Can’t you just see Michael Bay (who is, by the way, a demon of some sort sent here to dull our minds and spirits…beware him) pitching this idea? “It’s “Little Red Riding Hood,” but this time she’s pissed and has big guns. And there’s this big thing…a robot maybe…and it goes VRROOOMMM! And then it explodes…and…”  Well, you get the idea.

Now, I’m all for interesting takes on old stories, and the word “reboot” doesn’t immediately send me running for the hills. I’m a case-by-case basis sort of guy. Some ideas are worth re-examining. I’m personally calling for someone to finally make a good “Logan’s Run.” I think that movie has a great premise and just needs a little updating.  Some ideas on the other hand, not so much. “Planet of the Apes,” anyone?

So…I just gave you $150 million bucks and challenged you to find a movie you could remake or reboot…what do you choose?

Berke Breathed gave his very first San Diego Comic Con Panel talk on Friday, and it was a truly great event.  I tweeted about it live, and did a quick makeshift recording. I wasn’t sure I was even going to make it into the room, so I wasn’t fully set up when he started, and overall, I apologize for the poor quality of the piece. As I say in the intro, I would probably normally not post such a thing, but due to who it is we’re talking about, I’ll let you muddle through on your own.

There are references to slides on a screen here, so that might be a little hard to follow, but overall, I think you’ll find some very interesting stuff here. He even gets to be nicely controversial about the recent Pulitzer Prize Winners Letter about freedom of speech right at the very end. Whoo!

I went to a signing on Saturday with Berke, just to stand in line and ask him if it was all right that I posted this, and he gave me the thumbs up…so enjoy!

Sideshow collectables does amazing work.

The pvc plastics industry must worship George Lucas for keeping business flowing.

Very nice Whiplash character. Might be my favorite so far.

Here are some shots!

Francesco Marcuiliano poses with a childhood idol.

Darth Vader brings us the head of Jar Jar.  I never liked Vader more.

Nice Batman and Catwoman.

I am Galactus! Devourer of worlds! Maker of podcasts! Fear me!

Impressive Voltron suit.  Makes ya wonder how he/she pees.

Brad Guigar and Kris Straub…giants in the webworld and darn nice men.

Tom Richmond! Boy, can he draw. And nice guns, dude.

I’ve written Mr. B several times, and he’s written very nice responses back. I’ve conducted two email interviews with him, and we’ve come thisclose to getting him on the show. He knew my name right away when I introduced myself, gave me a warm smile and a firm handshake, and then signed my copy of Volume 1 of the hard bound “Bloom County” compendium, which has now pretty much become a family heirloom. It was a wonderful Convention moment, and one of the reasons you should go to things like this. They can be madhouses, but they can bridge gaps between creators and fans, and give us a chance to, for just a moment, look them in the eye and say “thank you.”  There’s not a comic on the planet I’ve enjoyed more than “Bloom County;” “The Far Side” runs a close second…but if I’m on a desert island, I’m taking all of these hardcover editions of the complete series with me.

As they say, if there’s no pictures, it didn’t happen, so here they are:

Berke signing while I’m waiting on line for him. Left handed! Therefore a genius like myself.

Chatting with another adoring fan. He’s doing three days of signings after this…I wonder how perky he’ll be on Saturday?

He posed nicely for a photo, taken by the wonderful Lucas Turnbloom, who got his book signed right after mine.

I also bought a limited edition Comic Con special shirt of Opus and Bill the Cat dressed up in a mish mosh of sci-fi/comic characters which you can see here (I love that Bill the Cat is wearing a stormtrooper helmet as a diaper):