Note to Readers: San Diego Comic Con International is almost over! But since I write this column before the weekend, I’ll only be able to get a tiny bit of SDCC News into this week’s column. Expect next week’s Odds and Ends™ to be chock-full of great Comic-Con oddities.

Comic Con - Speaking of SDCC, remember when comic conventions were mostly about actual comic books? Remember when comic cons weren’t just big spectacles– and it wasn’t a place for Hollywood to show off? Remember when it wasn’t always so popular to be a geek? Check out the queue to get into the 1983’s San Diego Comic Con.

I’m just on the cusp of being old enough to remember having to hide some of my nerdy things for fear of derision from my peers (though it wasn’t nearly as bad for me as it had been for some of my older friends.) I know there are plenty of geek-elites out there constantly complaining about how “mainstream” it is to be a geek/nerd now… But I’m glad children don’t have to hide their love for these things… And we can all wear our geek cred proudly. Even though SDCC has become another cog in Hollywood’s machine– without the mass audiences we have now, there wouldn’t be any Avengers movies and Warner Bros wouldn’t even consider relaunching Superman/Justice League… Hell, there might not even be many comic books to speak of. So yeah, I’m glad fandom went from the above photo to this:

(Note: This video is from 2013’s Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo– which was the 6th Largest North American Con last year.) [Twitter]

Film - Dwayne Johnson says, “Just say the word”– and the internet explodes with rumours he will be Captain Marvel. However, arch-enemy Black Adam has to “say the word” too– so the popular actor could still play the villainous role he’s been rumoured to play for many years… And this could all be a big ruse to lead us off the tracks. In truth, who really knows what The Rock has cooking? (Besides The Rock and DC/Warner Bros, of course.) [Superhero Hype]

Simpsons - It is going to be a busy year for the The Simpsons family. They’ll have two crossovers (Family Guy and Futurama) and an unfortunate death in the Season Premiere. I used to love all three shows, but I’ve grown tired of their extended runs. The TV industry is getting just as bad as Comics– with their blatant cash/viewer grabs caused by crossovers and deaths. Even the way they’re hyping these “events” is starting to feel all too familiar. [Entertainment Weekly]

Comics - In relatively big comic book news, Dynamite Entertainment has acquired the rights to The Spirit. DC Comics hasn’t done anything with the character since their relaunched New 52 Universe and Dynamite’s current pulp lineup seems like a perfect fit. I’ve loved the last few pulp comics I have read, so I’m hoping The Spirit follows suit. [Comics Alliance]

Cool Star Wars Stuff - Since A New Hope hit theaters, the public has been inundated with Star Wars merchandise. (No one knows this better than IMJ’s own Locusmortis– who has the uncanny ability to hilariously spy the very worst Star Wars merch in his Previews – Hits and Misses™ column every month.) I expect, as we inch closer and closer to Episode VII, this sorry trend will only increase– overwhelming even the biggest of fans. That said, these fan-made, Star Wars-themed tea bag dishes are incredibly cool. ;) [Nerdist, Etsy Shop]

DC Universe - According to Geoff Johns, there will not be a crossover between DC’s TV and Cinematic universes. And you know what? I’m completely okay with it. I have my doubts Dawn of Justice will be any good, so I wouldn’t want it to (potentially) hurt Arrow or The Flash. I think audiences are smart enough to realize there are two different worlds being presented here and not everything has to be connected. Don’t get me wrong: I love what Marvel Studios is doing, because they seem to actually have a plan… So it actually helps that Marvel’s film properties have an interconnected framework. Since DC is known for having infinite earths, maybe they’ll play with that in the future. [Screen Rant]

TMNT - Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go! There’s going to be a new rap song in Michael Bay’s TMNT film. While io9 might think it’s better than Vanilla Ice’s Ninja Rap– I don’t! Listen to both in the link below and let me know which version is your favourite in the comments. [io9]

Video - More Wiki Bear! This is, by far, one of my favourite recurring sketches from Team Coco.

Film - Apparently Joss Whedon trashed the original Avengers script. I bet Kevin Feige (and everyone else at Marvel Studios) are glad they listened to his infinite genre/comic/film wisdom. I mean, it’s Joss Whedon– how do you seriously not listen to someone like that? [IGN]

Comics - I have yet to finish the second season of Orphan Black because– while I did enjoy the first half, I think the quality started to wane. Ian first commented on the series’ downfall in a previous Odds and Ends™ column, but it took me a while to notice. I still love the series and the uber-talented Tatiana Maslany, so I’m willing to give the Orphan Black comic from IDW a chance. I just hope it has a stronger focus, and doesn’t run around haphazardly– kind of like how Orphan Black’s Season Two seems to exist only as one giant “set up” for Season Three. [IDW]

Video - Picture what movies might be like if children’s imaginations eventually made it to the silver screen:

Film - In a recent IMJ Daily Links™ (by our fabulous Aaron Evans), I commented on a piece about the Fantastic Four reboot– and how I was unhappy the film wasn’t using comics as source material. Then Susan Storm actress Kate Mara clarified her statement, claiming the film will, “… draw from the entire [comic] canon.” I was a bit happier to read that until, at the end of the article, I also read the FF will have a found footage feel… Shit! Looks like director Josh Trank is just going to be remaking Chronicle after all. [Digital Spy]

Television - We have more characters making their way to The Flash TV series: Plastique is the newest super-powered being making an appearance. Roughly the same amount of characters are being announced for The Flash as Warners’ Dawn of Justice, so what’s behind my excitement for the TV Show and my hesitation for the movie? It’s simple: Flash has many hours to introduce these characters over a 23-episode season. Conversely, DoJ is going to have all of these characters thrown into a short 2-3 hour time period (which could feel like a long, long time if the film sucks.) It also doesn’t hurt my (TV) enthusiasm to hear that SDCC crowds think The Flash (and Constantine) pilots are pretty good. [Coming Soon, io9]

Collectibles - Iron Giant is beloved by many, many people. I expect there to be a high demand for Mondo’s newly announced IG figure. This new figure looks (as Tony the Tiger would say) “Grrrrreat!” [Tomopop]

Expensive Comics - There is an original copy of Action Comics #1 going up for auction on August 14th– CGC graded at a whopping 9.0 with white pages! (Holy shit! This is what I call “taking care” of a comic.) The last 9.0 version (which happened to belong to Nicolas Cage) sold for $2,161,000.00– and that version had off-white pages. They say bidding will start at $3,000,000.00 for the new auction. (That’s a lot of dough.) How much do you think this comic will sell for? And while you’re mulling that number over, tell me how much you would be willing to spend on a single comic in the Comments Section! [ICv2]

Film - It was recently rumoured the Sinister Six movie was going to be canned, but now we have found out Sony has delayed Amazing Spider-Man 3– moving Sinister Six to 2016. This isn’t surprising at all. Amazing Spider-Man 2 was one of the lowest grossing Spidey films– and the quick reboot (thrown on-screen to maintain Sony’s rights to the character), was way too quick. People are getting Spider-Fatigue– something I’m sure Peter Parker never thought would happen to his alter-ego. [Den of Geek]

Video - I would apologize for the onslaught of TMNT news lately– but I can’t help myself. With the new movie coming out, everyone is releasing new toys or videos to capture some of the surplus hype trailing from the new film. I love the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, even if many of the various movies’ sins are valid.