With Comic-Con right about upon us, James and Randall have both hopped on their respective transportation and are heading down San Diego way as we speak! It’s very weird to think this crazy idea has all come true and that the wheels really have been set in motion, but Rand (and family!) left early Sunday morning to catch a plane to LA, where they switch to a train for the rest of the journey, while James (and wife!) is on the tracks the whole way from Cincinnati, on a cross-country trip! That’s the kind of very cool American experience I’ve always wanted to take, so I’m pretty envious, though knowing my luck, if I ever got around to it I would be caught up in a murderous mystery plot where The Lady Vanishes with some Strangers On A Train and I get accused, by a Narrow Margin, of being involved with it all, leading to a final showdown chase atop the moving Silver Streak, only finally won when a low bridge is overlooked by the heavy-set guy with the gun! Phew!

Before he left, Rand prepared some great new content that will go live on Friday, so stay tooned for that, but in the meantime his latest review is a neat comparison of Batman: Gotham Knight, the new manga anime-styled story background for the Dark Knight, on its three various formats: high-def Blu-ray, standard DVD and a 2-disc Special Edition. The anthology-type movie itself gets mixed comments, with Rand’s words praising the graphics and artistry while finding the layering of each segment’s stories to lack depth. As a build up in the hype surrounding Batman’s latest big screen outing, it certainly seems to have done the trick, with a record smashing opening reported by Warner Bros. that seems to have surpassed everyone’s expectations. Catching The Dark Knight is naturally on my list of “to-dos” while I’m in the States!

So…that’s it from us for the next few days. We do hope to pop in with some updates from San Diego if possible and of course the latest headlines will keep rolling over at Animated-News, where we leave you in the capable hands of Christian, Jeroen, Jafar, Meg and Thomas. Jeremie’s off on vacation too, at Disneyland Paris, but don’t forget to check in at the AN&V Forum, where Dan is the new moderator in town during our absence, and back here for Rand’s new pieces on Friday.

Okay, so James and Rand are on their way – I guess my lady and I should jump into our automobile and head off to the airport to join ’em! Thanks to those who have written in with Con tips: we’ll be back soon with a ton of pictures and reports on our experiences! – Ben.