Comic-Con update: It’s good to be geek

A FULL-SIZE JABBA THE HUTT REPLICA, BUT NO PRINCESS LEIA. THAT’S TOMORROW!

It was my second day at the San Diego Comic-Con and I think I’m hitting my stride — meaning I spent the whole day going to comic, sci-fi and anime panels, walking the convention floor while buying lots of comics, geeking out with Con-goers about comics, movies and what famous people we’ve seen at the convention; the whole time getting lots of cool, free swag and loving every minute.

Today started off great and just got better. First I went back and got a few more of those exclusive DC Direct Batman and Joker figures. They are so cool and at a price you just can’t beat. I’m still buzzing from the superb Dark Knight movie so my Batman radar is in high gear. Needless to say I spent some time at the DC booth drooling over all the eye candy. And there are lots of Batmans and Jokers on the main floor. I even saw a few Heath Ledger Joker/nurse costumes that looked awesome.

SECURITY IS TIGHT AT THE CONVENTION. COBRA-LA LA LA LA LA LA!

Here are some of today’s highlights:

>>I went to the Reinventing the Page: Stan Lee and Grant Morrison Talk Virgin Comics panel and it was hilarious. Stan has got plenty of spunk and lots of great stories about the industry and the characters he’s created. He and Morrison traded friendly jabs and cracked up the audience for an entire hour. Oh, and they did talk briefly about a new, collaborative project called MBX. The upcoming animated series will appear as online short films, and also a full feature film as well as a video game. The story is based on the epic Indian poem Mahabharata.

SWEET COSTUME DUDE!

>>In the same room, the next panel was Doctor Who. I’m a pretty big fan of the Doctor, thanks to Jayson Peters, so it was great to hear the new head writer Steven Moffat and executive producer Julie Gardner talk about the show. They also showed a sweet, new trailer for the new Christmas special featuring the return of the Cybermen! Then some of the cast from Torchwood came on stage to talk about their series. The show’s star, John Barrowman, was full of energy and jokes as he entertained to crowd and announced that the next season of the show would come to BBC America.

>>Next up was the Marvel: X-Men panel where a bunch of X-Men-title writers talked about how the X-team was moving to San Francisco. It was pretty cool except for some of the lame questions during the Q&A. But the writers handled themselves well, delivered lots of laughs and promised big things in the X-future.

THE REALLY BRIGHT SPOT ON THE STAGE IS WHERE SAMUEL L. JACKSON IS SITTING. OK, SO THE IPHONE CAMERA ISN’T PERFECT.

>>The most exciting panel of the day for me was Afro Samurai: Resurrection Exclusive Worldwide Premiere! where I got to see star and executive producer Samuel L. Jackson, the original and sequel creator Takashi Okazaki and musical artist The RZA! I’m a huge fan of Afro Samurai so seeing all these guys in one place with all the fans was super-cool. They announced the second season of the series would start in January on Spike TV and would star the voice of Lucy Liu as the new villain. The RZA will make a cameo in the sequel and he said the music for the new series would reflect the evils that only a woman can deliver. He said it would sound like a “mad bitch.” They also showed a sweet new trailer and a demo for the new video game which is also due in January. There are demos of the game on the main floor but so far the lines have been too long for me to wait. I’ve got so much to see and do. Also announced was the new Afro Samurai manga that Takashi Okazaki has been working on for three years. The first part will be released in September and the second will be released in January. If you haven’t seen Afro Samurai yet, you should definitely watch it. It’s a unique, beautiful and action-packed anime that is in stores now and will be available on Blu-ray on August 26.

THE IRON MONGER FROM IRON MAN LOOKS AWESOME UP CLOSE.

>>I just finished watching Paris Hilton and other cast members talk about their roles in Repo! The Genetic Opera. I was in the wrong room but had to stay to see the star and some clips of her new, crazy movie.

>>Now I’m watching some good old-fashioned Kung-Fu at the 10th Annual Superhero Kung-Fu Extravaganza with martial arts movie master Ric Meyers. These are some of the best clips of Kung-Fu movies I’ve never seen. What a great way to end the day.