Samuel L. Jackson was a major presence at two panels this year at Comic-Con. He appeared on the Afro Samurai: Resurrection panel and on the panel for Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit. If you haven't checked out Afro Samurai --the American made, anime style SPIKE TV series -- make an effort. It is awesome. Jackson is a popular celebrity at the Con because he seems to enjoy the fan interaction, and the characters he's played have become such iconic figures in pop culture. Someone at The Spirit panel asked him about all the action figures that have been made of his characters -- Shaft, Mace Windu, Afro Samurai and maybe upcoming ones for Nick Fury and the Octopus (the villain he plays in The Spirit). Jackson voiced preference for Mace as an action figure (because of all the various figures available) but says he has all his figures displayed. Jackson went on to discuss the comic book characters he has played, even though some of them began as white characters in the original comics.

Thanks to Comic-Con for video clips of the panel for our news coverage.

KPBS ran an earlier video post about Stan Lee and Perry Moore. But here's Lee on a panel with Grant Morrison. Morrison asked Lee his thoughts about Superman and about the Marvel universe he created.

Whoever is doing publicity for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion is a genius.  They set up a full sound recording booth at Comic-Con where folks can come in and audition to be the next voice of a superhero for the upcoming game from Marvel.  There has been a line all four days of the Con and everyone seems to be having a blast.  Shawn Hinkston from Oceanside; Aaron Lopez from Juneau, Alaska; Michael K. Holle from Anaheim, CA; and Robin Bowman from San Diego were kind enough to let me record their auditions for your viewing and listening pleasure.  Be sure to watch them.  That's where they get to do their death scream!

Al Jaffee Fold-In from Mad Magazine

I just saw Al Jaffee, one of my favorite cartoonists from Mad Magazine.  He created recurring features like "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions" and the regular back cover feature, the Mad Fold -In.

I expected an hour of wall-to-wall tales of Mad. That ain't what happened.  Instead, Al talked about his early career, before going to Mad.

Hugh Jackman at 20th Century Fox Panel

Surprise appearances are always a treat at Comic-Con. So the 6400 people at Hall H on Thursday were thrilled when Hugh Jackman made an unexpected appearance for X-Men Origins: Wolverine at the 20th Century Fox panel.

Comikaze in Kearny Mesa (Beth Accomando)

The San Diego Comic-Con is in full swing and Friday at 10am there's a panel called Retail Relevance, all about comic book stores. I spoke with a couple of local comic book store owners and a comics writer about the challenges of working in today's comic industry for a KPBS radio feature (you can listen if you don't feel like reading).

As you enter Comickaze, you're engulfed by comics and graphic novels stuffed onto shelves, spread across wire racks, and piled high in boxes. Owner Robert Scott has been running the store for almost 16 years and he's seen some changes over the years.

Well folks, the annual video game pilgrimage that is E3 just wrapped up, and chances are - like every year - you were left out in the cold, shivering and mumbling curses at the attendees of this industry-only event.  Never fear, the gaming industry will have a nice warm fire for you at Comic-Con (Dear Fire Marshal, this is an expression, I have no knowledge of any arsonist plans by the gaming industry at Comic-Con).  Activision, Capcom, EA, Marvel, Midway, Sierra, Sony, THQ, Ubisoft... the list goes on.  They will all be vying for your attention at the Con.

Video game companies even have some plans for you that the lucky punks of E3 didn't get to experience.  You'll be the first ever to test out Sony's new MMO, DC Universe Online.  Firesky will be showing off their MMO, Stargate Worlds, based on the wildly popular TV show.  And, if you don't count the Japanese (our archrivals in the getting-games-first war), you'll be one of the first in the world to try out Street Fighter IV.

Now, to the panels.  Here are my top 10 picks. 

Last year, Comic-Con had a fabulous panel called Image Comics: The Founders. The event rounded up all the key players in the ground-breaking company — Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino. The group reunited for Image's amazing 15th anniversary. Image gained fame when these seven top artists broke away from Marvel and DC.  The company is now famous for its  creator-owned line of comics. Listen to these comics greats reminisce about the founding of Image Comics. Thanks to Comic-Con for highlight footage for our news coverage.

The Image Comics Booth is #2729. Stop by and see what's new. They will present Image Comics Show (Friday, 4:00-5:00 PM, Room 7AB) and Tori Amos (Saturday, 11:30 AM, Toom 6B).

Batman beats Spider-man... at least at the box office (Warner Brothers / Sony)

It's official. The Dark Knight just broke the box office record for biggest opening weekend, formerly set by rival superhero Spider-Man (3) last year. The Dark Knight is also the fourth superhero film based on a comic to hit this summer (following Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and Hellboy II, and five if you count Wanted's Wesley as a superhero). So is it any wonder that Hollywood has a big presence at Comic-Con? If you watched the Guillermo del Toro video, he comments on how the expansion of comics into movies and gaming has helped keep the publishing end of the business alive. I just interviewed a pair of San Diego comic book store owners who had strikingly similar reports from the retail trenches in regards to Hollywood and the comics industry.