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GI Joe: Retaliation – Review

5/5 – COBRAAAAAAAAAAAA!

When I first saw the trailer for GI Joe: Retaliation, with its ninjas swinging from mountaintops, I thought “Man, this looks awesome,” immediately followed by “Man, I bet this is going to suck.” It’s a lesson that has been beaten into me by the previous GI Joe movie, the Transformers franchise. There are enough cool looking action scenes to cobble together a trailer that makes me want to see what ends up being a tremendously awful movie.

Despite feeling that I really should know better, I still wanted to see GI Joe: Retaliation. I missed it in the theater, but I caught it on Blu-ray recently.

I wish I saw it in the theater. It’s awesome. If you were a fan of the GI Joe cartoon and comic from the 1980s, you will love this movie. It is so evocative of the cartoon that I half-expected to hear Cold Slither on the movie’s soundtrack.

Dear Michael Bay: GI Joe: Retaliation is how you make a movie based on a 1980s franchise and not be accused of ruining people’s childhoods.

The movie was awesome from the moment I popped the disc in. When it loads, you choose your side, GI Joe or Cobra. Depending on which side you choose, you’ll see different clips and graphics on the menu screens. I thought it was a cool touch. Also, Cobraaaaaaaaaa!

In the behind the scenes special features included on the Blu-ray, it’s made clear why this GI Joe movie is so much better than the previous one. The main reason is director Jon Chu. He’s such a fan of the 1980s franchise and it comes through in the film. He pays a lot of fan service, but it’s not hollow. He’s putting this stuff in there because he’s a fan himself. I’m really hoping Chu sticks around for the next movie. Also, the producers wanted to ground it more in reality. Gone are the crazy super soldier suits and sci-fi vehicles. There’s still some cool tech in this movie, like Roadblock’s click-in, click-out arsenal, but overall, the weapons and vehicles in this movie seem much more grounded in real world technology.

As a fan of the TV show Friday Night Lights, I was super-excited when I realized that Lady Jaye was played by Adrianne Palicki, aka Tyra Collette. Seeing her kick ass in GI Joe: Retaliation made me wish that her Wonder Woman pilot had been picked up.

Hey! Wasn’t Scarlet the red head?

After realizing that Tyra was Lady Jaye, it struck me that quite a few notable Dillon graduates have gone on to the military, as both Riggins and Landry were in Battleship.

If there’s any disappointment to be had with GI Joe: Retaliation, it’s the casting of Rza as The Blind Master. I haven’t seen acting this wooden since Hayden Christensen in Star Wars: Episode II. His line delivery was beyond comical. He sounds like a guy imitating a Kung Fu movie. On the one hand, in the behind the scenes special features, he clearly comes across as a true fan of the Joes, and must have been crazy excited to be part of this movie. He even notes that The Blind Master has only appeared in the comics, never on the cartoon, so he was the first to give voice to him. But that voice is terrible! It sounds like a 10-year old voicing Doctor Doom. I couldn’t help but laugh every time he was saying his lines. Seriously, it was ridiculous.

The coolest to come out of Rza’s casting as The Blind Master?
Rza action figure!

DO NOT PASS JINX IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS!

Remember the original Jinx action figure that had red nail polish so you knew she was a girl ninja?
 

When GI Joe: Retaliation was delayed, I heard it was because of Channing Tatum being a much bigger star now than he was when the first movie was released. The producers realized that Tatum was arguably now the biggest star in the movie, and was being killed off very early on. The delay, as I heard, came from them rewriting, shooting new scenes and editing the movie so that Tatum lived. But then when I watched the movie, fully expecting Tatum’s Duke to survive, he totally bit it. So what’s up? Anyone know the real reason the movie was delayed from the theater for so long?

Who ordered the stripping soldiers? Because here they are!

I was kind of bummed when Cobra Commander kicked Destro out of the band. Not cool CC.

When Roadblock and Firefly faced off against each other, I thought, “Wait, isn’t Roadblock supposed to be the one with the Cajun accent?” And then I thought, “Wait, what exactly is Firefly’s accent? Is that southern? Australian? South Australian?” I liked that in a special feature on the Blu-Ray, they addressed the mystery of Firefly’s odd accent.

If you were a fan of the GI Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon from the 1980s and like your action movies to be fun, I think you’ll enjoy GI Joe: Retaliation.

Yo Joe!
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Keep Calm and Carry On

NYCC 2013 tickets go on sale today at the Midtown Comics downtown location at 12 noon. Spurred on by the quick sell-out on New York Comic Con’s website and the high price tickets are commanding on eBay, people started camping out for tickets yesterday evening, lest they miss out. Depending on which comment you believe on the Midtown Comics Facebook page, there are 50-200 people camping out for tickets in the alleyway next to the store. This alleyway greatly stinks of the refuse of the nearby fast food joints.

Fittingly, the first person in line was dressed like sewer-dweller Casey Jones.
Did I mention it rained last night?

This is foolishness. But this is what happens when people panic.

There is no need to panic. Keep calm and carry on.

Midtown Comics announced on its Facebook page that it would have plenty of New York Comic Con tickets, and that there was no need to camp out. Also, starting Friday, Midtown Comics will be just one of many stores that will be selling NYCC tickets. The full list can be found here. The downtown store, through a special promotion with NYCC is selling them one day early.

One interesting note about the retailer list: Midtown Comics is the only store where you can buy a 4-Day pass, anywhere. If you are interested in a 4-Day pass, I recommend hitting up a Midtown Comics location early. But by early, I mean sometime today or tomorrow. And if you’re camping out for a 3-Day pass, why? Seriously, why? Why not just stroll into one of the many stores selling 3-Day passes Monday to pick one up instead? Sleep in your beds comics fans, not in wet, smelly alleyways.

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Shag – Review

2/5 – The horniest bunch of white folks you will ever see

A recent vacation with a group of friends in the Outer Banks led to me watching Shag. They love the movie and have watched it many times, usually when on similar beach vacations to this one.

I had never heard of the movie. Have you? If you’re not in this group of girls who made a deal with me that if I watched Shag, they would watch The Princess Bride, I’m guessing the answer is no. Also, what’s up with people not having seen The Princess Bride?

Shag is neither the story of Scooby Doo’s partner in mystery solving, nor is about Mr. Boombastic. Rather, it’s about a group of girls in the 1960s who head away for a wild beach weekend before one of them gets married.

Mr. Lover Lover is nowhere to be found in Shag.

From the onset, it seemed obvious that Shag owes its existence to the success of Dirty Dancing. Shag was released just two years after Dirty Dancing. It’s set in the 60s. A shy girl discovers joy and love through dance. There are elaborate dance numbers. Sure, it doesn’t take place at a Catskills country club, but I’m guessing that Dirty Dancing’s runaway success led to Shag getting the green light.

There are four girls in the Shag crew. The main girl is Carson, but my favorite of the four is Pudge, her “fat” friend. As one of the girls watching the movie with me pointed out, “The only thing pudgy about her is her tits!” That’s not why she’s my favorite. She’s the underdog of the crew. Carson has the fiance at home and the new guy pining after her. Melaina, played by Bridget Fonda, has the “looks” and the hope of being a Hollywood star. I put looks in quotes for a reason. Melaina is supposed to be the hot one, but Pudge and Carson are easily cuter (and saner) than she is. Luanne rounds out the crew. There’s not much to say about Luanne, because she’s the classic stick in the mud. Every time she was giving someone a lecture, all I could think was “Can we get back to Pudge, please?” Pudge rules.

FACT: Ivan Rodriguez loves Shag.
That’s why he insists on being called Pudge, the best character in Shag.

Shag is one of those two-star movies that is especially fun to watch in a large group. People heckled the movie with jokes (myself included), and it was great, because I didn’t have to worry about missing anything, because there isn’t much there. Please don’t take this as me not enjoying Shag though. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, but more for my friends’ on-the-spot live Rifftraxing of the movie than for what was on the screen. That said, “Y’all is the horniest bunch of white folks I ever seen.” may be my new favorite line of dialogue in all of cinema and I would definitely watch this movie again with the same group of friends.

As far as I know, my friends have yet to watch The Princess Bride. Maybe next year.

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CONTEST! WIN Zombie Massacre on DVD!

Exciting news! Tuesday Night Movies is now on Twitter!

To celebrate, we’ve partnered up with eOne to give away three DVDs of their new movie, Zombie Massacre!

There will be three winners! Winners will be announced on Tuesday night, August 20th. And if you can’t wait to win, you can buy Zombie Massacre right now on Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00D3XMNUQ.

Entering is easy and there are multiple ways to enter. Simply use the RaffleCopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Spike Lee’s Kickstarter

Filmmaker Spike Lee is the latest celebrity to turn to Kickstarter to fund his new project, a currently untitled movie going by the working title of The Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint for the purposes of the Kickstarter.

What’s really cool about the campaign is Spike’s level of sharing with his donors. There have been 14 updates in the 10 days the campaign has been active. Some are videos of actors showing support. But he’s also posting some very cool stuff there too, like his Essential List of Films for Filmmakers.

I contributed a ten spot to the campaign. This nets me an autographed Malcolm X Production Crew Patch if the Kickstarter gets funded. Spike is currently at $478,000 towards his goal of $1,250,000

Mine!

Spike has opened the vault when it comes to donor prizes. Besides the afformentioned Malcolm X patch, there’s a signed 40 Acres and a Mule patch (for half the price of the Malcolm X patch!), signed movie posters, signed postcards from Spike Lee’s movies and more. It was interesting to see the posters priced at different price levels. It makes sense; the demand for Inside Man is probably much higher than the demand for Red Hook Summer.

I’m tempted to contribute on a second Kickstarter 
account just to get this signed 40 Acres patch.

If there was an award for Best Kickstarter Copy, it would definitely go to Spike’s plea for $10,000 pledges, which reads:

This Award Is For All Playa-Playas. For 10 Grand I’m Taking You to Dinner, Then You Will Have The Honor And Privilege To Sit Next To Me (IN MY WIFE’S TONYA’S SEAT) COURTSIDE – FRONT ROW IN THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE AT THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS ARENA – MADISON SQUARE GARDEN TO SEE OUR BELOVED NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKERS, ORANGE AND BLUE SKIES. IF YOU DON’T KNOW THIS IS ONE OF THE TRUE GREAT SPORTING EVENTS TODAY. YOU WILL REMEMBER THIS EXPERIENCE AS LONG AS YOU LIVE. THIS IS A VERY LIMITED ITEM. YOU SLOW – YOU BLOW. THIS IS BIG, BIG TIME. PS. KNICKS WILL BE GREAT THIS COMING NEW SEASON. ————————————————- So There You Have It. The Awards Are Affordable To One And All We Need Everyone To Help This Cause. Many Thanks In Advance. I Can’t Do This Without You. This Will Truly Be A Community Generated Spike Lee Joint. YA-DIG? SHO-NUFF”

Seriously, after reading that copy, I wish Spike Lee wrote the copy for every Kickstarter.

Oh, and 25 people have already made the $10,000 contribution.

Are you contributing to Spike Lee’s Kickstarter? If so, what did you get?

UPDATE: I went in for the signed 40 Acres patch. 

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NYCC 2013 Retailer Tickets Go On Sale 8/12/13 (UPDATED!)

Buried at the bottom of an email New York Comic Con sent out today announcing that Batman artist Greg Capullo will be attending NYCC this year was an announcement that will have far more immediate impact for people have been unable to score their weekend pass to New York Comic Con 2013. Here is the image from the email.

The Retailer Ticket page on NYCC’s website doesn’t list any stores as of this writing. We do know that Midtown Comics will be selling them at all three of their locations. Midtown Comics may be the only comic book store in New York City itself where you’ll be able to buy tickets. Midtown has already announced that all of their NYCC ticket sales will take place in person; there won’t be any mail order available for them.

Retailers will be selling 4-Day, 3-Day and single day passes to New York Comic Con, so if you missed out on a 3 or 4-Day pass, this is your chance. Don’t miss out.

UPDATE! According to the Midtown Comics Twitter and Facebook pages, Midtown Comics will have NYCC tickets for sale starting on 8/8/13 at 12 noon.

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Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope – Review

With Comic-Con 2013 in our rear-view, I thought it would be a good time to watch the documentary Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, which is currently streaming on Hulu.

I almost bought the DVD of Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope last year. Four HeroClix figures of Stan Lee, Joss Whedon, Morgan Spurlock and Harry Knowles were packaged with the DVD. Unfortunately, I could never track down the version that came with all four. They were divided up into Stan and Harry or Joss and Morgan  But the ones I wanted were Stan and Joss, and I couldn’t see myself buying two copies of the DVD to get both of them. Sorry Morgan and Harry…

I have to say, I really enjoyed this movie, which I found surprising. I thought this was going to be another fansploitation film, the kind that basically says “Look at these weirdos being weird.” But that’s not what happens here. Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope is very hopeful in all of the stories it tells. No one is mocked, either to their face or behind their back. It’s an honest movie. These are real people being featured here, and if you have attended Comic-Con, you can probably relate to at least one of them.
 

There are six main stories in Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, with each story focusing on different fans. Two of the stories follow two artists trying to break into the comic book industry. Another follows a guy who wants to propose to his girl at Comic-Con. One follows a toy collector who needs to get his hands on the latest exclusive from Hasbro. Chuck Rozanski, the founder of Mile High Comics, is the focus of another. But my favorite of the stories followed Holly Conrad and her friends.

I’ve seen a lot of cosplay at conventions over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen homemade costumes that were as cool as the Mass Effect costumes that Holly Conrad and her friends made for the masquerade at Comic-Con. And I’ve never even played Mass Effect. But that one alien costume, with the lights and the moving eyes and mouth just blew me away.

That costume on the left is insanely awesome!

My second favorite story was Rozanski’s. His part of the documentary was interesting because Rozanski is a retailer. He’s not at Comic-Con to just have fun. He’s there to make his livelihood. While the fans and celebrities are staying at fancy, high rise hotels near the convention center, Rozanski and his crew are at a much more modest motel. The financial crisis hit Rozanski’s business hard, and at this Comic-Con, he’s thinking about selling his most prized comics, something he doesn’t want to do, but something he realizes he needs to do to stay in business. New York City based fans might recognize Michael Carbonaro, whom Rozanski goes to for help brokering a deal to sell Rozanki’s $500,000 CGC graded Red Raven Comics #1. Carbonaro runs the New York Comic Book Marketplace convention and used to run Big Apple Con before selling that show to Wizard World. I think this movie is the calmest I’ve ever seen Carbonaro. He’s usually a bombastic ball of energy at cons in NYC. It was amazing to see him standing still quietly having a conversation here. I wonder if the filmmakers secretly switched him to decaf on the days they needed to film him.

I once met Chuck Rozanski when he was the auctioneer at a CBLDF auction.
Nicest guy ever. And he signed my paddle.

There is drama throughout the movie. Rozanski isn’t sure if he’ll turn a profit. Holly and her friends deal with technical malfunctions. James, the guy who wants to propose, can’t ditch his girlfriend long enough to pick up the ring. And not all of the stories have happy endings. One of the two artists looking for work doesn’t have the big break he hoped he would.

Interspersed throughout the stories are celebrities, fans and comic book creators talking about what they love about Comic-Con and their experiences there. It was cool seeing the likes of Grant Morrison, Seth Rogan, Joss Whedon and Matt Fraction talk about what they love about Comic-Con.

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope is a great documentary. I recommend watching it even if you have no interest in going to Comic-Con. It gives insight into this very unique world that pops up and exists for only a long weekend every year. I really think this is now my favorite Mogran Spurlock movie.

Spurlock also put together a cool book
 on the Comic-Con he filmed.

And if you take away one lesson from Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, it should be this: if you’re going to propose to your girlfriend at Comic-Con, make sure you have the ring in your hand before you get there. And if Kevin Smith offers to officiate your wedding, maybe take him up on it.

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The 5 Coolest Things to Come Out of Comic-Con 2013

1. Man of Steel 2 will be Superman/Batman!

With Christopher Nolan and David Goyer heavily involved in both franchises, I’m really hoping that we see a continuation of the continuity established in The Dark Knight Rises. And by that, I mean Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the Bat-suit teaming up with Henry Cavill’s Superman!

2. Avengers 2: Age of Ultron

Avengers 2 has a subtitle: Age of Ultron! Who’s Ultron, you ask? Ultron is a robot created by Hank Pym aka Antman/Giant Man/Goliath/Yellow Jacket. After gaining sentience, Ultron decided that the world would be a more perfect place if humans weren’t on it and set about eradicating all life. Whedon has stated that Hank Pym will not be in Avengers 2. Does this mean Whedon is changing Ultron’s origin so that he’s created by Tony Stark? It makes sense. With Tony Stark having created his AI assistant Jarvis in the Iron Man franchise, do we need another scientist for Ultron’s creation? I’m fine with this change. Thankfully, it looks like Avengers 2: Age of Ultron will have anything to do with Marvel comic Age of Ultron beyond its title and main villain.

While Hank Pym won’t be in Avengers 2, his fans will be happy to know that it will be Hank Pym as Ant-Man in the Ant-Man movie!

3. James Robinson releases Grand Passion through Dynamite

I only recently read Starman for the first time. But since reading it, Robinson has quickly become one of my favorite comic book writers. I was extremely sad to see him leave Earth 2, which he seemed to be setting up for a grand, multi-year run. While we wait for The Saviors, his creator-owned project with J. Bone being released through Image, we have Grand Passion to look forward to.

Dynamite is setting themselves up to be a nice competitor to Image for strong creator-owned projects. Uncanny has been really good. It will be interesting seeing if Dynamite lures more talent for creator owned series that would have otherwise gone to Image, Icon or Vertigo.

4. Karen Gillan chopped off all her hair for Guardians of the Galaxy

So this happened…

The famously red-headed Karen Gillan shaved her head for her role of Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy. In the comics, Nebula is Thanos’s granddaughter. Thanos was the big blue guy in the scene after the credits in Avengers. Like her grandfather, Nebula is also a villain.

It will be very interesting seeing the usually nice Gillan taking on the role of a villain.

5. Zombified Weezer played The Walking Dead 10th Anniversary Party

I have a soft spot in my heart for Weezer. I played their first album over and over again on repeat in my car in the mid-90s. I was already jealous of people who had access to The Walking Dead 10th Anniversary Party before I heard Weezer performed.

But what’s really cool are the zombified Weezer posters promoting the concert.

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SDCC 2013 – The Best Comic-Con Exclusives

When it comes to exclusive merch, Comic-Con in San Diego is second to none. Comic and toy companies go above and beyond at San Diego in ways they don’t for other shows. If you’re at Comic-Con right now, there’s a decent chance you’re reading this while standing on line for one of the items listed below.

G.I Joe Skystriker Vehicle with Jetfire Deco and V.A.M.P. with Autobot Hound Deco and 3.75 inch Snake Eyes, Baroness and Bludgeon Special Edition Pack – Hasbro – $99.99

This is the third G.I. Joe/Transformers mash-up that Hasbro has sold at San Diego, and man, they really went all out this year. Two vehicles. Three figures. One of which is Snake Eyes. And another that is Bludgeon! I applaud Hasbro for going super-hardcore and releasing a Bludgeon figure. Unless you were reading the tail end of the Transformers series put out by Marvel in the 1980s, he’s probably not someone you’d recognize. His figure is definitely not aimed at the casual fan. And who couldn’t use a Snake Eyes with Autobot deco on him? On top of all this, you also get a G.I.Joe scaled Blaster boombox for Snake Eyes to rock out to! If you’re not at Comic-Con, you’ll have a very tiny window to buy this and Hasbro’s other exclusives on Hasbro’s website after the show.

Star Wars The Black Series 6-Inch Boba Fett Action Figure with Han Solo in Carbonite Accessory – Hasbro – $44.99

This year, Hasbro is launching a new line of Star Wars action figures, The Black Series. These figures will measure 6 inches and be more detailed than the standard Star Wars action figure line. To kick the series off, they’re selling a Boba Fett and Han Solo in Carbonite two-pack at Comic-Con. I’m kind of obsessed with Han Solo frozen in Carbonite. I may need this.

Marvel Universe 3.75 inch Deadpool Corps Special Edition Figure Set – Hasbro – $49.99

Tuesday Night Movies has a certain affinity to merchandise dedicated to the Merc with a Mouth. This set includes Deadpool, Lady Deadpool, Champion dressed as Deadpool, Kidpool, Squirrelpool and Dogpool, all packaged in tacos shells in a food truck box. Hasbro, you win this year.

Marvel Minimates Deadpools Assemble Pack – Action Figure Express – $22.00

Cable-Pool! Captain Ameri-Pool! Thor-Pool! Iron Deadpool! Best Minimates set ever?

Game of Thrones: 7″ Stark Shield Wall Plaque – Dark Horse – $30.00

The Lanisters send their regards.

Hellboy Qee Comic-Con T-Shirt Vinyl Figure – Dark Horse – $20.00

This figure is super cute, and you can buy a matching t-shirt for yourself at the SDCC show store.

Aardman Superman Action Figure – DC – $24.95

You’ve been hitting that cookie box a little too much lately, Superman.

Batman ’66 #1 Variant Cover Comic – DC – $10.00

I wasn’t planning on featuring any variant covered comics here, mainly because they’re usually overpriced and lame, but this one was too cool not to show.

Batman Classic TV Series Batusi Batman – Mattel – $30.00

The 1960s Batman TV show is all over Comic-Con this year. Mattel wins the award for best tie-in with this toy that captures one of the most classic scenes from the series, Batman dancing.

The Big Bang Theory Sheldon with Vintage Batman T-Shirt 8-Inch Action Figure – Entertainment Earth – $25.00

Seriously, the ’60s Batman show is everywhere at Comic-Con 2013. Even Dr. Cooper is getting in on the act.

Masters of the Universe Classic Rokkon and Stonedar 2-Pack – Mattel – $60.00

I had the original Rokkon when I was a kid and he was one of my favorite action figures. They’re men who turn into meteors! How cool is that! I would snatch up this new set in a heartbeat!

Star Wars Wrath of the Rancor Christmas Ornament – Hallmark – $?


I’m very happy to report that Hallmark will be selling this ornament at NYCC this year too. I’m not sure on the price, but I’m guessing it’d be in the $30-$40 range.

Doctor Who River Song’s Deluxe Journal – Entertainment Earth – $60.00

Entertainment Earth has been selling a cardboard covered version of River Song’s journal for a while now. But this faux-leather, embossed version is where it’s at. I defy you to find a cooler looking diary.

Spider-Ham Mini-Bust – Gentle Giant – $45


Peter Porker finally gets his due. Limited to only 500. I expect these to sell out fast.

And now for some of the SDCC exclusives that have me scratching my head…

Man of Steel Variant Statue – DC – $129.95

I’m not really sure who this is aimed at. Goth Superman fans?

“Magnitude” Admiral Ackbar Mini-Bust – Gentle Giant – $175

Admiral Ackbar. With a mustache. WTF. But at the same time, I kind of love it.

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My Time at HeroesCon


Written by Nicholas Doyle.

A few weeks ago, Charlotte, NC played host to the 31st annual HeroesCon, put on by Shelton Drum’s fantastic comic shop, Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find. The convention is among the best in the country, and is beloved by both fans and professionals alike – mostly due to the fact that its focus is completely on comics, which is a welcome change as the bigger conventions are including more TV/Film/Video Game content and pushing the comic stuff off to the side.

I’ve been going to the convention for a few years now, but this time was going to be different; for one, I was going to be there all three days, which I’ve never done. Also, my wife Brooke was going to join me the entire time – while she’s not super interested in comics, she’s been to the convention in the past and had a good time – another great thing about HeroesCon is that it is very family friendly, and doesn’t include some of the creepier aspects that you might find at other conventions. Her being there meant that we would spend a good majority of our time in various panels – which was also new to me; in the past, I’ve usually gone to conventions to have books signed, and not gone to many panels.

Our author, now with kung fu grip!

  

The con started on Friday, and after walking around the floor for a few hours, we made our way to the Sports in Comics panel. I don’t care that much about sports, but my friend Rob Ullman (http://rkullman.blogspot.com) was going to be there talking about his hockey comics, so I wanted to check that out. In addition to Rob, the panel also included Kevin Freeman (who writes NFL Rush Zone,) Paul Friedrich (who makes hockey comics for the Carolina Hurricanes website,) and Jarrett Williams (who creates Super Pro KO for Oni Press.) The panel mainly focused on the challenges inherent with adapting sports to comics, and why they felt that sports comics were not more popular. While the panel was sparsely attended, I really enjoyed it, and it led to my first impulse buy of the convention – after almost buying Super Pro KO at last year’s HeroesCon (and again at the 2012 New York Comic Con,) I decided to pick it up after hearing Williams discuss it on the panel – I really enjoyed it, and fans of pro wrestling, manga, and Scott Pilgrim should definitely check it out.
 
After that, we randomly found ourselves in what would end up being my favorite panel of the convention. I wanted to check out the QuickDraw panel (where convention goers are given the opportunity to draw whatever they like and have it judged by instructors from the Savannah College of Art and Design) but when we got to the room, it was standing room only – Brooke decided to walk down the hall and see if one of the concurrent panels struck her fancy. She wandered into the Stumptown panel, where writer Greg Rucka and artist Matthew Southworth were discussing their Portland-based crime book, which is published by Oni Press. After a few minutes, Brooke texted me to join her, and I’m really glad I did. Rucka described Stumptown as a love letter to The Rockford Files, and it was great hearing both him and Southworth discuss the effort they put into the book – for example, there’s a car chase that takes place in the second volume of the book that essentially prompts the reader to hold and turn the book like they themselves are driving a car – which, frankly, sounds awesome. Southworth said that the editor of the book actually filmed a “practice run” of the route of the chase, so that he had exact reference. To be honest, the only Rucka work I’ve read is Gotham Central, but by the end of the panel not only did we both want to pick up Stumptown, I also decided to pick up Lazarus, Rucka’s collaboration with Michael Lark.
 
That pretty much wrapped up the first day of the convention, but there was still tons to do – the con hosted a drink-and-draw at a nearby hotel bar that benefitted Team Cul de Sac, a charity stated in honor of cartoonist Richard Thompson to raise money for Parkinson’s research (Thompson was diagnosed with the disease a few years ago, and he was forced to end his Cul de Sac Collection strip last year –  if you want to be happy and heartbroken at the same time, go to http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac and read through the archives – Thompson is a master, and it’s a shame the disease has taken the his work away from us.) The D&D was not just limited to professionals – the convention had provided paper and coasters that everyone could use – and  there are few things that are more fun that sitting in a bar, doodling.
Day two of the convention started off with the Marvel Writers panel, which featured Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Kelly Sue Deconnick, and Jason Aaron (Jason Latour was also scheduled to appear, but he was a no-show.) This panel was tons of fun, with Fraction and Deconnick taking center stage – the four writers definitely enjoyed each other’s company, and enjoyed talking about the books they’re writing. Topics ranged from the difficulties Deconnick, Fraction, and Aaron ran into when beginning to write Thor to, well, beards (although I would assume that any panel that includes Aaron would get to this topic sooner or later.)
Immediately following that panel, we came to the one I was initially the most excited about – and it turned out to be the low point of the con for me. Starman is one of my favorite comics, and the convention was hosting a 20th anniversary panel with series artist/co-creator Tony Harris and cover artist Andrew Robinson. I was a little hesitant because James Robinson, the writer of the entire series was not going to be present, and Harris left the book before it ended, but I was still interested in seeing what he had to say. It turned out to be the most boring hour of the entire convention. While I did learn some things (for example: Harris and Robinson are contractually obligated to be included in anything that involves Jack Knight, even if it’s just them signing off on something,) the panel (obviously) revolved around Harris, and his stories about his time on the book (or his eventual falling out/making up with Robinson) just were not that interesting. Add into the mix that Harris seemed to have no interest in anything that happened in the book after he left, and it just felt like a waste of time – we would have gotten up and left, but there were not a ton of people in the room and did not want to be obvious. It definitely would have been great to have had Robinson, who steered the book through its entire run, present on the panel.
 
One plus side of going to the convention for all three days was that we didn’t feel obligated to be in the convention center the entire time – we pretty much decided to come and go as we pleased, and after walking around the convention floor for about an hour after the end of the Starman panel, we decided to grab some food and spend some time at our hotel’s pool. ConTip: stay at a hotel with a pool. After dinner, we headed back to check out the convention’s annual art auction – another thing I’d never been able to go to, since I’ve always been gone by Saturday night. Team Cul de Sac was auctioning off a couple of items (including a Complete Calvin and Hobbes box set signed by Bill Watterson!) and I wanted to look at all the art that had been created specifically for the auction. When we arrived, there were some empty seats, but by the time we’d looked at the art on display, the room was packed. We only stuck around for a little bit of the auction (enough to see the Calvin and Hobbes collection go for over $1000, which is admittedly a lot, but I wonder what it would have gone for if Watterson had doodled in the book instead of just signing it.)
 
We only had limited time on Sunday, because Brooke had to go to work in the evening, but we weren’t going to miss the Matt Fraction panel – confession: my wife has a bit of a crush on him – and we were not disappointed. Fraction is currently writing Marvel’s best book (Hawkeye) and spent a good chunk of time talking about that book and how his family has influenced his writing of FF and Fantastic Four. In addition, he also touched on the future of Casanova (Michael Chabon is coming onboard to write back-up stories!) and his two new creator-owned books, Satellite Sam and Sex Criminals. I’ll admit to being in the tank for most of Fraction’s stuff, but both of these books sound great – Satellite Sam looks what goes on behind the scenes on a 1950’s kid’s show (and with Howard Chaykin on art, it’s bound to be risqué,) while Sex Criminalswas described by Fraction as his attempt at creating a Bridesmaids or Knocked Up for comics. 
After another short stroll of the con floor, we decided to grab lunch and head out of town, completely satisfied with our convention experience. HeroesCon is my favorite convention, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in comics and comic art – it’s not as big (or as overwhelming) as NYCC or San Diego, and it really does a great job of being a fun, family friendly show. I’ll definitely be there next year.