Pitches that never made it: Adventure Time Comics

I should pitch more stories. One of the toughest things to do, for me, is figuring out who to reach out to when pitching ideas. Comic book editors are generally very busy and are also not necessarily worried about things they could publish when they've got what they ARE publishing on their minds. But I do still try, even though it takes a lot of time and effort and doesn't always get a good response - or even any response, as if often the case.

Below is part of a story that I pitched to Boom! Studios when they were publishing their Adventure Time comics line. At one point, there were two ongoing Adventure Time series along with a number of miniseries from a number of creators. I was never able to crack the code to get in on the publishing angle of things, but here you can see my best attempt:

My friend and frequent collaborator Pietro drew the first two pages of this story, which was going to end with Jake falling asleep just as Finn wakes up. As always, Pietro makes anything look good, as these pages are just beautiful to behold.

Pitting pitches together is always a time consuming process, and when they don't work out, you're sometimes left with pages that will never see the light of day. But if I've got 'em - especially when they're for projects that no longer have a published comic to put them in - I might as well show them to you, all of my good friends on the internet. 

Pictures from the 2018 Comic-Con International, part 3 (Thursday, 7/19)

Okay, it's time to look at some of the many, many pictures I took at Comic-Con on Thursday of the show. There are so many that I'll split this up into two posts. That's just the way it has to be, folks.

Early in the morning, we have see Iron Spiders on their way to the exhibit hall.

The first thing I did on Thursday was head over to the Disenchantment booth and display. Later in the day, I saw that the line stretched all the way around the booth and to the wall, so I'm glad that I, uh, cheated a bit and got in early.

I'm kind of surprised that Netflix, which doesn't advertise its shows very often, had a booth for this new cartoon in the first place. But what better place to have one than at Comic-Con?

I've watched most of season one at this point, and I have to say that I'm really enjoying this show. And I managed to get some free temporary tattoos and a shirt at the booth!

Alas, poor Robin.

Naturally, there were a lot of Rick and Morty costumes on display at the show, but this was one of the better ones.

I spent some time signing comics (and stuff) at the New England Comics booth, which is always a treat. Here I am with artist Ian Nichols, who drew the new issue. Great.

This is a really nice Adam Warlock costume!

This woman does not seem nearly frightened enough of the world-devourer.

Classic.

I really do like the current Captain Marvel costume.

There's always a strong Disney contingent of costumers. But I'd never seen this before.

Who would have thought that the Mantis would be a popular enough character to inspire great costumes like this? Madness.

I appreciate the classic Loki helmet here.

Here's me with someone cosplaying as Leonard Maltin. Wait, that's actually Leonard Maltin. I seem to see him every year.

The first panel I went to this year was the Bongo Comics panel, where I was greeted by this group of Marges.

You have to get one of these pictures every year. Glad to get it out of the way.

I guess Disney owns both of these characters now.

...Disney owns these characters now, too, don't they?

I find this costume to be...acceptable.

A few booths away from mine in the small press section gathered a medium-sized crowd on Thursday, so I decided to check out what the noise was about. It turns out that someone brought a copy of Action Comics #1 from 1938 to display.

The cynic in me finds it a bit of a stretch to think that this is a genuine copy of Action Comics #1. This is mostly because there are only an estimated 100 copies of this book in existence, but beyond this, the copy was only in a regular bag and board as opposed to, say, bulletproof glass, and the copy looked to be in pretty decent shape. That would mean that someone would purposely bring a book probably worth around two million dollars to set out on a table.

But the fan in me really hopes that this is a legitimate first printing, because WOW! I almost asked to smell it.

These fine gentlemen stopped by the small press booth as I was eating lunch. Both of them work on the cartoon Bob's Burgers. We had a nice chat and then they left - but on Friday, one of them returned with a lot of cool Bob's Burgers promotional items, like buttons and stickers. It was great to meet them!

Yes, I see you, Mikey.

Very nice Wonder Woman costume!

If you have a twin, this is the PERFECT costume set to wear! I really enjoyed seeing this Peter Parker/Ben Rielly pair. Excellent job.

Okay, I've got a lot more pictures from Thursday, but this seems to be a good place to take a break. I'll post the others soon!

Pictures from the 2017 Comic-Con International, part 4: Friday, 7/21

Let's look at some more Comic-Con pictures! These are all from Friday, July 21st.

Friday was a big day for The Tick at Comic-Con. I got to the convention center a little bit early to line up for autograph tickets. Like the last few years, the weather in San Diego was a little warm, but luckily it was pretty mild and overcast this morning. The line to get into the Sails Pavilion snaked outside of the building and all over the place.

There's still plenty to see in line, I guess. This was one of my favorite costumes from the show, from the new Doom Patrol series! As in previous years, once the line started moving, I was able to get through it pretty quickly and get the tickets I was hoping to get. Most people were trying get tickets to a Justice League cast signing, so it was mostly smooth sailing for everyone else.

After leaving the Sails Pavilion, it was back to the show floor. This Dr. Fate costume was probably the best of the show. I love the light-up eyes.

Here's Marge Simpson at the Bongo Comics booth!

And that's a Frank Miller sighting.

The day before, I got tickets to the Gerard Way/Gabriel Ba signing at the Dark Horse booth. Way is the lead singer of My Chemical Romance as well as a comic book writer, so there were lots of weepy fans crowding around. They were signing posters for the new Umbrella Academy series that's coming to Netflix soon.

Here's a very flattering picture of both of us.

This is Marceline from Adventure Time, right? I'm going with it.

Lego Flash has an interesting codpiece.

Here's the ubiquitous comic convention Chewbacca appearance. Great costume!

I'm not sure if this Han Solo was specifically modeled after Freddy Mercury, but I really enjoyed it.

It's been said that Elvis designed one of his 1970s jumpsuits after Captain Marvel Jr., so it was awesome to see this mashup.

Beetlejuice doesn't really seem that out of place with Skeletor and Evil-Lyn.

I wasn't crazy about the Watchmen movie, but these costumes are great.

In the early afternoon, it was time to head back to the Sails Pavilion for the Tick autograph signing. This guy was rocking this great Tick mask.

Obviously, getting to talk with the people behind The Tick was a big highlight of the show for me. This was my first time meeting a number of these folks.

Everyone in line got a poster. Griffin has been practicing that Arthur artwork, I can tell.

Right after getting out of the Tick line, I hopped a few rows down and got into an autograph line for Milo Murphy's Law, the Disney cartoon starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, who was there with two of the show's creators. This was announced at the last minute, so I think this flew under the radar for a lot of people.

While I was in line, Samm Levine from "Freaks and Geeks" and "Wet Hot American Summer" showed up!

I didn't expect to see Al at the show, so it was a nice surprise. I got to give him and the show creators some UHF enamel pins that I had made for the convention. It must be weird seeing your face on fan-made items, but Al is always a friendly, easy-going guy. I hope he liked it.

After I got out of THAT line, I ran straight to the Tick panel. I unintentionally snuck into an exit door for the room. I was by myself at this point, so I was able to find a single seat right up in front. The panel started about five minutes after I arrived. I cut a lot of things close this day, but it all worked out, which was a relief.

The second episode of the Amazon show streamed at the panel, about a month before anyone else got to see it, and the cast followed it up with a Q&A. The room was packed by the time it all started.

There were a lot number of Tick family members in the audience as well. I saw Jackson Publick after the panel ended!

Team Tick members must have had some free time later in the day on Friday, because I saw a number of them on the convention floor before the show ended. I gotta get me one of those shirts!

The show ended about an hour after the panel let out, so I walked the floor for the rest of the day. Friday was a great day for costumes. This Luke Cage is classic. The guy really sells it.

Here's a scandalous super-family.

You don't see many J Jonah Jameson costumes out there. Kudos to him with the prop.

I think the new Spider-Man costume is pretty good. Nothing beats the original, but I like it.

Here's The Tick and Arthur, once again! These guys are really dedicated to the property. They show up in these costumes every year.

And that is it for Friday! It was a VERY busy day. Lots of fun! More to come.