Report by Sandy Stone

It was hot, it was humid, and the crowds were shoulder-to-shoulder. In other words, another typical Comic-Con. But in this instance, the event served to prove that any reports of Trek's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

It's interesting to note how, in the first year in nearly two decades when there are no new episodes on the air, Star Trek is getting more attention than ever. During the massive gathering in San Diego celebrating all forms of genre entertainment, there were panels on Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, The 4400, new shows like Eureka, Heroes and Jericho — all which have upcoming seasons to tout. So it's quite a testament to the durability of Gene Roddenberry's vision that among the plethora of promotions, discussions and costumes, there was just as much of a spotlight on Star Trek in all its manifestations, having never strayed far from the hearts and minds of this crowd.

But of course, there is something new to look forward to, though it's two years away — an 11th movie under the leadership of J.J. Abrams. And to that end, Paramount Pictures used Comic-Con weekend to unveil its new teaser art: an Original Series Enterprise badge with a cloth texture, surrounded by command-uniform gold and science-officer blue, with "2008" and "STARTREK.COM" prominently shown in lieu of a title. The image first appeared on this site digitally as a splash page Saturday morning (related story), and concurrent with that, the Paramount booth at San Diego starting handing out 19.75"x13.25" mini-posters to everyone who passed by during the latter half of the con. (You can enter to win one for yourself — click here). There was no formal announcement or anything — not even at our Friday panel, when we were still sworn to secrecy! — just a discreet dissemination of the image. As our earlier article noted, let the speculations begin!

Not far from the Paramount booth in the Exhibit hall was the Christie's display, showing a variety of items that will be part of the upcoming Star Trek auction in October. This was the second stop for the traveling exhibit (after FedCon in Germany). Michael and Denise Okuda helped man the booth on Thursday and Friday, talking to attendees about the props, costumes and models on display, with a documentary crew covering them. The Okudas — former crew members on the show and authors of the "Encyclopedia" and "Chronology" — are perhaps the world's foremost experts in Star Trek, and they've been consulting with Christie's to identify and label items recovered from the Paramount warehouse which are going on the auction block.

Another few steps away was the Diamond Select Toys booth, which was the center of a promotion of new "Mirror, Mirror" action figures. Collectors who bought McCoy, Sulu, Chekov and Uhura from different dealers in the room could come back to Diamond Select and get a free Marlena Moreau — if they did that by Friday morning, they could get the figure signed by the actress, Barbara Luna. And if they came by on Saturday, they could get the Uhura figure signed by none other than Nichelle Nichols.

Elsewhere in the cavernous hall, Pocket Books had a display of their various literary offerings, mainly emphasizing Star Trek. The publishing house hosted a number of authors for signings, such as Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, who were autographing free copies of their new novel "Star Trek: Vanguard - Summon the Thunder."

Lightspeed Fine Arts Inc., purveyor of Star Trek-themed artwork, played host to a number of celebrities who showed up unannounced to sign autographs, including Robert Picardo (who was also an unscheduled guest on a Stargate panel), Garrett Wang, John de Lancie, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, and maybe some others we didn't hear about.

Another part of the Star Trek buzz at this convention was a special section in Wednesday's Daily Variety that was available in stacks at the registration tables. That issue contained special features about both Comic-Con and Star Trek, including another interview with J.J. Abrams and a story about fan films. To go with the section, Paramount Pictures ran a full-page ad congratulating the franchise on its 40th anniversary, and there was also a half-page ad from STARTREK.COM (see photo on left), which we showed as a splash page for two days before the movie poster came out. (Because of our involvement with Comic-Con and the timing of the issue, we didn't have a chance to do a write-up about this Variety section, but we'll try to catch up on it next week.)

So that's the stuff that was going on in the Exhibit Hall and the corridors of the San Diego Convention Center (did we mention Klingons?). But it was in the panel rooms and ballrooms where Star Trek was truly celebrated and discussed, and the following is a sampling of moments from those panels and speakers.

Page 2: Walter Koenig
Page 3: "Star Trek as Cultural Phenomenon" Panel
Page 4: "Star Trek: Year 41 and Counting" Panel