My Disenchantment pitch comic - "Baby Trail Fairy Tale" with Dani Grew

Following up on the previous Disenchantment post, I thought I'd offer up a look at a pitch comic that artist Dani Grew and I made for Comic-Con 2019. My intention was to use this as a pitch to Bongo Comics, which published Simpsons Comics, Futurama Comics, and was overseen (in a broad sense) by Matt Groening.

I knew some folks with the company and I felt pretty good about the quality of the story, but when I got to Comic-Con and made my way to the Bongo booth, I found out that the company in the process of closing up shop, at least for the time being. The lack of a Disenchantment comic is a big oversight in the licensed comic game, and I have to believe that several companies would leap to publish it if it were available. Maybe it'll happen one day!

This comic takes place during the first season, of course, but I think that I got the characters' voices right despite only having a few episodes to work from. I hope you enjoy this Disenchantment comic!

Executive producer Josh Weinstein posted this on Twitter a few days ago. The bottle of mermaid mead was apparently given to some of the folks who worked on the show. Maybe one will (quietly?) show up on eBay one day!

Bean & Mora, together forever on my shelf (or at least 'til an earthquake.) pic.twitter.com/QyJ8dL90oW

— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) January 17, 2021

My Disenchantment fan kit for season three

We're all watching the newest season of Disenchantment on Netflix, right? I love this series and I think that the newly-released season three is really compelling, funny and exciting. For all of the obvious reasons, this show feels like an extension of Futurama, which is one of my all-time favorite programs.

For reasons unknown to me, a marketing company contacted me a few weeks back about sending me a press kit-like "watch party" box in anticipation of the new season. I, of course, hastily accepted, and just a few days ago, a package arrived with a box of Disenchantment-branded items. I thought I'd show them off, with many thanks to ChizComm Media and the folks at the show!

Any collector knows that the box is a big part of any presentation. This one was simple but I really love the logo sticker on the lid. This is why I will be keeping the box forever.

The stuff inside the box was also pretty exciting. Here's how it looked, packed with black and gold confetti.

First up! Here's a fleece throw featuring the demon Luci.

Next, here's a Funko Pop! figure of King Zøg, voiced by John DiMaggio, Futurama's Bender. Zøg goes through some really harrowing stuff this season, and DiMaggio does an absolutely incredible job with his voice, as he wrings every last drop of emotion from this character. He's also the voice of the talking horse!

Next up is a Luci plush figure. These were on sale at Comic-Con in 2019, and it's the only Disenchantment merchandise I didn't buy at the time. Since then, they've jumped quite a bit in value and have been hard to find in general, so getting one here, for free, was a huge treat. 

Next is also an item I saw - and bought - at Comic-Con 2019. It's the Disenchantment "Untold Tales" book. This oversized book is part comic, part activity magazine, and was the last thing put together by the old Bongo Comics team before they unfortunately shut down the imprint. Now I've got a second copy! I'll give it to one of my nephews when they're a little older.

Also in the box was a Disenchantment 2021 calendar!

Lastly, there's a cup - and this might be the only item that isn't available elsewhere. But look! There's something inside the cup:

It's a bag of carmel corn, with a Disenchantment sticker on the front. I'm kind of grateful that there was a small tear in the bag, because it means that I'll have to actually eat it, rather than agonizing about whether I should try and save a bag of popcorn for the rest of my life. I, uh, will keep the bag, but at least one decision was taken out of my hands.

I also...made a video of me taking these things out of the box, and I put it on Twitter! You can watch it here, if you'd like, I guess:

The fine folks at @Disenchantment HQ sent me a box of stuff in anticipation of tonight’s season 3 premiere on @Netflix! For your enjoyment, I unbox it before your very eyes: pic.twitter.com/sm74VoOPDd

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) January 14, 2021

I'm not entirely sure why the folks at the show decided to send me this box, but I'm extremely grateful for it. I would no doubt be watching this show in any case, but I guess it gets me to try and spread the word a little more than I otherwise would have. If you're not watching this show - and especially if you like Futurama - then you absolutely need to! Check it out on Netflix!

Pictures from the 2019 Comic-Con International, part 6 (Saturday, 7/20)

Let's look at pictures from Saturday at Comic-Con!

I got to the convention center on Saturday morning at around the same time I did on Friday, and lo and behold, I pulled up right next to this giant truck-bed robot. Hey there, work buddy.

Who was in charge of obscuring the Comic-Con logo? Now the escalator shot is ruined!!

My first order of business on Saturday was to get in line for limited drawings. I wanted to see the Thomas Lennon panel in the Horton Grand Theatre later in the afternoon, so I took my spot in the way, way back, as usual. But I ended up getting tickets with no problem after a little bit of a wait.

Rogue was in a hurry to get in line.

Are we sure this isn't the actual actor from Deadpool 2?

Spider-Punk. Fight the power.

I enjoy both this Orko puppet as well as the emotionless stare from the puppeteer.

Conan...the Bavarian.

What I'm saying is, a lot of people in costume walked by the booth on Saturday.

This is a MEGO Batman, yes?

Here's a guy who had his entire arm covered by Steeler greats. As far as tattoos go, this is a good choice.

I met up with Patric Verrone of Futurama and Disenchantment fame! The second season of Disenchantment is now on Netflix, and I am absolutely loving it.

Okay. This is a seriously fantastic Shepherd Book outfit. Kudos to this guy.

There's something for everyone at Comic-Con.

Not for nothing, but Beaker put a lot more work into his costume for the show.

I went outside for a bit (probably for the Taco Truck) and saw the Game of Thrones group picture setup.

I'm convinced that these are video game characters!

These fine folks were one of several who dressed up as Disenchantment characters on this day. Good on 'em for getting the whole group.

Kyle Rayner is the best Green Lantern! This is a fact.

Look at these! These are great Skeletor and She-Ra costumes.

I saw a group of Batmen as I hung out at the New England Comics booth. Apparently I decided to get all of their pictures individually. Here's Batman Beyond!

Movie Batman!

Marionette Batman! Or is this supposed to be Bat-Mite?

Catwoman!

Oh, and here's a bejeweled Stormtrooper.

Mixed media!

A Terrifics-era Plastic Man!

Fiona and Cake!

By the Power of Grayskull!

As the afternoon was winding down, I went outside and walked to the Horton for the ticketed panel. We all float at Comic-Con.

Lastly, here's a crossover that would be fun to see. There are more pictures from Saturday to come!

Pictures from the 2018 Comic-Con International, part 4 (Thursday, 7/19)

Here are some more pictures from Thursday at Comic-Con 2018! I almost split these up one more time because I still had a lot from this day. But we will get through them all! Let's begin!

Midway through the day, I left the convention hall to make my way to an offsite event. The weather was pretty agreeable this year overall, especially for the first half of the convention. So I crossed the train tracks and headed toward the Gaslamp District!

Disenchantment got more advertising outside and across the street.

My destination was the Hard Rock Hotel, where another Rotten Tomatoes panel was taking place. This was a new venue for the event, and one closer to the convention center than in 2017.

People were lining up to get inside! I was happy to see it. I was a little early, so I decided to walk around a bit more before going inside.

And so I saw this Rampage display! Rampage was already in theaters by this time, so why were they advertising here? Maybe they already had the George the gorilla statue and decided to get some more use out of it? Maybe they were advertising for the eventual digital download? Maybe they just really wanted to have a display at Comic-Con? Who can say?

I do not know anything about this show. But Here's a giant fork for you.

Soon it was time to head back into the Hard Rock hall for the Rotten Tomatoes: Your Opinion Sucks! panel. This year's panel was even more streamlined and polished than ever.

One of the special guests this year was...Rob Liefeld, co-creator of Deadpool? Even though there's the obvious movie tie-in, it's nice to see a comic professional get the spotlight at an event.

Naturally, I'm thrilled that everything seems to be going well for Rotten Tomatoes in general, and Grae Drake specifically. Grae is a great person and it's exciting to see her become the face of the brand. Other than, I mean, the giant tomato.

I made another comic print for the panel this year. Will I show you all what it is? Yes, I will. In a bit.

After the panel, I ran back to the convention hall for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 signing. That's a really nice Tom Servo!

Dark Horse is producing an MST3K comic, which is out right now, actually. At the booth were Felicia Day, Todd Nauck and Michael Heisler, all of whom signed prints and promotional copies of the first issue. Is Heisler wearing a Totino's t-shirt? How does one...find something like that?

I recognize one character from this group, but I guess that's good enough.

After the show ended, I took a trip to the back of the convention hall. That's a Mayans ad draped over the Hilton.

I was kind of ambivalent about The Fifth Element the first time I saw it. But I've come to really enjoy it since. Not a bad leopard-print costume, sir.

Archer is a mainstay at this location.

Here's a shot of the harbor during what is apparently the golden hour.

Yep, the golden hour. It was a nice night to walk around after the show.

Adult Swim had a summer camp theme for their main outdoor attraction this year. It was way too crowded to enter on this particular night, but I got a good look inside, at any rate.

The canoe racing looked particularly fun.

Crossing the bridge, I saw (and probably scared) Kevin McDonald, from Kids in the Hall and Seinfeld!

Among the hundreds of thousands of people in and around Comic-Con, I always somehow manage to blindly run into Perry Zombolas every year. Perry is an all-around great guy, and he's also a storyboard artist on Bob's Burgers and now Disenchantment!

I capped the night off by checking out the Star Trek: Mirror Universe exhibit in the Gaslamp District! This small offsite had costumes and other items, mostly from the first season of Star Trek: Discovery!

The Mirror Universe is a fun concept, and I didn't expect Discovery to dive so deeply into the lore in its first season.

In the merchandise room, of all places, the walls were lined with original art from IDW's Star Trek: The Next Generation: Broken Mirror comic book series! All of the pages were on sale as well!

And that was finally the end of the night for me. It was a packed Thursday and a great start to the convention. More pictures to come soon!