San Diego Comic Con: SPIDER-MAN designs, Green Goblin glider, Daily Bugle...

Hey folks, Harry here at the biggest best comic extravaganza in the world. That's right... THE SAN DIEGO COMIC CON... the con doesn't get started proper till tomorrow... but I've been there for hours already. What've I been up to? Well checking out alot of comic company booths... like DARK HORSE (and their very cool MONKEY BONE statue that I want), DIAMOND DISTRIBUTING (and their McFarlane Monster series toys, Monkey Bone Toys, Ray Harryhausen toys, etc) DC (and their full size Green Lantern lantern, Bottled City of Kandor, Billy Batson/Captain Marvel 2 figure set, Watchmen figures, etc) and finally.... MARVEL.

Now... I don't know if it was just my personal perception... but I got the idea that Marvel's set up felt like a man with a 35 inch cock swinging it around going.... OH YEAH BABY... I RULE! I mean, X-MEN kicked fucking ass, and they know it. They're handing out all sorts of free X-MEN stuff... and because it's a great friggin movie... people are actually picking the stuff up (in stark contrast to the BATTLEFIELD EARTH/SCIENTOLOGY table) Well... At this huge display they were playing some groovy 80's tunes, and there are these television screens sort of exhibiting... "HOW MARVEL IS GOING TO RULE YOUR WORLD!" sort of programming. Highlights from the X-MEN movie, the cartoon series, and suddenly... the SHO-WEST SPIDER-MAN trailer I saw long ago. Then... without warning...

Sam Raimi is sitting on the 40th floor of a Los Angeles high rise... feet dangling off of the top of the building... He takes off his sunglasses and begins enthusing about SPIDER-MAN... Talking about his childhood love... exhibiting his exact passion for the character of Peter Parker... Talking about the disenfranchised smart as hell kid that discovers that with great powers comes great responsibilities... He talks about his geekiness and awkwardness.... Then he begins talking about the universe he lives in.... and we see pre-production art of the DAILY BUGLE building.... Folks... I almost passed out... I had no idea that I would react like this to the Daily Bugle building.... The design was an older building... You know that building at TIME SQUARE that is sort of triangular with the point facing you.... well it's that style building... with the letters spelling DAILY BUGLE going down the entire angle of the front... written in a Baroque-ish fashion.... I could just imagine on the top floor... right to the left of the D.... J. Jonah Jameson screaming at Robie and Betty Bryant as Puny Parker wondering why his check isn't quite what it ought to be, and how it will barely pay for Aunt May's medicine. I suppose... that my imagination kicks into overdrive sometimes...

They also showed designs for a lab.... all very flash edited in, but I believe from the size and scope and angle of the shot... that this is the lab that Peter and his classmates take the tour of... and I'd be willing to bet that this was a P.O.V. of a certain 8-legged ill fated arachnid that is soon to be irradiated and then bite hold of a certain bookworm.

Then Raimi begins talking about SPIDER-MAN... There were a flurry of designs... but there was one in particular that they repeatedly showed. Now... this is very hard to... DESCRIBE... in actuality... You know what old rope netting looks like... well imagine that if you were to line draw it. The costume looks very much like the SPIDER-MAN costume... but instead of the fine line webbing... it has that thicker... rougher look to it. And it also looks a bit meaner looking. I REALLY LIKE THIS DESIGN... the black spider on the chest... it's there. Now, I don't know if the colors are red and blue or red and black... there were no color renderings, but from what we've heard on the site... it'll be red and black... which should look snazzy as hell.

Raimi confirmed that he's keeping the fleshy webshooters as opposed to the mechanical ones... but then showed how he felt it added to the character. He grabbed the cuffs of his coat.. and held them in the palms of his hands and said... "In addition, Peter will be walking down the hallways like this..." and did that... "It's just one more thing that he feels ashamed of." Cool... I accept it, I would prefer mechanical... but that's a nitpick... and like I said in my X-MEN review... stop being a fanboy idiot kneejerk bastard... If our quibble is... "Yeah, but they should have been mechanical" well... we should be so lucky.

He mentioned the SnowBoarder material for Spider-Man's costume... now... having seen those SnowBoarder folks go... well, that material is pretty darn cool... it isn't spandex... it's not leather... it's not latex.... it's possibly cool and different. AND IT WON'T BE SOLID BLACK... Raimi also commented that Spidey will not move stiffly as though flying on wires... but rather.. dynamic and balletic in form. Graceful and beautiful... He says something along the lines that the audience should feel awe... by this moment.

Next he talked about Green Goblin and Dr Octopus.... They showed the Goblin pre-design art for his glider... and frankly... it looks like his Goblin glider... You know... like a TIE INTERCEPTOR's wing with a foot plate for either side. And the Goblin will have ALL OF HIS COMIC WEAPONRY.

Doc Ock? sigh... perfectly describes him.

If you are coming to this con... know that you'll most likely see me standing there in front of that damn monitor... with a goofy smile on my face... staring at Raimi... hoping his film is as good as his enthusiasm. If Sam is reading this... You hooked me. Now go make the best fucking movie you can. Kick my ass. This could be a great great film... in the fashion of Michael Curtiz .... a true adventure... I can't wait.