Lots of big stars but little big news at Comic-Con

Is it yet time to consider the rise and fall of Comic-Con?

A few short years ago, as the annual Comics Convention in San Diego drifted from cult gathering to full-blown industry shindig, it became fashionable to argue that this “Nerdenberg Rally” was fast elbowing aside conventional film festivals such as Cannes, Toronto and Berlin. When the 2010 event wound up last weekend, however, worthwhile revelations, sensations and reversals proved thin on the ground.

It seems that Ryan Reynolds, star of the upcoming Green Lantern, charmed a wee boy by reciting the superhero's catchphrase. The trailer for Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens, an adaptation of (what else?) a key graphic novel and starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford,

is said to have sent the congregation into raptures of delight. There was news of casting decisions for The Avengers, but none surprised anybody whose ear had recently been in contact with the ground: Mark Ruffalo will be taking over from Ed Norton as The Hulk; Jeremy Renner is playing Hawkeye.

Indeed, news was so thin on the ground that reporters were forced to invent a knife fight in the auditorium. It later transpired that the altercation had involved little more than a few wildly swung fists.

"There's no way Amazing Spider-Manis 'way cooler' than Web of Spider-Man," the larger combatant didn't actually say. "I'll kick your butt, dude."

The only 'bookings' that i'm familiar with are Disney Films, never thought that i'd be 'booking' into Jail

  An understandably strained gag from Lindsay Lohan's Twitter feed