Published: Friday, 24th July, 2009 4:56pm

Comic Con shorts - day one

by Geek Chic

Print | Email

Comic Con shorts day one

* Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet from Lost) told fans of the show, well, very little about her character's fate following the shocking end of the last season. Having been given strict instructions from the show bosses, she told fans the only thing she could say was that Juliet will have survived 'if Sawyer's plan has worked'. The fact she then spent the afternoon signing merchandise for the remake of V which she is one of the leads in and is being given a big push at the show this weekend may make the more cynical among us worry.

* There was some very disappointed and (more) tearful emo types, after 10,000 Twilight fans (many of whom had queued outside the convention centre for more than 24 hours) queued to get into the venue's biggest hall - seating 6,500 to some of the cast of New Moon and early footage from the shoot.

* For the few who managed to sneak in amongst the Twilighters, the highlight of the day was getting a glimpse of more than half an hour of footage of James Cameron's Avatar. Due out in December, the film is widely tipped to be the film to prove 3D is for more than just animated kids' films. As well as the director himself, Sam Worthington (who after Terminator: Salvation is set to cement his role as a genre stalwart with this and Clash of the Titans), Sigourney Weaver, and Star Trek's Zoe Saldana. For those not lucky enough to see the jaw dropping footage in person, Cameron announced a 'social marketing experiment' on August 21 which will be 'Avatar Day'. IMAX 3D cinemas worldwide will be given fifteen minutes of Avatar footage to screen for free throughout the day, giving people a chance to see what all the fuss is about. In the meantime you can check out some of the panel here:

* Richard Hatch did a Q&A where he explained he was looking at ways to continue his association with the Battlestar Galactica Universe. Surreally, he's also doing public appearances in association with a company called soulgeek.com which is the world's only internet dating site for geeks. This meant I had a very surreal conversation with Hatch and the company's owner (who, coincidentally is the voice of Pop in the US Snap, Crackle and Pop adverts) about the difficulties of finding good geeks to date. Hmmmm.

* Not strictly Comic Con this (although he is set to make an appearance along with the cast of Torchwood bar Eve Myles who is too pregnant to fly, David Tennant and the cast of Being Human) but Russell T Davies has done an interview here which lots of people are talking about - seriously, I had no idea Torchwood was held in such esteem here, or that people would assume that as a Brit I would be an ambassador for it. Following THAT death and the backlash (it's airing here one episode a night over five nights in the same way it did in the UK and is causing the same brouhaha) RTD's response was <a href="http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/07/backlash-shmacklash-thats-torchwood-creator-russell-t-davies-reaction-to-the-outcry-over-the-death-of-gareth-david-lloyds.html">typically forthright</a> telling fans if they don't like that level of bleak to, well, go and watch Supernatural instead.

* Meanwhile, if The Jonas Brothers were scifi writers they would be The Winner Twins - 13-year-olds who are promoting their latest novel The Strand Prophecy. We walked past their stall late in the afternoon and they appeared to be getting mobbed by tweenie fans. I think they're angling to become a brand - with all that entails - like a sci-fi ish Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.

* For WWE geeks (what, there must be some other than me?) Ted DiBiase Jr - yes, the Million Dollar Man's kid - was here promoting The Marine II which is out on DVD/Bluray later in the year. He signed for fans for a couple of hours and was very charming indeed. He told us he was very happy to be getting a chance to step into John Cena's (pumped up) sneakers for the sequel, and had had a blast filming it. He wouldn't confirm rumours he was set to turn baby face in the run up to the film's release though. Meanwhile Rob Van Dam was meeting fans in a different area, and we witnessed him giving two 11-year-old boys a little pep talk on why they should work hard in school and respect their mum before he posed for a typically thumb-tastic picture with them.