The Christmas haul, 2014

These posts make me seem superficial, I'll bet.  But what better place to show off the stuff I got for Christmas?  It is a conundrum, I tell you.  Off we go!

I got some great comics and comic-related items this year.  I finally picked up the Fantastic Four cartoon series on DVD.  From what I remember, it wasn't a great adaptation, but I hear that the second season is actually pretty good.  We'll see.  I also got a copy of Jennie Wood's new book, "A Boy Like Me!"  Jennie's doing a lot of promotion for this book, so I'm happy to be able to grab one.  You can get one, too, here: http://smile.amazon.com/Boy-Like-Me-Jennie-Wood/dp/0692238069/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421198014&sr=1-1&keywords=a+boy+like+me+jennie+wood

I got a bunch of DVDs.  You know I've managed to get most of the shows I actually want to watch when I start asking for shows like the 1990s Flash TV series.  It's fun to have but I'll put it in the player and probably immediately regret the decision.  I also landed the complete Caprica series, True Detective and the reissue version of The Tick live-action series.  It's basically the same as the one I already have, but this is a one disc release.  Now you can hit "play all" and watch 'em all in a row without that pesky task of changing discs.

I only got a couple comics for Christmas, but I'd like to think that I did a good job at the ones I did get.  On the left is a reprint of a DC Treasury book from the '70s.  It features some great creators, most notably Joe Kubert.  The content is watered down a bit for a younger audience but it's still a treat to read.  On the right is the second volume of the gigantic Sandman collection from Neil Gaiman.  I got the first volume last year.  Each volume contains over a thousand pages and, if I'm not mistaken, the entire Gaiman run on the character (until last year's prequel miniseries).

I'm not sure if the picture does this justice.  It's a huge collection.  I've never read this series, but now I can read it in style, I guess.

It's not Christmas without a few new Steelers items.  I got a hat for the top of my body and socks for the bottom.

Larry and I went to the playoff game at the beginning of the new year.  It was disappointing.  But the Ravens lost last week so they can officially eat it.

I got some electronics...most notably a GoPro camera.  I imagine this will be used for both Comic-Con and Franks and Beans.  I also got a new flash drive and a 2TB backup hard drive.

Funko has the license to every brand in the world.  Here's a Firefly bobble head.

Every December, Gallery 1988 has a sale on their prints.  I got these two for myself, but they're too cool not to show off.  They are both limited, high quality prints.  Of course I go for the Weird Al prints, of which there are many.  This year I picked up two with a UHF theme.

This blue poster had a run of 200.  This one was a bit more rare.

Only 12 made.  Yikes.

This was an eBay find...but still too cool not to show here.  This is a postcard that was given out in advance of the movie's release in 1989 advertising a sneak preview at a college campus in California.

Larry got me some cool things this year.  Anyone can now pretty much dress up entirely like the Thing, thanks to the new jacket.  Grab the fists and feet that were made for the first movie and you're well on your way.  Please note that my dog totally did not see that clobberin' coming.

Lastly, we have this Fantastic Four storybook from the late '60s.  It's part of a series of licensed kids books, and Larry managed to get one that's in pretty nice shape.  It was made for younger readers, but now, of course, it's a collector's item.  Nearly ever page spread has some art, such as...

...the Thing beating up a chair.  Or...

...the Thing beating up Dr. Weird, who I think was created just for the book.  It's goofy madness, but I love it.

But my best gift of all was you, dear blog reader.  Okay, I'm kidding (but only a little).  Take your pick from these pictures.

Pictures from the 2014 Comic-Con International: part 7 (Venture Bros., Homer Dome, Walking Dead Escape and more!)

Friday was a busy day at Comic-Con.  Okay, every day's a busy day at Comic-Con, but this one seemed especially packed, and I did more at night on Friday than on other nights.  After the awesome Rotten Tomatoes after-show panel, it was out onto the streets for attendees.

On the way, though, I saw this great Archer tribute.  The guy dressed as Krieger really looked the part.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto!

As I've mentioned before, the Simpsons had a large presence at the show, mostly because of the "Every Simpsons Ever" event.  The Homer Dome and related setups were some of the most elaborate and in-demand off-site attractions at Comic-Con.  The folks at FXX seemed to pay a lot of attention to detail and I'm sure Simpsons fans were happy for everything but the extremely long lines.

In addition to the dome, which you could go inside and watch every Simpsons episode at once, there was free food, photo opportunities and giveaways at all times the convention was open.  I didn't brave the lines during the day (though I did get some Marge Simpson cotton candy on Sunday), so I took some pictures at night, on the way to one of the adjoining hotels.

Even though the exhibit was blocked off after hours, people were still climbing in and taking pictures with the characters.

It was then time to attend the Venture Bros. party, put together by the folks at the Venture Bros. blog. If you've never seen the show before, it would seem to be quite difficult (and awkward) to explain the above picture, but suffice it to say that I was very excited to see some of the very elaborate costumes at the party, probably none more so than the episode specific Princess Tinyfeet you see above.  Also featured in this picture is the sunburn on the top of my damn head from earlier in the day (so stupid).

Everyone was given henchmen masks upon entering the lounge, but like true Venture Bros. fans, we brought our own.  Jennie really pulled off the look well, despite putting up a fuss about wearing it in the first place.

The murderous Bettie Rage!

The Outrider!

After a while, it was time for a group photo with all who were in costume.  Look at this lineup!

And then James Urbaniak, the voice of Dr. Venture, showed up and got in on some of the pictures.

Sergeant Hatred and Princess Tinyfeet didn't show up together, but they made the most of the opportunity and of course took pictures like this one.

I didn't run the Walking Dead Escape again this year (seriously, once is enough), but I took a photo opportunity with these two dead cheerleaders.  The makeup at the event is top notch (for an obstacle course).  I just got a GoPro camera, so maybe I'll do this again in 2015 and wear the camera, even though I JUST got done saying that "once is enough".  We'll see.

After getting some food, it was time to go to bed for a while.  On the way back to the car, we passed by another event: Syfy was screening the new Sharknado movie...on the side of a building.  Sharknado was big at Comic-Con this year, and everyone seemed to be in on the joke.  There's always something to do at Comic-Con.

More pictures to come.

Rotten Tomatoes "Your Opinion Sucks: Critics vs. Fans" 2014 Comic-Con panel

It's not always easy to see a panel at Comic-Con.  You've got to invest significant time - sometimes hours - to see what sometimes amounts to an hour-long advertisement.  That's not to say you can't take in a panel and enjoy it, but the sheer number of people trying to attend, many of whom have the same interests as you do, can often make it nearly impossible to see more than a few each day.

It's because of this that I try my best to pick out one or two panels each day at Comic-Con that I really want to see more than any others.  If I tried to see every panel that looked interesting, I'd spend all day jumping from line to line, probably missing out on most.

The Rotten Tomatoes panel, thought, affectionately titled "Your Opinion Sucks!", is one of those panels that is a must-see.

I didn't know too much about the panel until I saw Rotten Tomatoes EIC Matt Atchity walking on the convention floor during preview night.  Matt is a great guy who I've had the fortune of seeing at the show for the past three years.  I'll never understand why he recognizes me, but we were able to have a nice chat on Wednesday evening, during which he told me about the panel, which was to take place on Friday evening, after the convention had closed up shop for the night.

At around 7:00 on Friday, I made my way up to the second floor of the convention center and found the room in which the panel was to take place.  I went in early and caught the tail end of the Zenescope panel (which was something).  At 7:20, the room cleared and I took at seat at the front.  I'm glad that I made it there early, because the room filled to capacity quickly with minutes to spare.

I honestly didn't know what to expect.  The panel was described as "critics vs. fans", and Matt had mentioned that it had gotten a little rowdy in previous years.  Panelists began to file in and I got a few pictures before it all started.  The emcee for the evening was RT senior editor Grae Drake, dressed as Crow T. Robot from Mystery Science Theater 3000.  To say that she is quick witted isn't doing her justice.

I grew up watching Leonard Maltin on Entertainment Tonight with my parents, so I was taken back when he came in.  I had to get a picture to send to my mom.  It was well received.

In many panels, the line for questions and answers fills up almost immediately.  This panel offered something much different, though.  Audience members were encouraged to discuss a movie and rate it as either "fresh" or "rotten".  Then they had to justify their choice to a panel of professional movie critics.  We were all given paddles with the icons on them and everyone in the room, panelist and audience member, could vote on whether or not they agreed with the speaker.

I jumped up and got in line pretty quickly.  Above is a picture of me standing in line, apparently very pleased with myself.

In addition to Leonard Maltin and the Atchity/Drake team from RT, there were a number of other critics, including Alonso Duralde from The Wrap, Scott Mantz from Access Hollywood and Tiffany Smith from Fandango.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's probably the most fun I've had at a Comic-Con panel.  The back-and-forth interaction between the audience and panel was spirited and exciting.  It was one of the few panels I've seen where it seemed like everyone in the room was actually enjoying themselves.

I had a few people ahead of me in line, which moved quickly and dealt with a wide range of films and included some passionate debate and keen insight (a fan's review of Hancock changed the way I'll look at that movie forever).  To give you a little context as to the below video, the two people directly ahead of me talked about the Transformers movies (the first in the series and then the third).  They each provided some great setup for my entry into the discussion, which my wife happened to film, unbeknownst to me at the time:

I've apparently kept a lot of pent up frustration about the television show "Lost", and it was fun to let it out and tell my opinions to a large group of others.  The reaction to the show was fairly mixed at the beginning, but I think that I at least got my point across to those who might disagree.

Completely unexpected (and very much appreciated) was Matt's mentioning of the Tick after my rant was over.  I'm just glad I kept my composure and didn't totally freak out in front of a group of people, who all seemed genuinely excited that I was writing the book.

As the event let out (and we all went on to other events...pictures from which I'll post soon), I managed to get one more picture with some of the panel critics.  What a fun time.  The Rotten Tomatoes panel is on my permanent "do to" list as long as it has a forum at Comic-Con.  If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

Pictures from the 2014 Comic-Con International, part 6: We'll Never Stop (Matt Groening, Godzilla, Venture Bros. and more!)

You thought that I was done showing pictures from Comic-Con?  NEVER!  Who knows...maybe these will wrap right around until Comic-Con 2015 shows up.  It'd be like a party that never ends.  Let's see some pictures!

This was the result of the furious last-minute work that I witnessed on the day before the convention started.  Why Godzilla came back to Comic-Con, as the movie was already released months in advance of the show, is beyond me.  But it provided something for the back lawn of the convention center, which had in previous years been mostly...lawn.  I look to see more and more take up space in this area in years to come.

I spotted this at the Alex Ross booth while walking the floor in the morning.  It was tempting to buy some Fantastic Four art at the show, and though this is most likely the only original Ross art that I'll ever be able to afford, $500 seemed a bit much for these sketches.  I might regret not ponying up for this one day.

I didn't go to too many panels at Comic-Con this year, but I was glad that I was able to sit in on the Venture Bros. panel at an adjacent hotel.  I waited in line in the hot sun (it was warmer than usual this year) and got a nice burn on the top of my head (...), but it was a fun panel, as always.  On the double screen is co-creator and Tick alumni Jackson Public!

Friday was a big costume day.  I mean, they're all big costume days, but I saw more on Friday than on previous days.  Here's an in-character Judge Dredd!

I assume this fellow is wearing stilts.  A very impressive costume on a very hot day.  Also, hi, Sailor Moon.

After the convention, it was time to stop at the should-be-world-famous Taco Truck.  I was thrilled to see it back this year, and it did not disappoint.  Delicious.

After eating my chicken burrito, I made my way over to the New England Comics booth.  On the way there, I passed by Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening (!), who was just browsing, probably happy that no one was bothering him at the moment.  I, of course, ruined that peace and solitude, but Groening was very friendly and gracious.  I gave him a copy of The Naked Man at the Edge of Time, which I luckily happened to be carrying with me, and got this nice picture.  I made sure that I blabbed a bit about Futurama, which I'm convinced will return with new episodes before long.

This gentleman was trying his hardest to make it to the bathroom, but he kept being stopped by passers by for pictures.  It's hard to blame them when a Ninja Turtle walks by.  This picture was taken, no lie, right after he knocked a little kid over.  It was something.

This guy obviously made a good Silver Surfer.  Here he is with the Invisible Woman - don't see enough good Fantastic Four costumes at these shows - and the Sandman.

We had a small (but enthusiastic!) FUBAR signing at Jenny Wood's "Flutter" booth on Friday afternoon.  We had posters made up for it and everything!  It was very exciting.  Here's Jennie signing a poster as fellow FUBAR contributor (and "Punky Brewster" artist) Lesley Vamos looks on!

Group shot!

James Urbaniak, voice of Dr. Venture on The Venture Bros. cartoon, walked by the booth and I immediately chased him down.

I was having a string of luck as soon after I saw Bruce Timm, a fantastic artist and one of the driving forces behind the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series.

Then it was back to the Tick booth, where Ben Edlund signed books and sketched for fans.  It's pretty awesome that Ben still hangs out at this booth (and recognizes my existence) after all he's accomplished as a writer and producer.

I'm pretty sure that this guy dressed up as the Sub Mariner in 2013.  Here he is as the Weapon X Wolverine.  The pouches on his waist were apparently functional, as he answered a phone call soon after.

I'll never get tired of seeing Chairface Chippendale costumes.  This was a very good one.  The lycra headpiece really sells it.  Top notch.

I'll leave you with this nightmare imagery as this closed down Friday at the convention for me.  I'll save some pictures from the evening for next time.  There'll always be a next time, folks.