By Charly SHELTON

The swag wasn’t that good this year. That is always the first question I get when I say I went to Comic-Con. I’m asked, “Hey did you get any good stuff?”     So let me answer that first – the swag wasn’t that good this year. And no, I didn’t see the “Glee” panel. That is the other question. For a comic book convention, I am asked most about swag and “Glee.” I did get some good comics – finished out the Green Lantern “Blackest Night” and “Brightest Day” arcs. Also got a Jet Bradley action figure from “TRON 2.0” and had my picture taken with Wash from “Firefly,” Alan Tudyk. But I did not see “Glee” or “Chuck” or “True Blood.”

That being said, I had a great time. I was a little jealous that nerds from around the globe were ogling my super hot girlfriend in her slave Leia costume, but its okay because she was on my arm as she got all the stares. Taking a Comic-Con virgin around to the booths was a lot of fun because she had no idea that most of this stuff existed. And it also made me look cooler because I could interview a comics person or some star and hold my own with them but I wasn’t as nerdy as some of the people who showed up.

My costume on day one was a Green Lantern T-shirt and a mask. When we were at the car, I was a nerd. When we got into the hall, I looked much less nerdy because I was one of the few Green Lanterns not in spandex. It’s all about relativity.

The panels were strange this year. Not the actual panels, but the crowds.  Jon Favreau (director of “Iron Man” and “Cowboys and Aliens”) and Guillermo del Toro (director of “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth”) held a panel in the 6,500-seat theater Hall H. It wasn’t even half full. Great for me because I walked right in. But then the “Chuck” panel in Ballroom 20 was so full that people camped overnight the night before just to get in. And the DC Comics “Flashpoint” panel was walk in as well. Flashpoint is the first reboot of some of these comics sine the 1930s – Batman is in his 712th monthly issue, as is Superman, and their universe is going to have a reboot starting at issue #1! At a comic convention such as Comic-Con, you would think that someone would care enough to go hear about that. But it was walk-in seating in a small upstairs room for about 200 people! “Chuck” was sold out in a huge ballroom and “Flashpoint” couldn’t fill the seats. That is what people are into, and that is fine because it’s less crowded for me, but for us true believers, it is odd to see crowds acting that way.

So far as TV goes, the cast of “Torchwood: Miracle Day” was kind enough to grant the CV Weekly an interview, as was the cast of MTV’s “Good Vibes,” a new animated comedy. Mike Judge held a panel on the return of “Beavis and Butthead” where we saw footage of the new season. “The Amazing Spider Man” from Sony looks pretty cool, as does “Fright Night,” a remake of a 1980s horror film about vampires.

All these stories and more can be found in the upcoming articles from CV Weekly.

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  Charly Shelton, Comic-Con