Sunday, October 22, 2017

Pictures from the 2017 Comic-Con International, part 6: Sunday, 7/23

Even Comic-Con must end...in theory, at least. Professional registration for 2018 was bumped up to the beginning of October this time around (it's usually in the spring), which is just madness! I was able to snag my badge for next year, so we can all look forward to seeing more of these pictures on this blog, the blog of Comic-Con pictures. Below are from Sunday, the final day of the show!


The SpongeBob pineapple in the background matches these "Average Joes" uniforms almost perfectly! I'm kind of surprised that the movie "Dodgeball" has achieved minor cult status. It might be the only Ben Stiller movie I really enjoy!


Lego, as always, had some impressive displays. Here's robot-hand-Star-Wars-guy! That is his official name.


And here's a really cool Thor: Ragnarok display, just in time for the movie!


This Bender costume looks like a mass-produced Halloween costume. Can it be true? Is this available in stores?


I haven't spent much time outside of Comic-Con in the past few years - or at least, I haven't spent as much time as I'd like. The crowds are just getting more plentiful and it's been pretty warm in recent years as well. But, as in years past, I get the desire to walk outside on Sunday as I feel the convention starting to ebb. Cartoon Network has been putting these and similar balloons out in recent years. I guess that's they're thing.


I probably miss the Adult Swim on the Green event more than anything else outside. This activity zone more than any other has gotten too crowded to visit without an hours-long wait involved. It's hard to justify waiting so long just to enter the area, so I haven't seen much of it in the past two years. The carnival-style games were fun, but not worth the time drain and the inevitable sunburn that it would take. Maybe next year!


I have to wonder if this is the same person who wore the dessert car in previous years. Regardless, I enjoy this Back to the Future costume, complete with Einstein!


The makers of the new X-Men television show bought the ad space on the adjacent parking garage this year. I wonder who those day actors are?


Across the train tracks from the convention was some giant gorilla bones to promote the most recent King Kong movie.


I wouldn't put it past Conan O'Brien to actually be in one of these outfits at some point.


With only a few hours to go, I decided to visit the Tick activation site one last time. This time I got to visit the viewing booth, which streamed the pilot on a loop and offered up shade and a comfy seat.


I can't say enough about this whole ensemble. How surreal it was to see all of this set up. Amazon put its full weight behind The Tick. Incredible.


I stopped for the photo op as well. Just a little more to your left.


They started tearing all this down at about 5:01, as the show ended. Gimme some of that scaffolding!


After getting some swag from the Tick site, I made one last pass along the convention floor. People dress up until the bitter end for this thing.


I spent the last hour or so at the New England Comics booth, where I found someone (not me) drawing some Tick artwork, based on Duane's cover to the 2017 FCBD book. He added the "K" to the title afterwards, don't worry.


5:00 rolled around and that was it for Comic-Con 2017. NEC art director Bob Polio commemorated the event.


I'm always amazed at how quickly everything comes down. I imagine that the carpet gets rolled up and tossed into the ocean or something.


I'm sure people find things to complain about, but considering its size and scope, Comic-Con International is the best run big show out there. They always do a great job.


On the way out, around 6:00, I saw this Ghostbuster and dog/marshmallow combo outside the convention hall. Was she waiting out there all day, or did she just decide that she didn't get enough Comic-Con? I understand the feeling.

One more round of pictures to wrap this all up. And then it'll be on to more pictures from another show. Yeah!

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Original Marvel Two-in-One artwork!


A few weeks ago, I picked up a signature piece for my original art collection - a page of artwork from Marvel Two-in-One #45!


Marvel Two-in-One #45 features a team-up between the Thing and Marvel's original Captain Marvel.


Artwork on this page is from Alan Kupperberg and Mike Esposito.


There's a lot going on in this page, with the Thing riding a flying...ghost car...above what appears the be the Brooklyn Bridge.


What I love about this page is that the Thing appears in technically every panel...including (I guess) the last panel, in which he's splashing down into the river.


The back of the page has a couple markings on it, including the name of the pencil and ink artist, and the original cost of the page, a minuscule 25 bucks! (I paid slightly more for it.)


Some of the legal information appears at the bottom of the page, which lets us all know that this page is currently 39 years of age.


Here's a sign of that age: one of the word balloons - which was originally added in after the artwork was completed but before publication (I guess the Thing needed another quip) - is loose. I'll need to think of a safe way to reattach it so I don't lose it.


Until then, though, I have the opportunity to do this whenever something bothers me. Works for now!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Pictures from the 2017 Comic-Con International, part 5: Saturday, 7/22

Here are some pictures from Saturday at Comic-Con! This was another big day, as Saturdays tend to be.


The day started out at the New England Comics booth, where Ian Nichols and I signed some books and waited for the big guns to arrive. Other people hung around, including the Mad Bomber What Bombs at Midnight, which is such a cool costume that I can barely wrap my head around it...


Not too long after the hall opened, Ben Edlund and Griffin Newman came to sign at the booth. Ian and I got a quick picture with Ben before clearing out. This was such a big weekend for The Tick, and I'm glad that I got to see Ben briefly to tell him how excited I was for everything.


A few other Tick luminaries came to the booth around this time, like the wonderful Yara Martinez, "Ms. Lint" on the show. Ms. Lint steals every scene she's in. What a fantastic character.


I also had a chance to chat for a few moments with Michael Cerveris, who plays Ramses IV!


There was a nice crowd at the booth, so eventually I headed elsewhere and saw some more great costumes. Here's Wonder Woman with Etta Candy!


I wonder how Hela managed to fit through doorways with that headpiece on. This was a really impressive costume.


Samurai Iron Man and regular Shredder, who I guess is also a samurai.


Here's movie Thor and Loki!


I spent some time at the Bongo booth tying to talk to some people there when I ran into Patric Verrone, writer and producer on my favorite show of all time, Futurama! I had talked with him a few times before, but this was the first time I was able to meet him in person. He had just bought some original Dr. Seuss artwork(!). At the end of our conversation, Patric did me a gigantic favor, which I'll write about soon.


Stormtrumpers. All right.


It wouldn't be Comic-Con without at least one really monstrous costume. Hulkbuster Iron Man always attracts a crowd.


This absolutely wins "best group costume" for me. Krang is the icing on the cake.


Here's original Gamora, complete with weird skull codpiece.


I'm always impressed at anyone who can make Leela's giant eye work.


Soon after seeing Leela, Phil Lamarr, who voiced Hermes on Futurama, walked by. I was able to leap over the table (almost) and grab a picture with him.


The show ended for the day soon after, and it was off to Petco Park for a special Rick and Morty screening.


Everything about this Summer Smith costume is incredible. She got a picture with the voice actor who plays the character later on this evening.


I waited in line for a long, long time to get into the stadium. The Rickmobile had closed down and Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland were addressing the crowd. They screened the first episode of the third season this night to a boisterous crowd.


These inflatables, positioned in the "park" section of the ballpark, were bigger than the picture seems to indicate.


Inflatable Morty was getting pulled away by a tentacle monster. People soon used them to sit on.


Afterwards, it was time to walk back across the bridge to the convention center parking lot. A nice opportunity for a panoramic night shot of the convention center and surrounding area.


I don't know why I get one of these every year - the convention center looks exactly the same - but I do.


And here's the other angle, back toward Petco Park.


This movie Batman had a light-up costume. Cool.


One more day to go for Comic-Con. I'll post again soon!