Yes, I finally did it, a MINION MINIon. I hope you’re all happy now. Cecil has had minions since his first appearance years before a certain film came out, so he doesn’t like his MINIons being confused with those MINIONs… but if can’t beat them, join them.
I hope everyone who attended San Diego Comic Con had a great time and a safe trip back to where ever you call home. It looks like the one studio in particular pulled out all the stops. If you have not read about the STAR WARS VII panel in the infamous Hall H you should. Also the trailer for the Superman v Batman film looks interesting, I’m sure we’ll get more before the film actually comes out. Most of the trailers shown seem to be posted on YouTube almost as soon as the panel is over so head over to the second most popular search engine and hunt your favorite down.
Category: Comic-Con
A Year In MINIons- MINIon #0022
I read comic books, as if you didn’t know, when I was a kid about once a year we’d visit my grandparents, They had a ginormous house and my older brother and I would sleep in my uncle’s old room. I remember it had a mounted fish on the wall. The other thing I remember was a small pile of comic books and a couple of them were Archie. I never really got into the shorter story/gag related comics, but they did stick in my mind after all these years. And this week (since almost all the other comic companies have done it) Archie Comics decided to reboot their universe. They’d had zombies and alternate reality stories(Archie marries Betty, Archie marries Veronica), even killed off Archie, so I guess it was time. My only thought was “How?” How do you reboot a comic that really in my mind was just a bunch of short stories or long gags? DC & Marvel reboot because their continuity gets too much for an average reader to take. Archie, has no continuity as far as I remember, nothing really tied issues together. I’m not an expert but when I think of most comics that I have read, if something happens in one issue, it becomes a part of the canon. In Archie, one story he’s dating Betty, the next he’s dating Veronica it just happened with the turn of a page in the same issue. Archie was a “player,” I guess.
So they rebooted Archie and brought in some great writers and artists to do it which made me interested. So I happen to be passing a comic shop and picked up a copy of Archie Issue number one… and I think I’ll be back for issue number two. I had read some of the story online and decided I wanted to try out this new Archie, and I think they’ve got me hooked for now. I like character driven stories and try to avoid the silly event comics unless I can’t avoid them (Convergence and Secret Wars -ugh!). This wasn’t the Archie I remembered, it was a little more mature, and frankly… good. So MINIon #0022 is my salute to the relaunch of Archie, if the storytelling and artwork stay at this level, you might have a convert.
As for Saturday of San Diego Comic Con… When I’ve had a 4 day badge, I try to avoid it like the plague. The crowds are… nightmarish. If you like being around the hoards of humanity, then I’ve got the place for you. I saw this morning a photo of the line for Hall H… for tomorrow. People camping out already to get a seat in Hall H- TOMORROW. A quick explanation for those who don’t follow the San Diego “Comic” Con, except for the quick reports that make you think (as a geek) “I must go there.” Hall H and Ballroom 20 are where the panels for movies and TV shows happen, so this is where all the “fans” line up- for days. It is not pretty. See, they don’t clear out the hall at the end of each session, so once you get a coveted seat you don’t give it up. You become Gollum with his “precious.” You sit through panels and previews of stuff you could care less about so you can get that one glimpse of the actor/director/celebrity you care about. I’m lucky. When I go, I scope out the comic book related panels and those are usually empty. I remember the last time I went I was waiting outside a room for Robert Kirkman’s presentation, happy that I was first in line. The security person asked what I was doing, and then looked at me befuddled and told me to just go sit down, there’s no waiting. The same thing happened for Jeff Smith, and David Peterson, and I’m assuming any comic book creator (OK, maybe not Stan Lee). I do regret in all the times I attended San Diego Comic Con (three if my memory hasn’t failed me) I never attended the Eisner Awards or the Masquerade. There’s alway’s 2017 (if I can keep my professional badge).
A Year in MINIons- MINIon #2007
Today would normally be “Star Wars Day” at San Diego Comic Con, so you would think I’d do a Star Wars character, but I really don’t think I could top MINIon #0006. So I decided to go with another cosplay that you’d see wandering around San Diego this weekend. To all those folks dressed as characters from cartoons, I hope you are having an adventurous time! Enjoy your pizza!
A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1985
Because so many people will wander San Diego tonight dressed as characters from a video game
San Diego Comic-Con, It’s finally here!
I just wanted to make this quick blog post before I dash off to sunny Southern California to enjoy all that is the San Diego Comic-Con. I’m really looking forward to all the fun that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con. The great people watching the meeting with friends, the great inspiring sessions and the Exhibit Hall that I hear is going to be the better than it ever has been. I’ll try to post a little when I’m not overwhelmed by the sheer volume of all the greatness that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con. Though I’ll probably be way too busy rubbing elbows with the stars of TV and film. That and going to all the wonderful parties and other events that happen during the week of San Diego Comic-Con. Who knows? Maybe I’ll bring back one of the many Comic-Con Exclusives from San Diego Comic-Con and let you see how wonderfully special it is, and therefore how wonderfully special I am for having it. I’ll try to think of you as you sit back watching Morgan Spurlock’s Documentary on Comic-Con, but I’ll probably forget as I bask in the awesomeness that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con.
Enough already. I’m doing a little online venting because I will once again miss out on Comic-Con this year and unfortunately almost every geek feed, merchant, webcomic, personality, and news outlet I follow has only been talking about it for the past few weeks, if not months. I know it will be a zoo. I know I would never ever consider waiting in line for any of the really big panels, but fortunately over the years I have learned if you like comic books, those panels tend to be easy to get in. I remember one year thinking I was going to wait in line and being waved in to a session with this one writer I really liked. Robert Kirkman was his name – like that’s ever going to happen again. Getting almost front row in a session by David Petersen where he talked about his process and drew. Same thing with Jeff Smith. So many cool things to see and so many great people to learn from. When I signed up to get a Professional Badge years ago I was so excited and now having it now three years, I have been to SDCC once since then. I do feel lucky I to have been three times, and really enjoyed myself. I know many people who have never been, who deserve to go more than I do. Last year I chose MINI Takes The States over Comic-Con and had a great time with so many wonderful friends, so no real big regrets. Yet every year around this time I feel the pull of the coast (which having grown up in Southern California is strange, because I ran screaming away from it and the California culture). I will come back to Comic-Con sometime, but probably not for the foreseeable future.
For those who will be enjoying Preview Night tomorrow- I am jealous, but there is nothing I can do about it, so I salute you and hope you have powers and abilities beyond those of mortal geeks so you may survive the experience. If you were able to snag a badge for any day… Yes, I’m jealous of you too. Have lots of fun, enjoy and take some time to support some of the fine comic creators who are there by buying something from them- expensive original art is a nice start. Without these comic creators, there would be no Comic in Comic-Con, plus there wouldn’t be a whole lot of these really cool movies or TV shows- that seem to have taken over the convention.
’nuff said.
Comic-Con Without a Badge
As you may have heard, a certain person (who runs this website) received their ‘professional’ credentials for Comic-Con this year. Unfortunately, as a new ‘professional’ there was no way for him to get extra badges so I ended up in San Diego without a badge. Knowing this going in, I had made alternate plans to keep myself occupied. Trust me, I needn’t have worried – there was plenty to keep a ‘Comic-Con Muggle’ busy without venturing anywhere near the exhibit hall!
When we got in to town on Wednesday, we headed directly to check-in at the convention center. Since Bruce had his paperwork in order I just tagged along through the process. After Bruce received his badge we continued through the line and we were both handed the awesomely huge Warner Brothers Comic-Con bags that (almost) everyone carried through the week. Even without a badge, I sure looked official!
There was plenty of time before ‘Preview Night’ so we wandered through the Gaslamp District to people watch and grab some food. We stopped at the Chuck Jones Gallery, got some swag, and ultimately ended up at Nicky Rotten’s for food before Bruce headed back into the mayhem. Because it had been a long day, I sat and read while he did his thing – it was a lovely, cool evening so all was good.
Thursday was to be Bruce’s big day at the Con so I dropped him off and went geocaching – that way he didn’t need to worry about me. But, a friend had told us about a Cirque du Soleil event to be held at Comic-Con that evening so we decided to meet up and attend.
When I got back into town, I took some time to explore an area for upcoming movies located in a parking lot adjacent to where I parked. The movie Cowboys & Aliens (to premiere in San Diego Saturday night) partnered with 7-11 and they were giving away Slurpees and promotional items. Then there was the giant inflatable Smurf, the shark movie area, and the dog on the remote control motorcycle (don’t ask). Eventually Bruce and I hooked up and he was stopped to receive some quite interesting swag – deodorant (trust me, he wasn’t the only one)!
We went for pizza at a place Cartoon Network rented out and redid to look like the cartoon Adventure Time (there were also restaurants taken over by SyFy- the Cafe Diem, NBC- The Playboy Club, not to mention various video games).
Cirque Du Soleil was probably the low point of the Con. Billed as ‘Battle at Comic-Con’ it was to be a 3-D Battle from the show Ka. We’d heard so much about Cirque from friends that we thought it would be amazing. The lawn near Petco Park was packed and people were really excited about the show. First it started a half-hour after it was billed then there were technical difficulties. But, probably the most disappointing was shortly after it started I thought, “I wonder what they’re going to do for the battle” and then it was the end! Complete showtime less than 5-minutes. After this show, I just don’t see the allure of Cirque.
Friday I did take a break and Bruce and I explored Balboa Park in the late afternoon.
Saturday we spent some time wandering downtown. We ran into the Zombie Walk (remember, Zombies=bad), the Top Gear America theater (no, we didn’t go in since it wasn’t the BBC version), and saw NerdHQ. This was all before the geocaching Comic-Con Meet-n-Greet. This was held in a park near the SouthPark theme area that we never even had time to visit.
After the meet-n-greet we headed up to the 4th & B theater for the Nerdist Podcast Live with Dr. Who – excellent! It was a terrific event with Matt Smith and Karen Gillam as well as special guest star Wil Wheaton (and free burritos at the end)! I also don’t think I mentioned that the theater was right across the street from the San Diego Civic Center where they were concurrently premiering Cowboys & Aliens!
In all, there were plenty of free things I didn’t see and some ticketed things we didn’t get tickets for. So, even if I can’t get a badge in 2012, I have a plan to make the most of my Comic-Con time!
Total swag without really trying: Looney Tunes and Pan Am bags, obnoxiously green Psych sunglasses, blowup sword, Slurpee, Butterfinger bar, bag of PopChips, many, many fliers, coupons, etc.
San Diego Comic-Con: Day 3
So, I’m at the San Diego Comic-Con, it’s Saturday… What should I do? I decided to avoid the con almost completely. The started out with breakfast with some geocaching friends and then we headed to Mexico to color in the map. Sue seems to be rather competitive when it comes to caching, so a chance to get another country could not be turned down. So after getting warnings from my overly concerned family we walked across the boarder. About an hour later we were in line to come back, mission accomplished. Actually the three caches we went for are multi-caches since maintaining a cache in Mexico can be a headache. What you do is go to certain coordinates in Tijuana, record some information, then plug it into an equation to get the final coordinates. The final coordinates are in the U.S. But since part of the cache is in Mexico it counts as a find in Mexico. It was a great day of walking, but both of us are sunburned.
So after that adventure we headed back to San Diego for a geocaching meet & greet for attendees. On the way we happened across the Zombie walk which was a hoot. At the Meet & Greet I had a great time chatting with Sonny (of Podcacher) and while there were just a few of us, I could see it growing each year.
Sue & I were rushing a bit to get to the final event of the evening… Just down the street from the world premiere of “Cowboys & Aliens.” The Nerdist podcast was doing a live show with Matt Smith & Karen Gillan of Dr. Who. It was great. I’ll check for when it gets posted although it was definitely NOT all ages. A special surprise guest showed up Wil Wheaton from Star Trek: TNG, Big Bang Theory, Eureka… etc. Again, I can’t say how great it was and the burritos were yummy.
Since GeoWoodstock I had decided to drop my digital SLR and only use either my iPhone or iPad for basic photographs. If I was going someplace to take pictures I would bring along the SLR, but normally I felt I should be able to make it with just my iDevices. I have learned a few limitations… The biggest (and worst) was low light like the Nerdist show. Normally, with the iPad you can set where the lit meter takes a reading… This did not work from a distance in the dark looking at a well lighted stage… I have been happy with my other pictures throughout the trip except for low light situations. Live and learn, & yes, I just posted a negative comment about an Apple product, time to mark your calendar.
Can you say “epic failure?” the stage shot of the Nerdist podcast the white glowing blob with ginger hair is Karen Gillan, to her right is Matt Smith, to his right is Wil Wheaton.
San Diego Comic-Con: Day 2
Have you ever been on a Disney vacation? You know how after a while you just need a break from the “Happiest Place on Earth”? Today was not that day, but close, I did leave early- don’t fret or feel sorry for me I got everything done that I wanted to today & wore my fez and comic Hawaiian shirt for good measure. Today, I had just a few things on my list most of them required the presence of Jeff Smith. If you do not know or have ever heard of Jeff Smith… I am sorry. I am not talking about the Frugal Gourmet- I speak of the Eisner award winning creator of Bone.
This actually demonstrates the difference between Comic-Con and other comic book conventions. Two years ago I went to C2E2 and after a wonderful breakfast with Sue stopped in to get some things signed by Jeff Smith for my classroom. I was confronted with a sign being held by the person in front of me that read “Last in line for Jeff” I decided to wait… What was one more person? I held onto that sign until today. See at Comic-Con there are lines… Lines to get an autograph of some actor who played in some show that was cancelled after three episodes but has a cult following, that or t-shirts. At Comic-Con comics aren’t that important, so unlike C2E2 I walked up to a rather short line and then had a nice conversation with Jeff Smith who took a picture with Cecil and drew a wonderful piece of artwork below “Last in line for Jeff” and now I am happy. The only other things on my list was a photo with the TARDIS and a copy of Dave Kellett’s wonderful Eisner nominated book. Done & done. The only session I wanted to attend was Jeff Smith’s which I did and that got me thinking. Finally before calling Sue to see about a late lunch I headed up to the Art show and saw some cool things, and some amateurish things, but sadly while taking pictures of some Klingons, Cecil lost his Jayne hat… He no longer has the same control over Firefly fans. Tomorrow will actually be a day away from the Con- but fear not, we will be attending an event (the Nerdist podcast) with the Doctor & Pond in the evening so geekiness will not be avoided.
San Diego Comic-Con: Day 1ish
After advertising that this would be the “Year of No” here I am still stunned that I was given professional status at the San Diego Comic-Con. As I write this Preview Night is but a memory and I am going over my notes from today’s sessions while trying to figure out where all my money went. A brief recap for those interested- I applied for pro status, got it but it was too late to get any guest badges. While I immersed myself in geekdom, Sue was going to go geocaching.
Preview night worked out OK… I gave myself some time to get the lay of the land, while Sue read a bit. After an hour the crowds were getting to be a bit much and I called it a day. What SWAG did I get? Nothing that I can recall- except three SWAG bags from Warner Bros. One Justice League, one Big Bang Theory, and one Looney Tunes. I did go and scan the BBC America QR codes that were part of the Dr. Who scavenger hunt. I am only missing one but can’t find Titan entertainment anywhere. The BBC lists them in the same booth spot as “Unshelved” a great web comic and the Comic-Con app put them in aisle 5500 of the exhibit hall (5400 is the last aisle). So that was about it for preview night. Two years ago Marv Wolfman I believe said that preview night was the new Saturday… With the number of comp passes I saw I can believe it. I can also understand why people with 4 day passes without preview night were not happy.
So, I got up Thursday morning with a plan… All geeked out with my QR code t-shirt and geek vest I set out to do a few things first go to Comic Book Law 101 & next go to David Petersen’s CBDLF master session. Both were fantastic and have gotten me to rethink a few things. One on copyright and the other on the process & tools I ink with. After that it was a day in the exhibit hall which is a very scary place. I think I was able to cover the entire floor, but I could be mistaken. I purchased a few things: Katie Cook’s cat & Gronk books along with a Doozer drawing for Sue. A David Petersen sketchbook. Almost the entire “DC Super Pets” series (the last 4 books will be available tomorrow). Two convention special books from Archaia (Rust & Fraggle Rock) which let me get three books for free (& then lug all of them around for hours & hours). Finally, a complete sketchbooks of Dave Stevens compendium (Dave created “the Rocketeer” one of my favorite comics & movies ever). Now you might look at that list and wonder why I bought sketchbooks and kids books… First I am a teacher so finding new comic material for my classroom is important. The sketchbooks are great because I learn so much seeing how other artists draw, even roughy sketches teach me something. By 4:30 I was exhausted. Sue arrived and we dumped my stuff in the car and wandered having a pizza dinner at a Cartoon Network NY style pizza place. Afterwards we walked around people watching and ended up on the grass waiting for a rather sad Cirque du Soleil performance on the the side of Petco Park.
Since I had mentioned the Rocketeer here is the infamous monkey with him… Or at least a very good imitation. For those wondering about other pictures I would ask that you visit my Flickr site and as for Cecil, I had a wonderful chat with some steampunk outfitters about getting him a pair of goggles. I (and he) will be overjoyed if we hear back from them after the con.
Comic-Con Saturday
Today started off with excitement and joy as I woke up early and headed to the Convention Center with the hope of getting the autographs of the “Mythbusters.” Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. The way autographs work at Comic-Con is a strange and mysterious thing involving lines, bags, tickets & cats. First you arrive at least an hour before they asked you to so you can wait to see if you are part of the group to get autographs. This was around 7:45 for me, and I waited with a whole lot of people. Once the magic hour has arrived you move through the line pulling raffle tickets from a bag. If your raffle ticket is blank- no autograph, if it has a stamp of a cat on it, you need to return at 10:30 to get in line for the 11:30 autograph session. Make sense. So lets say, you were like me and didn’t get a ticket with a cat on it, you have two options, first is to leave muttering under your breath. The second is to get back in line and try it all again. That’s what I did… twice. Finally pulling an elusive cat. I returned and waited in line (again) to get Adam & Jamie’s autographs.
I was (for some strange reason) really nervous, my mind lost in thought when I finally got up to the front of the line. I realized that yes, that strange man I had asked to get a photo with Cecil who I thought was Adam Savage, WAS ADAM SAVAGE! I was right! He even notice Cecil and commented which threw me off. It threw me off so much that I didn’t pose for a picture and forgot to ask that they make it out to my class.
I went to a Comic Book Legal Defense Fund session with Jeff Smith- Creator of Bone in which he outlined his process for doing a comic by roughing out a four panel idea and bringing it all the way to the finished product. Due to time he only finished two panels, but it was really cool.
I then headed off to a session on Using Comic Books in your classroom, which was interesting. The panel discussed how “Graphic Novels” aka comics have slowly worked their way into the libraries have been successful, and how while many are under the impression that comics are great for reluctant readers when they actually help with readers of all levels. The thing missing- actual curriculum, in these days of standards. Hopefully some of these more direct pieces will be addressed in the panels tomorrow.