I already wrote about the epic return of Stilt-Man, but I wanted to add a few more exciting developments to come out of the San Diego Comic-Con. It’s the largest pop culture event of the year, with big news in comics, movies and TV. Someday Henchman-4-Hire will have a booth there, or I’ll personally have a booth there. But for now, I enjoy cruising the comic blogosphere and reading up on news from my favorite sites.

Here are some key tidbits, both good and bad.

1. The Return of the Scarlet Spider: At one panel, Marvel released the following teaser image for an upcoming Spider-Man story for the end of the year. No news, just the picture. And it’s a very exciting picture featuring the Scarlet Spider’s iconic hoodie.

Hopefully the comic won't just be Scarlet Spider on fire

Everybody knows about Spider-Man. Well a big story in the 90s Spider-Man comics was the Clone Saga, in which an evil scientist made a clone of Peter Parker who had all of his memories and all of his spider-powers. The clone named himself Ben Reilly, and he adopted his own spider-identity: The Scarlet Spider. Everybody hated the Clone Saga. It started small but it just kept dragging on and on for years. Marvel kept going back and forth over who was the real Peter Parker and who was the clone. Eventually Spider-Man was revealed to be the real deal, and Scarlet Spider was revealed to be the clone – then he died.

Poor guy

I loved the Clone Saga, but then my brother and I came into it at the very end. We weren’t around for the story dragging on and on. Some of our first comics were from the Clone Saga, when we used to go to the comic shops in Syracuse and cruise the back issue bins. Cippy loved Scarlet Spider, and I definitely enjoyed the exploits of Ben Reilly. For a brief period, he filled in as Spider-Man. The Scarlet Spider costume is my absolute favorite alternate Spidey costume.

So the prospect of Scarlet Spider coming back in some way is kind of exciting. He’s appeared in some side comics, but Ben Reilly hasn’t come back from the dead or anything. Another character started using the name, but he has his own costume and his own deal. Having the real deal back, hoodie and all, would be pretty sweet.

2. Incredible Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.: Everything about this is brilliant, from the idea to a title that should have been thought up ages ago. Except that it’s not for me. I hate the idea, it’s just brilliant. I don’t even want ‘S.M.A.S.H.’ to stand for anything. It’s awesome as-is. This is going to be a cartoon show starring the Hulk and all the recent Hulk-esque characters from Marvel.

Crappy image, but such is con-stuff

Over the past few years, the Incredible Hulk cast has ballooned from just Bruce Banner and his jade giant alter ego. There’s Red Hulk She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Skaar: Son of the Hulk, another She-Hulk and A-Bomb, who is a Rick Jones that can turn into the Abomination. It’s dumb and I haven’t been reading. I prefer my Hulk to be a loner, where he’s the only Hulk around. Like in the classic TV show. So I don’t know what sort of bull is going to be flying in this cartoon show.

I just love the title.

3. Trailer for the new Airbender cartoon: Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best cartoon series ever. It’s a three-season story that spans one long tale from beginning to end, about a 12-year-old boy who must embrace his destiny and save the world. It’s not just a kiddie show. You will be hard-pressed to find such an epic tale anywhere else short of books. If you have kids, make them watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. Watch it with them. You will not be disappointed.

That being said, here’s the trailer for the sequel!

4. LEGO has Marvel and DC licenses: Soon we will live in a world with LEGO X-Men, Avengers, Superman, Spider-Man, Hulk and Deadpool. It’s a nerd dream come true. All my hopes and dreams from childhood come to life! I already proudly displayed my LEGO Batmobile on my Geek Wall. To have other superhero LEGOS is just giddy fun.

Problem is, aside from Batman and his various vehicles and cave, few other superheroes have actual models to build. So we’ll see what they can come up with. I have faith.

Tiny little bits of awesome