The world has waited long enough: here are some pictures from the 2024 Comic-Con International

I've had this blog since 2008, which is a long time in blog years, and also, I guess, the last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Sometimes I post a bunch of pictures from Comic-Con in San Diego, and I wonder what kind of Google Image search results they show up in, and if they make any sense without the context of this wonderful blog. I guess we'll never know, but here are 22 more pictures for Google to sort through. Here are some of the things I saw in San Diego this past July!

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

This year's offsite events were as big and immersive as they've ever been, especially along the harbor, behind the convention center. ABC's Abbot Elementary had a carnival with rides and a drum line and a line to get in that went for hours each day.

This must have been fun for two people to go as Batman and Alfred in tandem. Did they ever separate over the weekend? Would it have made sense just to see a guy with a phone and an umbrella? Did they feel the pressure to stay in character the whole time?

Comic-Con is fun for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is that you can walk down an aisle and see a to-scale Mechagodzilla walking toward you.

You can also see the Statue of Liberty with a chicken man, but I guess you can see that anywhere.

The Hulu booth had a number of signings on the floor over the course of the weekend. Here's the cast of What We Do In The Shadows!

Hulu's offsite event was also a big deal throughout the weekend. I'm not sure why Bender is being shuttled along this conveyor belt, but I am apparently very concerned about it.

My friend Jennie Wood had a panel and a rooftop book signing at the San Diego Public Library one afternoon during the show!

The Young Avengers!

Just don't...don't turn around, Hank.

This might be the best costume I saw all weekend. Kudos to this guy for pulling it off expertly.

I was lucky enough to get a ticket to Paramount's offsite Lodge event, and this is the best picture I took inside. They had a TMNT arcade machine and free pizza, too.

I'm not sure if this vehicle is street legal, or if you are allowed to drive it wearing a Muppet mask, but we'll make an exception for Comic-Con.

If it's a mashup, I like it. These were great.

I was somehow able to get into the Futurama cast signing on Saturday at the Hulu booth.

I recently watched both Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra for the first time, and suddenly these costumes make sense.

A new issue of Sister Powers came out for the show, and I got to spend some time with my friend and series artist Mario Wytch signing over the weekend.

The show isn't limited to the convention floor. These poor souls died, presumably, waiting in line for something.

At some point, it's time to go home.

Public transit has its perils, but it's cheaper than Uber and sometimes you've just got to make do.

This felt like the first "normal" Comic-Con since 2019. It was expansive and intense and I slept very little. I'll be back next year.

pictures from the 2021 Rhode Island Comic Con

The Rhode Island Comic Con was the last show I attended in 2019. I wrapped up the convention year with a table and, of course, not knowing that I wouldn't attend any show in 2020. RICC was back at its regular dates this year, and I was able to get a table once again, so it had many full-circle moments as I ventured back into the world of selling stuff at conventions. 

So how was it? It was weird. But here are some pictures, in the spirit of the grand tradition of this damn blog, which I have been using for like 13 years at this point. That is also weird. Anyway, let's look at some pictures!

The eerie glow of the wheels on Ghost Rider's bike really sells this costume. The lights are a perfect touch.

Low-key Philip J Fry is a nice go-to if you've got red hair. It also works as a James Dean costume outside of convention center grounds.

Here's a look at the main show floor hallway, traveling down the escalator. It's hard to compare attendance at this show to that in 2019. Saturday felt busy at times. It was pretty sparse at moments on Friday and Sunday. I don't blame anyone for not feeling comfortable getting back to regular conventions just yet. I suppose that the crowds came in waves, and in between those waves, the attendance was light.

Okay. So. William Shatner announced that 2019 would be his last year for convention appearances. At NYCC in October, I paid (a lot) for an autograph. At RICC, my pal Ian and I went for one of the photo ops. The plastic divider in the picture is distracting, and these celebrity photo ops are pretty cheesy in general. But I couldn't pass up what will probably be my last chance to get a photo with Captain Kirk.

I posted the picture online, and some random kind soul quickly came back with this edited version. Bless the person who did this. Maybe this will be my Christmas card this year.

I don't know what this costume is! But it is impressive!

This Predator costume was probably the most popular at the show, and this guy paid the price for having a good outfit at a small convention. I often saw him surrounded by crowds for 30 minutes at a time, and he'd eventually have to ask people to let him leave. It's a double-edged sword, my friend.

Some Bat-Family characters.

One of the photo booths on the floor allowed you to take a picture with this really huge Battle Cat. You could sit on it, hold He-Man's sword, the whole thing. I know that this isn't a licensed thing, and I wonder who was in charge of spray painting the tiger model green, but it was still fun to see.

Sometimes at shows, especially small shows, the things I enjoy seeing most of all are the old and very expensive comics. Here's a hefty run of the Fantastic Four that includes issues 1, 2, 4, 5, 52 and others.

I'm here for this Skeletor.

This Little Shop of Horrors Audrey II prop was roped off on the show floor. It looks like someone could get in it and operate it? But every time I saw it, it was just there for display.

Lower Decks is the best Star Trek show currently airing. I absolutely love it. 

I saw more than one couple dressed as Laszlo and Nadja from What We Do In The Shadows, which is also a wonderful show that I've just recently finished watching. It's a great idea if there's more than one person if your group.

I was kind of bummed when shows shut down for 2020 - I was also sad for other, more important reasons, I guess - so I decided that I would get unnecessarily dressed up the next time I was able to get a table. It took two years, but I was finally able to get back to exhibiting a convention in November of 2021. So here's the table...

...and here I am, resplendent as always, at the 2021 Rhode Island Comic Con. Everything about this is ridiculous. 

Also here's Godzilla.

Here's another Laszlo and Nadja. Laszlo is wearing his cursed hat.

Well, now I know who in Pennsylvania has this variation on the Pac Man license plate.

I was able to be on a panel, see some friends, and be bored at a comic convention again for the first time in a while. I'm happy about it all.

Pictures from the 2014 Comic-Con International, part 6: We'll Never Stop (Matt Groening, Godzilla, Venture Bros. and more!)

You thought that I was done showing pictures from Comic-Con?  NEVER!  Who knows...maybe these will wrap right around until Comic-Con 2015 shows up.  It'd be like a party that never ends.  Let's see some pictures!

This was the result of the furious last-minute work that I witnessed on the day before the convention started.  Why Godzilla came back to Comic-Con, as the movie was already released months in advance of the show, is beyond me.  But it provided something for the back lawn of the convention center, which had in previous years been mostly...lawn.  I look to see more and more take up space in this area in years to come.

I spotted this at the Alex Ross booth while walking the floor in the morning.  It was tempting to buy some Fantastic Four art at the show, and though this is most likely the only original Ross art that I'll ever be able to afford, $500 seemed a bit much for these sketches.  I might regret not ponying up for this one day.

I didn't go to too many panels at Comic-Con this year, but I was glad that I was able to sit in on the Venture Bros. panel at an adjacent hotel.  I waited in line in the hot sun (it was warmer than usual this year) and got a nice burn on the top of my head (...), but it was a fun panel, as always.  On the double screen is co-creator and Tick alumni Jackson Public!

Friday was a big costume day.  I mean, they're all big costume days, but I saw more on Friday than on previous days.  Here's an in-character Judge Dredd!

I assume this fellow is wearing stilts.  A very impressive costume on a very hot day.  Also, hi, Sailor Moon.

After the convention, it was time to stop at the should-be-world-famous Taco Truck.  I was thrilled to see it back this year, and it did not disappoint.  Delicious.

After eating my chicken burrito, I made my way over to the New England Comics booth.  On the way there, I passed by Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening (!), who was just browsing, probably happy that no one was bothering him at the moment.  I, of course, ruined that peace and solitude, but Groening was very friendly and gracious.  I gave him a copy of The Naked Man at the Edge of Time, which I luckily happened to be carrying with me, and got this nice picture.  I made sure that I blabbed a bit about Futurama, which I'm convinced will return with new episodes before long.

This gentleman was trying his hardest to make it to the bathroom, but he kept being stopped by passers by for pictures.  It's hard to blame them when a Ninja Turtle walks by.  This picture was taken, no lie, right after he knocked a little kid over.  It was something.

This guy obviously made a good Silver Surfer.  Here he is with the Invisible Woman - don't see enough good Fantastic Four costumes at these shows - and the Sandman.

We had a small (but enthusiastic!) FUBAR signing at Jenny Wood's "Flutter" booth on Friday afternoon.  We had posters made up for it and everything!  It was very exciting.  Here's Jennie signing a poster as fellow FUBAR contributor (and "Punky Brewster" artist) Lesley Vamos looks on!

Group shot!

James Urbaniak, voice of Dr. Venture on The Venture Bros. cartoon, walked by the booth and I immediately chased him down.

I was having a string of luck as soon after I saw Bruce Timm, a fantastic artist and one of the driving forces behind the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series.

Then it was back to the Tick booth, where Ben Edlund signed books and sketched for fans.  It's pretty awesome that Ben still hangs out at this booth (and recognizes my existence) after all he's accomplished as a writer and producer.

I'm pretty sure that this guy dressed up as the Sub Mariner in 2013.  Here he is as the Weapon X Wolverine.  The pouches on his waist were apparently functional, as he answered a phone call soon after.

I'll never get tired of seeing Chairface Chippendale costumes.  This was a very good one.  The lycra headpiece really sells it.  Top notch.

I'll leave you with this nightmare imagery as this closed down Friday at the convention for me.  I'll save some pictures from the evening for next time.  There'll always be a next time, folks.