Nerd Prom is over and San Diego has returned to normal as the biggest comic convention wrapped up this past weekend. Of course, I wasn’t there. But I followed the coverage online and the scope really overwhelmed me this year. Last year, I wondered if SDCC jumped the shark. It seemed like the comics industry wasn’t as excited about the event as their counterparts in television, movies, video games, toys, and all the other stuff crammed into the convention center. Not this year. Marvel, DC, and lots of other companies were out in full force. Marvel didn’t get into too much since they can’t go into a lot of detail about what life will be like after Secret Invasion. DC had some bigger news like Neil Gaiman writing a couple issues of Batman but I felt both brought a lot of creative people to the show to promote their wares. I don’t mind the other people horning in on the Comic Con goodness as long as the comic book folks represent.
Hollywood’s been a part of of the show for a while now and it seems like TV and video games have been muscling in, too. Even if they don’t have any business being there. A show about the hilarious mundacity of the office life of a Scranton paper company is the most non-genre show I can think of, but The Office was there in full force. Of course, since it is one of my favorite shows, I don’t mind.
Considering how E3 is rumored to be on its last leg, it’s nice to hear that Comic Con keeps getting bigger and better even if that means some other folks horning in on the fun provided by comic books.
Well, the end of July. But that title sounds more dramatic. About as dramatic as this picture showing a “bad day.” A broken windshield and a parking ticket? Sucks to be the owner of this automobile. But it doesn’t suck to be Eric as he climbed back to the top of the Sock Drawer Standings.
And here’s the standard explanation of the contest for those who just got here and have no idea what is going on: At the end of every blog entry, I leave you with a quote. Or maybe some other way to earn a point. Be the first one to make a comment stating where the quote from and you get a point. Anyone can guess. Or you can earn points with other contributions depending on what I end the post with. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year is the winner.
I’m gonna put a link on your name, unless you tell me otherwise. For those of you who are not linked right now, I don’t know where to send people. Let me know if there’s a link location to point to. Otherwise, I might come up with a link for ya.
“Where shall I find a new adversary so close to my own level?”
“Try the local sewer.”
I guess I should have gotten to this list earlier since the new X-Files movie is probably already out of theaters. IGN has a Top Ten X-Files guest stars post and I smell a half-assed list. Not that I blame them since they didn’t have a lot of time to build up any kind of anticipation since there were way too many other movies to get excited before this one. And that lack of pre-release buzz was reflected in the X-Files box office debut. Anyway, back to the list. The movie may have stunk but the TV show had some great moments and some of them thanks to great guest stars like these:
Charles Nelson Reily
Alex Trebek & Jesse Ventura
Luke Wilson
Gary Shandling
Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner
None of these were listed. And Micheal McKean is only #9? Clearly the sign of a half-assed list. But it did make me remember some good times from a show that had some good episodes and isn’t that the point? Actually, not the point is to make a good list and make me remember the good times. IGN, next time ask someone to help. Like I am. Who were your favorite X-Files guest stars?
While the comics world is focused on San Diego this weekend, something neat was done in my old stomping grounds in Northwest Ohio. The Toledo Public Library had a birthday party for Superman. This year, the Man of Steel turns 70, or would if he weren’t a fictional character. Actually, that’s not true since the article clearly states Siegel and Schuster were shopping the idea over five years before Action Comics #1 was published. But that’s not the point, I guess. Krypton’s last son has been in the public spotlight for 7 decades and a library in Ohio is doing more to celebrate than the guy’s own publisher.
Maybe they’re saving up all the hoopla for the 75th anniversary but I just haven’t seen a lot of excitement from DC Comics themselves. Sure, this sounds like a stunt to get people to come down to the local library (and it sounds like it worked) but shouldn’t someone with Superman’s interest in mind be doing this kind of stuff? Just saying. Although, I guess there was a video conference call where the current Superman writers were interviewed for this event so maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on the bullet heads. But still… do something, man. A cake like this one doesn’t cost too much.
“Did you see ‘The Little Mermaid’ on TV yesterday? Ariel, she’s so hot!”
I’ve never played this game before (or even seen it for that matter) but there was something about this ad that grabbed my attention. I think I even used it in a class as an example as a certain kind of graphic design layout. Anyone who can tell me about this “Equinox” gets this Sunday’s Sock Point.
You can send me a YouTube link or some other embeddable video provider and if I like it (or need it) enough to put it up here, Sock Point to you.
Feel free to send your suggestions to my gmail account. It’s woodmania. I’d type it out but I don’t need more junk mail. Just your YouTube suggestions.
You ever think about what makes a woman go into a room packed with nerds dressed as their favorite female fictional characters? I wondered this a while ago, too. Which is why I’m glad I caught a recent podcast interview with someone named Ana Aesthetic. No, I don’t think that’s her real name, either. Ana was also a Geek Honey of the Month so you know she has it going on.
Anyway, the interview gave some good insight into what goes on in a woman’s mind who decides to dress like this in front of guys who may or may not be used to this sort of thing. She answered a lot of questions I had. If you don’t want to listen, this Illusion interview has a lot of the same thoughts in word form. It’s good to know, especially since there’s so many of these cosplayers running around the SDCC right now. I believe the San Diego Comic Con is their natural habitat.
“It’s important to support local art. And what they do is not art.”
It was 60 years ago today Marvin the Martian made his debut. For those of you that know me, I was all about the martian for a good number of years. While my Marvin love has cooled down, I do think I should honor the “man” today. Happy birthday, broom-head. Click on the link above to check out his first appearance. And put a comment about the little guy to earn a Martian Sock Point.
Last week was the big brew-ha-ha for the video game industry, E3. This used to be the Super Bowl of the gamer set but they’ve scaled back to the point where it might not even exist next year. But it is still alive this year and it seemed like all the news came from the consoles. Microsoft went on the offensive with a few big announcements like Fantasy XIII is coming to the 360, too, (which I guess is a big deal… I’m not a FF player) and Netflix will send movies to Xbox 360 It requires a Netflix premium and Xbox Live Gold membership but . Some think this is not such a big deal but this might me consider joining Netflix.
Come to think of it, that news didn’t come out of E3. It came out of a magazine. So did this Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion preview. Well, preview might be too strong a word. But it’s more.
Not a good day for one of the dogs I am sitting. Also experiencing other problems so blogging didn’t get worked on today. Hopefully back at it (or something resembling “it”) tomorrow. Maybe these canines can cheer up my sad dog day. see more dog pictures
Oh, you need a Sock Point, too? Link to your favorite LOL-type dog picture in the comment section, I guess.
