Comic-Con Wrap Up

Well, as it does every year, somehow the comics industry has made it through San Diego's Comic-Con. As usual, there was plenty of big news from all of the publishers--both large and small press--and Hollywood's presence was felt, greater than ever, on each day of the show.

Stars like Bruce Willis, Angelina Jolie, and Harrison Ford (!!!) were all on hand for the insanity, and we got our first looks at exciting new movies, TV shows, video games, and--oh, yeah--comic books.

There was so much stuff going on at the show that it was even kind of difficult to keep up with breaking news on the various comics sites online. Still, there were a few things that stood out in my mind that I'd like to talk about briefly here.

So, what follows is a very-not-complete list of things I found interesting from this year's show, each with a brief explanation as to why I found these things so interesting.

Right. So...

--DC's biggest panel was clearly their Green Lantern movie panel, which featured a very short (and visually lacking) teaser of the film that was still met with loud, prolonged cheers from the audience.

I mean, sure, if you're going to a Green Lantern movie panel--one that you probably waited in line for hours to get into, no less--you're going to be excited by what you see there.

Still, from all accounts online, it appears that there was some very positive buzz coming out of the panel. And Ryan Reynolds, as he always is at these things, was very funny and interacted well with the crowded-to-capacity room of fans.

He even recited the GL Oath to the delight of some kid in the audience who was clearly a plant to trip the actor up. (Actually, from what I've read, it was a very cool moment, it made the kid's day, and Reynolds even signed a comic for him. Very cool.)

--The late Will Eisner's seminal work, A Contract with God, will be adapted for the big screen. Contract is widely considered to be the first graphic novel as we know the term today.

Contract as a film? It's certainly cinematic in the way Eisner brilliantly told the story. I hope Hollywood can do this book justice.

--AMC's upcoming Walking Dead adaptation was the talk of the Con, and the video footage shown at the panel was met with nothing but positive reaction.
You can check it out here. Lots of zombies at the show, and it's clear that AMC is going to have a huge hit on their hands.

--Harrison Ford--the real, live Harrison Ford--showed up to his first Comic-Con ever. And he did so in handcuffs. Go. Read. Awesome.

--The first Thor trailer was shown, and Chris Hemsworth was on hand to give countless interviews about the film.

Mixed reaction going into the show about this film, much better now that people have seen props, costumes, and action. Nerdom breathes a sigh of relief. For now.

--The full cast of Marvel's upcoming (and frothily anticipated) Avengers movie showed up and...ahem...assembled for the first time, on stage in front of a raucous crowd. The line-up included Jeremy Renner, who was just announced as Hawkeye and Mark Ruffalo, who was announced as replacing Ed Norton as the Hulk.

Here's Joss Whedon telling you why this is cool.
--And, finally, the biggest news of the Con for me came out of The Goon panel, which featured Eric Powell, David Fincher, and Paul Giamatti.

They teased the heck out of this film--which they are now actively shopping around to studios. The nearly three minute trailer was played three times during the panel and was met each time with louder cheering from the audience.

Giamatti expressed his love for the book, and his hope that it gets picked up by a major studio very soon. The buzz was incredibly positive, and dozens of sites picked up the trailer footage, which will no doubt help the movie along.

Ahhh! So cool...

I could literally go on all day with news from the weekend, but I really, really have to go. And...uh...work and stuff.

But I'll have more comics-centric news as the week goes on.