Friday : Comic Con Day Two ...

A more relaxed start to the day, as we all split off to the Con later than expected, after sleeping in from the last night of Scott Pilgrim goodness. ducking down to Ralphs again i proceeded to stock up for the day but it seemed the weekly supply of pineapple had been exhausted from the day before :( oh well, fresh mango would have to do. quite good in the end, with Trev later commenting it brought back memories of Lost lol.

First up for me was a panel for Grant Morrison, the legendary Scot who's world famous in the comic writing arena, most notably for Batman and the DC universe. this guy is pure fun, and a great personality for the crowd to answer questions and give slight hints as to were his story arcs are going and what we can expect from the Batman universe. a pleasure seeing him again as i caught him back in 08. he also has a doco on his life and exploits coming out and he's writing for a movie too. again this was one of the first panels i attended which was filled with comic nerds, those guys that live and breath the characters so much so you don't want to say anything for fear of the "stupid look".

Staying in the same room, the following panel again pulled in Morrison with a cast of other writers and illustrators for the official DC Batman: The Return panel. I guess i gravitate to this character purely because he isn't a superhero. he has no super powers. he's a man behind a mask with technology, and a dark past seeking to put things right and settle his own demons. clearly the angle Nolan has been pushing in his trilogy films, which is going to end fantastically. this panel was great too, really delving into some works that i had never heard of and as with a few other panels, you hear a book mentioned, see the crowd buzz and figure, right that might be a winner, best be checking that one out on the show room floor. this was the case for Batwoman, Baltimore and The Invisibles.

Now comes the crazy part ... i had a bit of time on my hands and figured well, might as well try and line up for Ballroom 20 (second most popular room to Hall H and the movie studio previews). Joss Whedon was on and i thought i might be able to squeeze into his panel or at least i'd be early for the panel i actually wanted to check out, Entertainment Weekly's : Woman Who Kick Ass, with Jena Malone (Sucker Punch), Anna Torv (Fringe), Elizabeth Mitchell (V), and Ellen Wong and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). sadly i was mistaken for ever thinking there was a chance of getting into this panel. it was crazy. i must of stood in line for about 2hrs, and figured, nah this is bullshit, im off to the showroom floor. which i pushed to hit almost once everyday, more than what i did back in 2008. this proved to be fruitful and a swagged a bunch of Trade Paper Backs of series i had been hanging to pick up since the mid 2000's. mostly BRPD, Hellboy, 100 Bullets, Batman and a few others. note to anyone who heads to SDCC next, hit the far end of the pavillion away from the glitz and glamour of the movie studios and games, and you'll find many retailers selling stacks of books for 50% off. yes. half price! but the catch... you have to have patience enough to spend alot of time here and search through many boxes for those series you need. but its worth it.

Next up was a panel on Concept Design and Illustration for Film and Games. Spectacular stuff! headlined by a panel of stars who have worked on Iron Man, Avatar, Tron and other major motion pictures. i love seeing the concept art and theories behind what gets chosen to develop and what gets left to the cutting room floor. one particular feature was on the Banshee from Avatar. amazing illustrations and then a focus on how thats animated for proof of concept and later developed in 3D. we were told we were seeing behinds the scenes footage never shown to the public before. great panel.

Onto another panel for the next movie sequel for 30 Days Of Night, a movie based off of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's Graphic Novel series. now i was a huge fan of the original and loved the tranformation to film staring our own Aussie, Melissa George and Josh Hartnett. for me it had the right low budget indie feel, whilst doing enough to be exciting and faithful to Ben's illustrations. i guess by the direct to DVD sequel of "Dark Days" the film didn't do so well. not even Melissa George signed onto part 2. smart move, as i sat through this panel, it was utter shite. the new actors were pathetic, hollywood shells, making a 2bit movie in 3 days, and yabbering on about how they trained to fire assault rifles and were stuck in sewers away from their trailers. what in gods name Steve Niles was doing attached to this i still don't know, maybe he needs the cash? this panel was so pathetic even the mic's were failing, and the room was one of the smallest at the Con. i left half way through, heading to dinner, and thought, ive gotta wash this taste out of my mouth with a bit o' Batman.

So to cap the night i ducked out at 10pm to check an advance screening of Batman : Under The Red Hood. the latest DC animated feature. fantastic show, and afterwards featured a presentation panel with all the voice actors and producers involved. check it out if your a fan. the Joker makes a worthy appearance.