San Diego Comic Con 2015 Report: Part 3

Other events and stuff! With Star Wars and its new film around the corner there was a big sneak preview with an orchestra with the main actors from the film hosted behind the convention center. We were luckily, though surprised, to learn the event since we had a view of the fireworks from our hotel room and only found out it was Star Wars related the next day.

There was also a Nintendo exhibition event at the hotel where attendees can play games and win prizes.

The big outside event this year was talk show host Conan O’Brian hosting his show at the downtown San Diego theater. Guests of his included Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and more.

Right outside the convention center was also an Assassins Creed outdoor obstacle course (ala American Ninja Warrior) and a barbershop onsite! There was a Heroes tv outdoor set experience and small events sprinkled throughout the Gas lamp District as well.

San Diego Comic Con 2015 Report: Part 2

Why do we attend Comic Con? It’s mostly due to meeting the comic creators that do not show up at other Southern California shows. This year at the DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and Image booths we were able to meet and get signatures and sometimes sketches from creators such as Billy Tan, Siya Oum, Chrissie Zullo, David Finch, Jock, Marjorie Liu, Chip Zdarksy, Tom Yeates and Len Wein.

The Marvel booth is usually the busiest booth (non-product related) on the floor but this year with no movie premier event happening the location was more subdued though still traffic heavy.

There was a lack of big-name artists/writers appearing there and the usual people that appears such as J. Scott Campbell, Mark Brooks, Humberto Ramos either didn’t have appearances there or no longer even sketched for free.

DC’s booth was split into two signing areas which did cause confusion with attendees at times when which table a creator would be appearing at was unknown causing line-ups for them to spiral into oblivion.

One of the quicker booths to get autographs and sketches was Dark Horse, possibly due to having some not-as-well know creators signing which caused be to go ahead and get in their signing queue since it was very quick and Dark Horse providing free posters or mini-prints for the creators to sign.

Image had a more wrist-band needed line-up this year (e.g. Chew, Snyder, McFarlane, etc.) but was a bit more easily obtained if you went directly to their booth once the doors opened. Fortunately Image had limits on the amount of wristbands they gave out which helped fans not get cut-off due to time limits of the creators.

IDW had some good signing events throughout the week and creators such as Mike Zeck and Don Rose appeared and signed happily for their fans.

San Diego Comic Con 2015 Report: Part 1

Another San Diego Comic Con has come and gone and while the convention keeps getting bigger and bigger, this year’s comic-centered events seemed a bit more low-key (if that’s possible at SDCC) that previous years. Possibly due to Marvel not bringing in a movie-themed property to their booth or DC only bringing in their Batman v. Superman cast for one appearance, the excitement to meet comic creators didn’t wow or go as big as even SDCC 2014.

It’s still an overwhelming event and one that is set to dull the senses, Comic Con was a fun event to attend and experience even though SDCC 2015 wouldn’t be ranked among my highlights of all comic conventions this year.

Preview Night

Badge pick-up was smooth with a quick line up and then the corralling into the Sails Pavilion in order to get to the main hall. For a 3-hour day that opens at 6pm, people were lined up already around 1pm.

As usual the herds of people and scalpers marching into the convention hall on preview night meant the hot exclusives would be gone even before we made it onto the floor. Exhibitors are well grounded on getting to the lines of retailers first, even swapping out their exhibitor badges with general passes in order to circumvent some of the line rules.

An infuriating item for me this year as the DC Comics Jim Lee Batman sketch exclusive figure which was set to retail for $300 but DC decided to dived the 150 figures to floor retailers for some reason meaning by the time the doors first opened they were already marked up to $1,000!

Due to the inevitable long lines for all the SDCC exclusives this was the first year we did not line up to buy any of the con exclusive items.

Comic Convention Report: WonderCon 2015 Review (Los Angeles, CA, (4/3-4/5/2015)

WonderCon Anaheim 2015

WonderCon returned to Anaheim for 2015, again during the Easter weekend which probably impacted the number of attendees and guests that could bypass events and work holidays to participate in the fourth WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Attendance for 2015 was decent and comparable to previous years though the amount of “wow” factor special guest, exhibitors and events decreased significantly. At the very first WonderCon held in Anaheim back in 2012 exhibitors such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and movie studios appeared. But for 2015, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse were missing and only Boom Studios, Lion Forge and Image had a publisher presence on the floor.

Statue displays

The set-up of the floorplan was changed significantly with the artist alley space moved to the Hall A section instead of the previous year’s Hall D and the badge pick-up also kept next to Hall A instead of the bottom basement hall for pick-up. Publisher booths were kept near the doors and the special guest signing table was moved to the mid-hall location. Some of the bigger tier artists were placed near each other causing some major line congestion and blockages that caused some exhibitors to pitch a fit and request some artists or signing lines to be moved.

Jae Lee sketching

Artists such as Babs Tarr (Batgirl), Phil Noto (Black Widow), Jae Lee (Batman/Superman), and Darwyn Cooke (New Frontier) had significant lines throughout the con with Babs’ line being the longest all 3-days of the event.

Phil Noto sketching

Other guests such as Dan Jurgens, Kevin McGuire, Ken Lashley, Steve Epting, Ron Lim had more manageable lines and commissions could still be acquired on the second day of the convention. It always eludes me when convention organizers do not place big name talent at table corners where lines can be more controlled instead of placing them smack dab in the middle of artist alley where lines just clog up the walk way and block other exhibitors.

Rob Van Dam

Tempo and excitement for WonderCon 2015 was lower in expectation and turnout when I asked other attendees of the event. The lack of many more higher-profile guests, media guests and the Big 2 publishers significantly loosened the “wow” factor in this event and SDCC-lite it was.

With the 2016 event for WonderCon moving to the Los Angeles Convention Center the change in venue will either make or break the event. The LACC significantly lacks the foot-traffic and restaurant and Disney location of the Anaheim Convention Center but hopefully the closer star power location will bring in more guests and “wow” missing this year.

Comic Convention Report: COMIKAZE EXPO Review (Los Angeles, CA, (10/31-11/1/2014)

Comic Convention Report: COMIKAZE EXPO Review (Los Angeles, CA, (10/31-11/1/2014)

The fourth annual Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center has just passed and it continues to get bigger and smoother as the years move on. Held on the busy week of Halloween weekend on Oct. 31st through Nov. 1st, it is So. California’s only third 3-day comic convention, just trailing the SDCC-backed Wonder Con in Anaheim as well as the ubiquitous San Diego Comic Con.

The big guests this year included the usual celeb names such as Stan Lee, Elvira, James Hong, a cast of Power Rangers, the Batman ’66 actors, a myriad of cosplayers, as well as comic big shots as John Romita Jr., Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Rob Liefeld and Jason Scott Campbell.

Clearing up previous admission issues, the ticket buying booths, press booths, general admission lines have been spread out and having the ability to pick up tickets the Thursday before the convention started helped previous crowd-line traffic to a minimum. Arriving just an hour before the start of the convention there were minimal lines at pick-up and the ability to wait in line at the main hall or the front doors helped alleviate crowd standing issues from the past.

Big banners hanging from the ceiling also helped direct traffic to specific aisles that attendees were looking for. The lines within the show were especially long for hot artists such as J. Scott Campbell, Jim Lee and John Romita Jr., with 1-2 hour line waits not unexpected. Having their lines at the back of the convention center helped with not blocking aisle space for vendors, but when the lines started stretching longer and longer, having additional volunteers to keep crowds from veering off and getting unwieldy which happened at the Romita Saturday signing.

The comic publishers attending the show included Aspen Comics, Top Cow, Boom Studios and Nickelodeon. The Hot Topic booth had an adequate line for their exclusive items as well as a spin-the-wheel promotion where you can win fun items such as a Stan Lee Garbage Pail kid sticker card.

Guests writers and artists such as Peter David, Agnes Garbowska, Joe Jusko, Livio Ramiodelli, eBas, Joel Gomez, Joe Benitez and others kept the comic crowd event in check. Portions of the show floor had arcade games to play as well as set-ups and displays of comic art, movie/tv costumes and a main stage where guest were interviewed throughout the day.

Overall the Comikaze 2014 event was a big hit, with easy ticketing, wide floor space, actual comic guest and a fun crowd and atmosphere. Looking forward to an even bigger and star-studded 2015 event.

Long Beach Comic Con 2014 Review & Photos

Well another Long Beach Comic Con has come and gone. This past Sept. 27th and 28th, 2014 was the most recent iteration of the successful comic convention event which continually draws top-tier comic talent and focuses mainly on comic book and artist/writer related material.

The crowd was evident with the lines on Saturday waiting to get into the event, with pre-registered attendants getting in an hour earlier than same-day ticket purchasers.

Creator talents included the perennial Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (Harley Quinn, Power Girl), along with additional special guests such James O’Barr (The Crow), Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals), and Laura & Mike Allred (Madman, Silver Surfer, X-Force).

The artist alley was smack dab in the middle like a true comic convention should be, with multiple rows of noted professional talent such as Dustin Nguyen (Batman), Joshua Hale Fialkov (The Bunker) along with a mix of amateur and up and coming creators such as Babs Tarr, artist on the upcoming Batgirl series.

The CW Series “The Flash” also had a trailer from the show appearing where attendees could test their speed. Along the back of the hall was a laser tag area, Lego playing area for the kids as well as a Chevy dealer sign-up booth.

A large area covered the convention comprised of actual comic book dealers such as Pulp Fiction, Jay Company Comics, Comics Wise, Phat Collectibles, along with a myriad of toy sellers and independent booths.

The Sunday event was slight in traffic compared to Saturday in the a.m., but parking under the convention was already full by the opening time and foot traffic was steady throughout the day on both days.

Lines for creators was small or non-existent compared to larger conventions such as the recent San Diego Comic con or the close-by Wonder Con in Anaheim. The only booths that had significant long wait times included the Allreds and Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti booths which had stretches of fans waiting for their signatures. Word to the wise to LBCC staff, please separate out your top talent guests so they are not back-to-back to each other since the lines begin to merge and other booths/guest artists get drowned out by the fans of the other creators.

Overall the event was enjoyable and very stress-free compared to San Diego Comic Con and even the ever-growing popularity of Wonder Con-Anaheim. Heres hoping for the LBCC staff in bringing in more top-tier comic talent that does not routinely attend Southern California conventions to appear at this nice local and friendly convention.

Comic Book Event: WonderCon-Anaheim 2014

WonderCon 2014 has passed, now referred to as WonderCon-Anaheim as WonderCon-San Francisco should be back in effect one day according to the WonderCon program book. So it looks like the success and packed 2013/2014 season has led to Orange County now getting their very own San Diego Comic Con-lite convention as an annual event instead of just a hold-over until Comic Con Intl. was able to secure a location in San Francisco again.

Compared to the 2013 WonderCon in the same Anaheim Convention Center location, this year it was able to secure halls A & B as well as the arena for larger events which was nice but also meant that this year they had a lot more attendees and traffic compared to last year.

Last year had some artist and creators that appeared from multiple national locations but were noticeably absent this year with a good portion of artists and creators being more LA/OC/San Diego locals that usually show up for the smaller regional events. Marvel Entertainment also was absent with nary a booth set-up this year compared to last year leading DC Comics and IDW, Aspen as having the larger booths for comic publishers.

Navigating the aisles was a lot harder this year with a good amount of people on Saturday and Sunday and clogging up the aisles especially in Hall B where the comic book booths were at.

Many artists in artists alley were busy and jammed if you were a B or A-lister!

See you next year WonderCon.

WonderCon-Anaheim 2014 Photos

WonderCon-Anaheim registration hall
Writer, Scott Snyder (Batman, Swamp Thing)
Writer, Len Wein (Wolverine, Swamp Thing, Batman)
Artist, Russ Heath (The Haunted Tank, Out Army at War)
Writer, Richard Starkings (Elephant Men)
Artist, Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows, Avengers, Savage Wolverine)
Witchblade cos-player
Dr. Who cos-players
Artist, Marc Silvestri (Witchblade, Hulk, X-Men)
Witchblade creator, Marc Silvestri, with Witchblade cos-player

Enjoy!

Comic Book Review: Batman/Superman Vol. 1: Cross World (The New 52)

Batman/Superman Vol. 1: Cross World (The New 52)

Greg Pak (Author)

Jae Lee (Illustrator)

Ben Oliver (Illustrator)

Publisher: DC Comics

Pub date: 5/2014

Collects Batman/Superman #1-4 and Justice League #23.1: Darkseid

OVERVIEW

The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel are close friends in the modern day–but the two weren’t always such close allies.

Discover how two of the World’s Finest Super Heroes met for the first time in the New 52, and the mysterious adventure that takes them to a whole new world-the world of Earth 2! The heroes of the main DC Universe meet their Earth 2 counterparts for the first time!

REVIEW

Wow, the art from the previews and Jae Lee’s previous work continues to captivate and doesn’t disappoint. Unfortunately the story that that art coincides with was not as impressive and felt more like a staging event for Lee to captivate the audience with lyrical art-poetry.

The villain of the initial arc I just could’ve grasp what the purpose of the plot to mingle two different earth versions of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Lois Lane. The initial meeting and boyhoods of the Kent and Wayne kids were fun to read, but the meat of the story focusing on the battles between the adult heroes and the hidden villain were a mere afterthought.

The remaining Darkseid arc at the end of the collection was also a hodgepodge of Ben Oliver’s art that just didn’t feel up to the standards of Jae Lee and the story as well jumping directly to a New God just did not mash up very well.

The art is amazing and recommended to view, just as cool as Jae’s Ozymidas Watchmen run. The plot though leave much to be desired and felt too drawn out and captivating.

RATING

3 out of 5 MONSTERS

Comic Book Review: Black Canary and Zatanna : Bloodspell (2014) HC

Black Canary and Zatanna : Bloodspell (2014) HC

Author: Paul Dini

Publisher: DC Comics

Pub date:2014

OVERVIEW

Black Canary. Zatanna Zatara. Two of the DC Universe’s brightest stars join forces to combat a deadly new threat – a chilling, supernatural foe that preys on their weaknesses and unleashes their awesome powers against each other!

A year ago, Black Canary infiltrated a gang of female criminals set to pull a dangerous heist at a Las Vegas casino and now the story can be told!

REVIEW

With an almost Darwyn Cooke/J. Bone-style artwork, Joe Quinones pulls off along with author Paul Dini (BATMAN: TAS, Streets of Gotham) a fun gal-duo standalone story that showcases the very first meeting of these Justice Leaguers as well as a Vegas team-up.

The story has the standard, casino heist gone wrong plot; the art by Quinones pushes the novel along with some uncanny facial portrayals of the characters that are also reminiscent of Amanda Conner’s lively work.

This team-up is a fresh breeze since it pits Black Canary and Zatanna in their pre-New 52 identities and gives the story a more fun, light-hearted approach that should captivate a wide range of audiences tired of all the current doom and gloom.

RATING

4 out of 5 MONSTERS

Comic Book Review: Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis (2014) TPB

Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis (2014) TPB

Author: Kesel, Karl

Publisher: DC Comics

Pub date: 2014

OVERVIEW

Having played out every trick on the fine citizens of Gotham City, Harley Quinn – the Joker’s former girlfriend – decides that another city deserves her attention.

After all, why menace one city when you can menace two? Especially if the second has a Man of Steel guarding it. Harley high tails it to Metropolis, with ally Poison Ivy.

REVIEW

This was a very fun Harley book with her personality still very much BTAS/Dini-inspired instead of the crazy Suicide Squad/New52 version.

The art by Terry Dodson in the majority of the issues stands out with very vibrant and sexy style, while the latter half by Craig Rousseau, while serviceable is just not as lively or attractive that a Harley/Ivy combo book needed to be.

Kesel stands out by going ahead and having fun with the book with Harley taking on a new personality to infiltrate the Daily Planet and mingle with the likes of Jimmy Olson while still vamping it up around as Harley and chasing around town with Poison Ivy her pal.

RATING

4 out of 5 MONSTERS