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!
Hey there, meatbags, it's time to take a look at some Futurama-related items from the past few months. I will forever have the softest of soft spots in my heart for Futurama, the Fox-turned-Comedy Central sci-fi/comedy cartoon that has meant so much to me since it first launched back in 1999. I've had some fun and interesting moments surrounding the show both in and around Comic-Con, and well, I guess this is the place to talk about it.
I suppose I'll start off with the biggest item on the list. When I was at Comic-Con in July, I purchased some original animated art from the show, as seen above, from the episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television". I had hoped to get it signed by co-creator Matt Groening at his Bongo Comics booth appearance, but I wasn't able to get one of the randomly-distributed tickets when they were handed out.
As I was leaving the booth, I ran into Futurama writer and producer Patric Verrone, and we had a nice conversation. Quite unintentionally, I had bought some eBay items from Verrone a few weeks earlier, and it was an incredible coincidence that not only did I unknowingly make those purchases and exchange a few messages with him after seeing his name on the return address label, but we also just happened to be in a similar space at a convention with over 100,000 people.
I'm leaving some details out of the recollection, but the short of it is that Verrone took my animation art and not only got it signed by Groening, but also co-creator David X. Cohen and voice of Bender, John DiMaggio (Verrone signed it, too!). Needless to say, I was pretty stunned that this all happened, and I'm naturally pretty grateful to all involved, but mostly to Patric Verrone for the incredibly kind gesture. I love that the signatures are personalized, and oh my goodness, check out the original Matt Groening Bender doodle! How unbelievable is that?
After speaking with Verrone, I learned that he, Groening, Cohen, DiMaggio and many other Futurama alumni are creating a new cartoon for Netflix titled "Disenchantment", which will air in 2018. I can't wait to watch it, and I continue to hold out hope for a Futurama revival before too long.
Now let's look at some Futurama related pictures from Comic-Con!
Here's me with Patric Verrone after we met at the Bongo Comics booth. I keep pitching ideas to Bongo for their Simpsons-related comic book titles, but haven't had any luck so far. Maybe some day.
That's Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening in the yellow shirt, arriving at the Bongo booth for his signing.
Near the end of the day on Saturday, I got a picture with Phil LaMarr, voice of Hermes and a number of other characters on the show.
There were a few Futurama-themed costumes at the show, including this Leela...
...and this Bender.
In other news, I finally managed to find and buy some Futurama Comics original artwork! This series was published in print form by Bongo Comics until very recently. Like a few of their series, Futurama Comics moved to a digital-only platform in the past year.
This artwork is by Tone Rodriguez, who shares a last name with Bender - maybe they're related. I'm a big fan of Rodriguez's work...even his 'on model' stuff has his signature style. He's my favorite Bongo artist because he always brings a touch of Kirby to his work.
I bought five pages in total - kind of. The art you see here is for a five-page short story, as per the description from the seller of the pages. Pages 1-2 and 3-4 are drawn side-by-side on the same pages, so these five pages are drawn on a total of...three pages. If that makes any sense.
Most Futurama Comics stories are contained to a single issue, and they're all drawn in the same basic style, so they tend to blend together after a while and 80+ issues. As such, I'm still trying to figure out exactly where this story saw print. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Check out that sound effect!
I've written a few more Futurama-themed recipes for the "Eats Like A Duck" food blog, including one for these Futurama sugar cookies! I made the above cookies recently and they turned out really well.
Lastly, Futurama kind-of-sort-of returned as a Nerdist podcast double episode with the entire cast and some of the writing staff in September. Have a listen!
Hey! It's the last batch of Comic-Con pictures...until I go to the New York Comic Con in less than two weeks! Here are pictures from the final day of Comic-Con 2016 in San Diego.
My Thing sketchbook had two empty pages in it before this convention. Chris Burnham filled up the very last page on Sunday. There are a few little things I'd like to do with the book before I officially lock it up in a vault somewhere, but this is, I feel, some kind of milestone in my life (right?). You'll notice that Batman and X-Men artist Burnham has a Pac Man lanyard on...we also had a nice chat about old video games. It turns out that Burnham once owned a arcade cabinet himself.
I'm extra excited to bring these two things home with me - signed and sketched comics from both Matt Groening and Sergio Aragones!
I never take enough pictures of the floor. It's hard to get an idea of the scope of this convention even when you're there, let along from an image. But here's this, stretching out as far as the eye can see.
Todd Nauck is a great guy who is kind enough to acknowledge my presence every year when I walk up and bother him at a show. Todd has worked on pretty much every major mainstream character. It's pretty impressive.
The Sideshow booth is always mind-alteringly awesome. Check out this TMNT statue set based on the original movies.
Wanna grab a Star Trek uniform? It's possible.
Due to my foolishly-acquired sunburn (and other reasons), I didn't do much outside of the convention center this year. But on Sunday I decided that I would finally give the Adult Swim on the Green offsite a try. The lines were incredibly long - you'd have to wait a few hours to get one of their screen-printed shirts (I passed).
But I did stop at Meatwad's Dome, which had a new, and very trippy, show this year.
The costumes were impressive every day of the show. It didn't slow down on Sunday.
I ran into Ally Cat, a great artist and a cool gal, at her booth which was situated right by one of the snack bars. They're trying to fit as many booths into the convention center. I guess some of them eventually have to be next to the nachos.
And here's Eric Esquivel, a writer who's comin' up in the world. He just announced that he'll be writing a story in this year's DC Christmas special.
There were a lot of Star Trek costumes at the show this year. These Borg looked great!
I managed to grab a quick picture with Griffin Newman, Arthur on the (greenlit!) Amazon "Tick" series, before he went back behind the New England Comics booth to do another round of signings.
DC's New Super-Man title had only just launched at this point, but here's a really great costume from the last day of the show.
The NEC booth was pretty busy on the last three days of the show. Ben and Griffin signed for hours. It was great to see the enthusiasm fans had for the character. It's funny to see copies of the SDCC exclusive comic pop up on eBay every so often with their signatures on it.
Our last cosplay for the show is a fun one - the Guardians of the Galaxy family, complete with a potted Groot!
One more before the show ends.
I'm always surprised at how quickly the convention clears out when 5:00 rolls around. People are ready to go, I guess. I have to believe that someday soon, they'll extend the hours until 6:00, or at least have panels that go on after the convention closes. It's a taxing show, but everyone seems to have a good time.
This is about the time that I scour around for empty boxes to send stuff home in.
Might as well wrap up some creators for the offseason. It keeps 'em fresh.
Riding a bike on the show floor? There are no rules!!
And thus ends my Comic-Con adventure for 2016. Planning has already begun for next year's show! But thankfully, I had a least a few days to rest up. I stayed in the area for a few days and made a trip to San Diego's Cat Cafe once again.
I then hit up a local state park, where I activated my lobster powers.
And then, at the top of the mountain...
After San Diego, I went out to Los Angeles for a few days, where I was pretty blown away by the exhibits at The Getty Museum. This is absolutely a must see if you're in the area.
It's really impressive.
I ended the trip by stopping by the Santa Monica pier.
Saturday was another really big day at Comic-Con. Let's see those pictures!
The Lego booth is always really impressive, but it's often swarmed with people, so I don't always get to check out the many displays they have to see. I arrived a little early this day, though, so I got to take a few pictures.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but Lego Batman has taken of a life of itself. The miniature Batman and Batgirl models would be impressive enough without the giant likenesses towering over them.
Another shot of quiet Comic-Con.
Comic-Con is so big and there's so much to see that somehow I missed seeing the Fan-O-Rama booth with its life-size Futurama costumes. These were obviously pretty stunning.
Fan-O-Rama is a live-action Futurama fan film that is slated to be released soon. The creators were at the convention letting people know about the project.
The detail was pretty amazing. I can't imagine how much money was put into something like this, something that is ultimately an unofficial (and legally questionable) entry into the Futurama mythos.
It's got to take a lot of love to create a tribute like this. I hope that the film is successful (but not so much that the creators get sued). Knowing that people care about the property gives you a warm feeling. You can learn more about the project at fan-o-rama.com.
Here's a nice Toy Story costume!
And Comic-Con isn't complete with Stan Lee and hordes of people stopping to see Stan Lee.
The Dazzler!
There were a number of Ghostbuster items on display at the show to coincide with the new movie.
Spaaaaace Ghooooost!
Roaming the halls, I bumped into Scott Auckerman (Comic Connerman), host of Comedy Bang! Bang! It's quickly become one of my favorite shows as the humor really skirts that line between "weird" and "too weird" (very much, actually, like Space Ghost Coast to Coast), which I enjoy. Auckerman also recently wrote an issue of Spider-Man/Deadpool for Marvel.
I think that this is three years in a row, now, that I found Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Greoning walking around Comic-Con. I was able to get a sketch of Philip J Fry this time, too!
I was able to land a ticket to one NerdHQ panel this year. A little before noon, it was time to head over to get in line.
Nichelle Nichols was leaving as I arrived. All of the actors dressed up for the Star Trek display across the street lined up to salute her as she left. It was neat to see!
NerdHQ is, without a doubt, Comic-Con's best offsite event. I was able to get tickets to Scott Bakula's panel. Despite being a fan of both Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise, I never formed a strong opinion about Bakula one way or the other...
...until I saw this panel. Bakula came across as smart, caring and funny. Now I'm a really big fan!
I also got to ask a question! Here's my "asking a question" face.
It kind of looks like I'm being stared down by Scott Bakula here.
Aw, heck, let's watch the whole thing! If you watch this and don't immediately become a fan of Scott Bakula, then I'm not sure we could ever be friends. What an honest, sincere guy.
Whenever I don't recognize a costume, I just assume that it has something to do with anime. So, these costumes. Anime?
Classic Wonder Woman. I like it!
I like how this Leela solved the "one eye" costuming issue.
This was a really good Rocksteady and Bebop!
Also walking the floor, I saw Blake Henderson from "Workaholics"! I wonder if there are any other stars from that show nearby...
Yep! Right behind him was Anders Holm!
I! Love! This! Spider-Man 2099! Costume!
Leonard Maltin was carrying Leonard Maltin pins, and I got a few.
Toward the end of the day, I went to two signings. The first was a signing with the cast of the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 series. Almost everyone was there!
Here's the wonderful Felicia Day. I'm pretty sure she's yet to do something I don't enjoy. Behind her is Jonah Ray.
And here's MST3K creator, Joel Hodgson!
I got a poster signed by the cast, then it was off to the next signing. Along the way, I had to grab a picture of these heroes. And is that one in the middle from Assassins Creed? Maybe?
The next signing was, unbelievably enough, with Firefly alums Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon!
They were signing new Serenity prints at the Dark Horse booth in advance of the new comic series coming out in the fall.
This looks like Whedon is waving at me. Let's go with that.
Another TMNT Rockstead and Bebop! I like it.
His watch has just begun.
The "Abigail" yacht from Fear the Walking Dead was docked at the harbor behind the convention center.
And they brought their own zombies, too, it seems!
After the show ended, my group and I went to check out the Adult Swim event. The line for this was wrapped around the display and trailed off to the Hilton in the background. Ah well.
I did get to have a visit from Rick and Morty's Mr. Poopybutthole, though, which was okay. We ended up stopping at FX's outdoor display, where we got to watch some panels with headsets. It was more fun than it sounds.
And that was it for a very busy Saturday at Comic-Con. That was a lot of dang pictures I shared! Let's see one more!
July somehow had the most views ever for this blog, and it was by a lot, too. I know that a lot can go into those numbers, but I appreciate all of you for coming back and reading my dumb blog, which I think has been around for about eight years, now! Thanks, everyone!
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