How fast time flies! A week ago today, we were all hitting the convention floor, and having to battle for seats to the Masters of Web panel. I can't believe it's all over -- and I can't believe I haven't recovered. The bright-eyed Lara Croft you saw only days ago is barely recognizable in the physical wreck that I am now. Despite the toll it takes every year, I'm always sorry when it ends. I miss San Diego, the ocean, the fabulous tacos at the Tin Fish, and the surprises around every corner. But most of all, I miss meeting up with my friends after a long day of panels, enjoying my well-earned dinner, and showing off my swag. While I'm happy to be home in my own bed, and snuggling with my pug, I can't help but miss the thrills of con. So, it's my turn to recap my favorite moments of the con, and hope that those of you who were there have recovered enough to share yours, too.

-- The Watchmen panel. Maybe the Q&A wasn't all that great (no fault of those onstage), but the footage was just so cool. There is a lot of film footage trotted out at SDCC, and while much of it is cool, very little is jaw-dropping. 300 was probably the last time I was truly impressed with what I saw in Hall H, Watchmen may have topped it. (It's even convinced my mom to read the graphic novel! Let's all cheer!)

-- The Owl Ship. The floor displays this year were pretty tame, but this would take the cake in any given year. Whenever I doubt that anyone at SDCC has read a comic book, something like the Owl Ship lands and sends everyone into a nerdy tizzy. At any given time, you could find a crowd exclaiming over it, not because it was from a movie, but because it was from a comic book. Amazing.

The RocknRolla adventure, unfortunately, kept me away from the Punisher: War Zone party and panel, which I had every intention of attending and covering for all of you. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing, since the talk of the convention wasn't the panel or its footage, but of director Lexi Alexander's departure from the project. Obviously the news surprised me, although the timing did not. It was obvious from the scheduling that Lionsgate was trying to bury the panel -- if a studio is trying to sell their new comic book movie, they generally don't schedule a panel at 8:00pm when the geeks are out feasting and drinking. They put it at 2:00pm in Hall H and give us a free t-shirt.

Now, this movie could be terrible. This movie could be pure awesome. I don't know, I'm certainly not going to judge it or Alexander's direction at this stage. But it frustrates me to see any movie this badly handled, its chances of being successful destroyed before it even gets to a theatrical trailer. I just don't understand how or why it happens when the ultimate goal of a movie (from the studio perspective, anyway) is to turn a profit.

This whole debacle has made me a very sad panda. First, for Alexander, who I admire purely from a feminist standpoint. Female directors are too far and few between, and it was exciting to see one not only directing an action movie, but one based on a comic book. I wanted her to succeed in a big way -- and I hope that whatever happens with this film, she has a solid career kicking cinematic ass. At least some studio people are in her corner -- according to MTV Movies, producer Deborah Del Prete says she and Alexander are working together on an adaptation of a little-known British fantasy novel. (I hate teases like that.) So at least she's not persona non grata yet, which is a relief. We need chicks like her in the business.

And I especially feel for Ray Stevenson, who I had the privilege to meet on Thursday afternoon. (See the photo above -- oh, for the days when you could be photographed next to the celebrity in question!) Like a lot of people, I know him mostly as Titus Pullo from HBO's brilliant series Rome. If you haven't seen this series, dear readers, you need to finish this post and then hit your preferred rental outlet. You will love it, and you will love Stevenson in it. You will not doubt that he is capable of being an excellent Punisher.

I've been rooting for this movie to make it largely because Stevenson deserves a bigger career -- and having met him now, it really does break my heart that this movie is getting the run-around. He was so friendly and enthusiastic, and really wants to do justice to the character. (Oh yeah, and he was incredibly handsome. Damn. They make such nice men in the UK.) I haven't attended a lot of promotional signings, but often they are dull and duty-bound affairs. Stevenson and Tim Bradstreet seemed happy to be there meeting everyone. And if they were pulling off that level of enthusiasm despite the Alexander news, then they really deserve a round of applause.

And so, Lionsgate, from one girl who willingly queued to meet your new Punisher, who did it as a fan and not a member of the press, I beg you to do right by this film. It's obvious that all involved worked hard on it and care about it, and they deserve to have their faith rewarded. Don't hack at it, slap a heavy metal soundtrack on it, and shove it out into theatres. Do whatever it takes to make a good film. Your profit margin will thank you, fans of the character will worship you, and you can take your place in the comic book franchise world.

As we sat at a rather tame (but fun!) Masters of Web party, Erik Davis kept showing me the comments that were being left on his hotties of con post -- a category that I honestly don't feel I belong in! But I appreciate the compliments of my bosses and our readers, so thanks! Amidst the post-con stupor that is hanging over San Diego today, I thought I'd give you a little insight as to what it's like to hit the floor in costume. If you've been to con, you've probably taken a photo with someone like me, or at least wondered how or why we do it.

Frankly, I can't even explain the why. I like making costumes, I like wearing them, and I like having my obsessive attention to detail appreciated by others. But I still experience a level of total embarrassment upon walking out of my hotel room. Hell, I even experience it as I strap on my guns. I can't believe I'm doing this. Last year, it clung throughout the two days I spent in costume because the responses to Croft and Queen Gorgo were so tepid -- but this year it vanished as soon as I walked in and was mobbed. (Ok, it didn't entirely vanish -- meeting the lovely Lena Headey while dressed this way was pretty cringe-worthy. I wouldn't exactly want to meet Hugh Jackman or Gerard Butler while sporting those implants, either.)

I meant to write this up last night, but you don't know how dead tired I was. I'm running on about one meal a day, which isn't hugely unusual for me, but when you're covering roughly 9 miles a day (that's the estimated distance of a few circles round the old convention center) and sprinted to a press roundtable, you need carbs. And I'm living on Starbucks.

Anyway, after the accidental sit-in of Race to Witch Mountain, I kicked back for Wolverine Vs. Hulk. It turned into one of the con moments you just kind of cherish -- and one I wish I could have shared last night, when it was fresher in my mind. I was sitting next to a really cool guy, who finally asked me "So, you're really just here to watch this because you want to?" I guess chicks are a rarity at this kind of screening. "Oh yes, I'm one of those people who buy all Wolverine's solo series!" "Well, cool!" (By the way, if you're reading this Hall H friend, hi!) I love when I get to share panels with cool people, when you can talk back and forth, laugh hysterically and groan aloud at the face pounding. It's what can make or break ComicCon for me.

I'm sorry Frank Miller. I dig you, I do. But I'm officially off The Spirit bandwagon now. We saw the trailer, we saw three scenes, we heard the same pitches that have been all over the Internet, and I am just not feeling it anymore.

Let's go into a description of the footage first. We saw three scenes throughout the course of the panel. One of Eva Mendes swimming, having just pulled off some jewel heist. Technically, it was lovely, as it looked like she was underwater when she wasn't (one of the first uses of a "phantom camera" in film, apparently) -- but the scene made little sense. The Octopus was shooting, there were close-ups of his mouth, her accomplice is shot, and it ends with her "Shut up and bleed" line from the trailer. The second was a "love scene" between Ellen Dolan and the Spirit. Again, we get a glimpse of this in the trailer, when he slams her against the blinds. Their consummation is thwarted by the Commissioner, accompanied by a painfully overacted Morgenstern, who the Spirit promptly seduces. The last scene was a one on one fight between the Octopus and the Spirit. They wrestle in the mud, they hit each other with giant wrenches, they punch each other hundreds of times, and Octopus hits the Spirit with a toliet, exclaiming "Toliets are always funny!" It was like 300 (smoky red lighting, weird filming speed) by way of Looney Toons.

Watchmen was, hands down, the best panel I've seen at con this year. (It also had the best swag -- a "Who Watches the Watchmen?" t-shirt!) I don't think I have been as stunned by preview film footage since Zack Snyder brought 300 two years ago. I don't think even Snyder's detractors can deny that he can turn out some cool footage. And let's just cut to my paltry description of it, as I know all many of you out there would have killed to be in my place. If you haven't read the book, here be spoilers.

The Watchmen scenes were literally goosebump inducing, and so much more than an extended trailer. It was set to a really eerie choir piece (any attendees know the name of that?) and began with a close-up of a certain smiley-face button dripping with blood. We saw a more gruesome version of Vietnam, with Dr. Manhattan's incineration being just a little more vicious somehow, and an extended version of his being stripped away, intercut with Osterman assembling clock pieces, and knocking down milk bottles at a state fair. Rorschach was the center of an especially chilling scene of his examination of the Comedian's apartment, and we saw his mask in action. It looks fantastic and very organic, not CGI at all.

The story behind my RocknRolla coverage could actually be a Guy Ritchie film -- you'd have to add a few car chases and shoot-outs, but I think the framework is there. Due to the insanity of Hall H, I decided I would sit through the next three panels in order to be guaranteed a seat at RocknRolla. My phone rings. "RocknRolla press. Here's the room. You've got five minutes." I grab my tape recorder, and phone, and I run. I run up the escalator, yoga and stomach crunches actually paying off as I arrive with only the minor warnings of a heart attack.

And once I get in, what befalls me? Only an entire slew of strange technical difficulties -- my tape recorder refused to record, as did my cell phone, and my cell phone camera decided to take half the photo in blinding white, half in black. Naturally, everything worked outside the room, so go figure, and thank goodness for good old fashioned pen and paper, eh? There must have been something on my face -- shock, fear, or the paleness of impending death / bad coverage because Gerard Butler took one look at me, and stuck his tongue out in a "Total insanity, right?!" face. (At least, that's how I interpreted it. I hope he wasn't commenting on my appearance or broken tape recorder.)

This was a real accidental panel for me to have attended. The lines proved impossible to navigate for Fox and Summit, and I lacked the studio credentials to bypass the Hall H morass -- so I ducked in as soon as it was quiet and prepared to relax to Disney. But the Race to Witch Mountain panel was anything but relaxing. It wasn't full, but those who were there were serious diehards of the original, so the questions thrown at director Andy Fickman, and stars Carla Gugino and Dwayne Johnson were a little intense. Here's the key points, gleaned from the Q&A:

-- Race is not a sequel or a remake, but a re-imagining. They went back to the original book for inspiration, and tried to incorporate everything, but while writing a new mythology.
-- All were huge fans of the original, which drew them to the project. Johnson is particularly fond of Disney projects due to his young daughter, Gugino jumped at the chance to do a departure from the original.
-- Delving deeply into the UFO movement, essentially a UFO story.
-- More action packed to keep with the book, and also to keep up with the likes of the Harry Potter movies. Fans of the original will find Winnebagos to delight them, new fans won't have to have seen the old ones to get the story.
-- Gugino plays a "discredited astrophysicist" and Johnson a cab driver. The kids are aliens. Much ass is kicked by all the characters.
-- The original kids, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann, are in it. People went absolutely crazy at this, and it's hinted their part is large, but no other details were forthcoming.
-- Fickman said the closest comparison to the movie was 48 Hrs or the Bourne movies. Seriously.

Tron is back ... and after the jump ...

What a day! It's so awesome to be back in San Diego, quite possibly the prettiest city in the United States. The weather is perfect and breezy, the town bedecked with ComicCon banners, and even the light rail is decorated with the girls of The Spirit. It's mecca for geeks and movie lovers alike. I'm absolutely wiped, though. This is the first Preview Night I've ever attended and surprise, surprise, it's the craziest one on record! As always, the Exhibit Hall is a dizzying wonder.

I toured with two con newbies (one of whom is my fangirl mom) and their bewilderment is hilarious. "I just -- wow. I never thought it was this huge! And so many people!" The hall was already packed, some of whom are already in costume which is a dedication I can't even muster. Every booth had an enormous line and for nothing in particular -- when you ask those waiting so patiently, all you get is "NECA." "Mezco." "Mattel." When you ask what hot exclusive they're waiting for, they just shrug and say "Whatever they've got. It's exclusive." Ah, the collectibles market!