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.

Frankenberry redesigns by DC Comics

Just in time for...um...Halloween...it's a look at the new General Mills monster cereal boxes!  This year saw yet another convergence of things Jeff loves, as folks at DC Comics redesigned the three main monsters for the 2014 Halloween cereal line.  The front of the three boxes was drawn by a DC staffer: Dave Johnson drew Frankenberry, Jim Lee drew Boo Berry and Terry and Rachel Dodson did Count Chocula.  I am biased, of course, but I will say that Johnson's Frankenberry was the best of the bunch, even though none presented any major changes to the characters.

Target once again sold retro boxes.  These ones were my favorites, as they included cut-out Halloween masks on the back, but I had to get a few of the regular design to check out the artwork.  And as in years prior, the regular boxes featured brand new comics.

The 2014 version, at last, had new comics on the backs of each box, with each comic including all three monsters but highlighting the main character of each cereal.  Above is the Frankenberry comic...

...here's the Boo Berry comic...

...and here's the Count Chocula comic, which I didn't buy but took a picture of in the store.  It apparently includes some references to Twitter in it.

Each of these comics looks to be drawn in the same style.  I didn't recognize the artists offhand, but DC's press release names them (what a novel concept) as Sholly Fisch, Brent Schooner and Dave McCaig.  It's a pretty good step up from what General Mills has done in years past.  And, of course, the cereal is friggin delicious.

If General Mills is looking to expand even further on their comics theme in the future, let me suggest including a mini comic book in each box for 2015.  I'll write it.  Please let me write it.

In other Halloween news, my nephew dressed up again in superhero gear.  he actually got a Hulk costume for the big day, but here's a picture of him trying on the top half of my Comic-Con Superman outfit.

And Larry...went as Mrs. Doubtfire, interestingly enough.

My students draw the Hulk...and everyone else...poorly.

In another "exciting" addition to this series, here are some of the many superhero drawings my students create in the shallow hope for bonus points on their final exam booklets.  I often ask to see the Hulk (probably the most well-known green-themed character), but when a student brings in a less environmentally friendly blue book (for shame), I allow them to choose a different blue-themed character.  In a stunning apparent rebuke of the American educational system, it seems that plenty of my students can't follow simple directions as this year's crop was all over the place.  But let's start out with some renderings of the Incredible Hulk:

A couple students showed that they have more than a cursory knowledge of comic book characters and chose Green Lantern as their green superhero.

Someone drew this fairly impressive Super Grover, though why they chose a blue character for a green book is beyond me.

And someone went way off script and drew Link from the Legend of Zelda video game:

This terrible Captain America is actually drawn on a blue book, but for whatever reason, the light blue covers always come out looking a pale green in pictures.  Extra points for putting Cap next to the "American Made" logo.

This Superman was probably the best drawn out of all the submissions.  Now if only it was on a blue book and not a green one.  Whatever.

A few students even drew characters I've never seen before.  Here's "Alienman":

No, student, he's not.  You are a liar.

And this one is on a blue book with the title "Marvel".  Could it be the Blue Beetle?  It kind of looks like Night Owl from "Watchmen".  But who knows.

And this blue book has a drawing of...could it be The Tick??  Maybe?  Perhaps we'll never know.

Merry Christmas, blog friends!

We all know that blog friends are real friends.  So Merry Christmas to one and all.

Pre-order IDW's "Imaginary Drugs" now!

Well, that was a lengthy break I took from this blog.  Not because I don't love you, blog...don't ever say that.  But I am back with good news!  The Imaginary Drugs anthology will soon be released by IDW, and you can pre-order it now!

I am, of course, very excited that the book will have such a high profile.  What started out as a moderately successful Kickstarter campaign has become a full-fledged wide-release graphic novel.  Not only that, but I was able to jump on as an assistant editor, which means I get to do things like slave away at a table of contents page design.  Above is a shot of it, and you can see my name pop up every so often in the midst of some other really talented creators.

Among some of my stories:

"Eternal Flame" with Paul Tucker!

"Teddy and the Yeti" (perhaps you've heard of it) with Pietro!

And as a special exclusive story to the IDW release, "The Corn Has Ears" with friends Lauren Girdler and Ian Chase Nichols!  Lauren, of course, is a Franks and Beans alumni!  And Ian drew a backup story in the 2014 Tick FCBD issue.

Also joining me on some of my stories is Duane Redhead, Mario Wytch, Rafer Roberts and Christine Larsen!

If you'd like to order this book (and that'd be great), you can do it in one of a few ways.  First, you can go to your local comic shop and use the code NOV140515 to have them reserve it for you (or just ask for it by name).  Second, you can pre-order the book on Amazon right now by clicking here.

I hope the book is well received.  I know that everyone involved put a lot of work into it.

I'll post again soon.  Perhaps it'll be more Comic-Con pictures.  You never know!