Thursday, April 22, 2010

Highlights from the Bo-Com-Con Pile

I have just read everything in this pile:

4.10.10 - Boston Comicon Haul!

Let's just dive right in and I'll share my thoughts. Click the picture to access the large size, as usual. Starting in the lower-left corner and spiraling clockwise...

Sara Richard's stickers and
Sketchbook. The fishing kitty now proudly resides on the protective case thingie on my MacBook. I never really mastered ink and brush, so I am in awe of Sara's beautiful line art. That, and the sheer amount of art she's produced.

A Schedule of Upcoming Guests/Topics on Sci-Fi Saturday Night. Someday, I will do a post about all the podcasts that have helped me keep sane while Photoshopping. "SFSN" is a semi-local 'cast and I have nothing at all bad to say about them because they love my rabbit illustrations.


Inbound 4: A Comic Book History of Boston. An anthology created by the Boston Comics Roundtable, and a fascinating read to boot. The old Mug-and-Muffin coffee shop has been immortalized for all time.The Tick Comicon Extravaganza. I am not going to get too crazy here. It is a comic about comic book conventions, and it stars Quincy's own superhero.

Fat Cat Funnies' Distracula. Speaking of Quincy, it turns out Fat Cat Funnies is based here. A local publisher! A wikkid local publisher, if you will! Awesome.

(Barely visible)
Mouse Under Glass by David Koenig. Actually, this is the book I brought with me to read on the T. It's pretty interesting and I will review it and another "secrets of Disney" book I finished earlier soon.

"After Watchmen, What's Next? Brad Meltzer's
Identity Crisis!" That's how I'm reading the title anyway. There were similar abridged comics like this at the autumn Boston Comicon. The best of them had excerpts from all of DC's comics that could remotely be considered dark and/or edgy. At least with this one, I got to learn for myself what everyone else already knew about the Identity Crisis storyline.
Spoilers: Imagine sitting down to watch "The Thin Man", and suddenly in the first act, the film jump-cuts to the ending of "Seven". The actual "not so much sad as tear-out-your-heart-and-stomp-on-it" ending to "Seven". I'd like to be exaggerating right now.

"Penny Arcade" the books! "Trish why in the world would you buy collections of a comic you can read for free online?" Well, because there's something about a book. I always liked comic strip compilations (I will admit I was never really all that into "Calvin and Hobbes" until I found the first collection.) Mainly, it's because the sheer size of the "PA" archive intimidates me. Plus, the writer's comments on the strips are often hilarious. Glad to know I'm not the only person who looks through their old art and sometimes goes, "Oh dear Lord... tell me I didn't really draw THAT..."
(Cue the kind of music you hear in movies when Foreshadowing happens...)


The Boston Independent Film Festival schedule. While searching for their website, I learned that Boston suddenly has (at least) two film fests! As someone who enjoys nice things, I should try going to both. This festival starts next week, and some of the films sound fascinating. Wish me luck in convincing other people to go.

Various random business cards! I got to trade a lot of cards with people. Urchin Punch had a lot of neat stuff at their table, but sadly there does not seem to be much at their website yet. "Silver Circle" is an independent CGI animated science fiction film with kind of a cool origin story. I may have to dedicate an entire post to it later. The Angry Penguin is a little strange, but how could I resist that sticker? And it should surprise nobody that New England has it's own branch of the Ghostbusters and a Storm Trooper Garrison.

Donald Duck Free Comic Book Day abridged comic. I was intrigued by this for two reasons: 1) Free Comic Book day is in May. 2) This is a Halloween-themed story. It was too weird to leave.

And finally, my Pokewalker, which (it's hard to see) racked up about 51,000 steps... and I still don't have a gimmicky Surfing or Flying Pikachu! This makes me feel angry!

Ah, anyway. Overall, a great haul and a great time.

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At the Realm, there is a review of a strange thing I got at Disney World. If you stop and think about it, the Harry Potter series, much like "Star Wars" and "Avatar" (already!), has a lot to answer for.

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Sketch of the Day!
How about a completely random page?
4.3.10 Sketchbook Page 1

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Post #200! Yay!!!