pictures from the 2017 Comic-Con International, part 7: the other stuff

Well, I've finally made it to the end of my Comic-Con 2017 pictures. The show goes full-bore right up until the very end, then everything seems to just stop. I've make it a point to actually see some things beyond the inside of the convention center, as much as I enjoy it, every year, so here's a few pictures from that. Oh, and I bought one of those awesome Tick masks at the show. It really does something for your jaw line.

On Tuesday after the show, most of the big banners and other structures come down. See ya, Blade Runner 2049 experience!

One of the must-stop downtown locations after the show is San Diego's Cat Cafe. They had some Comic-Con themed events happening during the show, but afterwards is a good time to visit.

On Tuesday, I left San Diego and drove a few hours northeast toward Joshua Tree National Park. Just outside is the Palm Springs Air Museum, which houses vintage military planes from various wars and eras. It was really impressive to see.

I'm a sucker for art on the side of planes and the stories behind them. Here's some Frank Frazetta-inspired work on the side of The Invader.

I never miss the opportunity to find a comic shop in a new location, which probably tells you just how deep the psychosis runs with me. I made a stop at Interstellar Comic Books & Collectibles in Palm Springs.

The shop is small any very hip. I grabbed all the new comics I had missed by...uh, being at a large comic book convention during the week.

Comic-Con was over, but celebrities were still hanging around. This is Palm Spring's Lucille Ball statue, on the same block as the comic shop. Lucy, Desi and a number of Hollywood stars used to make Palm Springs their vacation home.

Later in the day, I went hiking on San Joaquin Mountain (65 degrees versus 110 in the valley) and met a tree with my name. Probably gonna grow my own.

On Thursday, I made it to Joshua Tree (115 degrees) and saw a rock that kind of looks like a skull.

And that's it! What will I show pictures of next? (New York Comic Con.) See you then!

FUBAR signing at Beyond Comics

Being a part of the FUBAR team, getting to publish regularly and successfully working with other like-mined folk, has been a real joy over the last few years.  Making comics can be, and often is, a lonely task, and beyond the creation process, it's been a lot of fun interacting with others who share similar goals and industry perspectives.  On Saturday, September 21, a group of FUBAR creators met for a signing event at Beyond Comics in Frederick, Maryland.  It was a chance to meet some creators I previously hadn't, to see some familiar friends, to sign some books and to have a good time just in general.  I took a few pictures of the signing and of the store, and I thought I'd share them here, because...well, because this is a blog about comics and stuff.  Also, why not.

It took about three hours to drive to the Frederick Beyond Comics location, which is situated in a shopping plaza and has a fairly unassuming store front.  Once inside, though, it was apparent that the store had pretty much everything one might look for in a comic shop...

 

  

 

The store had a very nice layout.  It was stuffed with cool things but not intimidating the way some comic shops can be.  Also, they had a healthy arrangement of high-end Thing items, such as this Sideshow beauty:

I guess they also had a huge Hulk display from the movies or whatever.  Impressive.  But imagine how much more impressive an oversized Thing display would be!  Very impressive.  Let's make it happen, universe.

 

I downloaded the latest iOS update for the iPhone the night before the signing event, so of course I had to play around with the panoramic camera features.  It's a weird perspective but it lets you see the whole setup.  I was positioned between Jeff McComsey and Steve Becker on either side, and the two drew sketches almost the entire time throughout the four hour event.  Also in attendance were Dom Vivona, Rafer Roberts, M. Giles Crawford, John Shine and others!  There was a big FUBAR presence in one spot - perhaps more contributors in one area than at any time before - and it was fun to experience.  We had people waiting for autographs and sketches for most of the day.

  

Here Rafer gesticulates wildly as I stare on in abject terror:

 

 

The entire event went really well and I hope to be involved with another one before too long.  At the end of the day, a lot of us did some shopping.  I had my eye on this guy:

...but I let it pass this time around.  We're possibly looking at an upcoming addition to the collection, though.

At one point in the day, I tried out a silver marker that decided not to mark, for whatever reason.  I brought a handful of Teddy and the Yeti sketch cards with me (a few people ended up walking away with one), and I used one to scribble on in an attempt to get the marker back in working order.  After drawing a thousand circles, I decided to keep scribbling and made a caveman-esque image of the Tick and Arthur.  Jeff McComsey look the card and made what looks like an ACTUAL drawing of the duo, which I completely take credit for in front of anyone but you, Internets.  I like the Tiny flying Arthur the best.

One more quick FUBAR update:

The FUBAR: Mother Russia Kickstarter fundraiser is in its last days!  It's wildly exceeded expectations, and as such, we're offering up a lot of great rewards.  Anyone who pledges at least 25 dollars will not only receive the original Mother Russia graphic novel, but also get some great brand new comics in the balance, including the 44 page FUBAR: Guts and Glory and the 24 page FUBAR: Better Red than Dead, both of which will have new stories by me.

Some great times ahead, and as always, it seems that FUBAR is an unstoppable monster.

Jeff meets a comic book character

Here's a weird fact about me.  When I'm on vacation, or I guess just somewhere away from home, I tend to look up comic book shops and visit them.  I've done it for as long as I can remember.  Don't judge...there are weirder things to do with your time...probably.

This summer was no exception.  After Comic-Con and a few days in Los Angeles, my wife and I spent some time in windy San Francisco, home to national landmarks, natural wonders and some well known comic shops.

After taking in a farmer's market on a Saturday morning, I saw that I was just a few miles away from Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had heard good things about it and I knew that it was a favorite shop of some popular creators, so I drove over and ended up finding a rare parking spot right next to the store.

I made it a few feet inside, but was taken back by what I saw.  It wasn't the store itself that caused me to stop, but the person standing in front of the counter, talking to an employee.  I knew this person, but I didn't know from where for a minute or two.  Then it hit me: he was a comic book character.  Specifically, this guy:

It was a bit unnerving, staring at a fictional character who had somehow, inexplicably, come to life and decided to visit a comic shop.  Slowly, it came to me.  The character is from Robert Kirkman's Invincible from Image Comics, and his name is "Isotope".  Oh, heck.  I had no idea he was modeled after a real person.  It took me a while to get over that.

The real life Isotope is store owner James Sime, who, as it turns out, is a heck of a nice guy.  We chatted for a while and I got my picture with him before I walked around the store, still trying to shake that "fictional characters are coming to life" feeling.

The store itself was smaller than I had imagined, but its layout was hip and friendly.  The main floor had comics along the wall - nothing unusual there.

If you look up, though, you'll see something out of the ordinary but very interesting - original artwork on toilet seats.  There were probably a few dozen of these lining the tops of the walls and they added to the unique feel of the store.

Toward the back of the shop is a staircase which leads to the lounge - it overlooks the store and has a small setup for a band.  There were places to sit and stacks of comics to read - James mentioned that most of them were from local and small press creators, which is a swell thing to do.  And it just so happened that I had a copy of Teddy and the Yeti in the trunk of my car...so it made its way into Isotope's lounge collection, which is great.

Lady Blackhawk also sits in the lounge, probably making sure that no one falls over the edge.

And what comic shop is complete without a full size Dr. Strange costume?  I imagine that Mr. Sime could pull of a pretty convincing Stephen Strange.

After leaving at the comic shop, we visited the house that was used for establishing shots on "Full House".  What a fulfilling vacation this turned out to be.

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.