Comic-Con 2008: A Recap

Another Comic-Con come and gone, and this past convention had some huge announcements and exclusives that leaked their way onto the internet for those not capable of attending the convention ourselves. Comic-Con is no longer just about comic books, but also films and even video games, giving a super massive experience, and plenty of exciting content to drool about.

The Watchmen: The official trailer debuted before The Dark Knight just a week before, but there was still plenty to talk about for this upcoming film. The Xbox 360 has some great videos of their presentation at Comic-Con, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes features, including one with the original comic book artist Dave Gibbons. Personally, I’ve been really hesitant about liking this film, but after seeing all the details on the creation of a universe, I’m beginning to actually get excited. The sets are extremely detailed, down to photographs on people’s office walls, and the cast seemed incredibly thoughtful about their performances. It appears as if people actually read the comic. I’m still doubtful that the film will be better than the novel, or able to be as deep, but I’m willing to bet the film will end up being pretty good.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Still early into the production, the team was able to piece together a teaser for the crowds. Hugh Jackman even popped in to say a quick hello, before leaving to go back to shoot. The film focuses on the mysterious past of Wolverine and the Weapon-X project, and pulls together several characters from the Marvel universe to accompany him. Fan favorites like Gambit and Deadpool make quick appearances in the teaser, much to my delight.

Gears of War 2: Not able to settle for announcing something about their game at E3 just weeks previous, Cliff Bleszinski announced that Gears of War 2 will have Steve Jablonsky, composer from the Transformers film on board to score the game. More exciting, however, was the announcement for the linked achievements. Some achievements and unlockables in GoW2 will be dependent on you unlocking something in GoW1. This is a huge reward to gamers who loved the original, and didn’t just breeze through on a lazy weekend—though I think a lot of panicked gamers are hurriedly trying to unlock as many as they can in order to not be left behind for the sequel.

The Eisners: The yearly award ceremony for the comic industry. Winners range from Mouse Guard to The Justice League of America; indie legend Dan Clowes to Marvel champion Ed Brubaker; comic heavy-hitters like Brian K. Vaughan and comic newcomers like Gerard Way (the singer of My Chemical Romance, incidentally enough). A great variety of winners all around.

A trailer for a sequel to Tron, oddly titled T2RN, was one of my personal favorite bits. The light cycles looked almost as amazing as Jeff Bridges’ beard. Joss Whedon was busy talking about things like Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 8 comic book, and his new series Dollhouse.”And, Sam Raimi teases the universe with the talk of a new Evil Dead film.

Lastly, I discovered this little gem:

I…I honestly could spend the next 5 hours trying to analyze it for you guys…but maybe I’ll save that for later.