Hollywood flocks to Comic-Con

Tens of thousands of fans are expected to arrive Thursday at this year's Comic-Con event in San Diego.

The fan convention will showcase footage from the highly anticipated sequels to the films Iron Man and Twilight, as well as a look at some of this year's new comics and graphic novels.

Comic-Con, which is in its 40th year, began as an event for comic-book lovers showcasing comics and graphic novels. Since then, it has expanded to include a wide range of pop culture and the latest in Hollywood films and TV shows.

"The con was all about comic books, their artists, writers and editors. Today, it's still about comic books, but the major emphasis is on movies, TV shows and video games. It has become a huge 'entertainment con' rather than just a comic book con," said comic book writer Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man and the X-Men.

The former president of Marvel Comics will be at this year's convention to showcase a new Activision video game titled Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

Also debuting at this year's convention are screenings of several Hollywood movies. Question-and-answersessions with actors and directors will be held for such films as Paramount Pictures's Iron Man 2, Walt Disney Pictures's Alice in Wonderland and 20th Century Fox's Avatar.

Hollywood film studios quickly saw how popular the event was in the early 1990s and have since attended the convention as a means to promote their movies.

At last year's incarnation, Summit Entertainment debuted a movie trailer for the successful vampire film Twilight. The movie went on to earn $382 million US worldwide at the box office. The Hollywood studio returns this year to present new footage for the highly anticipated film The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Television shows are following the trend. ABC's FlashForward and The Middle are just some of the TV programs that will be making an appearance this week.

Comic-Con will continueits traditionof showcasing new comics and graphic novels as well. Nick Simmons, son of KISS rocker Gene Simmons, is set to present his new graphic novel Incarnate this weekend.

More than 125,000 people are expected to attend the four-day event, which will hold a special preview Wednesday night for pre-registered attendees. The first Comic-Con, in 1970,drew about 300 people.

Comic-Con runs fromThursdayto Sunday.