2007-08-01 - MOB RULE: COMIC-CON 2007, PART II

For the first part of our look at this year's Comic-Con, click here.

Diamond Select showed off some of their upcoming projects for the year, such as this unexpected second line of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN action figures. Who'd have thought that there'd be a Kirstie Alley action figure, much less that I'd be buying one?

DST also went heavy on new Minimates for '07-'08, with my personal favorite being this batch of Marvels featuring Hawkeye the Mini-Marksman.

The occupation of Comic-Con by Hollywood continued unabated this year, with nearly all the majors and most of next year's blockbusters represented either on the floor or in one of the panels. Probably the coolest floor exhibition was the booth for the upcoming big-budget fantasy THE GOLDEN COMPASS. That's a cool giant polar bear.

Master Replicas is continuing their line of fantastically faithful Muppet replicas, with Animal, Gonzo and Fozzie soon to accompany their earlier Kermit the Frog model. The articulation on these is astounding, as the Master Replica folks were showing off all week.

There were a few most excellent surprises at the DC Direct booth, such as this really sharp-looking 12-inch-scale Green Arrow figure, who comes with an impressive arsenal of trick arrows, including the all-important Boxing-Glove Arrow.

Only two or three years after the first assortment, a second assortment of Perez-style Titans figures is in the works, including a Terra that looks like she just leapt off the page.

The creepiest new offering was this Brian Bolland-styled Joker from Alan Moore's THE KILLING JOKE.

One of the more enjoyable panels of the show was Neil Gaiman's solo spotlight, in which the affable Englishman simply took to the stage, told a few stories and took questions from the audience. A pleasant, literate change from so much of the razzle-dazzle show-biz glitz that's taken over Comic-Con.

Speaking of show-biz, it has to be said: Jon Favreau's IRON MAN looks absolutely amazing. Between Robert Downey's acerbic wit as Tony Stark, the lumbering power of the original gray suit and the sleek, streamlined red-and-gold armor keeping pace with a couple of fighter jets, Everything about this movie looks right.

I don't have much interest in the porcelain-doll type stuff that Tonner usually puts out, but this Aquaman is impressive just for the seahorse alone.

I got to meet a few readers of my KLINGONS series at the show, most of whom seemed to be enjoying it. Some, however, seemed less than pleased...

Speaking of STAR TREK, Saturday morning saw the "Star Trek Publishing" panel, which saw representatives from Pocket Books, Wil Wheaton and his editor from TokyoPop, CBS licensing liaison Paula Block and IDW editor Dan Taylor and myself discuss all the new TREK projects that will see print in the next year. A well-attended panel and a receptive audience, this was probably the most fun I've ever had on one of these things, as we discussed what makes for a good TREK story. Also nice to discover that Wheaton is as pleasant and down-to-earth a guy as his writing would suggest.

Another personal highlight was showing off the new FUTURAMA figures I've been working on, which seemed to be well-received by fans all revved up for the return of the show later this year.

Although I love all the figures we've created, my personal favorite remains the Robot Devil, which will be included piecemeal with all of the figures, one component in each.

Maybe the high point of the entire show was meeting the man himself, Matt Groening, who had extremely kind words to say about our three-dimensional plastic versions of his creations. Can't get a better compliment than that.

Matt, by the way, traveled with a few of his friends:

Tomorrow: a good look inside the Hasbro booth, and the obligatory Comic-Con costume parade. See you then.

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