COMIC-CON '08: LET THE LIVE BLOGGING BEGIN

‘Kay, first of all, I’m new to this live blog thang, so here’s how it’s gonna happen – I’ll blog. Live. Any questions?

This’ll be the page – I’ll keep adding to it each day thru Sunday sometime, with news ‘n’ pics.

Quick preface – at one time, I was kind of a big mucky-muck in comics. Now, comic STRIPS are my passion, as I explore storytelling in three panels or less. I’ve been doing Overheard in San Diego for the Reader since 1996:

Overheard In San Diego gallery

I also do a Reader strip called Famous Former neighbors.

Famous Neighbors gallery

Both are “reality-based” comics. I didn’t invent the genre, but it’s pretty much the only kind of comics I’m known for.

Now, my own history with the San Diego Comic-Con dates back to 1983, when it was still being held at the old Civic/Convention Center and Golden Hall --- back in the days when you never saw a line to the ladies room ----

I was on the Con committee for years --- I was the guy who made all the hand-crafted signs. Hospitality Room, Security Office, Manga film schedules, Artists Alley This Way – I did over a hundred Con signs every year, assisted by my girl Heather and several friends, all of whom also got free Con passes for the artwork. And ALL the signs had artwork, not just letters – fully painted, fully rendered comic characters and scenes. I suppose it was a testament to how cool they were that the majority got stolen before the end of each show. After making probably over 1,000 signs for the Con from ’83 thru about 1990, I have maybe 20 of them. A couple still hang in my home office ---

After 1990, I was attending Cons in a professional capacity – they weren’t as fun.

Now I’m retired, and I can do what I want, when I want. And I can report on what I like, so that’s what we’ll have on this here blog ---- if I like it, I’ll mention it, and maybe show you a pic or three. It’ll be on the Reader page, but it’s jes’ me, so don’t yell at the Reader in cap-filled emails if you find fault with my debut attempt at 21st century blogginess -----

The buzz of the Con – big surprise – is next year’s Watchmen movie, based on one of the three or four greatest graphic novels ever created. The trailer is amazing – it really captures the look of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons comic. Even if you haven’t read this masterwork, the preview should amaze. If you ARE a Watchmen fan, check this out --- your pants are about to either get tight or moist, ‘pending gender -----

Watchmen comic VS film scene comparisons:

Movie Nite Owl Toy Nite Owl Laughable Nite Owl

Here’s a pic of Watchmen’s Owl Ship on the Con floor, shot by Anders Wright:

And from the original comic --------

Milhouse loves Watchmen (and V For Vendetta) too ---------

Hugh Jackman showed up – unannounced! – and screened clips from next year’s movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine --- a lot of people were screaming!! In approval, one assumes, tho the doors were locked after 6,500 pre-filled the room and at least that many people wandered by in the hall, looking toward the room wistfully. Found this vid on YouTube from eastlake1248, shot from inside the room, with the crowd going nuts for Jackman’s first SD Comic-Con cameo ---

(NOT Hugh Jackman - duh)

Some guy named Robert Pattinson got screamed at a lot too, over some vampire film he has coming out called Twilight. Gerard Butler got screamed at all during the panel for Rocknrolla, during which he claimed the wife of director Guy Ritchie --- a lady named Madonna --- gave him a B12 shot in the ass during filming. Big female turnout, lined up out the door before and during the panel, and they sure got worked up at the mention of Butler’s ass – sounded like the Beatles walking onstage at Shea.

Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg was stumping onstage too, for something called Max Payne that the internet says is “video game based” – I wonder if he’s bummed that nobody screams for HIM any more??

Ludacris was plugging Max Payne too, as was Mila Kunis from That ‘70s Show. I’D scream for Mila (under the right circumstances), so here’s video of her at the Con explaining her role in the film ------ izzit just me, or does she seem more and more irritated by the second? Maybe her ass was sore from fanboy pinching?

Dakota Fanning never showed up for her showcase panel in Hall H – I’m not sure what for, something about a psychic movie - but, hey, she can’t exactly drive herself down to SD, right??? (UPDATE: I’m told she DID show, during the final two or three minutes, to tell the crowd she got stuck in traffic --- maybe she DID drive herself?!?!)

Keanu Reeves did a showcase for the remake of the Day The Earth Stood Still, which should – but doesn’t – have a soundtrack by Klaatu. A guy in the audience yelled out to him “I love you!,” to which Keanu quipped “I love you too” ---- perhaps the two have met before?????? I’m told by a Con insider that Keanu refused to wear a Con badge – wouldn’t it be funny if some security guard didn’t recognize him and locked him out?

The Day the Earth Stood Still panel included Rocketeer/Labyrinth hottie Jennifer Connelly and director Scott Derickson.

Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary appeared on a Thursday panel, spotlighting his work on the revival of the Classics Illustrated comic books. Didja know he also did a tres cool Gumby comic, written by Bob “Flaming Carrot” Burden??

Now to the convention display floor --------

Proof that icky girls and all their cooties have infiltrated deep within the land of comic geeks – new Barbie dolls with her dressed as superheroes (yes, her Catwoman cosplay includes a whip!!)…

…and, you’ll think I made this up, but Barbie in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds!!!

I sh-t thee not!! Can Barbie Chainsaw Massacre be far in the future??? And checkout Barbie’s expression above – she’s had so much BoTox, she can’t even look scared….she just looks mildly bemused that a crow is about to peck out her effin’ eyeball!

Ol’ Lonesome Todd McFarlane’s toybox looks great on display at booth #2601, McFarlane Toys, where they’re showing off a bunch of prototypes of upcoming toys.

Sideshow Collectables has a pretty cool Predator figure on display –

Dunno why they posed their Darth Doll like Richard Simmons having a hissy fit –

Shocker Toys is debuting new action figures of the cartoon heavy metal band Dethklok, from Cartoon Network’s Metalocalypse. Available only at the Shocker booth (#3948), the edition is limited to 500 sets, priced at $80 each. The company’s fully painted vinyl action figures also include MC Chris, the band Gwar, and MTV’s The Maxx. Members of the Suicide Girls will also be appearing at the Shocker booth.

If yer really INTO playing with dolls ("not that there's anything WRONG with that..."), here's a cool slideshow of "action figures" all over the Con floor, from ActionFigureTimes - I love how the Question doll -- er, action figure -- looks like an old Warren Beatty Dick Tracy figure with the face sanded off. You'll see 'nother damn He-Man doll in this:

This fruit loop in the video below says he spent hours waiting to get his sweaty hands wrapped around the new He-Man King Grayskull doll, seen for the first time at Comic-Con '08 --- who ARE all those dudes moaning "Wow!!" and "Yes!!!" when he "accidentally" opens the package, and why do I get the feeling that Anita Bryant would hate every one of these guys? Swear to gawd, he strokes He-Man's sword, and he wishes his sword was bigger...out loud!! When he starts talking about the doll's "wrist action," the "bendy feet" and - I'm not lying - it's "pouch," I 'bout fell over laughing.....

There’s even a He-Man floor display, Castle Grayskull I think (I’ve never seen a He-Man cartoon, nor do I ever intend to) --- this stuff should have been on display in town LAST week, during Hillcrest’s Pride celebration (“Not that there’s anything WRONG with that….”). I ask you - doesn't that entrance look like a guy wearing skull shortpants and opening his legs???????? And don't even get me started on those phallic rock-hard castle columns ----

Here’s the Sci-Fi Channel booth, which has a lot of strange seats and ramps built into the structure to hang out on/in.

Even the Post Office is at the Con! In a space that used to be occupied by a Kinkos or hospitality center, the PO is making a killing on superhero and Star Wars stamps.

It’s amazing how Con people can look at each comic book cover stamp and tell you not only who penciled and inked it, but usually when the issue came out…

Now checkout the Lego Batman -----

Izzit art, kitsch, or both? I dunno, but I wish I’d built it ----- how about this Lego stormtrooper??

Okay, time for some costumes:

In the future, this is what safe sex will look like…..

One of these people has never been kissed, the other has been kissed 250 times….today…….

Now sing along, “I think I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so…”

SOMEbody paid a lotta $ for a good waxing yesterday --- (thanks to whoever sent me this pic, I lost yer email)

“Mommy, someday I’m gonna KILL you for this…” ---

“I have no idea where I am, and it smells r-e-a-l-l-y bad.”

Boo!

Man, Al Feldstein from the old EC horror comics, sitting right there in Artist Alley! 99,999 of every 100,000 people who walked past him just WALKED PAST HIM! Al F-ing Feldstein! Meanwhile, the He-Man booth is mobbed -------

Crap, He-Man again…

Now for today’s Reality-Check-Slash-Bummer ------ Tura Satana of Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill, then and now ---------

You remember the Futurama with Good Bender and Evil Bender? Well, here’s good and bad Bender costumes. Yes, that’s duct tape on the bad one ---- the good one isn’t actually a costume, but the pics look cool side-by-side ---

Hollywood (and TV’s Hollywood Juniors) has co-opted much of the Con floor this year.

In the “Been there, done that, lost a buncha money” department, local comic publisher IDW is releasing new comic book bios on the two Presidential candidates (ask me some day how much $$$ Revolutionary Comics lost on Great Morons in History #1: Dan Quayle, not to mention our Ross Perot, Boris Yeltsin, JFK, and RFK comic books….)

Did you know that there have already been so many Punisher movies, they’ve actually replaced the lead actor multiple times? I had no idea, but the new guy Ray Stevenson was plugging the upcoming Punisher War Zone film, alongside Julie Benz from the Buffyverse. The only thing I know about Punisher movies is that John Travolta fired his agent after talking him into doing one. Here’s a music video about the new one made ‘specially for the Con and screened for the crowd --- the song is "Days of Vengance" by Ramala.

During Disney’s panel for their sequel to the old Witch Mountain movies – Race To Witch Mountain – they gave the crowd an unannounced treat – the first peek at the trailer for the upcoming sequel to Tron, imaginatively called Tron 2!! Old guys like me from the age of Donkey Kong are, like, totally stoked!

WTF is a Karaoke booth doing at Comic-Con?! And why didn’t anybody shoot webfluid or toss a pumpkin bomb into the mouths of Heidi and Spencer here? Jeez, there’s never a murderous super-villain around when you NEED one -----

These sword fighters aren't messing around! Listen to how loud those thumps are as they wail on each other! I could swear I hear one of them cuss “son of a b----” after one ballbustin’ krakow ------

The goth rock musical Repo: The Genetic Opera was the subject of a preview panel with Saw director Darren Lynn Bousman. Performers from the film include Alexa Vega (Spy Kids), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), and Nivke Ogre of the band Skinny Puppy. Paris Hilton actually showed up (she has a bit role in the movie)!!

Paris & Alexa Vega

If you checkout the Repo trailer below, you’ll see that’s Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer rocking out! If you didn’t see and hear his vocal chops in the Buffy ep “Once More With Feeling,” then consider his early career included singing stints in rock operas like JC Superstar and the Rocky Horror Show.

The movie is about a future where almost everybody needs organ transplants, which cost a lost of money, and those who don’t make their payments get their organs repossessed. Yes, you read that correctly – despite this unpromising premise, the stage show has been a huge hit and the preview totally smokes – I’ll be checking it out!

Sorry, I ferget who took these pics of me --- I was, uh, distracted.

"Are you guys SURE I dropped my Barbie doll back here??"

"Is that a logo, Beavis, or are you just happy to see me?"

Been wondering what Marilyn Manson’s ex Rose McGowan will look like as Red Sonya next year? Helluva lot better than Flavor Flav’s squeeze Bridget Nielsen!! The movie posters debuted at the Con ---

How about a peek at James Bond’s new car in the upcoming Quantum of Solace movie?

Frank Miller and Samuel L. Jackson showed footage from the upcoming Spirit movie (based on Will Eisner’s iconic comic strip), including one strange scene where the Octopus whacks the Spirit with a toilet seat that’s left hanging around the Spirit’s neck (?!).

Universal Pictures is getting back into the Wolfman biz – they debuted some footage in a panel that included unannounced guests Emily Booth and Benicio Del Toro. With Del Toro’s makeup being created by monster legend Rick Baker, this one looks promising!

Imagine bringing THIS into the San Diego airport, and watching the faces of baggage inspectors as they open the shipping crate!!!!

On TV, NBC is reviving Knight Rider, which they plugged in a Friday morning panel – only now the car is a Transformer, and it’s a Mustang instead of a Trans-Am. Weird – if you care, here’s the preview:

The Cartoon Network is in line for their turn to suck on the Star Wars teat.

Quick diversion – this old toy from the vintage TV show UFO totally freaks me out. Looks just like a sick device I once saw at the F Street Bookstore….

Image Comics announced on Friday that six of the seven original Image founders will work together on a series with the imaginative title Image United….if that’s the best TITLE they could come up with, doesn’t bode well for the comics. At the same panel, they mentioned an animated project with, by contrast, perhaps the BEST Image-related title ever – the Mice Templar! Get it? Knights Templar? Mice Templar? =taptap= Is this thing on??? True story -----

Image founder number seven, San Diego’s own Jim Lee (who as a Mira Mesa teen shopped at Comics Etc in the Newberry’s Mall) bowed out, perhaps/probably wisely, to be replaced by some guy named Robert Kirkman. WizardUniverse.com posted this promo art for Image United ---- I dunno, looks to me like the cover of almost every Image comic ever released.

We did a funny Birth Of Image comic on the Reader blog a couple of weeks ago – below panel shows Stan Lee’s imagined reaction on hearing about the mass creator exodus from Marvel. Click the link below it if you wanna checkout the whole silly story ------ same entry has a long and detailed history of San Diego’s other comic pioneers, Pacific Comics, where I worked in the mid-‘80s.

Birth Of Image & Pacific Comics Untold Story

The upcoming Brave and the Bold cartoon was the topic of a panel that included voice talent and producers, including one who quipped of the show’s Not-So-Dark-Knight “He’s the Batman you know from when you were a kid, unless you were born in 1992.” I really like the souped-up ‘60s retro feel of the cartoon trailer – debut screened on Friday, I found it on YouTube just an hour later:

Entertainment Weekly held a panel called “Visionaries,” which I wasn’t invited to, despite having run a successful comic company called Re-Visionary Press. =ahem= Seriously, tho, it was pretty masturbatory, despite having heavyweights on the panel like Frank “Sin City” Miller, Judd “Freaks & Geeks” Apatow, and Kevin “Dogma” Smith. Mr. Smith did let slip one revelation – “The reason I got into it [filmmaking] was I just wanted to get my c— sucked.” The secret’s out ------

Now for some more costumes, beginning with the Marvel Fashion Show -------

Are Stan's Angels trying to seduce Supes over to Marvel?

Corsette and a fanny pack?!

Where did they find those socks - is there a Punky Brewster booth?

What Hooters girls do on their day off ---

My penis just receded like a frightened turtle head.....

Now my penis is just confused.

Okay, Mr. Happy is happy again….

At least those things are safe from vampires...

"Slavemaster wanted for chain operation..."

Showin' some skin -----

Skinnin' for show ------

Aww, you're ALL Super, girls!

Nearly nekkid, yet it took them hours to dress -------

The Fetish Astronaut, John Glen-Or-Glenda -------

Transforming on a budget, and Orion after he ATE Darkseid....

The League Of Extremely Well-Fed Gentlemen!

"I've got a cobra in my pants..."

Bruce Banner's earlier failed experiment.

Batmom???

Someday, I want one of those Hulk movies to explain how, when Banner Hulks-out, his pants always stay intact…

More soon ---------------------------------------

***NOTE: Sorry to go MIA fer awhile - too much to do, too little time, and I've got a horrible case of poison ivy swelling my fingers up like Fenway Franks (took five tries just to type this sentence) --- I'll catch everyone up soon -----

OWWW, my fingers hurt! ‘Kay, I’m back “live” (tho I woke up wishing I were dead) –

Here’s an overhead shot of the display floor:

And a view from the floor (found on blog.wired.com) ---

On Saturday, Tori Amos appeared on a panel about her graphic novel Comic Book Tattoo, with artists drawing interpretations of her songs and published by Image Comics. Amos also did an autograph signing at 2:00 PM, though only for 200 selected fans who purchased the comic at the Image booth.

For some reason, Tori showed up dressed as a leather burrito -------------

Talking about the creative freedom of working in comics, Tori told the crowd "I wanted to make sure the corporate side didn’t f-ck it up, so I got to play S&M artist with corporate."

Artist Rantz Hoseley was the main guy herding nearly 100 artists for Tori’s Comic Book Tattoo. He talked about when he first held the rock ‘n’ roll comicbook, straight off the printing press. “When I got this book, I'm like, this will change everything, it's revolutionary!”

Somewhere in Heaven, Todd Loren – founder of Revolutionary Comics’ Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, which predated the Tori comic by, oh, about 20 years – is cracking up….

Tori – a big fan and friend of Neil Gaiman – told the audience that working on her comic inspired her upcoming recording plans, too. "It's marvelous, I've never done anything like this. It gave me the courage to stand up and leave Sony. It showed me freedom."

Freedom to dress like a leather burrito --------------

The lineup to see the Heroes panel actually began forming on Friday night! Only 6,500 people got into the hall, where most of the cast appeared and the entire first ep of season three was screened.

A showcase for the TV show Lost included a surprise guest, Matthew Fox, who apparently plays “Dr. Jack Shephard,” tho I had to look that up since I’ve never seen the show.

Upcoming guaranteed hit movie Terminator Salvation had a panel too, tho Christian Bale – who’ll play John Connor – wasn’t there (just don’t tell his mom, I hear she’s pretty mad at him…). A few clips were screened (the trailer was shown twice!), and some costumed audience members were actually invited up onstage to sit at the podium. The dude impersonating Ah-naald was particularly good, tho the Sarah Conner and Robert Patrick clones were cool too.

Local comic publisher IDW is doing a prequel comic book series based on Terminator Salvation. Another coup for IDW, who also scored big with comic based of the TV shows Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Director Sam Riami pitched his return to yummy indie-goodness (Evil Dead style, rather than Spidey style), Drag Me To Hell, which will star Ellen Page. He also said he wanted to make an Evil Dead 4 with Bruce Campbell --- yay!!

“He’s a very funny guy” Raimi said of Campbell, “but mostly he’s got this quality where he’ll physically do anything to get the shot right. So I would love to work with Bruce again because I love to test those limits. I’d love to make another Evil Dead picture. Actually, that’s in the wheelhouse.”

Disney/Pixar screened almost a half hour of Bolt, and another upcoming flick named Up was discussed.

This was the first most people have heard about Up, which will star none other than Lou Grant, ol’ Ed Asner, as a 78 year old guy embarking on a lifelong dream to explore Venezuela. A scene of a house floating in the sky on balloons was screened.

The cast of The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor did a panel, including Jet Li, Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh, Luke Ford, and a coupla others.

Pineapple Express is being touted as the next stoner hit ala Harold and Kumar/Cheech and Chong, and Seth Rogan was there with fellow Freaks & Geeks vet James Franco (aka Harry Osborne in the Spidey films).

Jason Statham plugged the upcoming film Death Race, a remake of ‘70s drive-in classic Death Race 2000 (Death Race is also an accurate description of the area around the convention parking garages at 6am Saturday) -----

Land of the Lost will star Will Ferrell, but he was a no-show for the publicity panel. In protest, I’m posting a graphic from the stupid old TV show version -----

IGN Movies has posted the new Red Band trailer for horror movie Quarantine that screened on Saturday evening. It looks very Blair Witch-Meets-Salem’s Lot, ie handheld cams document a plague. Opening October 10, it stars Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann, Steve Harris, Dania Ramirez, Rade Sherbedgia and Jonathon Schaech.

The Fox Network promoted their upcoming sci-fi show Fringe with a buncha cows.

Seriously. Right there on the street, a bunch of cows (photo courtesy TV Squad). Apparently something to do with the series, about Fortean phenomenon, but I’m too lazy to Google it up and see what the cow connection is. Looks more like a Chik-Fil-A restaurant promotion (“Eat more chiken!”). Like parking wasn’t bad enough, they gave all these spaces to a buncha cows ---

The producers of Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force were at the Con, looking for someone to play a live action version of Carl in an upcoming episode. I vote for this guy……….

Okay, time for more costumes ------------------------

This gal is more dangerous than she seems, if you look closely……

Bat-In-laws

Norse Nerd

Booster Pizza Delivery

Cheap Plastic Man

Joke Woman

Free circumcisions

It Came From The Hotel Bedsheets

Marvel Model Team-Up, or Jello Wrestling Team Of Our Dreams

“What costume?”

Trio of Titanic TaTas

Sorry, gals, he’s only Lego

Sunny Daye meets Dork Knight

My parents are SOOOOO embarrassing!

“Maggots, heh heh!”

Kevin Smith popped up on several panels, most notably one plugging his upcoming movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno, yet another movie with Superbad’s Seth Rogen. The clip he screened was of Justin Long making out with Superman star Brandon Routh – whaaaaaaaa?!?! The panel included Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long and Jason Mewes of Jay & Silent Bob. Oh, and former underage porn star Traci Lords.

Traci Lords! She once sued a trading card company that was a big comic-con exhibitor, over unauthorized card sets –

Man, let’s hope she didn’t come across any of those comic books about her on the Con floor!

Porn stars at Comic-Con – who woulda thunk?????

This seems like a good time to point out – again – and how Hollywood and TV studios really have infiltrated and nearly taken over San Diego’s Comic-Con International. Allow me to turn the floor over to Chuck Rozanski, President of Mile High Comics, the best comic store on the internet (www.milehighcomics.com). Excerpted below are quotes from an essay he posted today on avzombie.com, lamenting at how the frontline comic guys now take a back seat at their own party.

(avzombie.com)

In exchange for being given the best positions in the exhibition hall of the new convention center, film companies and major toy companies began paying a greater and greater amount of the overall operating costs of the convention. Being placed in this secondary position was a bit galling for those of us who had supported the convention for decades, but being realists, we accepted the fact that the convention needed these deep-pocketed media and consumer goods companies to participate if we were going to be able to continue to grow.

To find those winners, however, those of us in the comics retailing community often times have to accept the losses that accrue from the hundreds, if not thousands, of unsold titles that do not succeed. Under the present non-returnable comics distribution system, we have to pay for all comics that we receive, regardless of whether we are able to sell them. That being the case, we are really the most vulnerable part of the entire comics marketing chain, generally earning the least, and struggling the most.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL COMIC SHOP!

And now, back to our blog....

The third full-length Futurama movie was screened! I just watched the first two, Beast with a Billion Backs and Bender’s Big Score, including the commentary tracks and 3D video game episodes – there’s even a track with the cast reading a Futurama comic aloud, from a Comic Con! Highly recommended ----

So the third DVD will be out in November (other than YouTube clips that Con attendees shot and will surely upload tomorrow). In this one, gas (dark matter) costs $632.14 a gallon, and Bender the Dungeons and Dragons nut pulls everyone into medieval game world, where Leela is a one-eyed Centaur (“Oh Lord, I’m half horse and half naked”).

The panel included Leela/Katey Sagal, as well as creator Matt Groening, Maurice LaMarche (Calculon, etc.), John DiMaggio (Bender), and Billy West (Fry & about half the cast). They revealed that the fourth and fifth DVD movies will include guest stars like Snoop Dogg and Penn Jillette.

John DiMaggio actually sang the Chargers fight song for the crowd, even tho he called it “disco funk ridiculous” and “the worst theme song in football league history.”

Buffy/Angel/Firefly creator Joss Whedon did a panel about his upcoming Fox show Dollhouse, to star Faith the Vampire Slayer, Eliza Dushku – many tried to get in, only a few succeeded. Same with a Battlestar Galactica panel, which mystifies me cuz I can’t get thru a whole ep of that crapfest. Sorry. A girl Starbuck? If it ain’t got the guy from A-Team, it ain’t Battlestar ----------

As mentioned earlier, local publisher IDW has done Buffy and Angel comics, and they’re doing a prequel to the next Terminator film. They ALSO announced their Ghostbusters 4-issue comic series! To be written by Keith Champagne and drawn by Dustin Nguyen.

The Terminator TV show – the Sarah Conner Chronicles – got lots of plugging.

(justjared.buzznet.com)

Pictured are Thomas Dekker, Lena Headley, and Summer Glau, who was also on Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Their showcase include Garbage singer Shirley Manson (who appears in the upcoming season), Brian Austin Green (yep, ex 90210), and some others from this very decent show (glad it got renewed, if just barely).

Hot Like a Robot! (local band plug)

The Gaslamp bars and restaurants are surely kicking ass. On blog.wired.com, they quote some employees at Dick’s Last Resort, just a Mjolnar-hammer throw from the Con. general manager Gabe Nicolella said business is twice as brisk as usual. "Oh it's huge, huge for business.”

Waitress Cassandra Dump said Con attendees don’t drink much liquor, tho. "Nerds are hit or miss," she said.

The nearby Hard Rock Hotel hosted a private party for the William Morris Agency, which represents a lot of the stars appearing at the Con. Held upon the fourth floor, schmoozing celebs in attendance included David Boreanaz (Angel, Bones) Richard Dean Anderson (whose upcoming Stargate revival screened on the deck of the USS Midway!), and comedian Brian Posehn, whose heavy metal spoofs should earn him a free lifetime pass to all Hard Rock events. Stan Lee was there too --- man, it’s cool he lived long enough to see Spideys 1 thru 3! Let’s hope he stays around long enough to see Joel Schumacher ruin the franchise -----------

Now this is pretty cool, announced today – local comic shop ComicKaze is working with the San Diego School District and Marvel Comics, on a contest where some local kid will get drawn into a Marvel comic! It’s a drug-awareness program – here, I’ll paste a bit from the press release online:

Marvel Entertainment, in conjunction with Total Recall Learning (http://www.totalrecalllearning.com), The Elks Drug Awareness Program and The San Diego County Office of Education announced the HARD CHOICES program at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Please visit http://www.marvel.com/hardchoices & http://www.elks.org/drugs for more information and details on how to become a hero in your homeroom!

‘Kay, folks, I gotta log off, put something stingy on my poison ivy, and draw next week’s Overheard in San Diego comic. Set at the Con,’natch ----

I may be back later for some last minute posts, but if I don’t see ya here, then I’ll see ya in the funny papers!

Jay Allen Sanford

Comments 1 - I was so upset that Dakota Fanning showed up for only a few minutes but it was worth it! She looked beyond hot.REAL blonde hair,blue eyes,creamy white skin,absolutely beautiful! I hope she does PLAYBOY or HUSTLER someday!

By dakotafanningspinkpanties23 4:28 p.m., Jul 25, 2008 > Report it

2 - Great stuff, Jay!

By jhutt 7:24 p.m., Jul 25, 2008 > Report it

3 - Hey, Jay, I just wonder if any of the Haight-Ashbury poster artists made an appearance at Nerdstock this year. That's the only thing that would get me out there. It would be nice to get a poster or two autographed (I got a few autographed already), but doing that only adds about $50 value to a poster, and admission is way more than that, so that doesn't quite pencil out. Still, I'd be interested to know if they showed up.

By russl 10:25 p.m., Jul 25, 2008 > Report it

4 - That chick is too old to play RED SONJA! It should be Lindsay Lohan!

By dakotafanningspinkpanties23 4:12 p.m., Jul 26, 2008 > Report it