It’s a monstrous SDCC special (and because Seb’s back to contribute again) and by christ there’s a lot to talk about. We couldn’t let a nugget of Scott Pilgrim or Phonogram news pass unmentioned. There’s also a little note about Kevin Smith’s Daredevil, IDW’s Ghostbusters, the new Watchmen posters, Mark Millar’s return to the Ultimate Universe and, er, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek…

It’s tricky enough keeping up with all the news coming out of San Diego even if you spend the extended weekend having the internet piped directly into your cold, cold veins. I was stuck in Ireland with nary an internet connection to be found, but was still able to keep my eyes out for a couple of bits of news about future installments in Comics Daily-favourite series that I knew were on the way. Most prominently, Bryan Lee O’Malley announced the title and release date - and unveiled the cover artwork - for volume five of the incomparable Scott Pilgrim. Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe is a slightly uninspiring title, even though it calls back the title of volume two (and the upcoming movie) - though perhaps it will still turn out to have relevance about which we won’t know until we read it. That cover artwork, however, is lovely - it’s perhaps a little strange that Ramona has now graced more covers in the series than Scott himself, but it’s nevertheless a terrific image, and has whet the appetite immensely for the painfully-far-away 4th February 2009. Longtime Comics Daily readers will already know just how much James loves the series, and since he introduced yours truly to it at the beginning of this year it’s become one of my Favourite Things In The World as well. Look for more giddy anticipation from both of us as February draws closer. (SP)

Another of our favourite comics saw a long-awaited publicity push at SDCC, as Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie were finally able to publicly unveil this promo postcard for volume two of Phonogram, subtitled “Singles Club”. Post-Suburban Glamour, it’s no longer so much of a surprise seeing Jamie’s art in colour, but it will be interesting to see how this shift in style affects Phonogram, given how perfectly-suited the first volume was to being in black-and-white. Gillen’s laugh-out-loud dialogue (”You there! With the ears!”) sets our anticipation levels to almost as high as those for Pilgrim 5, though - how many writers and artists would put so much effort and care into something as throwaway as a promotional postcard? If the series lives up to the potential entertainment value promised by the promo, then we’re in for something very special indeed come December… (SP)

Remember when Kevin Smith first came to comics and his name was not immediately synonymous with “lateness” (as it ultimately became over the course of that run?) Well, let me tell you, Smith’s Daredevil arc, “Guardian Devil”, is a classic story, and celebrating over a decade of Marvel Knights, Wizard Magazine got him, Palmiotti and Quesada to do a “creators commentary” and then Newsaskew scanned the whole damn thing. If you read that arc, you can’t fail to enjoy this. Perhaps the best part? Quesada suggesting that if Smith were to write a new Daredevil story, he and Palmiotti would re-unite to draw it. I know it’s not everyone’s taste, but I can think of few other things I’d like to see done with Daredevil than that. (JH)

Slightly lower-key, but interesting nevertheless, is the news that IDW have snagged the licence for a new Ghostbusters series. A couple of years back, this would have had me frothing with excitement, but I have to admit to being slightly apprehensive here. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I really enjoyed 88mph Studios’ short-lived series, despite the unsavoury business that ended up bringing about the apparent end of that particular venture, and so I wonder about the prospects of another series that carves out its own little expansion of the movies’ continuity. There’s a certain sense of “seen it all before” about a comics series that follows on from one of the films while being deliberately vague about reconciling the time periods - and although it’s proved a controversial viewpoint on here, I’ve never been all that impressed with IDW’s efforts with their licensed books. Still, Ghostbusters is Ghostbusters, and anything new is going to be worth keeping an eye on, especially if it’s created by people with genuine affection for the original. I won’t be dismissing this one before it’s even shown up, and I’ll certainly be buying it to start with - let’s hope it can prove a bit more successful in the long run than its predecessors. (SP)

While we all cower with terror at the thought of what Jeph Loeb might actually do with the Ultimate Universe over the coming months, there is at least one ray of light - Mark Millar has confirmed that he’ll be back writing the for the Ultimate Universe in 2009. He’s spare with the details, choosing to reveal, er, almost nothing, but it’s utterly impossible not to get excited about what this might mean for the franchise even as Loeb’s has us wonder what’ll be left of it afterwards… (JH)

At a convention that even got coverage in the UK press for the influence that proceedings now have on the movie industry, there was one word on everybody’s lips - Watchmen. Hot on the heels of a trailer that assailed the fears of the more superficially-minded geeks (I can’t lie - as brilliant as the trailer looked, I still don’t have confidence that the film will succeed in translating anything like the thematic depth of the original to the screen), to the extent that Kevin Smith came up with the one-liner of the weekend (”Thank God your visuals are so good!” to a less-than-verbose Snyder), SDCC attendees were treated to some further footage, and a series of one-sheet posters that, as with the trailer, do a decent job of replicating the visual style of the book, if nothing else. They’re an interesting batch - I’m particularly keen on the Ozymandias one, largely for the presence of Bubastis - and the combination of quotations directly from the book (you wonder if all these lines will even make it into the film - probably not) and the curious visual technique of having them look almost painted show an admirable attempt to keep the film’s origins clearly in the mind of your average punter (as with the trailer, we’re left in no doubt as to the fact that the film is based on an extremely acclaimed graphic novel). But is it all just hollow style, without any substance? The level of reverence seems akin to the way Bryan Singer treated the original Superman films when making Returns, and we all know how that one ended up feeling so wanting of any original substance of its own. Still, those are all questions for closer to the movie’s release - for now, we can at least drink in these eerily-accurate visual homages, and breathe easily in the knowledge that we’re not getting Arnie as Doctor Manhattan leading a grim and gritty vigilante team called “The Watchmen”… (SP)

It’s not really comics-related, but I’m sure nerds everywhere will be interested in my latest Den of Geek article, “5 Reasons to be worried about the new Star Trek movie” in which I let fly every nerd rant I’ve got about the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek remake. (JH)

Tags: Bryan Lee O'Malley, Daredevil, Ghostbusters, Jamie McKelvie, Kevin Smith, Kieron Gillen, Mark Millar, Phonogram, Scott Pilgrim, Star Trek, Watchmen
Publisher: The Sunday Pages