Comic-Con 2010

It's been 5 years since I've been to Comic-Con in San Diego. And it's not like I've been missing it all this time. I mean, even when they were going to be showing stuff from The Dark Knight, I didn't blink an eye. I'd already been to Con something like 7 or 8 times since starting college. So, dammit, why have I been following the Con coverage this year like a crackhead sitting at a street corner, lips powdery white, jonesing for his next fix? Why indeed.

I'm not a huge Marvel fan. My favorite Marvel character is Daredevil, who despite the awesome work by the likes of Frank Miller and Kevin Smith, wasn't exactly a top tier character. I also like Ghost Rider. Again, not top tier by any means. Of course I've read the X-Men and familiar enough with its history to wax intellectual about the Dark Phoenix or the allegory of MLK vs. Malcom X translated in human/mutant relations. And, of course, I loved Spider-man when I was a kid (but then again, who didn't?).

But growing up, my heart was always with DC. Whether it was watching the Super Friends on a Saturday morning, or reading the latest issue of Detective Comics, the heroes of DC just clicked with me. I know Marvel prides itself on its character's having "normal human" problems. Peter Parker has to find a way to pay the rent. Tony Stark not only has to deal with the fact that he's a total douche but also that pesky alcoholism that he's afflicted with. And Matt Murdock has to not only deal with the fact that he's blind but that his girlfriend is freakin' hot! I mean, how unfair is that? It's like At First Sight, that movie starring Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino, only Karen Page is hotter. You know, for a comic book character. Oh wait. Did I forget to mention that she's a heroin addict, becomes a porn star, and sells Murdock's identity for drug money? Man, Marvel's peeps got problems. See, DC heroes seemed larger than life. I hated when DC tried to "humanize" their heroes, or as I like to call it, "Marvelizing". I didn't want to read comics to see Spider-man struggling to pay his rent? I wanted to see Batman take down the Joker's latest dastardly scheme!

Now, the movies have been a totally different story. While I still love Christopher Reeves' Superman, and Nolan's work on the Batman movies, I also loved Singer's X-Men films, Spider-man 2, and the first Iron Man. So I guess this is why I was really looking forward to Con this year because I knew one of the panels was going to be devoted to Marvel's slate of upcoming movies. I probably would have been more excited if my excitement wasn't tempered by my lukewarm reaction to Iron Man 2. Or the fact that not only is Joe Johnston (not exactly an A-list director despite Jurassic Park III being a guilty pleasure) directing the Captain America movie (probably one of my least favorite comic characters), but that he cast Johnny Storm himself, Chris Evans as the lead character. It kind of seemed like a recipe for disaster.

I had more confidence in the Thor movie (despite the fact that I'm not really a fan of that character) especially after seeing Hemsworth's bulk and that he looks like a picture perfect Thor. It also doesn't hurt that Kenneth Branagh is directing. But no, what I was more interested in was the Avengers news. Though I am not a fan of Joss Whedon (I know. Firefly was awesome. Buffy was awesome. I've heard it. I just don't get it), I am excited at the prospect at putting together Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth as the Avengers.

So that brings us to today's Con coverage. I am officially disappointed that I didn't go this year. Not only did they show stuff from Captain America. Not only did they show stuff from Thor. But they actually brought out the cast of The Avengers. RDJ. Hemsworth. Evans. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. And the newly announced Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner aka The Hulk(taking over for Ed Norton who, like Tony Stark, is a complete douche and who also took over for Eric Bana). I'm sorry but that's just a stellar cast. I'm really hoping that Whedon can pull this off.

I guess there was also a Green Lantern panel. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the character. I mostly know him from his adventures with The Flash in The Brave and the Bold or in various Justice League stories. Of course, there was his whole Zero Hour thing where he became Parallax and started creating worlds. Or whatever. But this is a movie I'm not that excited about. I like Ryan Reynolds but I picture him more as The Flash, what with the fact that he tends to be more humorous. And while I like Martin Campbell as a director (after all he did two of my favorite Bond flicks in Goldeneye and Casino Royale) I'm just not sure how he's going to pull off a dude with a ring that creates giant green fists to knock people out that just won't seem like something out of Jim Carrey's The Mask. So I find it really weird that I'm more looking forward (looking farther forward?) to a Marvel movie than a DC one.

Last but not least, Capcom had a huge announcement at the Con. Anyone who knows me knows I love me some Street Fighter. And while I'm looking forward to the new Marvel vs. Capcom game coming out, my heart actually belongs to the slower paced gameplay of the main Street Fighter series and the Alpha line. It's why I played Street Fighter III a hell of a lot more than I did Marvel vs. Capcom 2. So what do they announce today? Street Figher X Tekken! I'm not quite sure how that's going to work out as Tekken is mostly a brawler game and Street Fighter tends to be projectile based, but I am interested in seeing how they pull this off. Apparently, Capcom is doing SF X Tekken in a style similar to Street Fighter IV (cue complete nerdgasm) and Namco is going to be doing Tekken X SF in a style similar to Tekken.

I know that I'm probably one of the few people that actually liked Arika's Street Fighter EX series (where SF was redone in complete 3d to compete with the likes of Tekken) but I can see this working. If they can balance the fighters well enough, I think both games have the potential of being really good. I am not really a huge Tekken fan but I might become one of Capcom can translate the gameplay well enough into the SF world.

So Comic-Con International. I missed you this year. Maybe one day, I will once again grace the hallowed halls of Exhibition Hall H. And who knows what'll be announced then? The Justice League movie (yes, please). Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat? Or better yet a Capcom/Namco/SNK/Midway royal rumble? How awesome would that be? Cue change of underwear.