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Here are a few of our personal highlights, low points and some of the projects we saw at Comic-Con that we look forward to catching in the future.
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When I walked in, one of the masters of horror was having his makeup done after what may have been a particulary brutal TV interview. One that had Clive Barker calling it "a different form of torture."
I was hoping our talk would be better, and it was. The man who brought us "Hellraiser," "Lord of Illusions" and "Candyman" was actually a nice guy. As a long-time comic book collector, he counts himself among the faithful here at Comic-Con.
"I spend $200 every Wednesday on comics," says Barker. "I'm not just here saying I'm a comic book fan; I'm a comic book freak!"
Like-minded freaks will also enjoy the new "Jericho" video game that Barker also helped design. A first-person shooter, it also adds supernatural elements. You play the ghost of a character that is killed 20 minutes into the game! That character then possesses others around them, using their different attributes (like telekinesis and pyrokinesis) to take out the bad guys.
Understanding story structure, Barker believes that games nowadays must have a certain level of "sophistication" and "passion" to succeed and surpass the "sameness" that occupies many of today's shooter-type games.
"The passion of novels, the passion of comic books, [and] the passion of storytelling is being poured into this game," says Barker. "The game allows for a length of storytelling that you can't get in movies."
The storyline, the graphics, the gameplay, and even the music all had Barker's stamp of approval.
-- Jevon Phillips
Matt Groening — along with various producers, animators, directors and Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson — took the stage today in Hall H. Groening expressed a deep gratitude to the audience for the overwhelmingly positive response to the new movie (no “Worst Episode Ever” here) and thanked us by showing us a scene deleted from the movie, in which a truck driver discovers that Homer, while hitching a ride, has eaten the entire truckload of sausages. The panel spent their time answering questions about their favorite characters (Groening’s is Ralph Wiggum), discussing the future of the show and leading the audience in a sing-along of the “Spider-Pig” theme song. They hinted at plots and guest stars for the upcoming season and even played a raw, unfinished clip from this fall’s Halloween episode.
— Andrew Hiltzik
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Joel Silver's producing "Whiteout," with Kate Beckinsale; "The Invasion," with Nicole Kidman; "Speed Racer"; "Return to House on Haunted Hill"; and a new TV series, "Moonlight." And that's just the slate of projects that are being touted at Comic-Con.
Silver, the "Matrix" man, was whisked from here to there by his assistant while at the show. I, and a few other roundtable folks, caught up to him after his presentations of "Return to House on Haunted Hill" and, before that, "Whiteout," for a very quick interview.
One of his newest endeavors, which stems from the Oct. 16 DVD release of "Return to House on Haunted Hill," is the use of navigational cinema -- a process of filmmaking that makes it possible for the viewer to help choose the outcome and decisions that the character must make. Silver, with director Victor Garcia, introduced the concept to a panel, then told the select group of journalists about the technology's benefits.
"This is definitely a new idea, and I don't think it'll work with everything," Silver said. "The actors were very confused."
"We are always trying to be cutting edge, and we're always trying to be cutting edge. We're always trying to do things that other people aren't."
He recounted a story about how he went to the movies as a child and the audience had to vote on which way the story would go by pressing red or blue buttons. Navigational cinema should make him feel right at home.
-- Jevon Phillips
 Michelle Ryan, television’s new “Bionic Woman,” got on a roller coaster that no one totally prepared her for by coming to Comic-Con, and costar “Battlestar Galactica’s” Katee Sackhoff did not help prepare her for the crush.
“Yeah, I didn’t know it was this huge,” said a beaming Ryan in her English accent, winding down from numerous broadcast interviews. “We’ve [she and Sackhoff] been meaning to go out for drinks.... We’re going to have to have a few girly nights out.”
In terms of the show, Ryan shied away from looking at the original too much.
“I’ve seen a few clips but not much. I see this as an entirely new project.”
Though the show hasn’t aired, it’s being touted as a hit. Ryan knows that it’s a big deal, describing the show as being in the “big leagues,” with the same TV format that she’s used to but bigger budgets, bigger sets, more producers and a more fast-moving production.
With all of the time she’s spending becoming Jamie Sommers, I asked her if there was anything she wanted people to know about Michelle Ryan’s persona.
“I’m really close to my family,” Ryan said, knotting her fingers together to show their solidarity. “And I have a really bad sweet tooth.”
Photo: NBC
-- Jevon Phillips
 Last year, I walked into the press room for “Heroes” and was able to interview a majority of the show's actors in a semicircle. This year, I’ll be lucky if I’m able to get a glimpse of the back of Hayden Panettiere’s head. Luckily, I found the flying man alone.
Adrian Pasdar, who’s also promoting a new movie he’s in entitled “Home Movie,” is not like his "Heroes" character, the ascending (politically and altitude-wise since he can fly) Sen. Nathan Petrelli.
"I don't really seek the spotlight as you can see," Adrian said, pointing over to the Comic-Con media rush that was surrounding costars Zachary Quinto and Ali Larter. Adrian sat at a table, almost anonymously separate from the other cast members, but he willingly spoke about his character's ambiguous motivations.
"He [Petrelli] exhibits a morally liquid change," Adrian says. "He hasn't fallen on the side of good or bad. He's never really been bad, though maybe wrong at times."
For Adrian the actor, times have changed a bit since last year's convention.
"Last year, we were looking to talk to anybody who wanted to talk to us. This year, the degree of secrecy is a lot higher in what we can say."
So what can he say about this season?
"No matter who your favorite character is, the things that are going to happen in this season will be exciting to the point of being numbing for fans," he says. "This season is not about defining them by their own behavior ... there's a lot more at stake."
Photo: Associated Press
-- Jevon Phillips
It's easy to spot Andre 3000 from a distance, so when I saw him walking through the Gaslamp Quarter this morning I jogged to catch up.
"It's a gorgeous day, man," said the hip-hop auteur, who is at Comic-Con this afternoon to promote his animated series, "Class of 3000," on Cartoon Network. Andre is a natty dresser, and on Saturday he was resplendent in yellow trousers, a checkered summer jacket and a vintage Brooklyn Dodgers cap.
Andre is a Renaissance man with the Grammy-winning music of OutKast, with his fledgling film career and as executive producer of the cartoon series.
"I grew up loving 'Looney Tunes,' which of course had great music, and 'Peanuts' and 'Fat Albert.' Those were the standards I had going in for this series," he said.
As Andre walked toward the convention center, fans shouted out his name, but he politely declined to stop for photos and autographs: "Sorry, guys. If I do one I have to do all of them, and I'll never get where I'm going."
The soundtrack album for "Class of 3000" hit stores this month. Every episode has a music video by a different art director, and it's clear the Atlanta rapper is enjoying the endeavor.
"When I grew up in Atlanta, we weren't too fortunate, but I had a friend that had comics so I would look at his. I drew my own adventures for the characters. My favorites to draw were Wolverine and Colossus. I always thought I was going to be an artist, maybe a painter. But whatever you love when you're a kid, it comes back to help you later in life, even if it's not in the way you expected."
— Geoff Boucher
When I was a kid there was no comics character I loved more than Batman, and the main reason was Neal Adams.
Adams, the top superstar artist of the 1970s, had a graceful, almost photo-realistic style that, for the first time, made Gotham City a place you believed was real. I got to spend a couple of hours with Adams and his wife, Marilyn, Friday night and it was an extraordinary treat for a grown-up fanboy.
Adams was not only a sublime illustrator, he was a lion for artist rights and, with his burly build and tough-guy talk, it struck me that he is the comics world's answer to Marlon Brando -- a brawny poet with a social conscience, a shining star of his generation who always clashed with conformity and took headstrong excursions from the predictable career path.
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If you stop by the Marvel Comics booth right now you can chat with artist Ron Lim, who draws "The Fantastic Five." (If you don't follow recent Marvel history, that would be the Fantastic Four plus Franklin Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman.)
I remember Lim best for his work on the Silver Surfer and wanted to know what he thought of seeing the character hit the movie screen this summer. "It was just great to see; I thought CGI was fantastic. It's a little strange to see a character you drew up there."
I told Lim about a conversation I had a few months ago with Frank Miller, who said he's had some conflicted reactions when he's seen some of his contributions to the Batman mythos up on the movie screen without credit or compensation.
"Sure, yeah, I think artists now are pretty used to that. The company owns it once you do the art, and people take that and use it in a lot of ways. But it's such an exciting time to be in comics, there's so much going on. And this today: I knew it was going to be huge; I wasn't ready for this. It's unbelievable."
--Geoff Boucher
One of the highlights of the Warner Bros. presentation was the panel and teaser for "Get Smart."
Steve Carell, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Masi Oka, Nate Torrence and Ken Davitian joined director Pete Segal onstage. Carell and the Rock got most of the face time on the panel, so afterward I sat down for a quick talk with the director.
Why "Get Smart"?
"There have been a lot of TV adaptations over the last decade. Some are terrible, and some are very good. And I think you have to remember that 'The Fugitive' and 'Mission: Impossible' came from TV shows," says Segal. "I think the difference in success and failure is in how close you stay to the source material."
When casting the film, Segal said he wanted to get actors that were at equal comedic and dramatic skill levels. "Suddenly you're energizing each scene with guys who can not only deliver what's on the page, but bring something else to the role." He also mentioned that Anne Hathaway in her role as Agent 99 was the most surprising actor of those cast and that her gung-ho attitude in her action-packed role will blow away audiences. "Her enthusiasm comes across on the screen."
Favorite episode from the original show: "Loved the pilot." Segal mentioned that it was one of the two episodes that Mel Brooks (who created the show with Buck Henry) actually wrote and that it deftly explained and defined Maxwell Smart.
Favorite scene from the new movie: When Smart and Agent 99 are on a plane, rehearsing their undercover personas. Segal says that you find out that with his weight problem and her recent plastic surgery, they each had troubled pasts, and "It's there that they find common ground."
Favorite Line: By Smart -- "You've underestimated the element of supri ... "
Favorite Gadget: Old would be the shoe phone, and from the new film would be "a Swiss army knife that has a crossbow that shoots a harpoon," and many other things!
It looks fun and action-packed.
-- Jevon Phillips
I just saw Zack Snyder and had to ask him: How can you expect comic book fans to wait until March 2009 to see "Watchmen" on the big screen?
"I don't know how to make a movie in less than five years," he said with a grin and a shrug.
The "300" director at least has a release date: "Watchmen" has been the Flying Dutchman of comic book adaptations, and directors such as Terry Gilliam and Darren Aronofsky are on the long list of filmmakers who have tried to bring the elusive property to life on film. One big challenge now for Snyder is to cram the epic tale into a film. "It's not going to be a short film, I know that."
An interesting tidbit that Snyder shared: He hopes to film the grim pirate tale that "Watchmen" uses as a recurring secondary framing device but not for the theatrical release. "I'm trying to see if we can get a budget for it and put it on the DVD. That would make this whole crazy thing even crazier."
"The Watchmen" was an edgy book, and Snyder will take it even further. "You don't see a lot of comic books where one superhero rapes another superhero. We will make a movie as hard as the graphic novel and maybe even harder."
Does Snyder think that the key "Watchmen" premise of superheroes being registered by the government and pushed out of the public eye was spoiled a bit by "The Incredibles"? "No, I think it shows how far these themes have moved to the center of pop culture."
His summary of the unique characters: "I have a Superman character who doesn't care about humanity, a Batman character that can't get it up and a bad guy who wants to save the world." Snyder said he would stay "extremely loyal" to the source material, including the big revelation at the climax regarding the true threat to Earth.
"It's like when I did [2004's] 'Dawn of the Dead.' I wasn't trying to replace the original; I love it too much. I love 'Watchmen' and I want to honor ... the book."
--Geoff Boucher
I ran into Jackie Earle Haley backstage in Hall H, and he couldn't be more excited about "Watchmen": "It's going so great, working with [director] Zack Snyder and this amazing story."
"Watchmen" is the the most revered graphic novel ever, and fans are excited that its screen adaptation will be handled by Snyder, who is coming off the faithful and highly successful "300." Haley got great reviews for his unsettling performance as an ostracized sex offender in "Little Children," and now he has the chance to play Rorschach, the taciturn vigilante whose fractured psyche is shaped by the abuse of his youth. The character is the engine of the story, which has so many characters and subplots that Snyder will be challenged to fit into in a film version. The movie is targeted for March 2009; other actors include Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman and Matthew Goode.
--Geoff Boucher
"This is not my kind of crowd; I don't really like these events," Sean Young said as she stepped out of an elevator and walked toward the green room. Young flashed a smile, but she wasn't joking. "My boys are here. They're having a blast, at least."
Young was heading to the afternoon panel for "Blade Runner," which is getting an intense sprucing up by director Ridley Scott for a new theatrical release in October and DVD in December. (The DVD packaging is nifty -- a deluxe version will come in a Deckard briefcase with a model car and origami unicorn inside, a reference that will make the fanboys chuckle.)
This is the 25th anniversary of what many people consider the greatest science fiction film ever. In the green room, Young gave Scott a hug and greeted other cast members, among them Joe Turkel, whom genre fans also remember for his classic portrayal of the ghostly bartender in "The Shining." James Hong came with a box of autographed plastic eyeballs, a winking reference to his role in "Blade Runner" as a designer of synthetic eyes. Isa Dick Hackett, the daughter of author Philip K. Dick, surveyed the room and wished her dad could have seen how his book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" came to life on the screen as "Blade Runner."
He died a few months before the movie came out, she said. "That makes all of this bittersweet."
Scott, meanwhile, mused about the scope of Comic-Con.
"I've not done anything like this before. I didn't come down for 'Alien' or when 'Blade Runner' came out. I'm a first-timer. I'm not sure what to expect."
--Geoff Boucher
 Lou Ferrigno, the muscle man who raged as the Hulk on the popular television series launched in 1978, has a table set up here at Comic-Con. I stopped by to chat and, as you might expect, the still-buff Ferrigno has a firm handshake.
"I'm a deputy with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department now, but the first week in August I'm going to be filming some scenes for the new Hulk movie. They have a part written for me. I don't know what it is yet. I'm really excited. I liked the Ang Lee [2003] movie, but I think this one will be closer to the Hulk of the TV show. He's going to be a smaller Hulk, like on the show. Ed Norton and Willam Hurt are in, so it should be fantastic."
Ferrigno's table was stacked high with posters he autographs and sells. He said the Hulk will be popular as long as kids dream of being strong. "The Hulk is all about power. Children love that."
--Geoff Boucher
(photo by Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)
Mainstream fans made a beeline for Jessica Alba at an autograph signing for "Good Luck Chuck"  on the show floor tonight.
But upstairs, off in a small meeting room a few hours later, a tiny but powerful group of women editors, artists and writers gathered to honor the Jessica Abel's of the world. Meaning, they celebrated the best work by women in the comics field at the annual Friends of Lulu Awards.
Photo: S. Crabtree LAT
(From left, Jennifer de Guzman, editor, Slave Labor Graphics; and Mary Kate Reed, co-editor, "The Girls' Guide to Guys' Stuff.")
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The big surprise of the day?
Leonard Nimoy strolled out on-stage to thunderous applause during the Paramount Pictures panel on
the new "Star Trek" film. The film, to be directed and produced by J.J. Abrams,
follows the iconic crew members of the USS Enterprise during their early years in Starfleet. Abrams (who admitted to the crowd that he grew up more of a " 'Star Wars' kid than a 'Star Trek' kid") introduced the "young" Spock for the film: Zachary Quinto of "Heroes." The crowd clearly approved.
Then Abrams playfully told the audience he had another casting revelation: "We have more than one Spock." Then he brought out Nimoy (whom the filmmaker repeatedly referred to with a deferential "Mr. Nimoy").
Apparently the film will have a framing device with the older Spock. Nimoy told the crowd the movie has a "fantastic" script and a "great director." He added: "People keep asking me why I'm doing this movie. The answer is, well, it was logical."
Photo: Sheigh Crabtree LAT
--Geoff Boucher
The graphic novel “The New Frontier” is a flat-out masterpiece. If you haven’t checked out the epic by Darwyn Cooke that re-imagines and reframes the Silver Age characters of DC Comics, it's part “The Right Stuff” and part “Watchmen,” and all of it is done in Cooke’s sublime retro-style art.
Cooke was wandering around the DC booth today, giddy about the upcoming animated adaptation of "The New Frontier" for DC's fledgling straight-to-DVD line of original movies. There will be a surprise teaser for the movie Friday at the premiere of “Superman: Doomsday.”
As it stands, “The Final Frontier” has some compelling moments and sharp social commentary about the 1950s; in one scene, Superman, the conservative patriot, is shocked to find Wonder Woman in a Korean village celebrating with the local women who just killed the soldiers that raped and abused them. Cooke said there was a lot of “spirited debate” among the movie team about excising that scene and other edgy sequences.
“Going in, the only thing I was worried about was whether the movie would keep all the spectacle and heroics but lose the themes that comment on the issues of the 1950s. I told them that if they didn’t want that they shouldn’t have bought the property. This is what it’s all about.”
And how did the struggle go? “That scene is in,” a grinning Cooke said.
-- Geoff Boucher
 Sometimes those elaborately costumed folk you see walking around the convention center aren't just random fans. For many, putting on the makeup and clothing is a way of life. If that's you, maybe the Gotham Public Works is for you.
Who are they, you ask? Well, I asked Harley Quinn (a.k.a. Tara Nicole Strand) all about them, and a bit about herself.
Q: How did you get into costuming?
A: Actually, to tell you the truth I think I'm not so much into costuming as I am into dressing up as a handful of certain characters or types of people, and when I dress up I'm just really into wearing stuff that's as authentic or looks as genuine as possible! OK, I guess maybe that means I'm into costuming, huh? Sorry about that. I guess my love of fictional characters and fantasy and stuff combined with being a major perfectionist just kinda equaled "costuming"!
Q: What do you do outside of being Harley?
A: Well, I've got way too many obsessions and hobbies than I really should list off here that I try to juggle (and juggling's actually one of them), and I perform here and there as everything from a burlesque dancer to a clown in a recurring live show. I am kind of itching to rattle off the stuff I do or try to do, but I don't know if it's good reading. All I know is I have no clue what being bored is like.
Q: How/where did you hook up with Gotham Public Works?
A: Basically, about eight years ago me and our group's Batman said, "Let's make Gotham Public Works!", and I was in! We both started it up not really knowing exactly what we wanted to do or how, but we just decided to keep on putting on the suits and keep making them better and to figure it out as we went. For not having much of a game plan I'm really happy with how things have been going!
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What superhero screenwriter will you not see at Comic-Con this year? That would be John August, who is toiling on the first draft of "Shazam!" the New Line Cinema film that is expected to bring Captain Marvel to the screen in one of the next few summers. "I've never been to Comic-Con. I'm sure I will be going down the road. I hear it's pretty intense, pretty massive," he said.
Massive and intense is exactly right, and the fans take their beloved heroes pretty seriously, as August is already learning. He’s familiar to genre fans for his work with director Tim Burton ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Corpse Bride" and "Big Fish"), but the Colorado native was never a comic book guy ("I was," he says, "a Dungeons & Dragons kid.")
And some Captain Marvel fans are unhappy with him already, thanks to his blog comments about the classic 1940s comics that introduced the hero: "What you quickly realize is that old-time comic books were awkwardly written, crudely drawn, and bewilderingly inconsistent with their rules." Some fans of the venerable hero are also alarmed by the choice of director: Peter Segal, who brought the world "The Longest Yard," "50 First Dates" and "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult."
I caught up with August for lunch the other day, and though he was mum on details, he revealed a lot about his hopes for a project that New Line expects to make a franchise. He's looking for a movie that will be funny and lighthearted but respectful of the classic elements of the comics: A boy named Billy Batson meets a wizard and is told that when he utters the word "Shazam!" a bolt of magic lighting will transform him into an adult hero in a cool red suit. The movie will be set in modern day, not the World War II era that some fans hoped for.
The classic costume -- red and yellow with a white cape that is loosely tied around his neck -- will be honored. There will be a super-powered villain too, and though August wouldn't say who, he did smirk a bit when I praised Black Adam as the wonderful counterpoint to the sunny Captain Marvel.
"No comment," August said.
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Sheigh Crabtree usually speeds past San Diego on her way to Tijuauna in search of clay monkeys. She will be covering Hollywood's looming shadow at the event, and seeking female-friendly graphic novels.
Jevon Phillips will be writing about booths, panels and the fan aspects of the show. Luckily, he will not be entering the Masquerade as Afro Samurai.