Comic-Con Wrap-up: Predator Does the Stinky Leg

Despite being exhausted, I was sad to see the Comic-Con end. It was an amazing convention. Here are a some random photos from the weekend and a few final thoughts to go along with the images. I can't wait until next year. Judging from all the long lines for swag, perhaps I should get in line now.

One of the funniest sights I saw all weekend was a guy (he looked familiar, perhaps a hip-hop star, but I couldn't place him) teaching the Predator to do the Stinky Leg, or Stanky Leg dance. There were several Predators in attendance and their costumes were incredible.

This particular Superman was the real thing. No fake foam muscles for this guy. I suppose that's why Lex Luthor was no where to be seen.

Pokemon fans lined up to have their picture taken with Pikachu. Hmmm. Black and gold, I wonder if Pikachu is a Steelers fan!

 I didn't catch a glimpse of Robert Downey, Jr. but I did run into his body double.

Jokers Wild! It was fun picking out all the different Jokers in attendance. There were the Cesar Romero Jokers, The Warner Brothers Batman series Jokers (one seen here), the Jack Nicholson Jokers and the Heath Ledger Jokers.

Larger-than-life action figures. I'm going to need a bigger mantelpiece!

Be careful what you say at Comic-Con. This man told some Star Wars enthusiasts to "grow up."

Parking was also a problem at Comic-Con. This was how attendees settled disputes over parking spaces.

A makeup artist shows how he can transform an actor's face for the movies. Scarlett Johansson looks really different.

Mike Ramirez and Glen McCoy were a part of an editorial cartoonists panel put together and moderated by Daryl Cagle. The panel consisted of (from left) Cagle, Rich Moyer, Ramirez, McCoy, Jeff Koterba and Steve Breen.

And finally, what would any pop culture convention be without at least one reference to Michael Jackson? No, his nose was not on display. They still haven't figured out where that went. But they did have his glove. It looked a little big to me. I think it was just O.J.'s glove with sequins on it.

Drawing Fans at Comic-Con

I just got back from San Diego and finally have time to post again. 

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching two industry greats at work. One was Ramona Fradon, a legend at DC comics in the 1950s. She worked on Aquaman and co-created Metamorpho. Later, in the 1980s, she took over Brenda Starr after Dale Messick retired. Fradon was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006. She spent several mornings at the Comic-Con drawing for fans and selling her sketches and inked pages. She had a lot of originals for sale, but still managed to find the energy to draw a quick sketch for anyone who asked. Here she is drawing Metamorpho.

The other industry giant working hard for his fans was MAD caricaturist, Tom Richmond. Tom does a lot of the movie parodies you see in current issues of MAD. Plus he has a great BLOG. He was doing caricatures at the ToonSeum booth as well as the NCS booth. Tom was doing his fantastic caricatures of fans for a mere $20. That barely covers art supplies! You can enjoy Tom's work as part of a new exhibit opening at the ToonSeum here in Pittsburgh. He will be in town this weekend for the opening and to do a caricature workshop. To find out more info or to sign up for the Tom's workshop, email Joe Wos at joe@toonseum.com.

I didn't do as much live drawing as Ramona and Tom, but I did find time to sign my Super Obama print for fans. Here is a creepy guy in a bunny suit snagging a signed print from me. Actually, it's my cartoonist friend Rich Moyer who did a hilarious Youtube video about Obama and race relations. It's gotten around 2 million hits ... Check it out!

I will post my final round of random photos from Comic-Con later tonight.

Hulking Comic-Con!

I have a confession to make. I like watching reruns of The Incredible Hulk. Lou Ferrigno was awesome in his garish green paint and obvious wig. Granted, the quality of the 70s TV show leaves a lot to be desired, but I was younger and a lot less critical back in the 70s. Of course, nothing compares to the original comic book by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. But I still enjoy seeing the show again in all its cheesiness.

I spotted Lou signing autographs here at Comic-Con, but he was charging $30. I had already spent my Comic-Con money on cartoon books so I just snapped a quick photo.

Later, I found a guy outside in a rubber Hulk suit that must have been hotter than Bill Bixby's temper.

They Quack Me Up

Patrick and Shelly Block hail from Washington, PA, just a short trip from Pittsburgh. I met them at their booth in Artist's Alley, where artists were drawing and selling original work. They work for Disney comics and continue in the true tradition of Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge McDuck. Patrick does all the artwork and Shelly writes the comic.

Below they are holding the comic book that garnered two Eisner Award nominations at last year's Comic-Con. Patrick showed me his portfolio of beautiful hand-drawn ink and watercolor paintings of Donald and Scrooge McDuck, among others. He even does commissions of special requests for people. Hmmm, how about Obama getting advice from Scrooge McDuck on how to solve the financial crisis? I like it!

Batman is in the House

I ran into Jerry Robinson, one of the artists who penned Batman in the 1940s. Jerry is an old friend from the editorial cartoonists association. He also runs Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate for editorial cartoons.

I also managed to find Bill PLympton again. He had promised eveeryone at his talk that if they found his booth he would give them a free drawing. It only took me two days to find his booth.

Man-Boy Fan-Boys

There are a few distinct types of fans that attend Comic-Con. I don't have room to describe them all here in detail, but I will describe a few. First, the largest group are what I would call the "Man-Boy Fan Boys." They are grown men who suffer from arrested development, at least when it comes to their love of comics, cartoons, toys, video games, etc. I definitely fall into this category, although, unlike the worst of them, I moved out of my parents house a long time ago.

The second group I'll call the "Spacers." These are the ones who can't get enough outer space fantasy. This group would include those obsessed with Star Wars, Star Trek ... all the "Star" franchises. Some would call them Trekkies, but I think it is much broader than that.

Then, there are the "Furries" and the "Ren Fairies." Furries (not my name) are folks who like to dress up in cartoon animal costumes, or are otherwise obsessed with those who do. Ren Fairies are those who dress up in costume and participate in historical reenactments at Renaissance Faires. Some are members of the Society of Creative Anachronism. This cartoon was based on an ACTUAL conversation with one of the Ren Fairies at the table next to our ToonSeum booth. They were complaining about how the Furries were weird for wanting to dress up and act out creepy fantasies. Comic-Con is awesome!

So Many Costumes, So Little Ventilation

Most of my time here at Comic-Con has been spent fighting through waves of teeming bodies of fanboys (and girls) as I try to make my way across the convention floor. Everything comes to a screesching halt when someone stops to take a photo of someone in costume. And there are a lot of people are in costumes!

I have to hand it to the people in costumes. It is sweltering hot and they are wearing thick, non-breathable plastic of fur because that is how passionate they are about dressing up like a made-up comic book character. Some are even wearing chainmail and armor on top of what looks like leather. Forget the giant swords. They could repel an army with the stench brewing beneath their protective outer wear.

They're not really evil, they're just angry because they are hot!

Now there is one hot Anime character!

Even Snoopy must have been saying "AAAAARGH" inside his fur!

Now this guy's got the right idea! No shirt!

Idiots, Angels and Geeks

One of my big heroes is Bill Plympton, the indie animator who still draws every cell by hand. He is here at Comic-Con promoting his latest feature film Idiots and Angels. I attended his screening yesterday. My favorite thing he showed was a new short film called Santa: The Fascist Years. It shows St. Nick trying to take over the world with Nazi-style glee in the 1930s. Very funny.

I know everybody else is buzzing about Johnny Depp and the stars of Twilight, but I am interested in different kinds of stars. The ones who use pen and ink. I still feel like a kid in a candy store as I walk through the aisles of artists and their wares. At one booth specializing in the sale of old original cartoon art, I was able to look at some original Doonesbury and Pogo comic strips up close. I felt chills. They even had some political cartoons by Rube Goldberg. It is amazing to see all of this original art in person. I fear greatly for my bank account. Speaking of bank accounts, seeing 100,000 idiots, angels and geeks milling about spending their hard-earned money is enough to make you forget we are in a recession.

Today I will be at the NCS booth to sign prints and promote my 25th anniversary book coming out in the fall (more on that later). Comic-Con has been known to turn grown men into giddy children. Here I am doing my best SpongeBob Squarepants imitation!

A little bit of Pittsburgh at the Comic-Con

The main reason I decided to come to California is to have another In-N-Out burger! Ok, they are no Primanti Brothers, but they make a really good burger. Seriously, one of the reasons I decided to make the trip to San Diego is my role as president of the board of the ToonSeum.

The ToonSeum is Pittsburgh's new museum of cartoon art, currently housed in the Children's Museum. Joe Wos, executive director of the ToonSeum, is here at Comic-Con too. Today I spent part of the day manning the booth in the non-profit table area (not as popular as the main floor but still a lot of fun). Tomorrow, Tom Richmond, of Mad Magazine fame will be manning the booth and signing artwork for fans.

Here is a picture of Joe and Tom Richmond hanging out with me at the ToonSeum booth. I also snapped a few candid shots of some other attendees.

Comic-Con Virgin

Yes, this IS my first time. I am in San Diego, California attending my very first Comic-Con. For those who don't know, Comic-Con is the priemier convention for comic book and cartoon lovers. It is the biggest convention of its kind in the country and maybe even the world. This year they are expecting 100,000 people to show up. Imagine 4 1/2 football stadiums full of nerds who like to read comics and play Dungeons and Dragons! These people don't leave their parents' house except to go to the comic book store, and yet, here they all are. I am allowed to make fun because I am one of them. While I may not be a hardcore comic book reader or collector, I love the art form. Also, I did play Dungeons and Dragons when I was younger. I think that counts.

I arrived last night in time for the preview event. The sheer mass of humanity was staggering. I was confused. This was just supposed to be the preview and only a portion of attendees were supposed to be there. The crowd was so dense at times I couldn't move. People were already waiting in hours-long lines to buy one-of-a-kind action figures, signed prints and video games. Here is a bad fuzzy photo of the crowd taken with my iPhone.

The highlight for me last night was running into John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren and Stimpy Show. John K., as he is known (probably because nobody can pronounce Kricfalusi), was selling figurines and signing sketches for people. He drew Ren and Stimpy for me. I was awestruck. Here is a photo of a fan who wore a Stimpy balloon hat (sorry, another bad photo where I managed to cut off the top of the really great balloon hat).

I feel like a kid in a candy store. The first night sent me into severe sugar shock. I can't imagine what today will do to me. Alert the paramedics!