 AMC: The Prisoner— Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), Jamie Campbell-Bower (Sweeney Todd, The Twilight Saga: New Moon), Lennie James (Jericho), writer Bill Gallagher, and Vlad Wolynetz (VP, production, series & movies for AMC) discuss the making of AMC's miniseries The Prisoner, a re-imagining of the 1960s cult classic by the late Patrick McGoohan, premiering in November on AMC. Join Jim, Jamie, Lennie, Bill and Vlad for a one-on-one Q&A session and an official sneak preview of the six-part mini-series The Prisoner. Room 6BCF

2:15-3:00 24— The Fox series 24 is coming off its most critically acclaimed season in years. Stars Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub and new cast members Anil Kapoor and Katee Sackhoff join showrunnner Howard Gordon and the producers of the Emmy-winning series for a special sneak peek at the heart-stopping premiere episode of Season 8 Ballroom 20

4:00-5:15 Dollhouse— Join Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon and star/producer Eliza Dushku for a no-holds-barred Q & A about what they have planned for season 2, after they unveil a special screening of the never-before-seen "Epitaph One" episode of the Fox hit, which releases on DVD just four days later. Ballroom 20

Saturday, July 25

10:00-11:00 Chuck Screening and Q&A— Chuck returns to Comic-Con! executive producers and co-creators Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl) and Chris Fedak are joined by series stars Zachary Levi (upcoming Alvin and the Chipmunks ), Yvonne Strahovski (upcoming I Love You Too), Joshua Gomez (Without a Trace), Ryan McPartlin (Super Capers), Mark Christopher Lawrence (The Pursuit of Happyness), Vik Sahay (This Is Wonderland) , Scott Krinsky (The O.C.), Sarah Lancaster (Everwood), and Adam Baldwin (Serenity) for a Q&A to discuss season three and screen an exclusive retrospective highlight reel. Plus, don't miss a special surprise from some of your favorite characters! Produced by College Hill Pictures, Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television, Chuck airs Mondays at 8:00 PM ET/PT on NBC. Ballroom 20

4:00-5:00 Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment: Iron Man 2— Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present the sequel to the blockbuster film based on the legendary Marvel superhero Iron Man. Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey Jr. Joining Downey in the cast are Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Jon Favreau, Clark Gregg, John Slattery, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson. Hall H

4:45-5:55 Human Target Pilot Screening and Q&A— Join Human Target stars Mark Valley (Fringe), Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), the show's executive producers Jon Steinberg (Jericho), Brad Kern (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) and Peter Johnson (Supernatural: Origins Comic Book Series), and co-creator of the original Human Target comic, Len Wein (Swamp Thing), for an exclusive Q&A and a screening of the highly anticipated pilot based on the popular DC Comics title about a mysterious agent for hire who assumes different identities, literally becoming a human target on behalf of his clients. From Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Television, Human Target will air Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET/PT beginning in January 2010 on FOX. Room 6BCF

6:30-7:30 Black Dynamite— He's super cool and he knows kung-fu! When "The Man" murders his brother and floods the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor, Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to fight all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House. Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight) stars as Black Dynamite, a gun toting, nunchuck-wielding ladies' man and soul brother with a license to kill. Director and writer Scott Sanders (Think as Thieves) is joined by cast members including Arsenio Hall, Tommy Davidson (In Living Color), Byron Minns (Undisputed), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (I am Legend), moderator Elvis Mitchell, and more! Room 5AB

8:50–10:15 Diabolikal Super-Kriminal film screening— The US premiere of a new documentary about the skeleton suited costumed adventurer/super-criminal known in Italy as Kriminal (read my movie review here) and in Turkey as Kilink, among other international names. The DIABOLIKAL SUPER-KRIMINAL will excite acolytes of the King of Crime... and make new fans! Italian director SS-Sunda does the almost impossible by rounding up interviews with the cast and crew of the original photo novels! Hard-core fans of Sadistik and Euro-Trash films of the 1960s and 70s will drool over conversations with such legendary actors as Rico Boido, Erna Scheurer, Gabriella Giorgelli, the son of director Rosario Borelli and many others! Room 26AB

Of course, as always with an event of this nature, everything is subject to change. I'll try to be at as many of those as possible, although as usual Comic-Con presents frustrating choices with overlapping panels. (Especially when one factors in line waiting time.) For example, I may have to miss The Prisoner because I'd really like to see Mike Mignola's live art demonstration. A number of other panels feature various spy luminaries from comics and television like Greg Rucka, Jim Steranko, Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, Matt Fraction, Chip Mosher, Burn Notice novel author Tod Goldberg, Kim Possible creators Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley and many others discussing other projects, but if you want to talk spy you're probably better off tracking them down on the floor when they're at various booths. Speaking of booths, that's where I'll be when I'm not in these panels or stalking the vendor floor looking for old James Bond toys or rare Gold Key Mission: Impossible comics: at the Studio 407 booth promoting my own comic, Night & Fog–out in trade paperback this fall and available now for pre-order on Amazon! How's that for working in a plug? Please swing by the booth and say hi!