Stardate 2008: Comic-Con Commences

That rumbling noise you hear coming from the west coast is the sound of millions of fanboys and girls descending upon the San Diego Convention Center for the 2008 Comic-Con. And, as the official schedule attests, there will be plenty of movie and television related events, as Hollywood has caught on to the marketing power of having all those fans in one place at one time (a very crowded place, too; Variety reports that Los Angeles and Las Vegas are trying to woe the con away from San Diego to larger pastures).

In addition to Star Trek (which will be handing out the nifty posters displayed above), notable films and TV shows that will have a presence at Comic-Con this year include Bitch Slap, Disney's Bolt, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Race, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, Friday the 13th, GI Joe, Hamlet 2, Land of the Lost, Lost, Max Payne, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Pineapple Express, Punisher: War Zone, Quarantine, Race to Witch Mountain, Red Sonja, Repo! The Genetic Opera, RocknRolla, The Spirit, Terminator Salvation, Twilight, Pixar's Up, Watchmen, The Wolfman, and Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, plus world premiere screenings of Lost Boys: The Tribe (the sequel to The Lost Boys that will be released on DVDJuly 29) and the one movie that couldn't be more fitting in this environment: Fanboys.

If last year is any indication, there will be a lot of news and such flying out of Southern California and onto the internets, so we'll try to post the relevant information here at Movie Dearest. Plus, our own Chris Carpenter (fresh off his Outfest assignment -- and didn't he do a great job with that, by the by?) will be braving the crowds of Klingons and Caped Crusaders on Friday. Expect a report from him this weekend; in the meantime, Entertainment Weekly has a pictorial preview of all the goings-on planned for this year's Comic-Con.

Watch the Watchmen

With The Dark Knight down, time for the next comic geek sensation: Watchmen.

Although the eagerly awaited big screen adaptation of the landmark graphic novel series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons won't hit theaters until March 6 of next year, fanboys everywhere are chomping at the bit for every bit of information. And this week's two big offerings -- the first trailer (attached to the Bat-flick) and an extensive Entertainment Weekly cover story -- are now online.

That should keep us ... I mean them ... happy for a while. Seriously though, this one looks awesome. And if you really want to geek out, head over to Rope of Silicon for a series of screen cap-to-original-comic-panel comparisons.