Author: Glenn Hauman

Returning for an unprecedented third year to the
fans and convention that started it all is TRON: Legacy, and if there’s ever going to be a film that can say it did everything to cultivate the audience, it’s this one.

As you may remember, it started two years ago when the director brought a visual test of the film to see if you could just make it look cool…

…and got such a huge buzz that the film was given a full go ahead.

Then last year, Disney went ahead and built Flynn’s Arcade in San Diego during the con, populated it with all the old games and made up some direct from the original movie, and released a new trailer, which also hinted at why they were going to delay one more year– a 3D version:

And now this year, after a skydiver came into WonderCon during an improved panel with Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan playing their roles from the Tron Universe, people have been waiting to see what’s next. So people packed Hall H to see cast members Jeff Bridges, Garrett
Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner, director Joe Kosinski, and producers
Sean Bailey and Steven Lisberger, and all moderated by comedian ubergeek Patton Oswalt.

First off: the film’s finished. All done. And all shot in 3D, no upconversion. They’re saying that the 3D is even an improvement on Avatar‘s tech. Of course, it’s going to look even more impressive when compared against the special effects from the original film 28 years ago.

Jeff Bridges will be playing dual roles, one at his current age and one from the time of his first film.

And in one last piece of fan participation, the audience of eight thousand people was asked to shout certain words, and Skywalker Sound recorded it for later usage in the movie. Vinnie Bartilucci commented,  “Man, the imdb page is gonna be HUGE…”

And yes, there’s a new trailer, which we’ll post as soon as we have it. UPDATE: And here it is:

Tron Legacy opens in regular, 3D, and IMAX 3D theaters on December 17th, 2010.

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On July 16, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio, the Postal
Service™ issued a 44-cent, Sunday Funnies commemorative stamps honoring five of our most beloved comic strips:
Beetle Bailey, Calvin and Hobbes, Archie, Garfield, and Dennis the
Menace, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20
stamps, designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland.

Presumably, the logic is that if you collect comics, you can probably be lured into becoming a stamp collector too… and I’ve heard worse ideas to balance the federal budget.

Are you ready?

Have you gotten your gills implanted? Gotten your reservations set on the cruise ships? Put money in an interest bearing account to pay for all of this when you withdraw it in half a century?

If so, you’re ready for San Diego Comic-Con 91!

Personally, I’m looking forward to Will Pfeifer finally getting that special Eisner Visionary Award for being the first person to write about Sub Diego in the comics, way back when in 2004. Now that it’s been underwater for decades, this honor is long overdue.

Comic-book writer Harvey
Pekar, whose autobiographical comic series American Splendor was made into a 2003 Oscar nominated film
starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey in addition to Harvey appearing as himself,
has been found dead in his Ohio home. He was 70.

Cleveland Heights police Capt. Michael Cannon says
officers were called to Pekar’s home by his wife Joyce Brabner about 1 a.m. Monday.
Cannon says Pekar had been suffering from prostate cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and depression. Coroner’s spokesman Powell Caesar in Cleveland says
an autopsy will be performed.
Pekar’s “American Splendor” comics, which he began
publishing in 1976, record his complaints about work, money and the day-to-day grind of life. The comic was done with stories from dozens of artists over the years in a wide variety of styles. Recently, the stories had begun to migrate to the web, as The Pekar Project.

He gained widespread notoriety from his appearances on Late Night With David Letterman, which can give you a video chronicle of the man. Here’s his last appearance on the show:

Our condolences to Joyce and the rest of Harvey’s family.