Pictures from the 2018 Comic-Con International, part 8 (Sunday, 7/22)

Comic-Con! Sunday! Lets go!

The DC booth often features displays of costumes from current and upcoming adaptations. I don't often get to see them because there's almost always a crowd during the show, they're set up in the middle of the booth area, and I'm (um) afraid to wander in there before the show opens up. But hey! Here's Zach Levi's Captain Marvel costume!

Here's another Batman who Laughs! The Batman who Laughs is a weird character with lots of belts. That is all.

Wait'll this guy sees the concession stand prices.

I saw Lesley Vamos! What a lovely person!

Here's David Ross, AKA Cowboy Santa Tick, as Iron Fist!

This is maybe the fourth time I've seen Matt and John Yuan as I've walked through the convention hall. They're both very nice and they're very forgiving of the fact that I bring up their roles on Arrested Development every time I see them.

Have you seen The Orville? It's pretty much Star Trek Lite, but I think I like it. These are good costumes.

This is a meme, right? It's a meme.

Is this a gender-reversed Peter Pan thing, or are both of these people dressed as Tinker Bell? I thought the wings were especially nice.

I think this was from my "rush around and take pictures of everyone in costume" part of the day.

It's easy to focus on this very-nicely-done adult and kid Gamora, but also don't forget to spot the guy in the unicorn costume talking with Stan Sakai in the background.

I got to talk for a bit with Dave Garcia, Tick artist and apparent Buffalo Bill reenactment model! Dave's a really great guy and I'd love to write a Tick story for him to draw some day.

Robin is also a Very Serious Person.

The glowing mace is a nice touch.

This is dang movie quality. Maybe it doesn't stand out as much as some of the more elaborate costumes, but this is one incredible Dr. Zaius costume. The mask is incredible! And when he talked, his mouth moved! I loved this.

Every year, 5:00 on Sunday brings the end of the show, and a frenzy of the teardown process. Everyone is always anxious to pack up and go, but I think it's nice to take a second and appreciate Comic-Con for the great opportunities it provides fans and creators alike.

I walked by as the staff was apparently taking their end-of-show picture, this one in front of the Deadpool animatronic booth.

If you cut Deadpool in half at the waist, what would happen? Would his top part just grow new legs, or would both halves regenerate, creating two Deadpools? Where does the core of his healing factor reside? Answer me, Internets!

The 2018 show was a really memorable one. I got to step band and enjoy things a little more than usual this year. I'll be returning once again in July!

One more set of pictures before we put this to bed. We'll make it!

The Christmas haul, 2015

Is it weird that I post pictures of some of the stuff I got for Christmas? Maybe. But here's what I got for Christmas. I like it.

I got some great comics this year. The Gaiman/Williams Sandman prequel was collected just in time for Christmas. I'm now caught up on the Hellboy library editions. I'm very excited to read the comic adaptation of Don Quixote. And WOOOOOAH, I got the Complete Calvin and Hobbes hardcover edition, which must weigh about 50 pounds. It's really impressive.

Your pal (and mine) Larry got me some great Thing items. First up are these two figures. The first one is from Japan, and the second is part of a kid's memory game. Both are awesome (and both come apart!).

Larry also went above and beyond when he found these two gems from the 2005 Fantastic Four movie. Thing hands and Thing feet!

Check out this sticker on the Thing feet box. Was it necessary? You can see the feet in the box, and it says "THING FEET" just inches away, in big, capital letters, at the bottom of the box. The artwork doesn't fit the rest of the packaging, either. But how cool! Somewhere out there, there's a roll of these "Thing feet" stickers.

While everyone else is moving away from DVDs to digital downloads and streaming services, I am apparently doubling down on discs with bizarre additions to my collection like the Dr. Katz complete series.

I got a WiiU a few months ago, and now I have a few more games to play, plus my first Amiibo. What's an Amiibo? Why, it's a huge racket that forces you to buy toys to go along with your games. And here I am, falling for it! I think I'll get the Pac Man Amiibo next.

My Steelers sideline shirt from 2004 is nearing the end of its life. So here's my new gameday shirt, which maybe I'll wear for another 10 years or so. Let's get a picture now while it's still black.

And then there's my haul from the yearly Gallery 1988 sale. These aren't technically Christmas presents (since I bought 'em for myself), but they came in December and they are great. So we're listing them. These two Weird Al prints are from separate shows, but they obviously follow a theme. I buy a few each year in hopes that the many Weird Al prints don't sell out before I have a chance to buy them all.

This one is freaky but great.

Merry Christmas!

Pictures from the 2015 Comic-Con International, part 4: Friday (Rick and Morty, Rotten Tomatoes, Seth Meyers and more!)

I just got back from the New York Comic Con, so...I guess it's time to share pictures...from a different Comic-Con! Why not. Here's Friday at Comic-Con in lovely San Diego!

This banner always seems to tucked away. Unless you enter from one side, you won't see it. But here it is.

It's always fun to make new friends at the show.

This picture doesn't really do the thing justice. It's the Devastator combiner from the Transformers line.

This was a pretty popular display for obvious reasons. LEGO always seems to show up big for these events. I wonder if these get pulled apart after conventions are end, or if they're stored whole in a big LEGO warehouse.

While walking the floor, I ran into and probably embarrassed comic creators Mark Waid and Christy Blanch!

I'm not much of a panel goer at these shows, with a few exceptions, but I did take in a few.

This one was particularly interesting because a guy with stuffed dogs strapped to him came up and asked a question. I saw him a few other times over the weekend, and each time he had more dogs on him, including one time where the dogs surrounded his head. It was interesting.

It's the obligatory "going down the escalator at Comic-Con" shot! Yeah!!

I had took a few minutes on Friday afternoon to pick up my pre-orders from Mattel. I'm always a little stunned at the volume that big companies sell at this show. This is just one room full of items that were also on sale elsewhere at the show. There's even plastic wrap covering the floors to protect the carpet. Here's to consumerism, I guess!

While walking back to the convention, though the hotel, I found this gentleman with the Super Mario Bros. backdrop. This is the voice actor who plays Mario in the video games. Yes, he was doing the voice for those who dropped by, too.

Back to the convention hall - what a great Hawkgirl!

Here's Thanos and Loki.

I tried to make it to a Rick and Morty panel, but apparently I didn't get there in time. I was no where near making it in. It's a shame, but I got lucky later in the evening and it made up for this disappointment. On the way over, though, I saw some good costumes, including this one of two-ton 21!

X-23 and Wolverine.

Adult Swim had a big presence at the show, as in years past. This time they were set up behind the convention hall.

Rick and Morty seemed to be the biggest focus of all the [AS] displays and events. It's my favorite new show on the network (is Adult Swim a network?), so it was nice to see that other people apparently enjoy it as well.

There are always impressive costumes at this show, but this one might have been my favorite because of how dang accurate it was and how much this lady looked the part. I half expected to see her start stretching. Fantastic job.

CHECK OUT THIS AMALGAM COSTUME! That's the Storm/Wonder Woman hybrid from DC and Marvel's joint venture in the '90s. The Storm costume is really impressive as well, but I can't get over the great mashup.

Entertainment Earth had a number of celebrity signings at their booth over the weekend, and they were surprisingly easy to get into. I won the opportunity to meet late night host and SNL alumni Seth Meyers, who, by the way, is a big fan of Pittsburgh sports. We talked about the Pirates and Steelers briefly, and I got a few signed items from him. It was an incredibly smooth process, so hats off to Entertainment Earth for setting this up.

It's weird to say that I met Jamie Hyneman from "Mythbusters" in the bathroom at Comic-Con, but that's what happened. He was washing his hands and I didn't know how to approach him. The correct answer was to wait until we were both out of the bathroom, so I'm glad that I remembered some common human etiquette before getting this picture.

Matthew and John Yuan played on season four of Arrested Development. I saw them walking around in 2013 but managed to get a picture this year in which we semi-recreate one of my favorite scenes from the show. Both of the guys were very friendly and let me ask them the questions that they probably always get.

I was excited to once again make it to the Rotten Tomatoes "Your Opinion Sucks!" panel in the evening. This is one of the only panels that I feel I have to make it to every year, and it did not disappoint once again. It's lively and fun and everyone should try to see one at some point. This one was pretty crowded, so I guess people are getting the memo.

Emcee Grae Drake was in a Muppet costume.

And I got a picture with Rotten Tomatoes EIC Matt Atchity after the panel as well.

The show closed for the night after the panel, at which time I rushed out of the building in an attempt to make it to the Rick and Morty screening that was happening immediately after. We barely made it in, but it was a successful attempt.

There was a Star Wars event happening nearby...and soon after we sat down, fireworks started to go off. This drowned out everything else that was happening nearby, so we all just sat and watched the fireworks for ten minutes or so.

The screening consisted of Rick and Morty creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland acting out a scenario while animators drew the character. It quickly devolved into madness. Seth Green was in the audience, and he was invited up to perform as well. Most if not all had a few drinks beforehand, so it went how you might expect.

At the end of the night, we all got to see an early screening of a season two episode! This ended up being the second episode from the new season.

As we were leaving, I got to see my good Comic-Con friend, Russian Guyovich! There was apparently a Venture Bros. screening the night before, and an upcoming episode of that show was played for the unsuspecting audience. I guess I'll have to catch that when the new season (finally, mercifully) starts next year.

Two more days to go! We'll get there. And then maybe some NYCC pictures, too.