SAN DIEGO – “Beavis and Butt-Head” creator Mike Judge brought office humor to new heights in 1999’s “Office Space.” A decade later, he’s returning to workplace comedy in “Extract,” out today.

In “Extract,” Jason Bateman plays Joel, the owner of an extract plant. He deals with difficulties with his wife and employees in this latest Judge film.

“I worked in cubicles, actually right here in San Diego, and so ‘Office Space’ was kind of based on that,” Judge said at Comic-Con International. “And then when ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ happened, for the first time I had people working for me. I went from always being the employee complaining about the bosses to suddenly having 30 to 90 people working for me and going, ‘Man, these people are hard to baby-sit.’”

Judge said that new role made him sympathetic toward his old bosses, which is where the idea for “Extract” began.

Bateman said Judge’s sense of humor is part of what drew him to the project.

“He doesn’t beg the audience to laugh,” Bateman said. “He doesn’t pander to the audience. He never hits anybody in the face with a pie. There’s no winking.”

An accident in which a sensitive part of a character’s anatomy is blown off gets the plot moving, as a grifter-type character, Cindy (Mila Kunis) finds out about the accident.

“She reads about this guy who’s going to get millions of dollars” and has suffered the unusual injury, “so she gets kind of excited about that,” Judge said.

Judge said “Extract” mostly was privately financed, after his difficulties getting his last film, “Idiocracy,” released.

“We wanted to make a movie like ‘Office Space’ without all the interference and all the people telling us what’s commercial and that kind of thing,” Judge said. “So, I definitely learned that lesson from doing ‘Idiocracy’ and the weird release of it.”

Judge also was pleased to return to comedy based in the working world.

“There were moments when I was making ‘Office Space’ where I felt like it was just like what I was born to do,” Judge said. “This is a return to that workplace, more character-driven stuff.”

Bateman said Judge’s comedy comes from the characters, and the drama is found in the situation.

“I won’t put you to sleep with a bunch of actor crap, but he doesn’t ask you to do a lot of performing; it’s a lot of acting,” Bateman said. “The humor comes from that. Good comedy feels very similar to doing good drama.”

Ben Affleck plays Joel’s slacker friend Dean. Judge said he particularly enjoys Affleck’s take on character roles.

“I know he’s this huge star and everything. But I love when he’s a character actor, which he hasn’t done in a while, like in ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and even ‘Good Will Hunting,’” Judge said. “He had this way of doing the character that was kind of based on a high school friend of his, and it was just a pleasure. We were all on the same page.”

Judge was asked whether a smart person beset on all sides by idiocy was a particular theme of his work, and if so, why.

“I don’t know why that is,” he said. “Maybe that’s how I feel in the world. But sometimes I’m the dumb guy, too.”

By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Husband and wife voice actors Yuri Lowenthal (Superman in “Legion of Superheroes”) and Tara Platt (Wonder Woman in “DC Vs Mortal Kombat”) took a few minutes to talk to me at Comic-Con International about their upcoming book, Voice-Over Voice Actor, available for pre-order at BugBotPress.com.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO – The War Machine armor worn by James “Rhodey” Rhodes made its debut in a film clip shown at Comic-Con International, and “Iron Man 2″ co-star Don Cheadle got his first look at the armor along with 6,000-plus screaming fans.

“It was pretty incredible,” Cheadle said of the experience. “I hadn’t seen any of the footage cut together, I didn’t know what to expect. … And even as good as that looked, that’s still not the end result. That’s not totally finished. So it’s like, wow, it’s going to really be awesome.”

Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Rhodes in the “Iron Man” sequel set for next summer, but says there’s no bad blood between him and Howard about the change in roles.

“Terrance has been a friend for a while. I produced ‘Crash’ and put him in ‘Crash,’” Cheadle said at an interview at Comic-Con. “And, I was his friend before that, too, so he knew there was no beef. I didn’t snake a part from Terrance. He was cool with me.”

Cheadle said Howard was the first person to wish him good luck on the film, and by the time he came on, Howard “was already not doing the movie.”

Cheadle researched his role by checking out the comic-book history of Rhodes and War Machine. The character first appeared in the January 1979 issue of Iron Man and was created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton. Rhodes took over as Iron Man temporarily, starting with “Iron Man” No. 170 from 1983. Rhodes first donned the War Machine armor in 1992.

“I went back and looked at a lot of different (comics),” Cheadle said. “There’s so many different iterations of James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes in the comic books. It was hard to go, well, I want to be the one in 1982. It’s like, which one am I picking?”

Cheadle said he tried to go with the common denominator of Rhodes’ friendship with Tony and how it’s affected when Tony reveals to the world that he is Iron Man.

“I am in the military, and there’s a chain-of-command that I have to follow, but (Tony is) working outside of the military,” Cheadle said. “That was the strain, that was the tension that was between their relationship that drives the whole movie, for our characters.”

Cheadle said rather than try to match directly with what Howard did in the first movie, the filmmakers worked with him to create a performance that worked for the story in “Iron Man 2.”

“That’s why I liked how we kind of just dealt with it right up front, first scene, first moment that I was here on screen, say something about it and then just move on,” Cheadle said.

Cheadle said he had no trepidations about signing on to be in possible sequels or spin-offs from “Iron Man.”

“Well, what I know is that no matter what you sign, if the movie isn’t successful, it doesn’t matter how many movies we decide we were going to do, the public will say, ‘We don’t want any more,’” he said. “So, you want them to be successfulm and if they are successful, then, good, why wouldn’t you want be in more?”

“Iron Man 2″ is scheduled for release May 7. The collection “Iron Man: War Machine,” available now, collects Rhodey’s first appearances in the “Iron Man” armor. War Machine appears in an ongoing series from Marvel Comics, written by Greg Pak (”World War Hulk”). The first five issues of the current “War Machine” series are collected in “War Machine: Iron Heart,” released in July.

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

SAN DIEGO – Sequels often promise bigger, faster, more. “Iron Man 2″ is no exception, offering an introduction of even more heroes and villains from the pages of Marvel Comics. But, star Robert Downey Jr. says, the filmmakers also wanted the story to be a logical outgrowth of the events of the first film.

“We … tore our eyebrows out to try to find the best way to express the complexities of what really would happen (in this film),” Downey said. The filmmakers, including Downey and director Jon Favreau, wanted a realistic emotional take on what would happen to Tony Stark.

Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark.

“No sooner has he said, ‘I am Iron Man,’ than he is wondering what that means. And if you have all this cushion, like he does, and the public is on your side, and you have immense wealth and power, I think he’s way too insulated to be OK.”

Downey certainly had the public on his side at his recent Comic-Con International appearance, where about five minutes of footage from the “Iron Man” sequel were played for several thousand screaming fans.

When Downey appeared at Comic-Con two years ago to promote the first “Iron Man,” the character was a lesser-known Marvel Comics character to the general public. Now, “Iron Man 2″ is a hotly anticipated sequel that was many comic fans’ most anticipated panel of the convention.

“It all started here,” Favreau told the Comic-Con crowd, after walking out to riotous cheers as the song “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath played.

“Nobody cared before you guys did.”

Robert Downey Jr. at Comic-Con International (AP)

Fans got a look at Nick Fury, director of a shadowy government agency, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared in the after-credits sequence of “Iron Man.” Also making an appearance in the preview footage were Garry Shandling, as an anti-Stark senator; Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes; Mickey Rourke as Russian inventor Ivan Vanko; Scarlett Johannson as the Black Widow; and Sam Rockwell as rival arms dealer Justin Hammer. Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard in the role of Rhodes. Fans at Comic-Con got the first look at Rhodes’ variant of the Iron Man armor, called War Machine.

And that’s not the only new tech in “Iron Man 2.” Vanko develops his own mechanized weapon and apparently has a grudge against Stark.

“I think the footage has tipped the fact that (Stark is) struggling with some sort of contamination of his own system,” Downey said. “And he has a very formidable guy saying, I don’t care what everyone thinks about you, I know that you come from a family of murderers and thieves and I’m going to take you out of your misery. And maybe he almost half wants that to happen.”

Hammer, meanwhile, appears ready to take on some of the arms work that Stark is refusing.

Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr., and Jon Favreau at Comic-Con panel. (AP)

“Justin Hammer is ready to step in and fill Tony’s shoes, and say ‘Hey dude, just let me do it for you.’ But if you look at Justin Hammer and you look at the way Sam Rockwell plays him, you’d be like, ‘Not you buddy. You are a jerk. I don’t trust you.’ And maybe he should have trusted him, or maybe he’s more trustworthy than Tony thinks.”

Stark’s problem in this film is his self-reliance. It worked for him in the first film, as he was able to build an armor that saved his life, but Downey said Stark has to learn he can’t solve everything simply by putting his mind to it.

“I think that’s the big lesson in this film, is that he has to utilize not only all of his own resources, but the resources of those close to him and then resources from somewhere he never ever ever could have imagined.”

“Iron Man 2″ is scheduled for release May 7, 2010.

By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Check out the longer version of Jimmy Fallon pitching Geoff Johns on his “Recharger” idea. In addition to the humor, Johns talks about The Flash being the first character he gravitated toward. Also available online are longer clips with Dan DiDio and Stan Lee.

- Matt Price

TOP 5 BUZZ FILMS
1. District 9 – went from “What is this?” to “Must-See.”
2. Twilight 2 – I have no interest, but you can’t downplay the buzz of 2,000 people camping out overnight.
3. Iron Man 2 – The footage drove everybody bananas, and geeks love Favreau and RDJ.
4. Sherlock Holmes – Speaking of RDJ.
5. 9 – Good reaction to what was shown at the con of this animated tale.

TOP 5 COMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS (in my opinion)
1. Marvel gets Miracleman rights.
2. Jeff Smith will create more comics in the Bone universe.
3. Geoff Johns will continue on Flash; Sterling Gates to write Kid Flash
4. Jim Shooter to revive Gold Key characters, including ones he previously worked on at Valiant Comics.
5. Return of Kurt Busiek’s Astro City as a monthly

TOP 5 COOL THINGS I SAW
1. Iron Man 2 footage and cast.
2. Two Supermen in one day: Tom Welling and Yuri Lowenthal.
3. 4,000 people reciting the Green Lantern oath.
4. Geoff Johns telling the story of wrecking Richard Donner’s car
5. Cast members of Lost at the Lost panel, including one former star I really didn’t expect to see.

- Matt Price

You can check out my report on the anime portion of the Marvel animation panel at NewsOK.

- Matt Price

Filmed by the amazing Annette Price, this montage edited by Kyle Roberts shows some of the costumes, sights and excitement of Comic-Con International.

Matt Price talks to Dave Morris about Comic-Con International in San Diego, and about Sam Rockwell, star of “Moon,” who was at Comic-Con promoting “Iron Man 2.”

Last night on Jimmy Fallon, the host showed his Comic-Con journey, which included pitching his character the Recharger to a host of Comic-Con notables, including Geoff Johns, Dan DiDio, Stan Lee, John Favreau and the producers of Lost. Check it out at about the 5 minute mark in the above video from Hulu.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — An Oklahoma writer is hitting the fast lane.

Sterling Gates, an OU graduate who was born in Tulsa, was named the writer of a new Kid Flash ongoing series at Comic-Con International.  The series will star the character Bart Allen and will tie into Geoff Johns’ Flash series.

“It’s too early to talk about specifics, but I’m really psyched to be working closely with Geoff Johns. We want to make the two Flash universe books as exciting as possible,” Gates said, “and I think we can do it.”

Gates is the writer of “Supergirl” and is writing a “World’s Finest” miniseries featuring characters from the Superman and Batman families of characters.

- Matt Price

Tom Welling’s first appearance at Comic-Con was a hit, as a very full room cheered for the stars of Smallville at today’s Smallville panel at Comic-Con, moderated by Jeph Loeb.  Callum Blue, Cassidy Freeman, Allison Mack, Justin Hartley, Erica Durance joined Welling on the panel, as did Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.

Here are a few quick notes and impressions from the Smallville panel:

* Clark is finally in some version of a Superman suit, with a black shirt bearing the S-shield and a flowing black overcoat, in preview footage shown at the panel.

* Geoff Johns will write a Justice Society episode.

* Season premiere will touch on the flight issue.

* Green Arrow will be in more episodes this season, as will Lois Lane. Lois will be in 18 episodes.

* Lex is absolutely not dead.

* Tom Welling is directing two episodes this season; Allison Mack will also direct.

* A possible Green Arrow sidekick story is being explored.

* In the first eight episodes this season, we’ll see Green Arrow hit “rock bottom.”

* Smallville is moving to Fridays this fall, debuting Sept. 25.  The DVD and Blu-ray of Season 8 hits Aug. 25.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — Sam Rockwell said there’s some pressure coming into a high-profile project like “Iron Man 2,” but added that director Jon Favreau made the process very actor-friendly.

The actor, receiving great buzz for his role in the sci-fi film “Moon,” attended the “Iron Man 2″ presentation in Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center on Saturday and talked to reporters following the panel.

“It’s definitely nerve-wracking; the first one was such a big success,” he said of the pressures of “Iron Man 2.”  “But you find a home and realize there’s a reason you’re there.”

Rockwell plays a rival arms dealer to Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in “Iron Man 2.”

“He’s kind of a Tony Stark wannabe,” Hammer said. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to take Tony down.”

Rockwell said most of his scenes in the film are with Mickey Rourke’s Ivan, who becomes the Whiplash character.

“I’m sort of a patron of evil,” Rockwell said. “Mickey is the main adversary.  I come to his aid.”

The comic-book Justin Hammer is an older British man. So Rockwell obviously took some liberties from that version of the character.

“I looked at the comics, but they wanted me to create something a little different,” Rockwell said.  He also said he decided against playing the character with an accent due to the amount of improvisation “Iron Man 2″ required.

Meanwhile, the fan and critic accolades keep coming in for “Moon.”  Rockwell, who described himself as a sci-fi fan, was asked about his Oscar chances for the film.

“It’s very flattering,” he said. “From their lips to God’s ears.  It’s very early in the year for that sort of thing.”

- Matthew Price

SAN DIEGO — Cort Lane of Marvel Animation, Masao Maruyama of Madhouse, Alex Yeh of Madhouse and writer Warren Ellis were on hand at the Marvel Animation panel to discuss Marvel’s forays into the anime world.

Clips were shown of the upcoming “Wolverine” and “Iron Man” projects, which will be written by Ellis.  Ellis indicated “Blade” and “X-Men” would be the other two properties developed for this project.

Lane said the project was “a re-imagining of key Marvel characters in the anime format.”

Yeh, translating for Maruyama, said the company was aiming for “a perfect marriage of traditional anime with Marvel characters.”

Ellis said he enjoyed the freedom, and money, he’d been given in animation.

“You get to do visual narrative with very few hurdles between you and the audience,” he said.

The Iron Man story will be set in Tokyo, Ellis said, and is about an unexpected clash of cultures and the history of weapon design.

Wolverine has its basis in the 1980s miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller.

Blade, a character Ellis said he’d never written before, would have ties to London and a more novelistic approach.

The X-Men was the final anime mentioned as being in development at the panel.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — Writer/director Bo Zenga and the cast of Stan Helsing held a riotous, freewheeling panel at Comic-Con International on Friday night.  Attendees were introduced to several clips from the film, which features four partygoers running across parodies of six top horror characters.

Steve Howey, who starred on “Reba,” plays the title character, Stan Helsing.   Kenan Thompson, Leslie Nielsen, Diora Baird and Desi Lydic joined Howey and Zenga on the panel.

Asked how he liked appearing in a Superman-like spandex suit the entire film, Thompson said, “It made me want to start running, stuff like that. Working out.”

Multiple fans expressed appreciation for the careers of Nielsen and Thompson.  Nielsen, of course, boasts a 50-plus year movie career, while Thompson has been on television for most of his life, with roles in “All That” and “Kenan and Kel.”

Nielsen plays a waitress in “Stan Helsing,” spending his role in drag.

“It’s not often you get a chance to make that switch and get away with it,” he said.

Thompson said the slasher parody idea drew him to the film.

“I grew up in the 80s, so I was close to slasher films growing up,” he said. “And it was one of the few movies going last summer, so I jumped on that.”

Nielsen, 83, indicated he has no plans to retire.

“I hope to keep doing funny movies til I drop dead,” he said.

- Matt Price

Yuri Lowenthal

SAN DIEGO — Voice over actors Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt will officially announce publication of their book, “Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind the Mic,” this weekend Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Husband and wife duo Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt will give insider tips and in-depth discussion in this  ‘How To’ book.

“So many people have asked us how we got into [VO] and how they can do it too,” Lowenthal said in a release. “And in the book we do our best to tell them all
about what we’ve done.”

Lowenthal’s credits include Superman (Legion of Superheroes), Ben (Ben 10: Alien Force) and the Prince (the Prince of Persia series of video games).

Platt has portrayed Wonder Woman (DC vs. Mortal Kombat), Dream Girl (Legion of Superheroes), and Temari (Naruto).

Preorders are available at www.BugBotPress.com.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — Activision announced X-Men Gambit and Jean Grey would join the video game Ultimate Alliance 2, based on the Marvel characters.   A third character will be announced at a Saturday panel about the game.

From 11:30AM – 12:30PM in the Indigo Ballroom of the Bayfront Hilton (adjacent to the Convention Center), developers, voice actors, Marvel’s game team and Stan Lee will appear and discuss the game.

Players can demo the game at booth 5001 on the Comic-Con International show floor.  Booth signings are planned for Saturday with Stan Lee, along with in-game voice actors Armin Shimerman and Fred Tatasciore.

- Matt Price

Superman is coming to Comic-Con.  Smallville star Tom Welling will appear for the first time at  Comic-Con International: San Diego on Sunday, July 26.

Co-executive producer Welling will join the entire current cast: Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, Justin Hartley and Callum Blue at the show’s panel session on Sunday at 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Room 6BCF of the San Diego Convention Center.

Showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will also be on hand.

The session will feature an exclusive sneak peek at clips from the upcoming ninth season of the show and a Q&A with fans.  The panel will be moderated by Jeph Loeb.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — Huge news from Marvel at Comic-Con International, as it was revealed Marvel has bought the rights to the Marvelman character from creator Mick Anglo and his representatives.

“It is an honor to work with Mick Anglo to bring his creation to a larger audience than ever before,” said Dan Buckley, CEO & Publisher, Print, Animation & Digital Media, Marvel Entertainment Inc., in a release. “Fans are in for something special as they discover just what makes Marvelman such an important character in comic book history.”

The character was created in 1954 by Mick Anglo, and was most famously brought to life by writers Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Legal problems have kept Gaiman’s Marvelman (published in the US as Miracleman) stories from being completed, or Alan Moore’s stories from being reprinted.  Marvelman is Micky Moran, a young reporter gifted with the power to save the world by simply uttering the word “kimota”!

“I did not think it would ever happen,” said Mick Anglo in a release. “It’s a wonderful thing to see my creation finally back.”

The Marvel Shop is selling Marvelman T-shirts, which were seen on all Marvel employees at the Marvel booth today at Comic-Con.   A Marvelman poster by Joe Quesada is set to ship in September.

What this means for Todd McFarlane’s claim to the Miracleman character — which he thought he purchased when purchasing the assets to Eclipse — remains to be seen, but Marvel certainly appears to think they’re clear to at least begin selling merchandise based on the character.   I hope an agreement can be reached to reprint the classic Alan Moore stories, and allowing Gaiman to finish his planned run on the character.  Even after all this time, I imagine both would be instant bestsellers.

- Matt Price

Eddie Berganza and Geoff Johns

SAN DIEGO — Blackest Night writer Geoff Johns kept the crowd engrossed during his Spotlight panel at Comic-Con, with tales of his days interning for Superman director Richard Donner and advice to aspiring writers.  Along the way, he dropped some hints and revelations about upcoming DC storylines.  Editor Eddie Berganza was on-hand with Johns to help the discussion along.

Barry Allen, the Flash who returned from the dead to the DC Universe, will be around for a while, Johns said, and is co-starring with Wally West, another Flash, in the Blackest Night: Flash series by Johns and Scott Kolins.

Blackest Night, the zombie-superhero tale currently unfolding from DC Comics, is meant to be dark and scary, Johns told attendees who  might be concerned about the content.   It’s intended to push the boundaries.

“It’s about the dead rising; it’s supposed to be violent … it’s supposed to be horrific,” he said.

“Blackest Night” has Green Lantern Hal Jordan front and center in the DC Comics universe. When asked why he preferred Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern that Johns has returned to the spotlight, over 1990s Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, Johns said he thought the Jordan character was more universal.

“It’s about the theme of overcoming fear,” Johns said. “We’re bombarded by things that are all about scaring us.”  Green Lantern’s ability to overcome fear should resonate with everyone, he said.

Johns has no plans to leave Green Lantern anytime soon, he said, and said the villain Hector Hammond will return to prominence in the future of the title.

A large number of people at the panel thanked Johns for getting them into, or back into comics.  Some wanted his advice on breaking in as a writer.

Johns recommended those looking to break into writing look for internships to hone their craft, and to check out the books The Writer’s Journey and Shot By Shot.

From his own days as an assistant, Johns told a story of wrecking Donner’s car, then calling Donner and saying, “I’m fired, right?”  Johns survived the mishap, and later met with DC Comics execs while Donner worked on the film “Conspiracy Theory.”

Even after that, it took a couple of years for his project “Stars and STRIPE” to get going at DC, Johns said, advising persistence to those in the crowd.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — Video game fans can get an up-close look at two MMORPGs from Sony Online Entertainment at Comic-Con: Free Realms, available now, and DC Universe Online, release date to be determined.

Margaret Krohn, apprentice game designer with SOE, said Free Realms took elements of lots of other kinds of games and melds them into a deep, immersive online game.  The game, which is free to play, lets gamers choose from a large list of jobs and tasks.  If you get bored of one particular kind of job, you aren’t stuck with it — you can switch.

SOE staff said Free Realms has close to 5 million users and is a family-friendly game.

DC Universe Online has been in development for a while, as I played a version of it at last year’s Comic-Con.  It continues to near completion, but it won’t come out until it’s ready, said Herb Ellwood, senior UI designer for the game.

The game will feature a fully built out Metropolis and Gotham City, and every item in the game comes from a DC Comic, except for the player-created characters.  However, those characters will still fit in the DC style, as every item that can be used to create a character was approved by artist Jim Lee.

- Matt Price

- Matt Price

Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka

SAN DIEGO — A group of all-stars held court on Superman at the Superman: Two Worlds panel at Comic-Con International: Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Ian Sattler, Matt Idleson, Francis Manapul, Tulsa-born Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle, James Robinson and Greg Rucka.

The upcoming Codename Patriot arc is part of the overall plan building into a major Superman storyline in 2010, said Robinson, who is writing “Superman,” currently starring Mon-El.

“General Lane has been a factor in these books, obviously, what we want to make him into is the supreme strategist,” Robinson said.  “He has literally plans, and layers on top of these plans, which are all leading up to this event in 2010. We’ll see how it grows until eventually all the pieces come together and we’ll have an event that you’ll all love.”

OU graduate Sterling Gates will get his name on perhaps the most successful comic book of all time, Action Comics.  He and Greg Rucka will co-write an Action-Supergirl crossover that will feature Kara at odds with her former best friend, Thara, who now wears the Flamebird costume.

Gates also talked about his new miniseries, World’s Finest, which will deal with the issue of Bruce Wayne being missing from Superman’s circle after Batman’s presumed death.  Each issue of World’s Finest will pair a member of the Superman cast with a member of the Batman cast.

- Matt Price

The largest gathering of comic-book fans in the United States is happening this weekend in San Diego. More than 125,000 fans are gathering at the San Diego Convention Center.

Among scheduled activities at Comic-Con:

→Marvel has partnered with Japanese animation studio Madhouse (”Paprika”) to create four anime versions of classic Marvel Superheroes.

Teaser trailers for two of the anime versions will debut today in a panel hosted by writer Warren Ellis (”Planetary,” “The Authority”), who is writing some of these anime adventures. The series is scheduled to debut on the Animax channel in Japan in spring 2010.

→Those who want to show off their Marvel Comics fashion can enter the Marvel costume contest by 3:30 p.m. today in San Diego at the Marvel Booth, No. 2429 at the convention center.

→Marvel fans today also have the chance to meet the primary architect of the Marvel Universe, Stan Lee. Those who have their numbers drawn at the Marvel booth will have the opportunity to meet the co-creator of Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man and more.

→Other Iron Man happenings include one of the most anticipated events at this year’s convention. The planned “Iron Man 2″ panel will feature talent and clips from the coming film from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

→For DC fans, Zack Snyder will host a screening of the director’s cut of “Watchmen” at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

DC Comics has panels scheduled focusing on Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and more.

More movies and television shows are tying in to Comic-Con each year, even those without a clear tie to comics or genre entertainment.

But Comic-Con is still the premiere place for breaking comic-book news, meeting comic-book creators and finding out about upcoming events.

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

A lengthy portion of James Cameron’s Avatar was screened for fans at San Diego, who packed Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center at Comic-Con International.

According to the Hero Complex blog at LA Times, the CG-animated “Avatar” is set on the forest planet of Pandora.  The Na’vi, the inhabitants of that planet, are peaceful blue humanoids whose world is invaded by the human military.

“I don’t want to say it’s important, because then it sounds like you’re making a documentary,” Cameron is quoted as saying at Hero Complex. But it’s “something with a conscience. In the enjoying of [the film], it maybe makes you think about the way you interact with nature and your fellow man.”

More about Avatar at NewsOK.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — Motion comics are still in an experimental phase, said DC Comics and Warner staffers at Comic-Con for the Motion Comics panel.

New scenes from the motion comics Batgirl: Year One and Superman: Red Son were debuted. Those working on the motion comics said they are trying to maintain the same story in a different medium.
With the exception of Watchmen, all the other motion comics have a full voice cast.

The idea is to take the existing work, and build a “house” on top of it, making it into a motion comic. DC’s Paul Levitz said there’s a pacing to comic-book scripting that’s very specific, and the goal is not to upset that when translating it to this new form.

For a limited time, fans can download a free episode of Red Son, featuring an Elseworlds story in which Superman first landed in the USSR. The episode can be downloaded at itunes/TV/Superman.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO, CA-Following the release of the highly anticipated Dethklok vs. The Goon, Dark Horse Comics and Adult Swim announce a brand-new comics series based on the immensely popular animated show Metalocalypse. The band’s five members-Nathan Explosion, William “Murderface,” Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Toki Wartooth, and Pickles-will be featured in a full publishing program created by series co-creator Brendon Small and a collaborative team of Metalocalypse and Dark Horse artists and writers.

Co-created by Tommy Blacha and Brendon Small, the Metalocalypse television series follows the on- and off-stage adventures of the world’s most brutal band as they create a wave of mayhem, death, and destruction wherever they go. Since debuting on Adult Swim in 2006, the series has become one of the network’s highest-rated original series, and the second season was watched by more than five million 18 to 34-year-old viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. This animated band has also had a lot of very real success, as the band’s debut CD, Dethklok: The Dethalbum, is the fastest-selling death-metal album of all time since debuting at #21 on Billboard’s Top 100 list, and a real-live version of the animated band has completed nearly sold-out tours. The follow up album, Dethklok: The Dethalbum II, will be released on September 8th from Williams Street Records.

“This collaboration with Dark Horse Comics is a great opportunity for us to partner with a company that has a shared sensibility and fan base with one of Adult Swim’s most popular brands,” said Christina Miller, vice president of Cartoon Network Enterprises. “Combining the pool of artistic talent of both companies, we have created a great publishing program that will both deliver the quality, entertaining content that our fans look for and will expose the hilarious antics of Dethklok to a new group of potential fans.”

“I am a huge fan of Eric and of The Goon,” says Dark Horse President Mike Richardson. “Eric, it turns out, is a huge fan of Metalocalypse. Once Eric suggested this team up, we began discussing the project and it seemed like a natural fit. We couldn’t be more excited about introducing these characters to the comics world.”