Comic Con 2009 just strolled into New York City at the Jacob Javits Center Feb. 6-8, with costumed, living and breathing action figures walking the floor, as well as skin-bearing women in soldier-girl bikinis. Newsday had some good coverage, along with some top-notch photos (below) of the liveliness taking place at an event featuring Chewbacca, Predator, Stormtroopers, and various superheroes.  The software industry might be based significantly around conferences, but I bet if you see Chewbacca walking around on a show floor, it's probably just a really tall guy that needs a haircut (maybe me on a bad hair day!).

I have never been much of a big comic book reader- I can only read bubbles for so long- but I'm a big fan of superheroes. However, I have mixed feelings toward the superhero live action movie trend that has swept over Hollywood in recent years. My main problem is that they're making way too many movies, and then they're rolling out sequel after sequel. Yeesh! And some of them are superbly terrible. Take for instance "Ghost Rider" starring Nicholas Cage. I had the misfortune of sitting through a significant portion of that film before I had to turn it off. The acting and dialogue was absolutely pathetic (did I mention Nicholas Cage was the lead?) and the effects, specifically those around the main villain, were very poorly done. If you take anything from this blog, it should be to not see "Ghost Rider!" Other superhero flops include Ben Affleck's "Daredevil" from a few years back, the first "Hulk" and "Sin City," which wasn't nearly as bad as some of the others, just a waste of talent.    

In my eyes, there are only three real superheroes: Superman, Batman...and Blankman! Truly a classic. Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier show up all the big stars that have tried to portray superheroes.  

I think pretty soon, Hollywood is going to begin running out of star actors to play these superheroes. They've already used Cage, Affleck, Robert Downey Jr., George Clooney, Edward Norton, Eric Bana, Toby Maguire, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry to name just a few. Pretty soon, we're going to see Woody Allen playing Aquaman. Picture the diminuitive director standing there on the dock, peering down into the ocean. "That water looks a little cold. Do you think perhaps you could provide me with a wet suit, or some sort of flotation device?" Let's hope that doesn't come about.