Comic-Con, the largest popular arts convention in the world, is coming to San Diego from Wednesday July 22nd until Sunday, July 26th, 2009. Passes have been sold out for several months and finding lodging within 50 miles of San Diego may be nigh-impossible, but for those of you who are able to make it, there are a few LEGO-centric activities worth checking out.

The first is of course the LEGO Store (booth #2829) inside the Convention Center, that carries a multitude of sets and accessories. There will be a reputedly awesome exclusive set (right: teaser courtesy of CaptainRex110) or sets, but currently there are a few too many rumors flying around for me to pass on anything authoritative about it or how it will be made available. The store is open during the whole Con. If you MUST get the exclusive sets, probably a good idea to get there earlier in the day. Some of the large LEGO models at the booth will be constructed by local LEGO fans, who are helping out some of the very busy LEGOLAND builders and designers.

On Thursday, the 23rd, there’s a panel discussion from 1:30 to 2:30 PM in Room 8, featuring representatives of LucasFilm, Dorling Kindersly (DK) Publishing, and Rob Johnson, art director for The LEGO Group. They’ll be discussing the upcoming release of DK’s LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary, unveil the book, show some exclusive new minifigs, give out some free stuff, and you may have the chance to enter to win a Star Wars LEGO set or a copy of the visual dictionary once it’s released.

On Friday, the 24th, Joe Meno of BrickJournal, former designer Megan Rothrock (above, her “Tragon,” featured on Timo Beil’s flickr page) as well as builders Bryce McGlone, Brandon Griffith and Mark Stafford will be holding a panel discussion from 10:30 to 11:30 AM in Room 3. The subject is LEGO and BrickJournal, a general discussion of the adult LEGO fan world, and they’ll be displaying some of their original creations.

If you’re coming to Comic-Con I hope you enjoy yourselves, and maybe I’ll even see you around.