This year, famed comic book convention, Comic-Con International, celebrated its 40th anniversary. The annual event has grown from a meeting place for comic book fans and collectors to a massive expo of all things sci-fi. Comic books still prominently feature into the lineup, but there are also panels and previews for movies, TV shows, books, video games, Internet memes and costumed attendees. Below are some highlights from Friday and Saturday:
“¢bull; That ’70s Panel ““ Comic book artists, writers and superstars who have been involved with Comic-Con since the very beginning talked about what has changed in their medium.
“¢bull; “Past Life” preview and panel ““ “Past Life” will debut and air on Fox this fall Tuesdays at 9 p.m. The sci-fi story is based on a novel about a psychologist and an ex-detective who figure out unsolved mysteries with the help of their clients, who have “regressions” into their past lives. In the premiere, a 14-year-old boy suffers flashbacks of being kidnapped and murdered. Stars Kelli Giddish and Nicholas Bishop, through a series of lucky finds and conveniently obvious clues, realize he is reliving what happened to a little girl who disappeared a month before the boy was born.
“¢bull; “Eureka” panel ““ The stars of sci-fi fan favorite “Eureka” talked about their characters’ growth and how Neil Grayston came to be the voice of computer program S_A_R_A_H. Moderator Josh Gates, egged on by the Syfy channel vice president, decided to call Colin Ferguson, who plays the town’s sheriff and main protagonist Jack Carter. Ferguson was in Bulgaria, where he’s working on “Lake Placid 3.” Despite the fact that Gates woke him up at 2 a.m., the actor was happy to hear from his fans and fellow castmates.
Also at the panel, Syfy announced that “Eureka” has been officially picked up for a fourth season.
“¢bull; In the exhibition hall, Web-comic artists such as Meredith Gran (“Octopus Pie”), Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins (“Penny Arcade”), Chris Hastings and Kent Archer (“The Adventures of Dr. McNinja”), Kris Straub (“Starslip Crisis”) and Dave Kellett (“Sheldon”) sold books and posters, signed autographs and drew sketches for fans.
“¢bull; RiffTrax Live ““ Part of the Friday evening programming was a chance for fans of “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ and RiffTrax.com to watch Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy do a live riff of a safety video from the 1970s called “Shake Hands With Danger.” Fans also got the chance to suggest future movies for them to riff. Afterward, they talked among themselves, and decided that one of their next RiffTrax features will be 2007’s “Dragon Wars.” The event was much more popular than Comic-Con organizers expected ““ security had to stop people from lining up for the 7:15 p.m. event at 6:30 p.m. (To read the whole story of RiffTrax Live at Comic-Con 2009, visit dailybruin.com.)
“¢bull; In honor of the upcoming 2011 film “Tron Legacy,” Walt Disney Pictures set up a real-life arcade for guests, complete with the original “Tron” game and “Space Paranoids,” a game that only existed in the original 1982 “Tron” movie. After playing the free games at Flynn’s Arcade, attendees got to see the real special event: The back wall opened up, revealing a secret “Tron” gallery with sketches of the new light cycle bike. After going through the hallway, fans emptied into a room with a real-life light cycle bike, and left with a sense of nerdy fulfillment and a free Flynn’s T-shirt. (To see a photo of the shirt and other photos from the convention, check out our gallery at dailybruin.com.)
“¢bull;”Family Guy” ““ The entire cast showed up at Saturday’s panel to present scenes from the upcoming straight-to-DVD feature “Something, Something Dark Side,” a follow-up to “Family Guy’s” earlier take on the “Star Wars” franchise, “Blue Harvest.” Creator Seth MacFarlane said the next installment in that series will combine characters from “Family Guy,” “The Cleveland Show” and “American Dad.”
“¢bull; “The Cleveland Show” ““ MacFarlane’s latest animated foray good-naturedly jokes in its pilot about how black people hate watching shows white people make for them; however, based on the audience’s reaction, it appears this show is at least appealing to the Comic-Con crowd. MacFarlane and the show’s other creator, Mike Henry (the voice of Cleveland) said Fox has already picked up a second season, so the show will either be around for at least the next two years or “have the most expensive season 1 DVD extras ever made.” The creators also said that if “The Cleveland Show” fails to make it on its own, Cleveland himself will probably be returning to Quahog.
“¢bull; “Futurama” ““ Although it was just announced that this long-gone Fox sitcom will be returning next year, the “Futurama” panel suffered from a great deal of uncertainty. Since the voice actors are currently still in contract debates, the panel only consisted of the show’s writing team and creators, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. They were unable to show any new footage or even say what they had planned if the contracts work out.
“¢bull;”The Simpsons” ““ In stark contrast to the ambiguity of “Futurama’s” continued existence, Groening ““ the creator of both shows ““ said, “There’s no end in sight! Simpsons forever!” After showing footage from this year’s “Treehouse of Horror XX” episode, a representative from the Guinness Book of World Records came onstage and awarded Matt Groening two awards: one for longest-running sitcom, and another for most Emmy awards won by a television show.
“¢bull;”V” ““ ABC premiered the pilot for this new midseason show, a remake of the 1980s series “The Visitors.” The show is set in New York City, which, among 29 other major cities worldwide, is invaded by a gigantic spaceship with an image of an alien leader offering their advanced technology in exchange for minerals and elements from Earth. The “visitors” descend and begin curing diseases and giving tours of their space stations. But some people are unconvinced, including an FBI agent (Elizabeth Mitchell), a priest (Joel Gretsch) and a group of rebels who think the visitors aren’t as harmless as they seem.
“¢bull;”Fringe” ““ This past spring, some TV critics weren’t sure the show would get a second season. But Fox relented, moving Fringe from Tuesdays to Thursdays ““ up against “The Office” and “Grey’s Anatomy” ““ in the process. Questions about the upcoming season ranged from how the relationship between father Walter Bishop and son Peter (Joshua Jackson) will continue to evolve and how agent Olivia Dunham’s (Anna Torv) history ties into Walter’s to whether or not Leonard Nimoy will appear in another episode. (For the full story on the “Fringe” panel, visit dailybruin.com.)
“¢bull; “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and “Watchmen: Director’s Cut” ““ People began lining up hours in advance for the panel featuring the “Mythbusters” Q&A, the “Batman: Arkham Asylum” preview and the director’s cut of “Watchmen” with commentary from director Zack Snyder. “Batman: Arkham Asylum” is the latest Batman video game, which comes out in August and features legendary voice actors Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, who voice the Joker and Batman, respectively. The two talked about this as being their “swan song” doing these characters and Hamill even did his signature Joker laugh for the audience. After that, Snyder, original illustrator Dave Gibbons and actor Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach) took questions from, and gave high-fives to, fans. Audience members could go to a computer kiosk in the back of the room and type in questions as could people watching from their Internet-enabled Blu-ray players at home. Snyder talked about scenes he chose to cut from the novel and why certain details were changed in the transition from novel to film.