Skylanders makes its Comic-Con debut with hands-on Trap Team

Skylanders: Trap Team, the next entry in Activision's toy/action-adventure series, will be playable at San Diego Comic-Con and will be the subject of a panel there in the series' first appearance at the expo.

The panel is "Skylanders: The Creative Process of Bringing Toys to Life," and it will be Thursday at 6 p.m. PT in Room 7AB at the San Diego Convention Center. Featured speakers include Richard Horvitz, the voice of Kaos in the series; Ron Marz, known for his work on Green Lantern and the Marvel vs. DC crossover book, and executives from Activision and Trap Team developer Toys for Bob.

Activision is stoking hype for the panel by offering a cosplay contest giving out more than $5,000 in prizes to those who dress up as a character from the series.

Skylanders: Trap Team is scheduled for release on Oct. 5 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo 3DS, Wii Wii U, Xbox 36 and Xbox One. The series has been a strong success for Activision since its introduction in 2011, growing into a franchise worth $2 billion to the publisher. It's struck more than 175 licensing arrangements based on the series.