July
25 The Big Show

It was hard to move on the floor by mid-Saturday, but even with the crowds and an underperforming air conditioning system at the con, no one complained. Saturday’s the day the big Hollywood presentation day, and we spent a good portion of the day in the massive Hall H watching clips and Q and A’s.

The jam-packed Star Wars spectacular looked a little like a crowd scene from one the films, with an army of fans looking for their first taste of next year’s Episode III. Prequel producer Rick McCallum flew in from London where two weeks of additional shooting are planned for late August. A short preview featured tantalizing glimpses of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen rehearsing and shooting their climactic duel and the crowd gasped and cheered at footage showing Christensen donning the helmet and mask of Darth Vader. McCallum said the first trailer will appear in November and then brought out Christensen to answer questions about his character’s turn to the dark side of the Force. “He still is consumed with all the negative energy that leads him to the dark side,” he says. “I tried to embrace the dark side as much as possible.” Lucasfilm’s Steve Sansweet then gave fans a huge parting gift, announcing the title of Episode III for the first time: Revenge of the Sith. When he said the T-shirts went on sale in five minutes on the Internet and at the Star Wars booth on the floor, the crowd made a beeline for the door.

Robert Rodriguez was up next, along with Frank Miller and cast members Rosario Dawson, Jamie King and Jessica Alba to talk about “Sin City,” based on Miller’s graphic novels. Rodriguez’s story of how he shot test footage and presented it to Miller along with his unusual plan to use the graphic novel as the script and recreate the comicbook stories directly on screen. “We’re not going to develop it, we’re just going to shoot it.” Rodriguez and Miller, who is co-directing the film, shot the film on digital HD against greenscreen backgrounds, allowing them to adjust and alter the look of the film to match Miller’s stark black-and-white art. The footage they ran was presented with the corresponding comicbook panels cut in for comparison. Miller says he’s happy with the film and had a great time making the film.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s appearance (her first at Comic-Con) was worth the wait for many people. Gellar, appearing with Jason Behr to promote Sony’s remake of Japanese horror pic “The Grudge,” presented a David Letterman-style, comic-reference heavy top 10 list of reasons she was unable to attend the con until now. The list was:

* I’m still waiting for the Image guys to go back to Marvel. I mean, what’s Todd McFarlane doing these days anyway?
* Two words: Phantom Zone.
* I was still trying to figure out the Spider-Man clone story.
* I didn’t have a ride, so if anybody’s heading back to Los Angeles tonight and can give me a lift …
* After Dark Knight Strikes Again, I was done with comics.
* I’m still waiting for the next issue of Ben Edlund’s The Tick to come out.
* There still hasn’t been a rematch of the Todd McFarlane-Peter David debate.
* I’m already married to the world’s biggest comicbook geek so what do I need to come to Comic-Con for?
* There just isn’t enough damn merchandise with my face on it here.

Fox had the final presentation of the day, giving fans a glimpse of “Alien v. Predator” and bringing out three of the four cast members of “Fantastic Four,” which has yet to shoot but will be under a microscope on its way to the screen next year.

One of the best things about Comic-Con being in San Diego is it’s located right in the gaslamp district, making evenings a great party scene. Adult Swim followed up its panel with a party at the Onyx Room, featuring Danger Mouse. That was followed by the usual late-night party at the Hyatt, where the fans could mingle with comics pros such as Eisner-winning artist John Cassaday, DC/Vertigo exec editor Karen Berger, “100 Bullets” artist Eduardo Risso and Illuminati Entertainment’s Ford Lytle Gilmore.