Comic-Con ‘09: Preview Night

Comic-Con 2009 has begun!

As I did for E3 ‘09, I’ll be your guide to all things Comic-Con International, blogging to you live from sunny San Diego.

Tonight things got underway with Preview Night, a special 3-hour access to the ginormous exhibit hall, that offers early birds the chance to get first dibs on the best freebies and the best merch for sale. Preview Night is not the best time to see costumed characters — there are a few, but they’ll start showing up in droves tomorrow — but it’s a great chance to wander the exhibit hall unfettered by panel and event schedules.

The Convention authorities actually let us in half an hour earlier than expected tonight, which was a welcome surprise for those of us waiting to get in, in the sauna-like entrance line.

Oh, and one other anecdote: I spotted Tyrese Gibson promoting his new comic book Mayhem at the Image Comics booth, but when I raised my camera to take a picture, he put his hand up over his face and his group of handlers started shouting “No pictures!” Tyrese, dude, you’re doing publicity at a major public event… and you don’t want pictures taken of you? Do you even understand the concept of PR?

Anyhoo, here are some photos from Preview Night.

These banners adorn streets all over San Diego.

Arguably the biggest project being shown at Comic-Con.

Dexter ad across the back of one of San Diego’s “pedicabs.”

Viral ads in a downtown store window near the convention center, for the upcoming film 2012.

The Twilight fans, already camping out for Thursday’s mid-day panel.

The view from our hotel of the Twilight line that’s already formed. One leg follows the building on the left, another stretches into the grass on the right.

Not sure if you can see this one clearly (it was almost impossible to get close to), but it’s Warner Bros.’ booth, advertising Where the Wild Things Are.

That’s not actually Hugh Jackman, that’s his life-sized Wolverine wax figure from Madame Tussauds.

A viral booth for ABC’s upcoming V reboot.

Heroes always gets the star treatment at Comic-Con…

They’re giving away 4 Nissan Qubes — 1 every day of the Con.

A highly popular booth, as you can imagine.

AMC’s remake of The Prisoner, this time a miniseries, has a viral booth where you can enlist as a card-carrying member of the strange, prison-like society seen in the series.

Bumblebee from Transformers.

Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Yes, I had the action figures as a child.

This guy is moving the ball inside the tube with his mind. Seriously.

The Comic-Con logo made out of LEGO Bricks!

Buzz Lightyear and the entire Toy Story gang are coming to LEGO.

The ever-popular Star Wars booth.

Entrance to Mattel’s booth.

Giant mechanical walker thing from James Cameron’s Avatar.

Toys on display that are being made as tie-ins to James Cameron’s Avatar.

Come on. Geek out with me over this. You know you want to.

Paramount’s booth, where you can have your picture made on the bridge of the Enterprise. It’s an odd mixture though: new Enterprise backdrop, seriously old school Captain’s chair, and a gaggle of green-skinned Trek chicks to be pictured with. Pandering much?

Not sure if this is a real prop from Iron Man, or just a replica, but either way, it’s pretty impressive.

Wolverine’s leather jacket.

This is just the tip of the iceberg… Comic-Con can be overwhelming in a “sensory overload” kind of way, so it’s hard not to get caught up in taking it all in the first time you stroll through the exhibit hall. As the week continues, I’m planning tons of coverage for you from not just the main hall, but the myriad panels as well.

Stay tuned…

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