Some Additions to Recent Posts

First, an addition to my post about Binwin Bronzebottom and Scott Kurtz:

It seems like Scott Kurtz realized what a jerk he was to Wil Wheaton, and he contacted Wil afterward and made it up to him. I still think SK was quite rude, but it's actually quite classy of him to call WW afterward and comfort him on the death of his character.

Second, I completely forgot to mention in my APE post that we met Spike, who does Templar, Arizona. She was very cool and friendly, and the only reason I forgot to mention her was that I neglected to take any photos of her. I don't know why, as she safely fit into the "good-looking nerd" category that APE was so full of. Here is another picture of her that I found using Google Image search. Anyway, she was awesome and signed & sketched in three Templar, Arizona books that we bought. In fact, of all the people we talked to, she was probably the most relaxed and talking to her felt the most like chatting with someone you know.

Rock on.

The Alternative Press Expo, or, Can My Camera Flash You?

I'd like to start by saying that my digital camera is actually quite good in most respects. The pictures it takes are huge resolution, and I have found it very easy to take pictures and download them to my computer. The one thing it can't do is function in anything less than bright lighting without the flash. In even normal lighting, like at the Alternative Press Expo, I have a decision to make: take pictures with flash (which are annoying to the people I'm taking pictures of), or take pictures without the flash and end up with a blurry photo.

I should also mention that this post links out to webcomics. If you're not familiar with webcomics, you should know that a lot of webcomics have the latest page on their homepage, so if you'd like to avoid any spoilers, click the "Archive" or "First" button as quickly as you can.

With that out of the way, let's get started.


First impressions of APE: comics are a legitimate art form. Also, there are tons of good-looking, nerdy people here. Single nerds take note.

We started off wandering separately and getting a feel for the place. It was pretty packed, as the picture above shows, with two wings and a lower main area. One cool thing about APE was that most of the tables were by comic publishers and artists. At many other cons I've been to, a lot of the tables are local comic book stores selling their wares. I noticed one of these at APE, and there were probably more, and there were also a few art schools trying to peddle their classes to would-be artists, but for the most part it was comics being sold by the people who made them, and that is awesome.

The most popular table at APE was shared by Dylan Meconis and Kate Beaton. I didn't know Dylan Meconis's work at the time (which I've been working on remedying since I got home), but I am a fan of Kate's Hark! A Vagrant, and my lady is a big fan of both of them, so we headed over.

My lady had already gotten Dylan's signature on Bite Me!, her off-the-wall graphic novel about vampires in Revolutionary France, so while we were waiting for space to clear up around Kate Beaton I asked her if she would mind a picture with my lady. I'm so sorry for using flash in your face, Dylan Meconis, but otherwise the picture was too blurry to see anything:
Remember what I was saying about all the good-looking nerds at APE? Plus, Dylan Meconis had a pile of stickers that read "Real Vampires Don't Fricking Sparkle," and how cool is that?

When we got through to Kate Beaton, she signed my lady's copy of her book and also drew us a sketch of Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe (based on this comic of hers).

And what did she charge us for this AMAZING sketch? How about FIVE BUCKS? Kate Beaton, you rock! Also, apparently my camera was feeling braver by this point, because I managed to get some pretty good pictures of Kate Beaton without having to use the flash.

The next part of our journey was seeing several examples of "it's the guy who does..." such as Matt Boyd, "one of the guys who do Mac Hall and Three Panel Soul:"
and Chris Hastings, "the guy who does Dr. McNinja:"
I basically did a walk-by photographing of those two, since I didn't have anything to say to them, or, more accurately, any money to give them. Hence, another photo safari, like my time at Wondercon.




I read Der-shing Helmer's comic "The Meek" and totally dug it. For those of you who haven't read it yet, the art is amazing and the storytelling is delightful. I'd even go so far as to say that it's "Miyazaki-esque!" Der-shing also did "Snowball in Hell," about a fluffy cat who ends up in Hell. While I haven't had a chance to read much of it yet, I love that there's a story out there called "Snowball in Hell" about a fluffy cat in hell.


At the same table we met Johane Matte, who did "Water Tribe." Now if I were to tell you that it's a fan comic of Avatar: the Last Airbender, you'd probably think that it's some earnest, enthusiastic, and terrible work of squeeing fandom. While it's definitely earnest and enthusiastic, it's also excellent. I read some of the mini-comics they have for Avatar on the Nickelodeon site, and Water Tribe is magnitudes better than them. That's right: the fan comic is many times better than the official stuff they put out. The art, the storytelling, the feel of it is perfect. If you like Avatar, you should check out Water Tribe. I could spend an entire blog post talking about "Water Tribe," and I haven't even finished the first volume yet.

Here's my lady meeting "the guy who does Rice Boy," which I haven't read yet, but it looks good:


My lady and I also met Brandon Graham, "the guy who does King City."
He drew us a sketch for free. I was going to ask him about the part of King City that didn't make any sense when I read it, so I picked up his copy and started to leaf through it, and I realized that the whole thing didn't make sense! But I really liked it. It's about a guy who has a cat that gets superpowers when he injects it with cat-juice. The art is great, and I absolutely love the way Brandon Graham does sound effects.

Which brings us to the end of APE. So, to wrap up, here are some miscellaneous observations about APE:

• Cute is the new scary - so much of the 'dark' stuff being sold was annoyingly cute. There were at least two Satanically-possessed fluffy creatures, as well as cute dead animals, cute scary little girls, etc.

• Zombies are the new superhero - there were sexy zombies, ironic zombies, high school zombies, crime-fighting zombies. In fact, just about every kind of zombie except for the flesh-eating, mindless zombie (but who likes THOSE?).

• Irony is the new badassery - why write about a grim monster hunter when you can write about a grim monster hunter who's a school janitor?

Until next time, then. I had a fantastic time and I highly recommend APE to anyone who can make it out. It's lots of fun if you bring your own cute nerd to spend the con with, but if you don't already have a cute nerd, you may find one at APE!

Wondercon 2009 Photo Safari

Yesterday she and I went to Wondercon with two of her friends who came up for the occasion. Wondercon, for those not in the know, is huge a general-purpose convention held annually in San Francisco. When I say general-purpose, I mean it had comics, anime, sci-fi, video games... just about anything nerds are into.

We arrived around one, passing plenty of Naruto ninjas and other nerd-types flaunting Wondercon tags and bags of swag. We entered the Moscone Center and were herded down the escalators, to the left, and into the empty queues that must have been thronged with nerds earlier in the day. We exchanged our ticket printouts for tags and were handed bags for swag, with included schedules.

The first place we headed was the 4th Dimension Entertainment booth, which was pretty much the Lackadaisy booth. We saw the work-in-progress sculpt of the Rocky figure and numerous posters for sale. We also learned that there had been a snafu with the books, so there weren't enough for the con and they were already sold out. They were taking preorders, though, with the added bonus of Tracy J. Butler including a sketch of your favorite character. Tracy J. Butler, the lady at the booth said, who is sketching behind me at the moment. I looked behind the lady, and sure enough, there was Tracy J. Butler, sketching away. We both had the opportunity to tell her what big fans we were, though I admit that I didn't say much. Tracy was very friendly, though she was understandably overwhelmed by the con experience. We ended up buying a book, a poster, and a pin.

Next we headed over to the "Artist's Alley," where the comic book artists were collected in rows. The first person we saw that we recognized was also the person I was most excited about meeting: Stan Sakai. Stan is the creator, writer, and artist of Usagi Yojimbo, a comic about a rabbit samurai that is far more awesome than that previous sentence made it sound.

Stan was working on the first page of an Usagi story called "The Hidden Fortress," which I thought was awesome for obvious reasons. As he was absorbed in his work, I asked his wife, Sharon, if I could take a picture. "You want to take a picture with Stan?" she asked, and was about to get his attention when I quickly said that I actually just wanted a picture of him working. She very graciously said I could take a picture, which I did:

We looked through the portfolio of original Usagi art they had brought (including this picture of Usagi fighting a dinosaur). We started talking to Stan, and the young lady I was with took the opportunity to proudly tell Stan that she was a longtime fan who had recently introduced her boyfriend to Usagi. I was worried about looking like a wannabe for not being more familiar with the comic, but Stan was very gracious toward both of us. When she asked him about the pen he was drawing with, he not only stopped to show her how he drew with it, he handed it to her and let her try it out. Commendably, she resisted what must have been an overwhelming temptation to grab the pen and run. Stan Sakai had a presence about him of a warm-hearted man who loves creating something people enjoy. The calm aura he radiated can only be described as samurai-like.

Meeting Stan Sakai was awesome, but it did not prepare me for what came next. We wandered through the Artist's Alley, past Wendy Pini (my 15-year-old self would have loved to stop and talk to her, but I've become increasingly disillusioned with ElfQuest with every new book I read of it). Then the young lady with me said "Oh, Mike Mignola is here." I asked how she knew and she looked in his direction. I turned and, about ten feet from me, was Mike Mignola.

Needless to say, I immediately started trying my best to keep from freaking out. I hadn't been looking forward to seeing Mike Mignola because I didn't know he would be there. He wasn't listed as one of the Special Guests (I assume this was because he wanted to keep it low-key and wasn't on any panels). We got in line to talk to him, both of us trying to get the other to get a picture taken with him but neither of us having the nerve. Finally, I asked him if there would be a sequel to BPRD:1946, and he said, yes, BPRD:1947 was in the works. It would be drawn by the person who does Umbrella Academy, which caused she and I to exchange grins as we had previously discussed how good the artwork for Umbrella Academy is, and what a shame it is that the artist doesn't do a better story that isn't written by "the guy from My Chemical Romance." I asked Mike if I could take a picture, and he agreed to let me.

We bought a couple of Wondercon 09 prints from him, which I should have photos of eventually. I asked him about Bruce Campbell playing The Lobster in Hellboy 3, and he said that he didn't know anything about it, because, with Guillermo working on The Hobbit, if there would be a Hellboy 3 it was a long way off. I managed to keep it together right up until the end, when I blurted out "ThankyouformakingHellboyit'sthebestcomicever!" My rational brain knows that he probably politely said thank you, and my memory of him saying "Why don't you write a spinoff story to BPRD:1946 featuring Baron Konig?" was probably caused by the fanboy overload my brain was suffering.

We continued to go through the con, seeing a number of stars who were wringing money from their fame with varying levels of desperation. Some of the saddest examples were former wrestlers like The Honkey Tonk Man, and the bassist from Megadeth. I couldn't fathom what they were doing at Wondercon. That said, there were some cool moments, like seeing Gigi Edgley, who played Chiana on Farscape. Seeing her without the makeup was a bit like seeing KISS without theirs, except that I actually like Chiana (and Gigi). I didn't take any pictures.

I think I saw Carrie Fisher through a solid throng of people. I say I think it was Carrie Fisher because the poor woman looked tired and unwell. Judging from the huge number of people holding their cameras above the human tide just to try to snap a shot of her, I assume it must have been her. Apparently Mark Hamill was somewhere, too, though I didn't catch a glimpse.

We attended part of a panel on "Comics Storytelling," featuring Gene Luen Yang, Thien Pham, and Jen Wang. Though he's not listed in the program, Ray Fawkes was there as well. They said some interesting things, but the best part was watching their personalities. Gene was reserved and nerdy, while Thien, who works with him, was gregarious and outrageous, often answering on behalf of Gene instead of himself. He did this to embarrass Gene, and it always worked.

Another panel that we sat in on was between David Petersen (who wrote Mouse Guard), Wendy Pini, Stan Sakai, and Alex Robinson (who was the one person in the panel whose work I didn't know). As the moderator pointed out, they represented many generations of comic-writing: David Petersen is a young guy who has just broken into comics, while Stan Sakai described buying the second issue of Fantastic Four. The panel was great. David Petersen was very enthusiastic, and Stan Sakai quietly owned the room.

The last event of the night was a masquerade, where fans in costumes came out on stage and put on shows of varying levels of sophistication. Some of them just walked across stage to music, while others engaged in skits or dances. One skit was of an insult contest (according to Wikipedia, it's called "the dozens") between Chun-Li and Sakura of Street Fighter. It featured the memorable line "Yo momma's armpits are so hairy, it looks like she's got Afro Samurai in a headlock." There were some very impressive Predator and Godzilla costumes, and a group of people dressed like the Teen Titans who, despite their Rock Band instruments, did not actually play Rock Band. Probably the most impressive bit was a G.I.Joe-themed skit about the various villains all bickering, and finally fighting Snake Eyes.

I should mention that Wondercon was not without its moments of weirdness, like the group of Naruto cosplayers who had their hair gelled up into cat-ears, or the genuine furries in full costume.

There were also meetings with creators I was not familiar with, like Erik Larsen. I remember thinking, "Dude, it's Erik Larsen. He does Savage Dragon. You should talk to him. But the only thing you've ever read from him was the Savage Dragon/Hellboy crossover he did. That was okay, I guess. Yeah, maybe you shouldn't talk to him."

Finally, I'll leave you with an activity: go check out Sean "Cheeks" Galloway on DeviantArt. We saw him, too. He was very cool:

Lord Admiral Meets Wil Wheaton 2: The Revenge

Remember when we met Wil Wheaton back in May? You've probably forgotten all about it, but I'll tell you who hadn't: Wil Wheaton. That's right, my friends and I went to From the Land Beyond, a sci-fi and horror convention in Sacramento, and we ran into Wil Wheaton there (okay, so Wil Wheaton was pretty much the reason we went). As we were waiting in line for his show, having only just arrived, he came up to us and stopped to chat, telling us that he had gotten into PMOG on our recommendation. So he totally remembered us!

After talking for a bit, he kept going, and then the presentation that had been going on ended and the people started filing out. One of the people filing out was Richard Hatch... holy frak! I must have looked like a deer in headlights, as he gave me a smile, said "Hey," and kept going.

Wil Wheaton's reading was the same as the one we'd heard at SuperCon, but the interesting thing about it was that he tailored his presentation to the audience, with more horror movie references and such. Also, reruns of Wil Wheaton presentations are nothing to turn your nose up at. His impression of Jonathan Frakes as Commander Riker is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

We (well, mostly my friends) talked to him about the state of things today and "serious" topics that were the sorts of things you talk to your friends about while hanging out, not the sorts of thinigs you talk to famous people about at cons. I asked him if he still plays Warhammer 40K, and he told me about the Space Marines he had when he was a kid ("Blood Demons or something," he laughed, not sure what he had called his chapter). He said he no longer plays, as that was one of the hobbies he had to give up when time became a bigger concern. He also said that he used to play Magic: the Gathering when it first came out.

Which reminded me of something I've come to realize: Wil Wheaton really is "Just a Geek." When I first heard that the kid from Star Trek: TNG had a blog where he wrote about geeky things and that he had just (at the time) published a book entitled Just a Geek, I thought, sure, this guy is obviously just trying to wring some money out of having been on a SciFi show. Boy, was I wrong: Wil Wheaton is the real deal. This man is geek to the core, in the best and most endearing sense of the word. You name it, he's done it: D&D, WH40K, M:TG. He reads comics, loves Star Wars (and that other "Star" show you may have heard of), and countless other shows and books.

We bought a copy of both volumes of Star Trek: the Manga, both of which had Wil Wheaton stories in them, so he wrote "Collect them all!" in both, crossed out "all," and wrote "both."

As my friend Kage had bought a box of Star Trek: The Next Generation Customizable Card Game cards, we looked through it, hoping to find a Wesley Crusher card for Wil Wheaton to sign. We didn't get one; however, we did get a card of Wesley Crusher's girlfriend. We decided that was close enough, and Wil Wheaton obliged and signed it. He even took my suggestion and wrote "I hit that!" on the card.

I also got the chance to talk to Aaron Douglas, who plays Chief Tyrol on the new Battlestar Galactica. He was very jovial and easygoing, and he cracked me up with what he wrote on the picture I bought of him. At first I asked him if he would beat up Wil Wheaton if Wil Wheaton called him a "toaster." (Since he and Wil Wheaton had been talking when I walked up). He said no, he was okay with it, since that's what he was. And so we got to talking about the show, and the new Caprica show they're making (which I forgot took place before the invention of the Cylons, so I looked like a total noob, but Aaron Douglas corrected me very patiently). I then bought a photo (I had figured I would talk to him first, and if he was cool, I would buy a photo, but if not, I wouldn't). He asked what he should write, so I said I'd think about it and so he asked for my name. While he wrote my name, I suggested he write "What up, my toaster?" and asked if that was offensive. "Oh, I know what I'll write," he said with a glint in his eye, and he happily wrote:

For Benny: If you call me a toaster again I will kick your FRAKKIN ASS!!"



Then there was a charity art auction, and nobody was bidding. Everything was going for between five to twenty dollars, I kid you not. The auctioneer seemed to not be sure whether to laugh or cry. So when I looked up from the conversation I was having with Wil Wheaton to see this piece of art going for ten dollars, I stepped forward and bid twelve. And won.


As it turns out, it's from a comic called Pigeons from Hell. Sound good? I was dubious, but the picture is awesome, so I figured it was a good purchase. Then I looked up the Pigeons from Hell comic upon returning home and found this:

http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/14-789/Pigeons-from-Hell-1

A Dark Horse comic? Adapted by the guy who wrote Bubba Ho-Tep? Based on a story by Robert E. Howard?

Boy, did I luck out on this one.

And the picture looks awesome, too.

It was a truly unique experience, I must say. The con was much more lively than SuperCon had been, with Wil Wheaton's audience being much larger. People also seemed to be more into it, with some costumes here and there, and lots of people dressed to the nines in "dark" looks (some of which were quite impressive indeed). I am quite glad I went, and most indebted to my friends for the ride and the good company. Of course, special thanks go to Aaron Douglas and Wil Wheaton.

As a last note, we ran into a friend and coworker who was there with her fiancee. She loves Battlestar Galactica, Chief Tyrol, and especially Wil Wheaton, so getting to talk to them meant a lot to her. She's been through a lot lately, and that's quite an understatement. I should mention that when she spoke to Richard Hatch he, as a tongue-in-cheek favor, sealed her to her fiancee for 24 hours, in character as Tom Zareck. Now there's a great story to end this blog on, and huge thanks to Richard Hatch for being a truly classy gentleman.

Super Con

I'm going to completely break character for this one and simply rave for a while.

I just got back from Super Con a little while ago, and it was an awesome experience. Not because of all the people in costumes. There was a creepy portly guy dressed as Speed Racer and a dude in a Predator costume that looked like it was made by Nerf. It wasn't because of all the people selling comics, which seemed to be all the area comic book stores taking the opportunity to sell their back issues to excited fans. It wasn't because of all the no-name comic book artists who, though seriously talented, I had never heard of and therefore couldn't get excited about. It was because of the uncrowned (as far as I know) King of the Geeks: Wil Wheaton.

WIL WHEATON... has a hilarious blog!

WIL WHEATON... has written several awesome books!

WIL WHEATON... is the voice of all geeks!

WIL WHEATON... yes, he was Wesley Crusher on Star Trek!

Now, some obligatory pictures of me completely failing to keep my composure at the idea of having my picture taken with Wil Wheaton:

But it's not just that I got my picture taken with Wil Wheaton. It's that before and after the picture I got a chance to chat with him and hang out. Now, I had heard before that Wil Wheaton is awesome to meet and talk to and all that, but I really wasn't prepared for how easygoing and friendly he was.

We also saw him read from one of his books and his blog. The audience was disappointingly small, which led to my realization: when it comes to appearances like this, what's bad for the guest is good for the audience. To me, all I was thinking was how awesome it was that there weren't a lot of people around, because it meant that I could take every opportunity to talk to Wil Wheaton. To him, however it was disappointing, because he had to come all the way up here and then drive all the way down, and he probably didn't get to sell as much swag and meet as many people as he had hoped.

People actually walked out during his reading because the con people had scheduled the dude from Lost to appear at the same time, and when people realized that they were at the Wil Wheaton speech instead, they just stood up and left. All I can say is... whaaaaat? I'm sure the guy from Lost is hot (I'm not sure which guy from Lost it was, that's all I remember hearing: "That guy from Lost.") I'm sure he's more famous to mainstream audiences than Wil Wheaton. But at a convention, that shouldn't matter for beans. At a convention, geekdom should count, and nobody has more of that than Wil Wheaton.

Now, just so that I can pretend to have some semblance of Steampunk to this post, I should mention that I asked him if he likes Steampunk, to which he responded that he *loves* Steampunk, especially the Steampunk aesthetic and the Victorian feel of it. So there you go: Wil Wheaton is awesome. Enough said!