News: Warren Ellis to Attend SDCC 2009; Alan Moore to Write 12 Part Marvel/DC Crossover Series

One of the above statements is false, can you guess which?

…. time is up! If you guessed Alan Moore, you’ve just won yourself a fabulous no-prize! To collect your no-prize, simply go to Marvel’s Comic-Con booth #2429 on Friday, July 24th, between 17:30 and 18:30 to pick it up from Warren Ellis, who will be sitting in the booth with a scowl on his face, eager to answer all your burning questions like, “Where’s Planatery #27″, “When is Fell coming back”, and so on. The more of such questions you can ask him before his head explodes, the greater the no-prize!

But seriously though, the news was released earlier today that Warren will be making a brief appearance at SDCC this year. When I read the press release I assumed that some sort of mistake had been made. But no, Warren just confirmed the news over on his blog, where he states:

Okay, the word got out a while ago, and I’m being drowned in emails tonight, so let’s get this done. By the power of contractual obligation, I am appearing at the San Diego Comic-Con 2009 under the exclusive aegis of Sony, Madhouse and Marvel Anime. I am in San Diego for something less than 36 hours. This is my only appearance at San Diego.

After receiving lots of tweets from inquiring fans, he went on to tweet the following:

To clarify: I’m doing 1 panel, 1 one-hr signing, then it’s more meetings then they stuff me back on a plane. I’m barely there.

So, there you have it. Warren Will be at SDCC, the convention to which he said he would never return. I think that Sony, Madhouse, and Marvel must have some weird black magic voodoo box, containing the bones of dead children, which gives them some sort of power over Warren. It’s really the only explanation for him to fly half way across the world for a one hour signing. Oh, or they could be paying him a large amount of cash, that could be it. We’ve all gotta pay the bills somehow!

Check out the aforementioned press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Marvel Entertainment Inc. and Madhouse Present an Exclusive Sneak Peek at the Re-imagining of Marvel’s Legendary Super Heroes

MARVEL ANIME TV SERIES

AT COMIC-CON

Get an Exciting First-Look at the All New Anime Iron Man and Wolverine

At the Marvel Animation Panel on Friday, July 24 at 4:30 PM

Culver City, CA (7/15/09) – Marvel Entertainment Inc., has partnered with renowned Japanese animation studio Madhouse (Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers) to create four all new anime versions of classic Marvel Super Heroes. Get an exciting first glimpse of two of the planned four series at this year’s Comic-Con International, the country’s leading comics and popular arts convention. The Marvel Animation Panel will be held on Friday, July 24, and will include an exclusive first look at official teaser trailers for two of these new series, hosted by writer and multiple-Eagle Award winner Warren Ellis, who will appear to discuss writing the all new adventures of these re-imagined Super Heroes.

These Marvel Anime TV series are being created as a way of merging the beloved Marvel Super Heroes of western culture with the bold animation tradition of Japan. The resulting product will be four visually groundbreaking anime series featuring popular Super Heroes redesigned and repurposed as emerging from the fabric of Japanese culture. The series is expected to begin appearing on the Animax channel in Japan in spring of 2010.

The Marvel Animation Panel with run from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, July 24, at the San Diego Convention Center. A one-hour autograph signing with Ellis will follow the panel at Marvel’s Comic-Con booth #2429.

Madhouse, Inc., established in 1972 with offices in Tokyo, Los Angeles and Beijing, is one of the top animation studios in the world working exclusively with some of Japan’s top anime directors. They have created many well-known titles such as worldwide hits Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Trigun, Tokyo Godfathers, and Metropolis, Japanese successful TV series such as “Death Note” and “Nana”, as well as Paprika (an Official Selection at the 2006 Venice Film Festival) and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2007 Japanese Academy Award for Best Film – Animation)

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 5,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation) and publishing (via Marvel Comics). Marvel’s strategy is to leverage its franchises in a growing array of opportunities around the world, including feature films, consumer products, toys, video games, animated television, direct-to-DVD and online.