Batman and Wonder Woman make an attractive couple on the Comic-Con floor. Courtesy of Janet Hetherington.

Romano said that casting for Tiny Toons was a "major challenge." The show was about new, younger characters drawn from the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Looney Tunes universe. "I think we interviewed every voice actor alive," Romano says. "We wanted smaller, diminutive, charming voices, because we needed to find younger versions of the characters. It was an awesome responsibility, because the voice actors needed to be musical, too."

Tiny Toon Adventures went on to become a Daytime Emmy Award winner, as did Freakazoid. Freakazoid was created as a result of Steven Spielberg's desire to have an animated adventure series like Batman: The Animated Series, but with a manic hero. MacCurdy says that Freakazoid proved to be a "hard sell," and at a WB Network staff meeting, she "got up and ran around the room" to demonstrate the wackiness of the character.

Dini remembers how he wrote several funny, off-the-wall scripts (one featured kung-fu nuns in Las Vegas fighting Rat Pack adversaries), but Spielberg didn't like them. As a result, Dini says, "We were already behind schedule before we started. The Freakazoid mentality was 'write what was funny that day.'"

Romano experienced difficulties voice casting for Freakazoid, and interviewed a number of candidates, including a "dreamy Scotsman" named Craig Ferguson, who became the voice of Roddy MacStew. The show also featured the voice talents of Ed Asner, Jonathan Harris, David Warner, Ricardo Montalban and Sandra Bernhard in some of her first-ever voice-over work. Paul Rugg, in addition to writing episodes of the series, ultimately voiced the super-kooky Freakazoid. In addition, Spielberg actually appears in the series.

Cartoon Network Gets Bat-powered, Goes for Adult Swim
With The Dark Knight setting box-office records, it wasn't surprising to see Cartoon Network in full bat gear for Comic-Con. CN presented the panel Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The Warner Bros. Animation series has Batman joining forces with other DC Comics heroes, including Blue Beetle, Green Arrow and Aquaman. Producers, animators and voice talent gave fans a glimpse of the good stuff to follow.

Clone Wars was represented by producer Catherine Winder, editor Jason Tucker, co-writer Henry Gilroy and director Dave Filoni. Courtesy of Rick DeMott.

CN also presented the panel The Powerpuff Girls, celebrating the show's 10th anniversary, joined by the folks from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

Not to be lost in all the Clone Wars happenings at C-C, CN also presented a panel playing up the Cartoon Network series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The panel was a component of the main Star Wars panel.

And for bigger kids, an Adult Swim panel sang the praises of Robot Chicken, from actor/producer Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, which uses "stop-motion animation to bring pop-culture parodies to life in a modern take on the variety/sketch show format." In Robot Chicken, as the show's tagline goes, no pop-culture target is safe.

A Ben 10: Alien Force panel was packed, not only with the show's devoted fans, looking forward to Ben's return as a fearless 15-year-old facing enemy aliens, but also those eager to know more about the new series Secret Saturdays.

"It's about a family of secret agents," said creator Jay Stephens. "One of the characters, 11-year-old Zak, is fearless, but he wants to become more a part of the family team." The family of world-saving adventure scientists travels to and explores ancient temples and bottomless caves, and tangles with twisted villains.

Tim and Eric, the comedy duo from the hit Adult Swim series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! hosted a picnic at the nearby Embarcadero Marina Park North, along with games, giveaways and a karaoke contest. Meanwhile, panels and presentations for Chowder, The Misadventures of Flapjack and Underfist drew big crowds.

Robert Englund Speaks
Perhaps best known for his role as nightmarish Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund, has been doing significant voice work as well. In addition to voicing The Riddler (in The Batman) and Felix Faust (Justice League Unlimited), Englund is the voice of The Vulture in The Spectacular Spider-Man. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has scheduled the release of the first DVD for this animated Spider-Man show (with the "Attack of the Lizard" story arc) for September 9, 2008.

"It was great playing the Vulture," Englund says. "I'm still defining the character, but I can tell you there's lots of screaming as Spidey yanks me out of the sky." Englund also enjoyed the opportunity to see other actors at work on the series. "It was really fun watching Peter [MacNicol, who plays Doc Ock] work."

Englund also spoke about his roles in two new live-action horror flicks: Zombie Strippers and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. "Zombie Strippers is a sex farce... a kind of Grindhouse-style movie produced in a low-budget way." In that 2008 film, due out on DVD on October 28, Englund plays another nasty dude -- a strip club owner who hates women. "I've always been a character actor," notes Englund. "I've never played the real me, close to the bone."