KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 -- A man was stabbed in the eye with a pen for not giving up his seat in a fully-packed exhibition hall. Christian moralists from Westboro Baptist Church protested about replacing God with superheros while nerds fight back with surreal signs chockful of geeky references. Yes, bizarre things happened at the three-day San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) last weekend.

Funnily enough, SDCC did not produce particularly notable comic news. Even the two biggest publishers, Marvel and DC, seemed to concentrate more on films and TV shows instead.

Last week, we promised you a round-up of the most interesting news announced at SDCC. Here they are:

The Avengers revealed

After much speculation about the Thor and Captain America films, Marvel dropped the bomb by announcing the cast of its upcoming ensemble film The Avengers, which was confirmed to be directed by geek god Joss Whedon (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse). You must already be familiar with Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury. Chris Hemworth has already filmed as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America. Rounding up the cast are Jeremy Renner, the lead actor of The Hurt Locker as Hawkeye and Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, filling in Ed Norton’s empty spot. The actors for Wasp and Ant-Man have not been announced yet, but we have been hearing rumours about Eva Longoria and Nathan Fillion...

The trailer for Thor was also premiered during SDCC, and has been made public here. “I come from a place, where magic and science are one and the same,” said Thor, which pretty much set the tone of science versus magic in the whole movie.

As Thor was cast down by his father Odin, he was immediately captured for a scientific study. He found his hammer Mjolnir stuck to the ground, which caused him anguish when he could not lift it, thus proven unworthy of his power. In between scenes we get to see various characters from Asgard, including Thor’s half-brother Loki, comic relief Volstagg and Sif, the skillful lady warrior. By the end of the trailer, you would be introduced to Thor’s nemesis: Destroyer, a cyborg-like armor with devastating eye beams.

More excitements for Saturday mornings

After the success of recent superhero cartoons like Batman: The Brave and The Bold and Wolverine and the X-Men, kids will be spoilt for choice as both Marvel and DC promise a show each. Riding on the Avengers wave, a cartoon series starring the group is coming soon in one of Disney’s channels. The group surprisingly includes the Black Panther character, but also a Nick Fury that’s neither Caucasian as the original, nor looks like Samuel L Jackson. You can watch the trailer, complete with cheesy theme song here.

Meanwhile, DC’s Young Justice is making fans very excited: with appearances of the Justice League, a matured approach to teen issues and apparently the death of its characters. Besides famous characters like Superboy, Robin and Kid Flash, there will also be cult favourite Miss Martian, the just-announced African American new Aqualad and a younger version of Artemis, the Amazonian archer. Watch the creators talk about their upcoming series here.

Expectedly good: The Walking Dead & Sucker Punch

I was very excited about The Walking Dead TV show based on Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels, and the preview video so far has not disappointed. The show looks amazing, and seriously creepy. Expect corpses strewn on desolate streets, scattered ruins mixed with blood and lots and lots of the undead. This might well be a sleeper hit, and if you are a comic fan, this is your time to show off. There is no official video out yet, but expect it soon.

There were scant details about Zack Snyder’s upcoming film Sucker Punch, but the newly-premiered trailer sort of explains it all. If you have watched 300 and Watchmen, expect Sucker Punch to be targetted more to the male audience than those two films. The plot was supposed to be about mental patients and the reality they built together, but all one can see are hot babes armed with katanas and guns fighting dragons, robots, armoured samurais, mafias, Nazis and God knows what else. Which might not necessarily be a bad thing.

Unexpectedly good: Red & The Goon

Two comic adaptation films that have completely missed my radar and gave me some pleasant surprises are Warren Ellis’ Red and Dark Horse cult graphic novel The Goon. The Goon stars two men, Franky and the titular burly guy, in pursuit of the supernatural. Characters like ghouls, zombies and weirdly enough, skunk-apes, appear regularly in the series. The trailer does not reveal much about the story, but one thing for sure, it will be full of side-splitting moments.

Red by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer was a three-issue graphic novel about retired CIA agents forced into a return. The original comic was a tad more serious, and somehow the film adaptation looks like it will be a big bundle of fun. Watch the trailer here, and try telling me that you’re not grinning with glee watching Bruce Willis do his action stuff again, John Malkovich cradling a machine gun like it’s a baby, Helen Mirren saying “I kill people, dear” with a smile, and Morgan Freeman smacking Richard Dreyfus in the face. Watch out for this film.

News from Vertigo

Among the “real” comic news, the most exciting one is from Karen Berger, the Executive Editor of Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics. Rumours have been going around for a while, but now it has been confirmed that DC Comics characters which was separated into the imprint will now be reabsorbed into mainstream continuity. This will definitely include a return of Swamp Thing, which was then written by Alan Moore, and the main reason for creating the more mature imprint.

We also found out that Vertigo’s flagship character John Constantine from supernatural title Hellblazer will get married soon! A favourite of mine, Constantine is a rarity among comic characters since he ages real-time. Born May 10, 1953, he should be around 57-year-old this year, with a string of lovers that are either a succubus, got killed, or died of supernatural causes. If he is finally tying the knot, I should be more than happy for him.