It has been three years since Robert Rodriguez turned his Grindhouse mock 70’s-style Mexploitation trailer Machete into a full-blown feature film that finally gave Danny Trejo, owner of one of the most unique movie star faces in the world, a starring role. Despite having only $10 million, Rodriguez nabbed a galaxy of rising stars and faded stars to back up Trejo and a fistful of positive reviews from B-movie geek fans and critics alike.

Machete earned over $14 million at the box office in its first weekend, but its earning potential quickly plummeted afterwards and by the time it left theaters, the movie had a total gross of $26 million. The end credits promised a forthcoming duo of insane sequels and since the original was profitable enough to warrant one so far, Rodriguez soon found himself at the helm of Machete Kills.

The Motor City Comic Con is not a newcomer on the convention scene, but I can’t help but feel it’s a late-bloomer still unsure how things are meant to run.

The 2012 convention was held in Detroit, Michigan, last month and turnout this year appeared much higher than the rain-plagued 2011 event. Walking through the comics side of the Suburban Collection Showplace proved difficult as crowds clamored around the various comic and collectible vendors. Big name artists like Ethan Van Sciver and Talent Caldwell were almost always seen talking with fans or busy working on sketches.

But conventions like this are also a good place for smaller, local talents to find a wider audience. I Love Lightning Bugs, a band heralding from Royal Oak, Michigan, had a booth showcasing both their music and a new comic book illustrated by local artist Mindy McPeak featuring the band members adventures into the paranormal. First looks suggest a Gorillaz-esque alternative reality but with protagonists based on real people.

Those lucky enough to attend the Cannes Film Festival got to see a sneak peek of Quentin Tarantino‘s upcoming film Django Unchained. As you can imagine, those who saw it said it was nothing short of brilliant. So while we await footage from the movie to appear – it has been confirmed that there is a trailer attached to Prometheus – we got a collection of new photos, which should be more than enough to whet your appetite.

Tarantino’s spaghetti western-esque film star follows Django (Jamie Foxx) has he partners up with a German dentist turn bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from twisted plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Quentin Tarantino‘s upcoming “southern” Django Unchained won’t be hitting theaters until Christmas, but in the meantime the Weinstein Company and Columbia Pictures have released the film’s first poster.

You can check it out here below.

No cruddy Photoshop hack work here folks, this is the real deal. Tarantino has spoken many times in the past about his unabashed love for Italian spaghetti westerns and how they have influenced his own style of filmmaking. Several of his recent films, including Kill Bill V.2 and Inglourious Basterds, have worn that influence with pride. Tarantino has even used music score cues composed for the best Italian westerns by the great Ennio Morricone on the soundtracks of some of his past features. Thus, it’s very fitting that the poster for Django Unchained would recall the minimalist movie poster style of the 1960’s when directors like Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci, and Enzo G. Castellari were revered as cinematic gods to western fans and young movie geeks like Tarantino who were just itching for the sweaty, bloody thrills they a spaghetti western could deliver without fail.

Special effects make-up wizard Greg Nicotero (the “N” in KNB EFX) has become a close collaborator of writer-director Quentin Tarantino after working his FX magic on many of the iconoclastic filmmaker’s best known works including Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and Inglourious Basterds.

Nicotero spoke with MTV about working with Tarantino on the director’s latest film, Django Unchained, recently during a Television Critics Association event for AMC’s The Walking Dead, on which he serves as effects supervisor and co-executive producer. You can watch a video of Nicotero’s comments here below.