Monday, July 28, 2008

Disner Awards, Part 2a

Miscellaneous Costumes Division! (Or, well, half of it. I've got tons of stuff here, people!)

You know the deal, let's jump in:



The "I thought my costume was AWESOME until I saw this guy-"

...Award:
Bonus points for actually channeling another Star Wars entity, the Ewoks!


The "I finally figured out what to do with all of those worthless pieces of paper everyone keeps shoving in my face" Award:

This guy is my all-time favorite. (All it takes is some masking tape and a dream, people!)

The "OH MY GOD IT'S EATING HER LEGS!!!1" Award:
(In the words of my friend Shawn, "I can't decide if I like it, or REALLY like it".)

Award for "Not having ANYTHING to do with comic books, or, well, just about anything": Seriously, an In 'n Out Burger guy? Who thinks of this stuff?

Meritorious Achievement in "Lack of Costume Planning": After I took this guy's picture, I asked him what booth he bought the Kirby in, and he replied "Oh no, I made this!" HE MADE IT. He literally sat at home, slaved over the sewing machine, and thought to himself "Man, this is a great idea-I'm going to have so much fun holding this gigantic Kirby doll over my head through huge crowds for hours at a time. I can't wait!". Try to wrap your minds around that fact.

I've got too many more to just throw in this post, so check back again tomorrow for more!

The First Annual Disner Awards! (Part 1)

Phew, Comic-Con this year was a BEAST. But now that it's over, we've got some free time to, you know, reflect. After flipping through the pictures I've taken so far, I've decided it's best to award my own prizes for exemplary performance. And what better way to do that than rip off the title from the famous comic industry awards? Here's part one, the Joker division:

1) The "They Really should Start Checking People for Weapons" Award:
Seriously, this is a real switchblade knife. WTF?


The Award for "Actually Creepy in Real Life":(Just taking this guy's picture was seriously creeping me out. He kept licking his lips and rocking back and forth on his heels. Way to commit, really!)

Conversely, the "You are WAYYYY too happy to be playing this character" Award:
He looks like he brought that crowbar as a gift to my birthday party!

The "I had no idea Joker wore glasses" category:
Comic-Con: Not letting physical impairments get in the way of your costume dreams since 1978.

The "Parents should really research what they're letting their 8 year olds dress up as before allowing it" Award:
(As I took this picture, he hissed: "Why so serious?")

The "You're not fooling anyone, we all know that's a pom pom on top of your head" Award Winner:Bonus points are awarded for the use of his sister's lipstick, too.


Sexiest Adaptation:
I'd do her.

"The Best Overheard Pissing Contest" Award:
Joker on Right: "Where'd you get your jacket?"
Joker on Left: "Ebay."
JR: "Oh, I made mine. It took forever."
JL: "Cool. Is the red for your smile facepaint, too? It looks kind of light compared to mine..."
JR: "Oh, it's lipstick."
JL: "Oh."
::awkward silence::


And finally, the Award for "Excellence in being completely oblivious to the background tongue action going on just feet behind you" goes to:

Disco Joker!

Thanks for reading this installment, guys. Next post: The Miscellaneous Costumes division!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Quick Sunday Morning Update

So, we miscalculated this morning and arrived before the doors opened. This was a mistake, considering they checked our passes, ushered us through the doors, up some stairs, through the registration and ballroom areas, then back downstairs, and outside again where we started. (Did someone say clusterfuck?)
Then we waited for the doors to open, were one of the first people let in, and ALREADY there were lines closed for things because too many people were there.

This marks the third day that I've been shut out from getting a Watchmen t-shirt. Oh well, it would have been too big anyway.

Then I had nothing else to do and couldn't bear being on the convention floor a second longer, so I headed upstairs (an hour early!) for the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia panel. I'm not exactly sure what this (or most any of the other panels, actually) have to do with comic books, but watching a new episode before the season premieres is a nice way to kill an hour until Shawn is finished shmoozing and we can get out of here for good.

Unfortunately, I apparently wasn't the only one with this idea. Right now it's 9:53 and the BALLROOM with a capacity of Idon'tknowwhat, is already two-thirds full. This year was a beast, and honestly I'm not sure if that's good or bad for comics.

But either way, I'm off to twiddle my thumbs for the next half an hour. Talk to you soon!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

DISPATCHES FROM THE CON

I'm irresponsible, I know. I've been in San Diego since Thursday, and I have not updated any of you on the goings-on. There's so much to say, I don't even know where to start. First off, I gotta let you know that I have roughly 4534536 pictures, but I'm too lazy to even try to edit and upload any of them right now. Maybe tomorrow? I'll try and do my best to whet your appetites with the following:

-I have never seen so many people in all my life. For that matter, I have never seen so many people trying to shove free meaningless pieces of paper in my hand. I have been told about more upcoming projects, movies, TV shows, high school graduatons, and coming out parties than have ever existed in the world. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm SICK OF ALL THE FREE STUFF!

-A word of advice to all future con-goers. No matter how comfortable you think they may be, do not wear flip flops to a con. You WILL get blisters between your toes. I never thought this was possible, but believe me, it is.

-This place is rife with the "celebrity" sightings. So far I've seen Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, Jamie Pressly, Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Method Man, and THOUSANDS of half-naked chicks.

-Highlight of the day: Waiting in line to get Everybody's Dead signed by Brian Lynch (more on these guys later), I overhear this AWESOME exchange:
Brian: So, did you read the book?
Fan #1: No, not yet.
B: Nobody's read the book!
F1: I just bought it! ...but I can't wait to read it!
B: Ok, well here you go. ::hands back signed copies:: hope you enjoy it!
::Fan #2 walks up::
Brian: So, did you read the book?
Fan #2: Yes!
Brian: Oh, cool-did you like it?
F2: ...No...
B: Oh.
::beat::
B: So why am I signing this?
F2: Ebay?


I've never seen anything like it. I also thought it was kind of balls that Brian still signed the comics for the guy, and not even with a dedication. If that was me, I swear I either would have refused to sign it, or signed with a fake name, or even just have written some sort of something on it that would have hurt the resale value. Maybe "the owner of this book has herpes", or something of the like. I guess that means Brian's just the bigger man.


I have so much more to write about than this, there's pages filled with notes of things I want to tell you guys, but I'm just so fricking spent. (And yes, it's only 9:30. Sue me.)

More updates soon!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Dark Blight

While I, perhaps even more so than most appreciate a good magic trick, there was something gnawing at me the whole time I was watching The Dark Knight in IMAX last night.

It took me a while to put my finger on it, and then all of a sudden it hit me.

First it was interesting when they pushed Harvey Dent down to "Lower 5th St.", considering the only city I've been to with that system is Chicago.

Then it got worse.

Why does the Batmobile have Illinois plates?
Why is the Joker walking down a wide avenue with a storefront behind him called "Sweet Home Chicago"?
Why does this look like the spitting image of the windy city?

BECAUSE IT IS.

What happened? I mean, maybe I should have known about this before, but due to my self-imposed blackout of all news Batman (I hate ruining the movies before I see them), I hadn't heard about this latest travesty.

I understand if the Nolans feel that Chicago looks more like what they picture Gotham to be in their heads. But why the heck wouldn't they just shoot Chicago in a generic "Gotham" fashion? As a New Yorker, one who's been to the Gotham Comedy Club, eaten at the Gotham Bar & Grill, and read the ny-centric website gothamist, I'm truly offended.

How dare they take something that us "mad" New Yorkers have owned for over 100 years and appropriate it to a wholly new city?

While I may be the only person who has a complaint about this movie, I don't care. At least when they filmed Rent in San Francisco, they tried to make it look like New York. This was simply offensive.

I'll probably never get one, but I still expect an apology.

Harumph.

PS-Am I the only one that thought Christian Bale's "Batvoice" was ridiculous? Come on!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

SDCC Scavenger Hunt!

So, I originally dreamed up this scavenger hunt for my friends and I to have a little friendly competition. Then it grew into something a bit bigger than that. I figured maybe some of you guys attending the con might want in on the action.

There will be fantastic (in my opinion, at least) prizes, so why not give it a shot? I'm sure you'll have at least a few minutes here and there of downtime. Here's something to fill that Sunday afternoon void!

And because I'm a nerd, but I'm still low-tech, it's hosted on a geocities account.
Find the list (and win the booty!) here.


Good luck!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Congratulations Kirkman!

It's been confirmed that he's been made a partner at Image Comics, where he writes my faves (aren't you sick of hearing about these?) Astounding Wolf-Man, Invincible, and Walking Dead.


Here, Hear!

(Apparently this was supposed to be the big announcement from Image at the con on Friday, now I don't feel so bad about having to miss it in exchange for helping out at Brian Wood's booth for a few hours!)

Oooh, snap!, and Detective Comics Comics!

Brian Wood gets a none-too-nice shout out in this sick freestyle about comic books and all things G4:

http://www.g4tv.com/thepile/videos/27187/ComicCon_Freestyle_101_Murs_Living_Legends.html

Man, I wish I could have a Wii, too.

PS-Did you know that the DC in DC Comics actually stands for Detective Comics? That's almost as redundant as people calling an ATM an "ATM Machine", or a DMZ a "DMZ Zone, for that matter.

The more you know!

Monday, July 21, 2008

More things I want:

I found this amazing watercolor portrait by Dustin Nguyen of some of Gotham's most famous um...residents...and can't help but post it here as well:

Looks like this isn't the first painting like this the artist has done, but it's certainly my favorite. You can view the original post (bigger!) here, on his blog. Hopefully he'll be making some prints!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Cliff Chiang Art!

Cliff Chiang posted some new pinups on his site (www.cliffchiang.com) recently, and oh man, WANT:
I'm HOPING these are for sale at the con next week. If they're not, I might have to steal the original. Just sayin'.

The rest of the set can be found here, including Teela from Masters of the Universe, Supergirl, and Scarlett from GI Joe!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Anti-Horrible!


So, the site's back up. And I saw it. Dr. Horrible is awesome!

But on a slightly different note, anyone notice the resemblance to another certain comic book Doktor?

Light Week

So, I just took a gander at the list of comics coming out this week, and man! There's only ONE issue of the lines I currently read being released tomorrow. (Helen Killer #3)

I hate going to the shop to buy only one thing, but I also hate missing out on something awesome. Is there a really great comic that you think I'm crazy not to buy this week? Something that simply everyone should be reading? Let me know! (dinasaurus at gmail dot com) The top 5 suggestions will be on my pull list for tomorrow.

Thanks!

Simply Horrible!

So, Act I of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog went live today...and promptly crashed. For those of you who don't know, this is a 3-part web musical written by Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men), starring NPH, and Nathan Fillion (Serenity, Firefly), about some sort of crazy mad scientist who vlogs while trying to take over the world. Or something.

See, I don't know, because I haven't been able to view the video, since the site crashed. From my friends who have seen it, I hear it's pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I'll have to take their word for it. There was a release saying that they were working on the outage, and you can access the episode via iTunes in the meantime, but I sadly discovered that in order to do this, I'd have to buy it for $1.99. I'd probably pay it if it weren't already available for free from the creator himself, but it's the principle of the thing!

So, I wait. This better be awesome.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The excitement builds...

So, one thing I've never experienced before (and hadn't anticipated) in connection with a con, was the flurry of press releases and invites that fly around in the weeks leading up. Maybe because I've never been smart enough to apply for a press pass, but it seems I've gotten myself on the mailing list for all (or at least a lot) of the messages being sent out to the press corps. Some of the things that I've been privy to (and keep in mind, the emails only started coming yesterday afternoon, which is when I'm guessing the mailing list went live):

  • IDW announced that Joe Hill will be a comic-con guest of honor (!) and will be signing special limited-edition slipcased sets of Locke & Key (exciting!). Also, Darwyn Cooke will be announcing a new project, and Ben Templesmith (Fell, 30 Days of Night) will be premiering an exclusive ashcan of his new line Welcome to Hoxford.

  • THQ is hosting an exclusive party Thursday night for the video game Darksiders: The Wrath of War, which was created by Joe Madureira. No info is posted as to what consoles it is for, but either way, I doubt it will be avilable for Wii. (Man, I'm such a girl)

  • Sex Drive, a new movie being billed as the "next American Pie", is having advanced screenings in LA before the Con starts. The movie features James Marsden and Seth Green, which means I will be there. I'll let you know how it is once I see it!

  • Will Wright will be making a speech on opening day, about his new game Spore, and how the comic book creator makes it easy to bring your character to life in a comic book setting.

  • Midway is hosting a panel to discuss the new game Mortal Kimbat vs. DC Universe, which sounds exciting, but then I remember that every time I tried to play Mortal Kombat, all of my Street Fighter moves didn't work. My brother totally kicked my ass. Where is Dhalsim when you need him?!? YOGA FIRE!

  • Shout! Factory announced a 20th Anniversary DVD box set for MST3K, with all major players and even the robots appearing in a reunion panel during the con. Wonder if they'll show any movies?

  • And finally (so far), the UK series Spaced will be launched on DVD in the US, so Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) will be appearing, and there will be a screening late Friday night.

That's all for now, kids. I'll keep you posted as things develop!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Interesting News

So, I was reading the Hollywood Reporter this morning as I usually do with my AM schedule, to catch up on what's going on in the industry (important in my line of work), when I stumbled across this very interesting piece of news.
Apparently, Vertigo's recently cancelled (and consistently genius) line Exterminators, has been optioned into a TV show by Showtime. This is pretty interesting to me, not only because a comic that I enjoyed will be adapted, but also because these aren't things that happen overnight. From the little that I know about the process, they've been in discussion on this for months. I know that Vertigo lines are creator-owned, but I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't have caught wind of this, and maybe wanted to hold off on the cancellation until this panned out. Now there's going to be (hopefully) a second wind of demand for this line, and no new issues will be made. Seems kind of "cart before horse", no?

Then again, in the article Simon Oliver does say that he originally conceived of the book as a TV pitch, so maybe once that got rolling he had something to do with the line being cancelled?
I don't know. Either way, it should be an interesting show, that's for sure.

On a related note, it does seem that I'm seeing more and more comic books being optioned for shows and movies. I know this is an age-old practice, but has anyone else noticed the recent feverish upswing this has taken? I mean, an Elfquest movie was announced today, Millar followed up Wanted with the announcement that Kick-Ass (only 3 issues in!) will be a movie too, Whiteout is also getting the treatment, Warren announced Red was going to Summit for a movie, and Ocean is over at Warner Bros, AND Goon is going to be given the movie treatment by Fight Club's David Fincher. And that's only the things I've heard about in the past month!

Anyone else just a little bit breathless about it?

Monday, July 7, 2008

I'm famous!

Well, not really. But the tongue-in-cheek email I sent to Newsarama's JK Parkin ended up being the bonus features in this post about who is attending this year's San Diego Comic Con:

And finally, Dina is really excited about attending:


No, I’m not a creator, writer, artist, or otherwise associated with the industry in any way. In fact, the closest thing I have is a poorly updated blog about how much I love comics and a friend who edits at DC.
However, I saw your post on Newsarama asking people to tell you
they were going, and I just found it hard to believe that you wouldn’t be excited to hear I would be there.


How cool is that??!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Weekend!

It's the 4th, so I'm off to go celebrate my country's independence by traipsing through the woods and trying to evade the ferocious bears that inhabit the woods of California.

Hope you all have a great weekend, I'll leave you with this awesome bit of fun from another country that won independence from the Brits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDkiYZLnsyg&NR=1

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

It's July!

Yesssss!

Are you as excited about it being July as I am? I mean, come on-Independence Day, summer parties, oh-
AND THE SAN DIEGO COMIC CON!

Who's going?

Anyone who can find me there and say the secret phrase: "I read your blog" (I'm so creative, aren't I?), gets one free drink, on me, when I'm (inevitably) at the bars at the end of each day.

(But please, no requests for Moet or nothin', ok?)

Also- to claim your drink you have to pose for one picture, with me, to be posted forever here in the annals of eternity.


22 days left!