I suppose it’s a sign of the times when there’s speculation and confirmation about an actress coming to Comic Con even when she isn’t appearing in a comics-based movie. The Hollywood Reporter’s saying now that Angelina Jolie will, indeed, be showing up at SDCC but it won’t be for WANTED 2 (as you’ve probably surmised from her recent statements.) She’s actually promoting her new movie, the spy actioner SALT, for Columbia in the same presentation that BATTLE: LOS ANGELES will be previewed at. Seeing as how she’s been Fox, Lara Croft and the eye-patch-wearing pilot in SKY CAPTAIN, I suppose you could say Jolie’s got enough cred at this point to be considered a comics character herself.
You know, I’ve gone to Comic Con for the past couple years and I’ve listened to all the commentary about movies “taking over” the show. I’m, of course, leery of comics possibly getting edged out what’s supposed to be something specifically devoted to their celebration. However, having gone to conventions all over the country for the past five years, I still say it’s plainly obvious that SDCC’s comics portion still dwarfs that of any other show - - even ones supposedly devoted entirely to comics. Even if you entirely cut out all the movie parties, TV panels and video game booths… the show would still be overwhelming. And if you look at the staggering programming schedule, most of those panels are still about comics. So why worry about all this stuff that's there in addition to the base?
The other funny thing is that I could easily see SALT as comic, anyway. Maybe something written by Greg Rucka or Ed Brubaker and drawn by Marc Andreyko or Tommy Lee Edwards. I also think it’s funny that, supposedly, the script was originally written for Tom Cruise and then rewritten to fit Jolie.
-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Studios and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia. Pre-order the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover now on Amazon.com.
