Unfortunately, David S. Goyer doesn't have a lot to tell us about any of the many projects he's working on, but most of us will no doubt settle for even the tiniest updates. So, just as I was, you'll probably be satisfied with the little interview he gave to Wizard magazine, in which he was asked about the hottest things he's got in the pipeline. First up is Magneto, the X-Men spin-off/prequel that he scripted and will soon be directing. All he could say is that he's been scouting locations and right now it looks like he'll be primarily filming in Europe and Argentina. He also hinted that he's going to have to budget wisely to get the thing in for a cheap enough price (meaning he wrote some expensive-to-do scenes or Fox doesn't see good reason to spend too much on this one).

Of further interest to comic geeks, Goyer shared that his script for Super Max (aka the Green Lantern Arrow prison movie*) features a number of obscure, "third-tier" super villains, including Icicle from the comic JSA. He says that he gave DC a list of villains he wanted to use and then the comic publisher weeded out the ones it didn't want appearing in the movie. Speaking of DC, Goyer also told Wizard that he's returning to comic books soon with his JSA writing partner Geoff Johns. All he could reveal is that it takes place following the upcoming Final Crisis series.

Goyer isn't all comics, though. He shared with Wizard his inspiration and basic idea for The Invisible Man, which he sees as sort of a sequel to H.G. Wells' novel, and mentioned that he also played loose with the young adult books that Jumper is based upon. The most exciting thing he had to say, at least for Heroes fans, is that he's really interested in scripting an episode of Heroes: Origins. I don't know how he has the time to tackle all of these things right now -- all I can think of is that his real name must be Jamie Madrox -- but I'll just have to patiently await each one in due time.

[ Thanks to ComingSoon.net for the tip. ]

*You know, I think if I had actually been a DC fan, I still would have confused the two Green characters. Apologies to the fans and readers.

One thing that Comic-Con isn't complete without is Kevin Smith's signature "talk." You give the guy an hour or so, and he'll fill it up everything from movie news, to anecdotes about life that usually involve oral sex, to his own level of geekery.

Kevin was gracious enough to not only sit down with me for an hour after his panel was over, but he also let me know that he was really digging our Comic-Con coverage. According to him, he was only five minutes away from the convention center, but our liveblogging let him stay seated in an air-conditioned, geek-free, no costume zone. Not that he doesn't love that stuff, but when given the choice, sometimes your own room can be pretty darned comfortable.

The sun is shining in San Diego, the waves are crashing against the shore, seagulls are calling (do they call?), people are bustling about ... and an inordinate amount of them are wearing Star Wars t-shirts. Yes folks, Comic-Con is getting ready to step into full swing, and I'm here.

I would make a lot of geek and nerd jokes here, but I just realized after taking a picture of all of the gear I'll be lugging around every day that I have seen the geek, and the geek is me. For the rest of my week I'll be doing my best to dork out and get the skinny on all the Comic-Con news that comes out, and I'll be chasing down those 12 unanswered questions that we want the answers to.

Plus if I can catch some behind the scenes tidbits, I'll share 'em here. If Robert Downey Jr. wants to tell me how the crotch really rides up on that Iron Man costume, then you'll hear it here first. We'll also be touring the show floor, bringing you photos, videos, and interviews with a woman dressed up like Lara Croft, god willing.

I just came from getting my press badge at the San Diego Convention Center (or SDCC for people without a lot of extra time on their hands to pronounce the whole thing) and it is already mobbed. It's only preview night, where you can't see too much, and the line is stretching around the place. Stay tuned, true believers! Tonight we're attending a screening of 3D footage from Beowulf, so look for that and a whole lot more tomorrow, once things really get rolling.

Of all the comic books I've read (and believe me, there have been quite a few), Metal Men, which concerns the exploits of a robotic team of super heroes, was probably one of the last ones I expected to see on the big screen. It was reported here on Cinematical about a year ago that producer of the X-Men films Lauren Shuler Donner was interested in the property, and now The Hollywood Reporter has an update on the project. The film is being set up at Warner Bros., with Shuler Donner and Jack Leslie producing, and Eric Champnella writing the screenplay. Comic book writer Geoff Johns helped develop the idea and will serve as executive producer, and Gregory Noveck will supervise for DC Comics.

Metal Men first appeared in 1962 in the 37th issue of DC's classic anthology series Showcase before graduating to a book of their own. Built by Dr. Will Magnus -- whose pipe smoking habit always reminds me of Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons -- The Metal Men consist of six robots who exhibit the characteristics of the metals from which they take their names. If you look at the picture above, starting at the twelve o'clock position and proceeding clockwise, we have Gold, Mercury, Iron, Platinum (a.k.a. Tina), Tin and Lead. Recurring concepts included Tina's infatuation with Doc Magnus, as well as the idea that since they are robots, the characters can be killed then rebuilt. As I recall, these guys died more often than X-Men's Jean Grey, if you can believe it. I don't believe there is a current incarnation of the comic book (if I'm wrong, please correct me in the comments section), but Gold and Platinum recently appeared -- and died yet again -- in an issue of Justice League of America. When Shuler Donner discussed the project last year she described it as "much more like Men in Black. It's miles away from X-Men. It's lighter and it's fun. A lot of CGI."

Mark Burton has been hired by Warner Bros. to write the feature film adaptation of James Turner's comic book Rex Libris. The comic is about "an everyday guy who becomes part of a secret sect of librarians who battle forces of darkness in chasing down overdue or stolen books." Seriously! The "comedic action-adventure" will focus on head librarian Rex Libris, a man "who must protect the world's knowledge and most dangerous secrets from falling into the wrong hands." When a squad of punks storm the library and remove a certain card from the catalog, the library's walls collapse and a secret stack of books is revealed, which apparently leads the crew on a string of global and intergalactic adventures. I've said it before and I'll say it again: You don't mess with the Dewey Decimal System.

Rex and the other librarians have a huge array of high-tech weapons, but they are also helped by an ancient god who lives underneath the library. Geez, haven't we seen this story enough? Variety doesn't mention whether the film will be animated or live action, but Burton wrote Madagascar and worked on Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, so using context clues I'm assuming it'll be a cartoon. Hopefully they don't try to sneak in some message about how kids should read and use their imaginations and crap like that. I've got to tell you, reading the synopsis, I thought of the perfect man to join Rex's team: Bookman, the Library Cop from Seinfeld! "I don't judge a man by the length of his hair or the kind of music he listens to. Rock was never my bag. But you put on a pair of shoes when you walk into the New York Public Library, fella!"

With the special Spider-Man 3 footage airing on TV tonight, and since Zack Snyder's 300 is opening this weekend, I felt it was necessary that we switch things up a bit. So, instead of your regular old Monday Morning Poll, I'm turning out the lights for the first ever Monday Night Poll. (Oh yeah, I can almost hear John Madden calling out the names of some fantastic comic-based films while I write. And you know what -- I kinda want to smack him.) Yes, tonight's poll shouldn't be too hard to figure out; basically, I'm looking for your favorite film(s) based on a comic book or graphic novel (or are they the same thing ... I forgot?).

Recently, Moviefone shelled out their Best Movies Based on Comic Books list featuring 20 pics that range from "Totally awesome!" to "Wait, why and how did that make it in there, again? Mystery Men? Seriously?" Sin City nabbed the top spot, followed closely behind by Batman Begins, Spider-Man 2, X2: X-Men United and Superman: The Movie. While I have to agree with their top five, I was disappointed to see that my Moviefone buds placed Superman Returns (in a tie alongside Superman II) in the number nine spot, in front of Tim Burton's original Batman (which placed tenth). I mean, not only does Superman II deserve its own spot, but Superman Returns should have flew in behind Burton's Batman -- at least, according to this comic book moron. And hey, how about we throw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie a bone?

So, I ask you: What's your favorite film based on a comic book? And, do you agree or disagree with Moviefone's list?

When not performing one of his death-defying stunts, like jumping over six Black Hawk helicopters with blades whirling, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) rides without a helmet. Riding without a helmet is dangerous, but cool and sexy. Figuratively speaking, Ghost Rider the movie rides with a helmet. In fact it rides on one of those trick motorcycles, hooked up to a trailer so that actors can ride safely and still look cool. Whatever financial forces finally allowed the Marvel Comics heroes to make the transition to celluloid these past few years has had a strange effect. Some of the heroes have been treated with respect and passion, such as in the first two Spider-Man movies and the first two X-Men movies. Others have been tossed off as if some kind of deadline loomed: make these movies now or lose them forever. Daredevil (2003) and The Fantastic Four (2005) had a slapdash feel with haphazard casting and a careless choice of directors.

Whatever convinced producers that the guy who made Barbershop (2002) would be a good choice for The Fantastic Four? Or worse, that the guy who made Simon Birch (1998) could make Daredevil, and that even after Daredevil stunk up the joint that he could be trusted with Ghost Rider? Mark Steven Johnson may have learned something from those previous duds, because Ghost Rider is cleaner and lighter, and doesn't feel as if it's desperately striving for a coolness factor. It almost succumbs to its silliness. As a teenager, Blaze (Matt Long) is about to run off with his sweetheart, Roxanne Simpson (Raquel Alessi), when he finds out that his father has cancer. He makes a deal with the devil, or if you prefer, Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda), to save his father's life. But the deal also causes him to lose Roxanne.

With Ghost Rider and 300 -- two big-budget, big-spectacle movies based on comic books/graphic novels -- opening just weeks apart, we thought it an opportune time to rank the Top 20 Movies Based on Comic Books. Of course, we recognize that comics fans can be really, really ridiculously passionate when it comes to defending the honor and merits of their favorite books and the movies based upon them. And that is why we present you with this: a forum to bash, glorify, rebut and/or praise our choices for the top 20 and to offer up your own.

POST: What are your favorite movies based on comic books?

Marvel Comics tends to walk a fine line between comic book continuity and movie continuity. Everyone realizes they aren't going to go all Sin City and do a frame for frame, word for word adaptation of their decades-old titles, but it's vitally important for the films to maintain a reasonably strong resemblance to their comic counterparts ... or else they'd have a geek riot on their hands. Every now and then it works in the opposite direction, with the movie storylines leaking into the pages of the comic books. In saying that, it appears Marvel is at it again:

• After the events of Marvel's massive Civil War crossover, Peter Parker will toss his current costume (no, it isn't the red and blue one -- it's a Tony Stark build) in favor of the classic black (aka Venom) outfit. Amazingly, this costume just so happens to be a major feature in Spider-Man 3. However, Marvel insists this is only a tiny part (10%) of the decision to move the comic book Spidey into black. (Add to that a big old corporate wink.)
• Marvel is also gearing up for the launch of a few new titles, most notably The Irredeemable Ant-Man. This comes after the announcement that Marvel will also back an Ant-Man movie. Coincidence? I think not.