A few lucky folks at Comic-Con have been able to test out the MMO DC Universe Online, and reports are starting to come in about the gameplay experience.

Over at Newsarama, the game gets a positive early review:

The character I was playing was called Rockslide, who had earth-based powers (similar to Terra from the Teen Titans), a staff and – my favorite part – super speed. The controls are similar to other Playstation games, where the buttons allow you to perform basic movies – two different attacks, jump and pick stuff up – while holding the R2 button and hitting the buttons lets you access your various super powers. I had a proximity attack that blew the earth out from under my enemies, I could fire boulders out of my staff and I could make crystals pop up out of the ground under my enemies, causing damage.

The coolest part, though, was when I hit the right joystick and turned on the Speed Force. Throwing rocks at my enemies and slamming them with my staff was cool and all, but you’d expect that in any superhero-based MMO. Having my character run through the streets of Metropolis at super speed, trailed by what looked like the Speed Force that all comic fans know from the comics? That’s the kind of detail this game needed to really set it apart. And from what I’ve seen so far, it has it in spades.

Meanwhile, Newsarama also reported extensively on the panel and preview for the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DCU game.

Superman battled Sub-Zero in a ruined Metropolis, slowing the icy warrior with his freeze breath. Batman battled Scorpion in hell, trading Batarangs and grappling spears. Catwoman used her agility to get in a few bloody scratches on Shang Tsung. Finally, the Flash darted around Soyna, leaving her spinning and dazed before running her off a cliff, the pair trading blows all the way down before the Flash got the upper hand and whipped his opponent into the ground, creating a small crater.

Fan-favorite creator Joss Whedon is just about everywhere this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, promoting his groundbreaking Internet series Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog [here’s my recent interview with Joss Whedon on Doctor Horrible] as well as his work on various comic book spin-offs from his popular TV series Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among other television and film projects.

I had a chance to sit down with Whedon recently to discuss The Shepherd’s Tale, his upcoming miniseries featuring the enigmatic Derrial "Shepherd" Book, a character from Firefly whose origins remain one of the series most popular unresolved threads. We also spent some time chatting about the current comics based upon Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as his thoughts on bringing characters back from the dead.

COMICMIX: With The Shepherd’s Tale, why is Shepherd Book the first character from Firefly to get a solo story?

JOSS WHEDON: I’ve done a breakdown of the story. I think Jim Krueger is going to write the actual script. The biggest mystery of what we never got to tell is Shepherd’s backstory. Everybody knew there was something more than just being Shepherd in there. And poor Ron [Glass] came to me during the strike and said, "I’m going to another convention. You’ve got to give me something." It’s been a number of years and they always ask [about Shepherd]. I said, "You know what, it has been long enough and this isn’t something I’m going to save for the sequel that may never happen, so we’ll make a comic book out of it."

Because it’s an interesting story, really. It’s the single most-asked question: "What’s up with Book?" And now we’re going to answer that.

CMIX: Have you considered doing spin-offs for any of the other Serenity characters?

JW: I’m spending a lot of time with the Buffy comic and that series just lends itself to the medium very well. The Serenity comics are a bit harder to pull together, so I haven’t focused on them as much.

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In a few short years actress Jamie Chung has began to establish herself as one of the most sought-after young actresses working in Hollywood. From her first apperance as a cast member of MTV’s Real World San Diego through appearances on Days of Our Lives, Veronica Mars and CSI: New York, Jamie’s career continues to advance into bigger and more challenging roles.

More recently, Jamie is co-starring as Chi Chi in the Dragonball feature film based on the hugely popular media franchise and will be starring in ABC Family’s mini-series Samurai Girl, which debuts in September, as the title character Heaven. We caught up with Jamie recently at the San Diego Comic-Con to talk with her a bit about Samurai Girl, her character and how she feels naked without a sword.

COMICMIX: Hi Jamie, thanks for talking to us.

JAMIE CHUNG: Sure, my pleasure.

CMix: So, tell us a bit about your character in Samuari Girl.

JC: Sure. She’s a 19 year old girl named Heaven who’s adopted by one of the wealthiest families in Japan. During some tragic events she ends up finding out her family is influenced by the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia.

In an effort to find out how involved her family is with the mafia, she also discovers that she’s a part of some ancient prophecy which leads her to question who she really is and makes her go a journey of self-discovery to find out the truth about herself and where she comes from.

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