For those who still come to Comic-Con for the comics, Warren Ellis was as big a star as any Hollywood actor or actress at this year's show, at least in part because he last appeared at the show 10 years ago.

In that time, Ellis has become one of comics'™ most consistently entertaining and inventive voices. He rose through the ranks at Marvel working on various X-Men related books before his sci-fi maxi-series "€Transmetropolitan" caught on and became the only series in DC'€™s Helix line to survive its demise and move over to Vertigo. He followed up with canny ventures into the "€œwidescreen" superhero epic with "The Authority,"€ the pulpy origins of comics in "€œPlanetary,"€ and the joy and horror of space exploration in "Orbiter," thrilling readers with a mad mix of ideas, stories and characters that were irresistibly clever and vulgar at the same time.

Now, he divides his comics time between a number of comics publishers, such as Marvel, where he i€™s set to take over "€œAstonishing X-Men"€ from Joss Whedon, and DC/Wildstorm, home to "€œDesolation Jones." On the indie side, "€œFell"€ with artist Ben Templesmith has been a hit at Image Comics and Ellis has carved out a nice niche for his work at Avatar Press, where since 1999 he ha™s published horror and sci-fi titles such as "€œStrange Kiss" and the Apparat line of singles.

Credit Avatar with finally getting Ellis back to San Diego to promote the launch of three new projects: the historical graphic novel "€œCrecy,"€ the sci-fi series "€œDoktor Sleepless" and the political superhero miniseries "€œBlack Summer."€

Also, Ellis' first novel, "€œCrooked Little Vein,"€ was just published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, and has been getting solid reviews and attention from the likes of Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times.

Ellis spent much of his time at the show signing at the Avatar and HarperCollins booths, as well as appearing on a couple of panels —€” one of which was a two-hour Saturday night spotlight on his work —€” and doing press from a hotel room well-stocked with cigarettes and Red Bull, where he answered some questions Saturday afternoon about his work, the comics industry and returning to San Diego.

"€œIt'€™s a completely different show,"€ Ellis says of the convention. "€œThere are three times the number of people than were here the last time I attended, the hall is three times bigger and I had a brief walk across the convention floor yesterday and I couldn'€™t see any comic stands at all,"€ he says. "€œThe only comics presence I'€™ve seen is the Avatar Press booth that I"™m signing at."€

View Fan Photo Gallery: Part One and Part Two.

Comic-Con 2007 is fading into the sunset and it’s difficult to come up with any kind of definitive take on the whole thing. There will be more to come in the next few days, but for now, here’s some random thoughts on the ups and downs of this year’s shows:

* The Hollywood machine appears to have completely and totally incorporated Comic-Con into its annual marketing agenda. Not only was every major studio there, but every studio that had a deal or announcement related to a comicbook property timed it to come out the day before the show began.

* The crowd situation on the exhibit show was not as big a problem as in previous years. The limits on tickets worked in many ways to even out the crush across all four days of the show. Unfortunately, that means they were all as busy as Saturdays in previous years, and perhaps even a little easier. Preview night actually seemed to be the most crowded, perhaps because there’s no programming that night to draw people off the floors. Another interesting though logical perspective on this comes from Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics, one of the biggest comics retailers in the country. Rozanski reports in his email reports from the floor that sales took a big, unexpected dive on Saturday, at least in part because the sales limits on tickets meant there was no “fresh blood” coming into the show on Saturday and those who’d been there a few days already were tapped out by that point. That converted Saturday from the one with the highest volume, to one that fell far short of expectations. Again, the floor was most packed in the central area of Hall D and E, where most of the big studio companies were situated. The small press, comicbook dealers and artists alley sections on the fringe of the show were always easier to navigate if not actually easy.

* The demand from people who want to get into panels appears to have actually increased over last year to a large degree. Last year, the view from the Omni showed a line for Hall H that stretched in a straight line from the door and north to the street. This year, in advance of the Marvel Studios panel, it weaved in and around the large concrete fixtures in the park next to the center. The line moved and a surprising number of people got it, but the line still was cut off with hundreds of people who were just out of luck. Even smaller panels, like the Shout! Factory presentation for “The Film Crew,” a new movie mockery project from the former crew of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” had a line forming a least an hour in advance. People who showed up even 20 to 30 minutes before the start time had faces that fell in obvious disappointment at the prospect of not getting in. (“The Film Crew,” featuring Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett was a hysterical reminder of how great it will be to have new “MST”-style content available again.) The new traffic control became a little more tolerable once it became clear how to use it. But it does take some of the fun away from a show like this when it’s so difficult to even stick your head into a panel and see if it looks interesting and, if not, moving on to something that was.

* The other issue is one that specifically affects the large media contingent that attends the show. Namely, that for panel attendance, there is no way for media reporters to reliably gain access aside from standing in line like everyone else. Yes, there are press-only opportunities — lots of them — but there is a need to cover the actual event of the panel, to hear what is announced to fans and see what the fan reaction is. The con may need to consider setting aside a space in each panel room for the media. Make them first-come first-serve, and if by some reason all those slots aren’t taken – then give them to fans. But the job of covering the show this year became increasingly complicated by the need to plan and stand in line, often for long periods of time, in order to ensure access to these events.

* The parties are getting very impressive. Saturday’s Sci Fi Channel-Entertainment Weekly bash was easily the most impressive mix of comicbook talent, Hollywood stars and journalists that I’ve ever seen. Not only were Sci Fi programs represented by the likes of Aaron Douglas from “Battlestar Galactica,” but the Marvel Studios crew showed up, including “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr., “The Incredible Hulk’s” Ed Norton and Liv Tyler and, of course, Stan Lee. Comicbook talent including EW editor Marc Bernardin, co-writer of Wildstorm’s “The Highwaymen” and AiT-PlanetLar's “Monster Attack Network”; from Marvel Comics, publisher Dan Buckley, editor in chief Joe Quesada, writer and editor C.B. Cebulski and “Captain America” and “Criminal” writer Ed Brubaker; Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan and editor Stuart Moore; the Man of Action roster of Steven T. Seagle, Joe Kelly, Joe Casey and Duncan Rouleau; James Sime, owner of the very cool Isotope Comics shop in San Francisco and one of this year’s Eisner Awards judges; DCU exec editor Dan Didio; Comic Foundry editor Tim Leong; PW’s The Beat blogger Heidi MacDonald; and journos such as VFXWorld.com editor Bill Desowitz, Variety.com’s Anne Thompson, TV Week internet director (and former editor of Variety.com) Alex Romanelli, USA Today's Whitney Matheson (also an Eisner judge this year) and Nisha Gopalan, and Creative Screenwriting senior editor Jeff Goldsmith.

Marvel’s webhead returns to TV toonland this spring with “The Spectacular Spider-Man,” produced by Culver Entertainment and set to air on the Kids WB! on The CW.

Catching up with some of the show’s creators at Comic-Con, they explained that they’re going for a real classic look and feel for the show.

Producers and supervising director Victor Cook says the show will feature a Peter Parker who’s still in high school. As the series begins, he’s been Spider-Man for a short while, but has yet to face his main villains. The first season will cover the fall of Peter Parker’s junior year in high school, beginning the day before school starts and finishing at Thanksgiving.

Other elements that will set apart this animated Spider-Man from previous versions include a kind of Hong Kong movie choreography to the action sequences — though it will not be done in the style of Japanese anime.

Zuda Comics web site is making its Comic-Con debut, in advance of its October launch.

DC's director, creative services, Ron Perazza, says a few projects developed in house will be ready at launch, when submissions will start being accepted. The first submitted work will begin to appear about a month later, he says.

Perazza says there are plenty of advantages to webcomics creators for going with Zuda. "You're working with a major publishing partner," he says. "You don't have to do everything." That includes promotion and the intricacies of running a website.

DC promoted the site at the show with postcards that people can draw something on to create a giant webcomic. (The first one on the site comes from Jim Lee.)

The interface for the site was unveiled at a Comic-Con party Friday night. We were unable to attend, but those who did see it were impressed and said it worked well.

Still, making the grade at Zuda will require a strip to have something special. "We're not looking at this as an amateur thing," he says. And those who successfully pitch the site will get solid support from the company. Contracts for the deal will go online soon, but it's been clarified on the site that ownership for comics selected for the site will remain with the creators. "It's a good deal for a lot of people," Perazza says.

It’s not just big studios and high-profile blockbusters that can get a boost out of Comic-Con. As work gears up on “2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillies” — a sequel to the 2005 horror-comedy hit “2001 Maniacs” — writer-director Tim Sullivan and stars Robert Englund and Amy Baniecki were promoting a comicbook version from Avatar Press that bridges the gap between the films.
Sullivan co-wrote the comic with his “Maniacs” screenwriting partner Chris Kobin, introducing a couple of characters who will appear in the sequel, including Baniecki’s Scarlet Red. He says comics have infused his vision since he was a kid reading monster mags and reprints of old EC comics in the tree house. When he wanted to direct, he put together an illustrated screenplay for the first “2001 Maniacs.”

Here's the winners ... We didn't make the show, unfortunately, but The Beat has a nice account of how things went last night here.

Best Short Story

"A Frog’s Eye View," by Bill Willingham and James Jean, in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

Batman/The Spirit #1: "Crime Convention," by Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Best Continuing Series

All Star Superman, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)

Best Limited Series

Batman: Year 100, by Paul Pope (DC)

Best New Series

Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Marvel Icon)

Fan-favorite writer Mark Waid has been named editor in chief of Boom! Studios, effective Aug. 1. From the PR:

"BOOM! Studios is the next generation comic book company. They are doing innovative work of astounding quality," Waid says.  "Co-owners Ross Richie and Andy Cosby have an incredible vision for the future of the industry and the company, and they approached me to partner with them to realize that vision.  'Here's a comic-book company,' says Ross.  'Go run it, and run it your way.'  It's an unbelievable offer."

* Marvel announced Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi will take over as the creative team on Astonishing X-Men at the end of the current run by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. The series will continue the current numbering, with the first issue to hit this spring and Ellis on board for 24 issues, according to CBR.

If you don't have tickets, you're out of luck.

LAST DAY OF COMIC-CON
SOLD OUT

SAN DIEGO-            Comic-Con, the nation’s largest comic book and pop
culture event announced that Sunday admissions have sold out.
            “I guess this was bound to happen, but it’s still surprising,”
said David Glanzer, spokesperson for the non profit event, “for the first
time in our 38 year history, Comic-Con has sold out of Friday, Saturday and
now Sunday admissions.”
            Because of capacity concerns during last years Comic-Con,
organizers made a concerted effort to address potential overcrowding.
            “One way to anticipate attendance was to encourage early online
registration,” continued Glanzer “which progressed much quicker than in
previous years.” Pointing out that while registration was closed for a time
last year the facility never reached capacity.
            Comic-Con’s efforts at early registration presumably will help
them better control crowd issues at what has become the largest comic book
and pop culture event in the United States.
            Comic-Con International is a non profit educational organization
dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related
popular art forms primarily through the presentation of conventions and
events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art
and culture.

In one indication of how strong the demand is for certain Hollywood programs at Comic-Con, here's a picture of the line outside today's "Lost" panel AFTER it had started and every seat in the very large Ballroom 20 was full, as in not one single seat remained. "Lost" was the sole program set for Ballroom 20 today, and the line had started forming when I walked past at around 3:15 p.m., a whole hour and 45 minutes before the panel was set to start. Frustration was obvious among some of the hundreds who stood in line but were told by Con staff that there was no room for them to get in.

The crowds on the floor were actually not as tight as on Preview Night, when there's no programming to lure people off the exhibit floor. Still, it was crowded, and after walking around for a while, it was easy to identify with this fuzzy guy. My wife's measure of how crowded the show the gets is the length of time it takes for people to stop saying "excuse me" when they accidentally bump into while walking the aisles. There were lots of "excuse me's" last night, but about the only one today was disqualified as it came from a Canadian. (As an expat Canuck, I can personally attest to and appreciate the devotion to politeness that permeates the land north of the border.)

J.J. Abrams scored the first big movie surprise at Comic-Con by announcing that both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto (Sylar, of "Heroes") will play Spock in his upcoming film "Star Trek." Abrams says he's desperately trying to find a way to get William Shatner into the film as Kirk, but there's a major continuity snag if the Nimoy scenes are set after 1994's "Star Trek: Generations," a film in which Kirk dies and Shatner appeared significantly younger. (Of course, dying in 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" was only a temporary setback for Nimoy's Spock.)

In discussing "Cloverfield," Abrams was tight-lipped, but hinted that the picture — for which a very cool but unnamed trailer has been screening — will be some kind of modern monster pic.

Also at Par's screening, was a presentation on the fourth "Indiana Jones," with a video shown of director Steven Spielberg interviewing cast members Harrison Ford, Shia LeBeouf, Ray Winstone and Karen Allen, who will be reprising her role of Marion Ravenwood from the original and still-to-be-topped "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Variety's Marc Graser and Pam McClintock have the details here.