During my last trip to Tokyo I was outwitted by the streets and thwarted by the clock and thus did not have time to check out the Godzilla statue near Hibiya Park. I rectified that this time:
Rectified?!?! Damn near…waitaminut, that joke won’t work at all. Oh well, look kids, GOJIRA!!!!!
I am not embarrassed to admit I am a fan of Hello Kitty. I like the clean lines of her simple design and I believe the simplicity of her design is one of the major factors which has contributed to her success. She now appears on everything from a Louis Vutton purse, which is cool in a Hello Kitty comes full circle way as she first appeared on a coin purse, to a cage fighter’s junk. (In 2003 Hello Kitty was earning $1 billion a year OUTSIDE of Japan.) Personally I thought the over-the-top product for Hello Kitty was 2006′s platinum Hello Kitty with the $150,000 price tag. I was wrong, so very, VERY wrong. I’ll allow Mr. Colbert to explain:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Tip/Wag – Hello Kitty Wine & Pig’s Blood Filters | ||||
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First I would like to know who, exactly, demanded this? It is all kinds of awesome and I may have to try and track some down during my upcoming trip to Tokyo. Second I would like to know how it tastes? Is to good wine? Regardless I think I have found a Christmas gift for a couple of you who may or may not be reading this.
If you need more Hello Kitty in your life then I suggest you check out the internet’s number one source for Hello Kitty ephemera, and tattoos, Hello Kitty Hell. I will leave you with this image which makes me happy to no end:
I had an AWESOME time at the con and managed to avoid any major fanboy moments when I met Dichen Lachman so I’ll consider the weekend a victory. While there is a more comprehensive con write-up in the not too distant future (I am thinking Tuesday night) I wanted to show off the loot yours truly acquired while at the con. First up, the comic books:
Top row (L to R): Atomic Robo Vol. 1: Atomic Robo and the Fightin’ Scientists of Tesladyne, Neozoic Vol. 1, Within the Capstone Preview #2, Howard the Duck #28 (thank you Dollar Bins!!), and a retailer-exclusive cover version of Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #1.
Middle row (L to R): X-Men #202 signed by Humberto Ramos (artist), The H.A.R.D. Corps #12 signed by Rodney Ramos (artist), Marvel Knights Daredevil #18 signed by David Mack (artist), Iron Man Hypervelocity #1 signed by Brian Denham (artist), and The New Mutants #100 signed by Rob Liefeld (artist).
Bottom row (L to R): G.I. Joe Origins signed by Ben Templesmith (artist), Generation X Underground Special #1 signed by Jim Mahfood (writer and artist), Angel and the Ape #1 signed by Phil Foglio (writer), Detective Comics #857 signed by J. H. Williams III (artist) and Green Lantern #1 signed by Ethan Van Sciver (artist).
The art pieces:
Top row: Prints by David Mack
Bottom left: Godzilla by Andy Kuhn
Bottom Right: Godzilla by Brian Denham
Finally the misc. stuff:
Top left: The complete SnarfQuest signed by Larry Elmore.
Top right: Nicholas Brendon autographed picture
Bottom: Dichen Lachman autographed picture (she is one of those people who is even more beautiful in person.)
Like I said, the con was a blast and you will see more from me in the coming days! Before I sign-off though I want to give a shout out to Those Anime People, the crew from Complex Actions, Wayne of Wayne’s Comics Closet, McLain McGuire and the entire Capstone Comics Posse, ESE Supplies, and Scott Chitwood of Red 5 Comics. I really enjoyed meeting all of you! You all made Comicpalooza an awesome experience that I am looking forward to repeating soon.
I somehow managed to get suckered in to moderating several panels at this weekend’s Comicpalooza convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center here in Houston so my posting is going to be rather scarce over the next few days. For those of you that are interested here is where I can be found this weekend:
Friday
1:00 pm – Room 340 – Publishing your Own Comics (Introduction)
The ins and outs of publishing your own comics with Rod Thornton of Angel Comics, Scott Chitwood of Red 5 Comics, McClain McGuire of Capstone Comics and others. (I have no idea who those others might be.)
Saturday
11:00 am – Theater A/B – Tomorrow’s Science Fiction (Moderator)
So often science fiction is about the future, but what about the future of science fiction? Acclaimed authors Catherine Asaro and Steven Brust try to answer this question.
3:00 pm – Room 340 – All About Elmore (Introduction)
Larry Elmore will discuss how he came to be one of the world’s most famous and prolific fantasy artist.
Sunday
12:00 pm – Room 340 – Technology & Comics (Moderator)
How technology has changed the making and marketing of comics with David Mack, Jim Mahfood and Brian Denham.
3:00 pm – Room 340 – Drawing the Icons (Moderator)
The fun and frustration that comes with illustrating big name comic heroes with Ethan Van Sciver, Humberto Ramos, and David Mack.
I promise I will follow up with a comprehensive con report some time next week. Between now and then I will try to get a couple of quick posts done, perhaps my moderator notes or the brief intros that I am writing, but I can’t promise anything as I expect to be a zombie by Monday.
When this came across my RSS feed earlier this week I thought three things:
- Finally there is a Dr. Who trailer that makes me want to watch the show.
- Daleks as U.N. peacekeepers. If someone can get a high-res screen-cap from this trailer and send it to me we can make this happen. Do it, internet.
- BBC is one of the acronyms that porn has ruined for me. For those of you with your minds in the gutter, BBC originally stood for the British Broadcasting Corporation whose predecessor, I recently learned, was founded by a consortium of British and American companies. So does this mean that Dr. Who is really an American show? And to think, my mom thought porn wouldn’t teach me anything.
