Botcon 2014: I spiked the punch!. . .

. . . with my costume, that is. That's right folks, I attended Botcon 2014 this year -- the annual Transformers fan convention -- and I came dressed as civilian Spike Witwicky! I had a beige-ish button-down, jeans, work boots with a yellow hard hat. I also created a prop Soundwave that I could carry around. Here's an image from tfwiki that captures what I was going for, from the episode "Transport to Oblivion."

Botcon started last week Wednesday (June the 18th) and concluded on Sunday (June the 22nd). I was visiting my sister in Los Angeles on vacation so I used the opportunity to pre-register. The website was a little confusing so I ended up pre-ordering a t-shirt and nothing else. It took me awhile to figure out that the cheapest package, the "mini-con" package, was only an add-on package anyways! And even the cheapest package was too much for my blood. I bought a general admission ticket for Saturday the 21st.

In terms of conventions, I got a taste of pretty much everything BotCon had to offer. I've been to Wizard Worlds before in Chicagoland, as well as the smaller, more focused Windy City Comic-Con, but I've never had a fuller experience than the one I had at Botcon. I attended the panels, I walked around the room floor, I gawked at the costumes and I looked at the art. The only things I didn't partake in was the autograph line and the artists' alley.

I attended a few panels: The "Hasbro Transformers Brand" panel, the "Women in Animation" panel and the "Art of Transformers" panel. The Brand panel was an unveiling of sorts, with slideshows of upcoming action figures in the series. Of particular note was the fact that the presentations broke the sector into "pre-school", "boy" and "fan" but the presenter was mindful enough to mention "girl" every time he mentioned "boy," and "daughter" every time he mentioned "son."

The biggest news I recall was the leader class Generations: Megatron as a tank. The powerpoint was pretty cute. When they unveiled the Megatron slide, they played the clip from the 1986 movie, where Megatron's staring down at Optimus and says, "I would have waited an eternity for this Prime! It's over." I've been waiting for a while for Legends class generations: Cosmos with Throttle, but I haven't seen him. . .

In terms of the vendor area, I think I got a pretty good deal. I got a Laser Optimus Prime (RTS edition) and a Generations Wheeljack, for $15 each. I had already snaked my way through most of the vendor area so I figured $15 was the best I could get. Consider my woes when I found Laser Prime for a mere nine dollars at the last vendor booth I visited! I also found a $20 Cosmos, which wasn't a good enough deal for me, and a $100 Masterpiece Grimlock -- I passed on him because I couldn't figure out a way to get him into my luggage. I also saw a $100 Grimlock vs. Bruticus set, which I've been waiting on, but the price is pretty stable so I was OK getting it online.

Here's an example of the fanart. You could submit entries into an art contest and the winners got prizes. You could make dioramas, color art, monochrome art. I was really happy about this section; it's not commonplace to your average comic book convention. Being a subset of comic book fans, Transformers is a lot more warm and cozy a fandom. It's smaller and so everything is more precious. Here's my loot in total, excepting the t-shirt:

Thanks to my sister for helping me with all these photos. We took nearly 50, and to see them all you can check out the photobucket slideshow:

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I survived comic-con, and all I got was this lousy wristband. And some comics. And some toys. And some. . .

So this year, instead of getting the regular badges-on-a-string to wear, participants instead got a wristband. If you lost them, you were plum out of luck, but luckily, they held up pretty well! Not only are they waterproof, they survived a few bites from my friend's dog.

So, really -- badges? We don't need no steenkin' badges!

This is what the little floor piece looked like, finished. I feel honored that, at last, Nick Fury's shining beacon of light is depicted on graphic art.

And this is what I got. Mostly Spidey stuff, with some miscellaneous Marvel stuff. I got two DC books: Grant Morrison's We3, and the first volume of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol. I got some Green Arrow singles, and finally completed the six issues of Brad Meltzer's Archer's Quest, that I originally started two or so years ago.

Most of the trades were $5 from one particular dealer, but I could not find any good deals for Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol or Animal Man, so I didn't bother purchasing any Animal Man, and only bought the bullet for a 50% off Doom Patrol. I had a list, and did not follow it at all. I didn't expect to get so much Spidey stuff!

I tallied it all up, and the pile retails for ~$240. I end up paying about $74 for the pile! I love five dollar trades, and I wanted to tally that up to make me feel better.

So, yes, no, was the 'con a success? There's an uproar from the more seasoned bloggers that Wizard World is faltering and failing to get with the times, but I got a good haul, took some cool pictures, covered the costume contest, and had a great time! Thank you Wizard World, for having me, and thanks to all the people who made this possible. And above all --

Thank you, box of Cheez-Its! You were there for me through thick and thin, man. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Never have nerds been sweatier -- or happier!

I love costume contests. I love the spectacle of it; I love the
energy; I love the fan interaction there. That's why I love Wizard World's contests, but before every contest, everybody runs around and takes pictures of costumes that they like. It's really fun!

It's GALACTUS, Devourer of Worlds! He is holding a Silver Surfer action figure, and telling him to find worlds to devour.

Green Arrow and Black Canary, together at last! The Black Canary was a man who dressed up, to hilarious effect. Never have fishnet stockings been sexier. Rowwr! I believe the Green Arrow also appeared last year; this time around he had an Errol Flynn mustache!

I could not believe these guys when I first saw them! The Sentinel Mark V and Optimus Prime towered over everyone! It was insane. Optimus could move his arms, and the hands were set up so the person could control Optimus's fingers! I even shook his hand. Check out the slideshow for more on that; it really is a phenomenal costume.

Marvel vs. DC! Arghhhh!

And then the contest began! This time, The Diffusor was there to moderate everything -- apparently the winner from Stan Lee's "So You wanna be a Superhero. . . True Believer!"

I don't know him either, but all the costumers were supposed to go up the stairs, do their stuff, and then strut down. A little problem with this was that people were going up and down the escalators constantly, blocking the costumers! It made good shots tough.

Marvel Zombies The Thing plus Wolverine. These costumes were pretty creative! The Thing had a pretty sweet homemade mask covered in blood, and Wolverine even had the Wolverine 'do.

Optimus actually had a light-up chest that revealed the Autobot Matrix of Leadership! Pretty cool stuff.

Adam Strange! He was the guy standing in front of me for a while. He actually had velcro-attached, LED-equipped rocket packs! He yelled something like, "I was a middle-aged man when this started!"

This wasn't part of the contest, but a Mario was holding a Yoshi plushie up the escalator. Too adorable!

Later on, the Diffusor made a very interesting note about how a horde of fans tended to whip out their cameras, only when scantily-clad women came in costume. It really didn't help the stereotype (=sweaty, horny fanboys). Later, he also pointed out how hard people work on their costumes, for a few minutes of attention and gratification. He pointed out Hawkfirl's wings.

That is a pretty sweet pack of wings.

This was a really cute duo! Ash was all excited, but Pikachu crossed her arms and refused to get in the Pokeball! Too cute.

I managed to get a non-bad photo of the X-Men group. They were a latecomer who, as they were walking up the escalator, saw the contest and decided to fill out a form and enter! Good times.

So, the contest ended with people getting prizes.The decision process wasn't as exciting as last year's, mainly because the audience wasn't the judge. Apparently, there was an invisible panel who judged costumes by -I believe- effort and time investment. Appropriately, Optimus and the Sentinel marked high.

My feet were very tired by then, but it was pretty fun. I also had a lot of Cheez-its that day.

Just a reminder: This was a mere fraction of the costumes there. If you'd like to check out more, go swing by the slideshow! Funfunfun.

TOMORROW: I scramble whatever other photos I have and try to turn them into a farewell post to Wizard World. Be there!

Wizard World Chicago Comic-con '09: Now that's what I call a convention!

If it weren't for my stash of apples, Cheez-Its, gum and Chinese food, I may not have survived. Unlike last Wizard World, I went each time for the three days, mostly without any geeky friends to accompany me! I could've fainted from exhaustion there! I just want us all to take a moment to contemplate how horribly awry our lives would be without the wonderful blogging tour de force that is me.

Okay that's enough!

The great thing about conventions is the interaction. You can interact with other fans who are just as, if not more geeky than you; you can interact with all sorts of celebrities that play in your favorite things, and even with your favorite creators!

Now let's sit in front of a lifeless computer screen alone for ten minutes! Oh yeah.

As soon as you enter the lobby, you find the one guy doing a HUGE art piece on the floor. There were pictures of him at all the other cons with different floor pieces, so he must be getting commissioned by Wizard or something.

He was doing the cover art for Ultimate Comics Avengers #1. This is the first day I got him, so as we go along, we'll get to see the final piece!

This is what the exhibit hall looks like on Friday, a typically slow day. Unfortunately, Marvel/DC did not have any promo booths this year! It seems like Wizard lost the sponsorship!

Tonner had a booth, which is always nice to see. The convention exclusives this time around were Black Canary and (Jim Balent catsuit) Catwoman.

Doesn't Joker's hair look sooooo weird? It's nice to see Harley and Ivy together though.

Something I noticed this time around was how video games wedged themselves a little more. Strangely, Westwood College (of which I've never heard) even had a booth exclusively so geeks could get their game on!

Really guys. This isn't helping the stereotype.

Another booth was from a group called NYJedi.

They even had sparring space! It was pretty sweet.

There were two celebrities I wanted to see: Edward James Olmos, who plays Admiral Adama on Battlestar Galactica (I have a friend who's a huge fan), and Margot Kidder.

Margot Kidder! She played Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeves Superman movies! She's aged so well, and she's so friendly! I would have gotten a picture with her, but it costs a heck of a lot.

Oh Mrs. Kidder. You are a fine lady.

WHERE IS THE REMOTE??? Hilarious.

I'd show you some of my haul, but this post is really pushing it. I wanted to make it to some panels, but I, uh, got lost. Maybe next year?

Now, if you like, you should totally check out the slideshow! It has a lot more pictures than the ones I used today. Just a note though: I intend on using some of these for tomorrow, so if you don't want to spoil yourself, then exercise some self-control!

Tomorrow: we cover the costume contest! Yippee!

Windy City Comicon

Going to Wizard World Chicago, a lot of artists and writers get a little frustrated, because, well, they never get to see Chicago. The con. actually takes place in Rosemont, which is a whopping 20 miles north-northwest of the Windy City!

So some really smart guys started working on the dilemma, and they got a con. started in Lincoln Park, which is situated just 4 miles north of Chicago's downtown last week. Isn't that awesome?

And for all of you Wondering Wilhelminas, that is how I discovered Darktower Comics.

This con was a lot smaller, and only really took up one space instead of WWC's multiple spaces.This led to less events that I could take pictures of, which was a bummer. There was a different feel too, because retailers try harder at advertising themselves. I got so many business cards!

This also means no swanky slideshow, which, eh, probably disappoints only me.

Unfortunately, small con also = small swag, but admission price was only 5 bucks compared to Wizard World's. . . whatwasit. . . 25 bucks a day! Can you believe it!

The con wasn't as exciting as Wizard World (one person cosplayed, as opposed to Wizard's costume contest), but it was rather more about interacting with people.

That's what cons should be about I guess.

This would be a nice place to end the post, but I just wanna take the time to lament the fact that I can't take any pictures of my haul right now. It's at home in Chicago, and I'm here on campus.
I do, however, plan on showing pictures of something else. . .

That one mystery comic shop

"Random Comic Shop, I know I never got your name, but if you're out there somewhere, please make yourself known. That little symbol is all I have of you, but I will advertise for you. Please appear on the blog!"

Do you remember this little appeal back in the summer, during Wizard World? I ran into their booth there, and the customer service was just fantastic, and the comic books felt so clean and fresh. They even double-bagged my stuff!

The sad part is, when I got to the blog, I realized I didn't get the booth's name. My only lead was the little symbol--

--but now! Now!

Curious? More tomorrow.

"thoughts" on SDCC (for real this time)

Best quote from SDCC:

"The only time I've ever seen Brian Michael Bendis speechless is at Wizard World Chicago when a 7-year old in a perfect Hawkeye costume walked up to Bendis and said, 'Why do you hate me'"

-Peter David

Second best quote from SDCC:

"Thank you for being so hot."

-an awkward fan to Marjorie Liu, novelist and upcoming writer of "NYX: No Way Home"

Sorry about the craziness of last post, but then again. . .

So without further ado, let's just try to do what I tried to do last post!

• Willya lookit that. Looks like the super-books are gonna get a big storyline in New Krypton, with -- holy moley! 100,000 kryptonians populating Earth??? Crossovers are too rich for my blood, but that sounds very enticing. I'm already reading 2/3 of the super-books after all (Supergirl and Action Comics).
  
• Hey, that's pretty. . . interesting. JMS plans on using vintage Archie superheroes for his Brave and the Boldrun. I guess that gives me something to expect, because the title is one I generally read on and off, and with Stracynski on it, that's definitely an "on."
• How disappointing. It looks like Loeb gets a lot of the spotlight in the "Ultimate Marvel panel," and I think we all know what's happened to his writing ever si--

HOLY CRAP!

Professor Xavier fighting a dinosaur -- with bone claws! Hardcore, man.

• The cover for Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2 is really sweet too. Although Mark Brooks annoys me (the cheekbones! Everyone has the same cheekbones!), it makes me happy to see Peter and MJ together. In any continuity.
  

• Kevin Smith, no. I mean, I appreciate that you're bringing back the enigmatic Onomatopoeia to the DCU, but could you pleasedo it in the Green Arrow book? Judd Winick doesn't write a Green Arrow/Black Canary/Mia Dearden nearly as well as you did.
• So here's the interview with the up-and-coming writer for Green Arrow/Black Canary, who also is the writer for Helen Killer. You might recognize the title as taking a deafblind historical figure and turning her into a super-ninja bodyguard. Cross your fingers with me, guys; let's hope he treats the Green and Black well!

That's what SDCC had for me! Anything from the con that has you excited?

"thoughts" on SDCC

San Diego Comic-Con is still going on right?

If so, then I suppose we should take some time to talk about it, because it's a fairly big time in comi--

AW MAN! IS THAT LEGO BATMAN?

Let's learn to draw Lego Batman!

Here's my attempt:

Heh. Do you notice the little "GameStop" on the bottom there? This is from an activity book from the video game store, which I got when I went to lose all my free time. I guess this goes to show that video games are hitting children just as much, if not more than comic books these days. . .

I did do this part of the activity book, but no, I didn't do the Pokemon puzzles!

(I helped my baby cousin with them)

We're off to see the wizard. . .

. . . The wonderful Wizard World Chicago!

We finish talking about that today, and I just wanted to tell everyone that the slideshow which I so unceremoniously pimped out yesterday, is now available.* One crappy camera. One person. Sixty-four pictures.

*EDIT: I get waaaaay too many hits based on image searches, so I've made my album private. Don't worry though, you just need the guest password: it's "voluMinous." Watch the caps, and once you get there, just click the "slideshow" link on the top right corner of the page.


If there's one thing you ever really learn from cons, it's the money you'd save from never going to your comic shop ever again and only going to cons.

A little tip: Never settle for buying single issues for a dollar. There are bound to be quarter bins somewhere, and I think I found three or four of them this year.

I got some Birds of Prey back issues, some 90s Silver Surfer stuff, and I filled in lots of gaps in my miniseries, such as Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters or Countdown to Mystery.

I got some trades as well, on the left there.

First volume of Brubaker's Catwoman, the second volume of Denny O'Neil's Green Lantern/Green Arrow, the Dark Phoenix Saga, Doctor 13: Architecture and Morality, and more. . .

The cheapest I could find them was five dollars (trade) and seven dollars (hardcover). There was this one vendor, though, who covered a couple booths on opposite sides of the con, and did really well at advertising their half-off trades, so I bet they got a lot of business, despite the better deals elsewhere.

I mean, all you do is yell "Half off!" or "50% trades!" It can't be that hard.

There was also this rivalry between these two vendors. The first guy had a ton of quarter bins, but -- they weren't organized, and they had a lot of crappy 90s stuff. I couldn't find any of the comics I was looking for, except for some Green Arrow back issues.

The second one had 50-cent stuff, but -- they were incredibly organized, incredibly friendly, and all their comics felt clean and easy to go through.

They even shrinkwrapped some complete sets!

And the guy double-bagged my stuff!

Random Comic Shop, I know I never got your name, but if you're out there somewhere, please make yourself known. That little symbol is all I have of you, but I will advertise for you. Please appear on the blog!


Now let's look at some toys. Wheeeeee:

Statues cost so much for a bunch of bricks that don't move at all. I mean, they're pretty and all, but that's it.

Powerwalking Batman! Now action figures are where it's at.

Except nothing can beat Adam Hughes.

ARGH.

You have NO IDEA how hard I tried to get a good picture of Supergirl. I tried all kinds of angles, but her pose is just a bunch of CRAP. What kind of pose is that for an action figure? What is she doing, DJ-ing?

God.

Anyways, that does it for the rest of the con. You can find more pictures in the slideshow, of more Adam Hughes awesomeness and Batman Begins figures.

Again, if anyone knows about that Random Comic Shop with the amazing customer service, please let me know!

Bye Wizard World! Let's hope next year is even better!

If any of this piqued your interest, feel free to make some comments and strike up a conversation!