Comic-Con closes after 4 days of pop culture fun

[July 26, 2010]  SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Light cycles, wizards, vampires and superheroes made for another colorful Comic-Con.

San Diego's annual pop-culture convention wrapped up Sunday after four days of comic books, costumes, celebrity appearances and TV and movie previews.

A new take on "Tron," the latest "Harry Potter" film, HBO's "True Blood" and Marvel's "The Avengers" were among the highlights of the 41st annual festival.

More than 120,000 fans attended the sold-out event at the San Diego Convention Center. They came for the toys and collectibles, the people-watching and a chance to see early footage from anticipated films.

"I was just focusing on `Tron,'" said Michael Faustino, 28, who has been coming to Comic-Con since 2004. He also picked up some Tron and G.I. Joe toys.

The filmmakers and cast of "Tron: Legacy" showed footage from the film Thursday to some 6,000 fans. Stars Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner, Garrett Hedlund, director Joe Kosinski and creator Steven Lisberger answered fan questions and presented a never-before-seen clip in 3-D. "Tron: Legacy" hits theaters in December.

The penultimate installment in the "Harry Potter" movie series also drew big crowds. Star Tom Felton offered fans a first look at part one of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," due in theaters in November.

Anna Paquin, Steven Moyer and other members of the "True Blood" cast presented clips of their popular show to a crowd of vampire lovers, while the superhero set was treated to a surprise announcement of "The Avengers" cast.

Samuel L. Jackson made an unexpected appearance at the event Saturday to present the cast of the Marvel superhero movie, which includes Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr., along with newly announced Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

Other highlights included a surprise screening of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" followed by a concert by rock band Metric and appearances by Harrison Ford and Angelina Jolie.

But not everyone was interested in movie news. For JaVonna Boykin, Comic-Con is all about the costumes. The 19-year-old wore different outfits each day of the convention. On Sunday, she was dressed as her version of Poison Ivy, with a neon green wig and a skirt made of felt leaves.

"This costume took a month to make," she said.

Teague Hamilton of San Diego has been coming to Comic-Con for 13 years to collect artwork, but "the best thing here is always just the people watching."

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Online:

http://www.comic-con.org/

[Associated Press; By SANDY COHEN]

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