California Dreaming, Part One

A special report by Zena Metal

Day One of San Diego Comic-Con 2009 has come and gone, and though my heart feels a little bit heavier for not being a part of it, I’ve resigned myself to playing armchair critic in addition to my role as The Beat’s second-string reporter this weekend.

Just think of me as a pop-culture Watcher: I observe and compile knowledge, but I can’t actually cause any of the fun trouble I’ve been known to evoke in past years. Below are some dispatches from the Con that made me feel a little warm inside.

– Not surprisingly, Comic-Con is trending highly on Twitter. If you want to personalize your own well-rounded SDCC-related feed, I suggest you follow these fine folks: Comic News Insider’s Jimmy Aquino, the ever-witty Ben McCool, mistress of Adult Swim Liz Mackie, Geeks of Doom, and Entertainment Weekly’s well-scrubbed Michael Ausiello.

– Here are some giant display movie posters for the JONAH HEX film, featuring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox.

– Star Trek cologne. Really? I never even knew the stuff existed, but apparently Khan got his own exclusive scent this week. It’s called (what else?) “Khaaann!”

–  An exclusive 25-minute trailer of James Cameron’s AVATAR seems to have made quite a good impression; there’s been a lot of chatter from attendees thrilled to see him collaborating with Sigourney Weaver again.

– Johnny Depp crashed Tim Burton’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND panel. I wonder if anyone asked him about his next role as principle in the Carol Channing biopic. Here’s a wrap-up with photos.

– Adult Swim creators recount their most awkward Comic-Con moments.

– John Lithgow will guest star in season four of Dexter, portraying the Trinity Killer, widely heralded as “the most dangerous serial killer ever.” Lithgow is perfect for the part; seriously, the dude has creeped me out ever since that one Twilight Zone episode with the doll. Eek! For more on the Dexter panel, check out EW’s coverage.

– Big ups to Twilight’s Kristen Stewart for rocking what looks like a Minor Threat T-shirt. I must say, even at twice her age, the real Joan Jett is still foxier.

–  Nathan Fillion is threatening to “whip Comic-Con into a frenzy” if he gets 100,000 followers on Twitter by Saturday. We get the feeling he’ll try either way.

– Someone can easily win my love by picking up this Voltron exclusive for me. Truly, this sexy black Designer vinyl is one of the quickest ways to my heart. Incidentally, this is the primary-colored metal god’s 25th anniversary.

– Seems that overcrowding is already an issue, as this quote of the day exemplifies: “Comic-Con is so packed, one bonehead thought it wise to yell ‘I have diarrhea! I have diarrhea!’ to try and part the crowd. It didn’t work.” – EW Pop Watch via Twitter

And it was just Day One…

P.S.: Photo courtesy of Parka Blogs.