Club Jade

Namesake corner. Mara Jade gets a namedrop in Sideshow’s SDCC video, which leads me to believe that we might actually see a figure before we all die of old age. Alas, it’s pretty much the same thing they said last time, regarding the Adam Huges painting. Skip straight to 2:40 for the brief clip.

Comic-Con is so last week. There were copies of Year by Year on sale at in San Diego, but the rest of us will just have to settle for a con report.

First draft peek. Paul S. Kemp gives fans a very early look inside Riptide.

Good news, procrastinators! Star Wars Blueprints is coming out in book form!

James came through again! Here’s most of yesterday’s Her Universe panel. Check below the cut for Jane Espenson, Katie Cook, Mary Franklin, Bonnie Burton, Cat Staggs and more. (more…)

Someone got stabbed with a pen in Hall H this evening; There’s a report from San Diego’s NBC affiliate and Comic Book Resources and Entertainment Weekly are on the case. (Harrison Ford is not a suspect.) The rumors have been flying over Twitter, including allegations that seat-squatting (a common practice) was a factor.

• In the wake of our first glimpse at the cover, StarWars.com has a clearer look and the blurb for John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant paperback.

• The prequels are safe from Family Guy; Indiana Jones, not so much. Their Return of the Jedi spoof is named… wait for it… “It’s a Trap!” Oh Family Guy, your creativity is boundless.
• Even putting The Clone Wars aside, there were a few EU figures in Hasbro’s presentation – more than I was expecting, anyway. The Comic Packs continue (as Entertainment Earth exclusives) with Legacy’s Deliah Blue/Darth Nihl. Knights of the Old Republic’s Jarael/Rohlan Dyre (image 50,) Jaster Mereel/Montross from Jango Fett: Open Seasons and Rogue Squadron’s Baron Fel/Ysanne Isard (51.) I suppose the Jodo Kast on 35 counts, too.
• Hungry for The Old Republic news? Here’s Pablo’s report from the MMO’s panel.
• Oh, hey, Avengers.

Our own intrepid JawaJames is at the con, and he caught up with author Sean Williams, whose The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance has just been released. They talk about the NJO, continuity (pay attention, Wookieepedians) characters, The Force Unleashed and blogging!

(You can check out James’ SDCC photos, too!)

The Clone Wars now holds a Guinness World Record for the “highest rated sci-fi animation currently on television.” Behold the power of franchise! (Cynic alert: I don’t doubt that it’s true, but has that been a Guinness record before? And if so, what show held it last?) But the real thing you want to see is the official Season 3 trailer.

So much for there being no EU news out of Comic-Con… Comic Book Resources reports that editor Randy Stradley revealed that there will be eight new Star Wars series in 2011, including something Vader-centric from Hayden Blackmen:

Most will be revealed at Star Wars Celebration, but Stradley said Blackman will be writing a Darth Vader series. “It chronicles one of Vader’s greatest failures ever,” the editor said. Vader then lit up his lightsaber and choked Stradley using The Force.

I suspect most of those – including the Vader one – are actually mini-series, but time (and Celebration) will tell.

San Diego Comic-Con is here, and StarWars.com has snapshots from Preview night. (Watch their Flickr for stuff from today/tonight.) Of special note for EU fans: The cover to John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant novel. Newsflash: It snows.

• The Westboro Baptist Church showed up. There was mockery. It was genius. Trekkie, I salute you.

• Joss Whedon is directing The Avengers. Officially.
• Boba Fett is going to be in The Force Unleashed II, raising the game’s level of fanboy pandering to critical levels.

The geek girls panel was this evening, but I’m not seeing any reports just yet… It did launch a hashtag, though.

With Celebration V coming up fast, it’s easy to forget about this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con – at least for those of us who aren’t attending. So it’s nice to see the 501st get some mainstream love.

(Also at San Diego: Some new Clone Wars characters. Also, aprons.)

Ashley Eckstein will be joined by our Star Wars peeps Mary Franklin and Bonnie Burton, artists Cat Staggs and Katie Cook, writer/producer Jane Espenson (Battlestar Galactica, Buffy The Vampire Slayer,) author Melinda Snodgrass and the Syfy Channel’s Director of Development, Erika Kennair. The panel, ‘Her Universe: Shining the Spotlight on Female Fans – the Past, Present and Future of Science Fiction Through Female Eyes’ will take place Saturday evening.

He has issues. Just not those. Psychology Today disagrees with the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder for the Sithling, saying “While Vader/Anakin seems to fit some of the criteria, a closer look shows the traits don’t add up to provide a cohesive portrait of a person with the disorder.”

Con of Cons. There’s no Spectacular at San Diego Comic Con, but since we weren’t expecting much news until August, I think we’ll manage. There is a Her Universe panel, though.

Ballot-stuffing for the win! Clone Wars fans beat out fans of Futurama, Family Guy and some show on FX I’ve never heard of to nab Best Animated Show in TV.com’s Now Awards. (Note to readers: Turn down your speakers before clicking. Note to TV.com: AUTOPLAY IS NEVER OKAY.)

Stop. Just stop. The leader of the Jedi Church has landed a “reality show,” except by “reality show” they mean he’s going to be filming himself and putting it on Youtube.