Sometimes I'm happy I don't live in California. I mean, wildfires, earthquakes, the constant threat of surprise attack from Japan (well, back in the 1940's, anyway). However, today is not one of those times. You see, this past weekend was the San Diego Comic-Con, and that is a place where everything cool happens.

For example, Sam Raimi and his Spider-Man 3 cast had a panel discussion where they offered up a few nuggets of information regarding the highly anticipated next chapter in the Spider-Man saga, as well as a collection of "character posters". Besides the poster featuring a smoking hot looking Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwenn Stacey (seriously, what did they do to her. I don't recall her being...well...a hottie!) the big deal o' the day was the first peek at Topher Grace as Venom...sort of. As you can see to the right, he's not all full-on Venom, but he's halfway through the transformation process, and looks pretty keen.

The lucky folks who were in attendance saw a chunk of film that featured a still-in-process Venom who, by all accounts, looks just like the Todd McFarlane version of the beastie. I'm thrilled for those people. I really am.

Bastards.