GoComics® and Andrews McMeel Publishing Return to San Diego Comic-Con With Creator Signings & Giveaways

More than 15 cartoon/comic creators will autograph at the convention show floor booth (#1714), along with a downtown San Diego street team with surprise giveaways from July 11 – 15.

Kansas City, Mo. (July 5, 2012) — Andrews McMeel Universal (AMU) brands GoComics and Andrews McMeel Publishing return to the San Diego Comic-Con 2012 for the ninth consecutive year to share entertaining and thought-provoking comic strips, book collections, autographed prints and special promotional items for the guests of the world's premiere pop culture convention.

The brands will converge at the San Diego Convention Center Booth #1714 displaying:

  • Recent, new and upcoming book releases, including the chronicle of The Dark Knight's innermost thoughts in The Batman Files.
  • GoComics.com's offerings of the world's largest collection of syndicated and Web comics. Updated daily, the online catalog includes iconic comic strips such as Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Dilbert, Garfield and FoxTrot to popular comics such as Pearls Before Swine, Get Fuzzy and The Argyle Sweater.
  • Poster giveaway featuring The Oatmeal's October book release, How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You.
  • Scheduled one-hour free print signings by Bill Amend (FoxTrot), Lucas Turnbloom (Imagine This), Greg Evans (Luann), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), Randall (Honey Badger) and over a dozen other creator signing sessions.

Social media will play a major role in #SDCC outreach this year for the AMU teams. GoComics, part of Universal Uclick, will use their Twitter presence (@GoComics) to share the location of a street team that will provide more than 200 giveaways of comics and comic-related items each day of the convention. The locations will be announced and tracked with the hashtag "#GoComics." The GoComics and Andrews McMeel Publishing creators who have a social media presence will also post, tweet and photograph their experiences to share with all followers.

Comic-Con attendees who visit the booth and show a social media message sharing information about Andrews McMeel Publishing's releases or the #GoComics hashtag will receive a free three-month GoComics.com PRO subscription, allowing the users to get an unlimited amount of comics emailed to them daily.

Street team members' shirts also will feature a QR code that takes scanners to GoComics.com, where readers can read a plethora of new and classic comics for free every day, while also receiving a free daily e-mail.

GoComics/Andrews McMeel Publishing Event/Signing Schedule:

*All creator signings will occur at the GoComics/Andrews McMeel Publishing booth at the San Diego Convention Center, Booth #1714. Special Comic-Con 2012 exclusive suitable-for-signing prints will be provided for free at the signings.

Wednesday, July 11:

  • 6 – 7PM: Street Team Giveaway, downtown San Diego, while supplies last.

Thursday, July 12:

  • 12 – 1PM: Brooke McEldowney (9 Chickweed Lane, Pibgorn)
  • 1:30 – 2:30PM: Greg Evans signing (Luann)
  • 3 – 4PM: Street Team Giveaway, downtown San Diego, while supplies last.
  • 4:30 – 5:30PM: Lucas Turnbloom (Imagine This)

Friday, July 13:

  • 10:30 – 11:30AM: Doug Savage (Savage Chickens)
  • 12 – 1PM: Steve McGarry (Biographic, KidCity, TrivQuiz)
  • 1 – 2PM: Street Team Giveaway, downtown San Diego, while supplies last.
  • 1:30 – 2:30PM: Ted Rall (Pulitzer Prize finalist, editorial cartoonist)
  • 3 – 4PM: Ruben Bolling (Tom the Dancing Bug)
  • 4:30 – 5:30PM: Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha, editorial cartoonist)
  • 6 – 7PM: Justin Thompson (Mythtickle)

Saturday, July 14:

  • 10:30 – 11:30AM: Scott Meyer (Basic Instructions)
  • 11AM – 12PM: Street Team Giveaway, downtown San Diego, while supplies last.
  • 12 – 1PM: Shaenon Garrity (Skin Horse)
  • 1:30 – 2:30PM: Bill Amend (Fox Trot)
  • 3 – 4PM: Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse)
  • 4:30 – 5:30PM: Stephanie McMillan (Minimum Security)
  • 6 – 7PM: Randall (Honey Badger)

Sunday, July 15:

  • 10:30 – 11:30AM: Lela Lee (Angry Little Girls)
  • 11:30AM – 12:30PM: Street Team Giveaway, downtown San Diego, while supplies last.
  • 12 – 1PM: Brooke McEldowney (9 Chickweed Lane, Pibgorn)
  • 1:30 – 2:30PM: Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man)

To track on-the-ground SDCC updates each day of the convention, visit:

About Universal Uclick

Universal Uclick is the largest independent syndicate in the world and a leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comic strips, political cartoons, and other content for print, web and mobile devices. Universal Uclick provides editorial development, licensing and other distribution services for iconic brands like Doonesbury, Dear Abby, Miss Manners and some of the most significant comics in history, including Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Garfield, Peanuts, Dilbert, For Better or For Worse, Cathy, and Ziggy. Recent standout successes include Lio, Cul de Sac, Pearls Before Swine, Get Fuzzy, Big Nate and The Argyle Sweater. A full comic catalog can be found at GoComics.com. For more information on Universal Uclick, visit UniversalUclick.com.

About Andrews McMeel Publishing

Andrews McMeel Publishing (AMP) is a leading publisher of humor, cookbook, gift, puzzles, trade and children's books. Recent highlights: Seamus Mullen's Hero Food:How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better by Seamus Mullen; Teamwork Means You Can't Pick the Team That's Right by Scott Adams; and Honey Badger Don't Care:Randall's Guide to Crazy, Nastyass Animals by Randall, additions to the bestselling Pocket Posh® Puzzles series; and Bugs and Chomp books from Accord. New York Times best-sellers in 2011 include Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce; Larry in Wonderland:A Pearls Before Swine Collection by Stephan Pastis; 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth by The Oatmeal; and Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook. In August, AMP will introduce AMP! Comics for Kids, a line of comic stories designed especially to engage and delight middle-grade readers.

AMP is also the nation's top calendar publisher, annually producing calendars based on many top-selling properties and selling more than 15 million calendars each year.

Media Contacts:

Gene Willis, Universal Uclick/GoComics
816.581.7645
gwillis@amuniversal.com

Amy Worley, Andrews McMeel Publishing
816.581.7490
aworley@amuniversal.com