Pictures from the 2012 Comic-Con, part 5

Here we are again with another batch of great pictures from this year's Comic-Con International!  All of these pictures come from Friday, which might have been the busiest day of the convention, sales-wise.  Saturday was big as always and Sunday brought on a number of surprise impulse buys, but Friday stood out and exceeded my expectations.  Let's look at some pictures!

On Friday morning, my wife and I got up at 6:00 in the morning and made our way to the exhibit hall to wait in line for the highly-anticipated Firefly panel, which kicked off at 12:30.  Little did we realize that people camped out the night before for a chance to see it, and that everyone in the world was dead set on getting into the convention hall.  This picture is a shot from our place in line - and you can see the dozens of people trailing in behind us.  There were easily 7,000 people waiting in a line that stretched from the convention all the way down to and along the water.

We waited in line until 12:30, but we ended up a few hundred people from getting into the convention hall.  For the many great things that the people behind Comic-Con do, they could learn a few lessons from the Firefly and a few other panels.  Namely, they could anticipate the popularity of their panels a little better than they actually did, and more importantly, they need to clear the halls between panels.

There were two panels before Firefly, but fans of those programs had no shot of seeing them.  Firefly fans filled the room as soon as it opened and waited through earlier panels until 12:30 rolled around.  I'm not going to throw any stones, because I would have done the same thing.  But clearing the halls - and I realize that the time it would take to do so would be lengthy - would give others a better chance of seeing a panel they were excited to see, and it would keep fans from having to line up in excess of 12 hours in advance to see a program.

There!  That's my rant.  Dammit, I wanted to see the cast so badly.

This costume cheered me up a little.

Despite the low-riding pants, Aquaman didn't make it into the panel, and neither did texting Blackest Night Wonder Woman.

This hench is taking a break from...you know...henching.

This guy had a spot-on Adam West Batman costume.  The pit stains were part of the costume and a very nice touch.

Check out Dr. Killinger's magic murder bag and trailing oni!  I didn't spot too many Venture Bros. costumes at the show this year, but those I did see were pretty great.

Mattel really went all out with He-Man promos and merchandise for the 30th anniversary of the line.  This She-Ra was pretty convincing.

Thanks to some timely ticket grabbing by Larry, I got to meet the Hoff!  David Hasselhoff was there promoting the Knight Rider anniversary, and he seemed to be having a great time.  I asked the guy behind me in line to take my picture with Hasselhoff, who posed with me and everything.  But then, instead of snapping the picture, the guy turned the camera off.  So this was the best I got.  But it was pretty neat anyway.

Here's Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  His line was hours long all day as he was sketching, but I managed to sneak a quick autograph while he was taking a break.  The turtles influenced my childhood so greatly...I guess I still like 'em today, too.

I wonder if he had to have each individual arrow inspected when he came in the door?

Girl Loki and...someone else.

You never see many good Star Trek costumes at conventions anymore.  Thank goodness for this guy.

Look at that Captain America costume!  Such detail!

And speaking of Star Trek, here's LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner!  Wait, $30 for an autograph?  Wow.  Cool to see these guys, though, and they certainly drew a crowd.

Another great Venture Bros. costume.  The VB panel was this day, and I hear that it was a good time.

This guy gives Danny Devito a run for his money.  The mask is really nice.

Ah!  The three-boobed lady from the new Total Recall.  As I said before, I won't be going to see the remake, but I was nevertheless impressed by the booth at Comic-Con.  This lady was quite the spectacle.

Geez oh whiz.

Nickelodeon had a huge TMNT display.  I posed with it several times.

Duct tape Bender!

I was lucky enough to be in the area of the New England Comics booth when Ben Edlund showed up. And when Edlund showed up, the Tick and Arthur (attendees, not people associated with the booth, by the way) weren't far behind!  These guys pulled off the TV show look quite well.

Hawkman goes shopping.

Robin...with Joey from FRIENDS seemingly photobombing.

Outside of the convention hall had plenty to offer as well.  Every single movie Batmobile was on display and all of them were impressive - even the one from the Clooney disaster of a movie.  Check 'em out!

Nearby, as the sun set, we caught a little bit of "Extra at Comic-Con".  On Saturday night, the Bacon Brothers played a set.  This night, I listened to Kevin Smith as he interviewed Bruce Timm of Batman: the Animated Series fame!

Someone had the job of painting this van.

San Diego was picturesque the entire time we were there.  The city is as beautiful as I remembered.

There are still many more pictures to come!  Because you haven't seen enough already.  You haven't!!

Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic store in Red Bank, NJ

I took a trip this weekend to visit some family near Allentown, PA (famous for the Billy Joel song and NOTHING ELSE), and while I was there we managed a little day trip to New York and surrounding areas.  My brother-in-law, great guy that he is, mentioned that the Kevin Smith owned comic shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, was nearby, so an impromptu side trip was quickly undertaken!  Below are some pictures of the shop, which was a pretty neat place.

While I'm not Kevin Smith's biggest fan in the world, I have seen most of his movies and I've enjoyed more than a few (the night before, thought, I watched Red State and MAN was it dark!).  I also think that, despite the fact that he does tend to reuse plot points and character traits, and despite his lack of ability to stick to a deadline, I think he's good for the comic industry and I have enjoyed most of his work.  His Green Arrow run from, what, 10 years ago (?) remains a favorite for me.

You've got to admit, however you feel about the man, it's pretty cool that he owns his own comic book shop.  The above two pictures are, of course, from outside the shop in Red Bank, New Jersey.  Red Bank was a pretty hip place all around, it seemed, and we spent some time in town afterwards.

One of the first things you see when entering the shop is this sign from Clerks.  There were props and memorabilia from a number of Smith's movies all over the place, which was pretty neat.  It beats storing them in some garage for years on end.

Here's the front of the store, complete with New Jersey Devils banners and framed Batman comics.  Smith supposedly works in the store from time to time (i.e. whenever he feels like it), though he wasn't there this day.  I wonder how often he does come in with the amount of time he spends directing and filming.

The store seemed pretty big for a comic shop, which allowed for the showcase areas with movie and comic props.  There was a hefty supply of comics written by Smith at the front of the store, some of which he had signed.  These were on sale for no extra charge, which I thought was pretty thoughtful of the guy.

The back of the store was a little more unorganized, with comics and props in random places as if this part was still under construction.  Even so, there were some neat, bigger items in the back such as outfits from Clerks II.

And look!  Here's Mooby the Golden Calf from Dogma and a number of movies.

I'd like to think that Jesus is my buddy, too.  I wonder who designed this thing.

In Mallrats (featuring an appearance with Stan Lee, in which he's asked about the Thing's junk), Jason Lee's character hangs out at the local comic shop and eventually owns one (if I'm remembering correctly...it's been a long time since I've seen it).  Surrounding this display were lots of comic book parodies from the movie, such as the one directly below...

...yep.  I'm not sure what else needs to be said about it.  But since it's a Fantastic Four parody, I had to take a picture.

On one side of the store, above the back issue bins of comics, there are what I assume to be original Alex Ross paintings.  Smith currently writes a Green Hornet comic for Dynamite Entertainment and Ross does the covers, which explains the connection.  It was pretty cool to see these, which were placed so inconspicuously that I almost didn't see them.

I ended up buying a couple things, including these two autographed Batman comics.  I said it before, but it bears repeating: it's cool that the guy comes in, signs some of his stuff, and then sells it without marking it up in price at all.  This was a cool, unique shop, and I had a good time looking at all of the original comic art, movie props and general merchandise.  And the place was jumpin' when I was there, too!  If you're ever near Red Bank, NJ, stop in and see it for yourself.

Oh, and I found lots of Mug Cream Soda in nearby Staten Island.  I bought a lot of it.  Dear Pepsi, sell Mug Cream Soda in the Pittsburgh area so I don't have to travel to New York to buy it!  Love, Jeff.