Con-Man: San Diego 2016

Ah San Diego Comic-Con, the mecca for all things creative arts. This was a landmark year as I spent nearly a week in San Diego and even took a few hours to train with bodybuilding legend Frank Zane in nearby La Mesa. Arriving on Tuesday, downtown SD in the Gaslamp Quarter was hopping as usual and local businesses and bars were ready for Con with comic book art and signs luring in passerby. Doctor Strange banners adorned streets, BB-8 and Pokemon imagery filled windows. Things were made a little easier this year as badges were sent out instead of needing to be picked up at the not that close Town and Country.

Walking around early Wednesday morning at 6:00 AM and soaking in the peaceful calm before the storm, I saw pop ups for Amazon, South Park, NBC and Conan O'Brien's Funko face plastered on buildings and trains. Our Comic-Condo was right in the Gaslamp again but unfortunately faced a busy street and it was far from soundproofed. My sleep would get worse as the week went on. A few pre-Preview Night Jameson's got me surprisingly feeling no pain as I checked out the Exhibit Hall where DC had costumes from Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad on display, a bronze Captain America statue made a stop on it's way to Brooklyn, Star Wars costumes and the like all warranted a quick photo. The show felt a little samesie as I kept running into the same stuff but that's going to happen when you've been to as many shows as I have. I meant to make my way over to a parking lot screening of Super 7's new original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated short but them Jamesons had me wanting to hit the sack...

Panels through the week included the increasingly con attending Edgar Rice Burrough's where we learned that Carson of Venus is being adapted into a film series, Jim Davis of Garfield fame made his first Comic-Con appearance and picked up an Inkpot in the process. King of WeirdCool Thomas Jane and the cast of The Expanse were on hand for the season 2 announcement and Hall H, while ever so crowded, seemed a little light on programming this year. It's been my observation that since 2010, the Hollywood Bubble has slowly burst so at some point casual fans will stop trying to get in. There's always Seattle, Salt Lake and New York.

Con-Man: The Return of Power-Con

Last Saturday marked the return of Power-Con, the fan run He-Man and She-Ra gathering down in Torrance. After a few solid years, PC looked to expand the show by moving it to New York but logistical issues sadly stopped it from happening. After a brief sabbatical, the team is back and strong as ever this year. Held at the Redondo Beach Marriott across from the Del Amo Fashion Center, Power-Con takes over a wing of the joint with a modest but packed exhibitor room and another space for panels. Walking in the energy was great, lots of people hanging out by the bar and cafe, then outside the main hall as well. Inside there were vendors of all kinds slinging toys, promotional items, artwork, custom figures and more. A few cosplayers had tables as well as toy makers The Four Horsemen but surprisingly, no Mattel on hand with their terrific toy displays, cut outs and 15' He-Man statue.

Since I put together a He-Man event last September in Power-Con's absence, it was nice to see several people from the community and chit chat. The guys from Cape and Cowl were on hand along with several vendors who have become con-rades since we see them so often. I was surprised and happy that the hall was pretty crowded with each booth a little hard to get in and look around. Besides the multitude of toys you had as a kid from Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Thundercats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I was taken and impressed by the amount of custom figures on display. One in particular of He-Man as a Ghostbuster made me laugh but my photo didn't turn out...One booth had an array of great buttons and pins from the 70's Lord of the Rings animated film along with some Asterix! You know, the French comic about magic potion enhanced warriors from Gaul? I snatched up a pin featuring Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix and was very tempted to pick up a Blade or Gwildor figure but alas didn't pull the trigger. Each year of Power-Con has been a little different, one added Ninja Turtles programming, one had Thundercats, this year's programming was totally He-Man and She-Ra focused though, covering voice acting, design, Mattel, mini-comics, origins, podcasts and whatnot. Sadly there was no panel on the classic 1987 flick!

We popped into the packed panel room for the voice actors showcase where Alan Oppenheimer, Melendy Britt, Gage Khouth and Brian Dobson held hilarious court. Talking about how they got into the industry, Skeletor himself Oppenheimer chimed in that he was doing impressions of people at a young age and it just kind of went from there. Another thing that impressed me about Power-Con was that they had more or less back to back programming all day so if you're a hardcore fan and were staying all day, you'd have something to check out from 10:30 AM through 1:00 AM. Next year I'll definitely have to stick around and embrace the Eternian shenanigans.

Ready for some late lunch we hopped over to the currently under renovation Del Amo Fashion Center that was one part shiny upscale shopping center, one part 80's mall with random stores and all totally confusing layout. We did however run into a random shop filled with old movies, video games, appliances and books. Kind of like an eBay store only you know, in real life. I picked up several bad movies on the cheap like Battlefield Earth, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and the Director's Cut of Spawn.

It was a fantastic day, welcome back Power-Con, can't wait to see what you have in store next year!

Masters of the Universe Lives!

Ah Masters of the Universe, the first flick I ever saw in a theater and one of my favorites of all time. I've now seen the Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella starring film three times on the big screen, once in 1987 in small town Ohio, again at a midnight screening in 2009 in Los Angeles at the now defunct Fairfax Regent and this past September when I hosted a He-Man and She-Ra Celebration at The Egyptian Theatre where we welcomed cast and crew. Director Gary Goddard was on hand and mentioned that in the last few years, sentiment towards MOTU has gone from cheesy and negative to ahead of it's time and positive. No part thanks to the abundance of CGI heavy fantasy thrillers of late like Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Marvel's Thor films. Playing out as a mini-epic of LOTR and Star Wars laced action, fantasy, design and nostalgia with a production so harrowing you appreciate the end result even more. You can catch the entire film on YouTube under Paramount's Vault as well as on Netflix. Just last week, He-Man World hosted a screening at Toronto's Rainbow Cinema where He-Man maker Mattel donated 200 items for a charity toy drive. Then a fan made trailer using the template of Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit the data waves making the film look even more classy and epic. This week also heralded a Kickstarter campaign for in production documentary Power of Grayskull.

Power should pair nicely with completed and readying for release documentary Toy Masters: How He-Man & Mattel Conquered the Universe, an entertaining and informative look at the origins and impact of the boy toy giant. I was lucky enough to tour The Goddard Group's offices this week, birthplace of theme park attractions, live tours, stage productions and much more. Sitting in the corner is an original video store stand for Masters that was sent in by a fan who had an extra. I also flipped through several drafts of the script, one of which featured bookend appearances by The Princess of Power, She-Ra! Goddard's Group has regained rights to properties Skeleton Warriors along with Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future so be on the look out for new interpretations. Even though I've seen the film a million times, all of this week's cues and reminders might equal a weekend viewing with a bucket of fried chicken.

Animated Goods: King Arthur & the Knights of Justice

For your second heap of 90's awesomeness, let's take it back to 1992 for syndicated animated series King Arthur and the Knights of Justice. I grew up watching this show and really dug it, one year I fashioned a Sir Gallop costume for Halloween out of cardboard, string, sweat pants, PVC pipe and a couple of baseballs. It's been ages since I'd watched the show but a friend had recently rediscovered it and I'm now 6 episodes back in. After a rollicking electric guitar heavy, 90's rock theme song, the series starts with King Arthur and his Knights having been captured by the evil Queen Morgana and imprisoned within some diamonds in a cave. Wizard Merlin is unable to free the ruler and gazes into the future, coming across Arthur King, a likable quarterback from modern times and his football team The New York Knights. On their way home from a victorious game, the 12 football players take a shortcut in the rain and end up transported to Camelot. Merlin enlists them to free the true King Arthur which will require finding the 12 Keys of Truth. Being a bunch of city boys, the football team can't fathom how they'll be able to protect the kingdom while they search for the keys. Luckily the magic round table gives them each armor, weapons, a specialty item that can be summoned and the skills to fight and ride.

The team pledges "fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil" in order to receive a He-Man-esque transformation and go out to kick Morgana's forces in the pants. Lord Viper leads the huge and powerful if dumb Warlords who have names like Axe, Bash and Blackwing. Both sides have armored steeds decked out with projectile spears, battering rams, smashing wrecking balls and catapults. Each episode sees the Knights go on a mission to help nearby townsfolk or locate a key of Truth. The characters are pretty broad with the fair and leveled leader of Arthur, big dumb guys Trunk, Brick and Phil then the I-talian builder Tone, geeky Asian Zeke and fast talking Sir Breeze among them. Tone was always my favorite for some reason, it must have been it his overblown accent and ability to build the Brooklyn Bridge in half an hour. The action is entertaining as swords clang, stuff gets launched everywhere, Warlods knocked off horses, etc. No beheading action but you know, this is Saturday morning stuff here. The fantasy aspect is played up with a magical unicorn who talks through mind bullets, dragons in caves and the like. Then you get some basic morals as one knight finds his courage, kids stand up to overwhelming odds, Arthur puts himself into knowing danger for the benefit of others, etc. Sure a lot of it doesn't make sense (why would you take a shortcut during a horrible storm? Why are there only 12 players? Why would one of them be the bus driver? Why are they so cool with being forced into Merlin's plan?) but it's a cartoon, folks, just go with the randomness and enjoy it.

King Arthur and the Knights of Justice ran for two 13 episode seasons in 1992 and 1993. I can't recall season 2 where they face off with Asian influenced enemies so it will be cool to watch or rewatch with nearly fresh eyes. I remember some really ugly figures from Mattel of Viper, Arthur, Lancelot and Darren which seemed like rejects from Masters of the Universe. Then again the line did reuse the Slime Pit and one of the vehicles so I'm probably not far off. Marvel Comics put out a three part series and a SNES video game hit in 1995. You can pick up the entire series on DVD for a cool $8 from Amazon and relive the glorious 90's with me. "Knights, Knights, Knights! Yeah! Knights, Knights, Knights! Break it down!"

Con-Man: Mastering the Universe Part I

After Friday night's successful screening and panel of Masters of the Universe, it was time for Saturday's big event, an entire day of mini-convention, screenings, Q&A's and the west coast premiere of Toy Masters! Our vendors like La-La Land Records, Scrooze Toys, Animation, Inc., collector Steve York, artist Dave Woodman and Super7 were joined by Skeletor and She-Ra voice actors Alan Oppenheimer and Melendy Britt. I was happy to see a line was forming before we opened doors and thanked everyone for showing up and for their patience as we prepared. Energy was great, the He-Man fans were very enthusiastic and checked out all of the glorious toys and displays Mattel and Pretty In Pink provided. Programmer Grant had somehow unearthed two episodes from the second season of Masters of the Universe on 16mm to add to our pre-show lobby con and had them screening in the theater.

Erika Scheimer helped kick things off with her boundless energy and enthusiasm as we discussed her involvement with Filmation. Run by her father, animation pioneer Lou, who kept work in America and also created a new market for cartoons as He-Man went straight into syndication with a 65 episode order, effectively leading the way for She-Ra, G.I. Joe and Transformers. Erika got involved in the family business after graduating from Stanford but finding herself without a job. Working for dad as a voice actor, she gave the audience a taste of her characters Imp and Loo-kee and explained how she'd picked up a guitar at age 12 so writing and performing "I Have the Power" for The Secret of the Sword was a real treat. The worldwide popularity of He-Man shocked the family as they traveled to conferences in Europe. A fan in the audience said he met his partner through their love for He-Man and Erika expounded on the impact the show had on viewers which touches her heart to this day. It was an honor and a pleasure to have Erika and her partner Amy there as well as a great way to start off the day. Heritage Auction House will be putting some of Lou's private collection up for bid to get items into the hands of the loving fans.

Artist and He-Man co-creator Mark Taylor was our next guest and He-Man World creator John Atkins took the mic for an informative, educational and hilarious panel. Did you know that the price of toys covers the cost of legal action in case someone is hurt or killed by them?! I didn't...Mark is a terrific talker, knowledgeable and engaging as he discussed the psyche of He-Man and Skeletor, the importance of Joseph Campbell and telling a story through any piece of work whether it's a piece of art or a painting. Originally working freelance, Mattel invited him to work in house on Barbie and Shogun Warriors. His uncles had served in the war and Taylor wanted to create a hero who was strong and brave, tinged by Tarzan, Prince Valiant and Greek literature. A hero didn't need a lot of armor or sit in a tank to him, the guy who just goes out there and does it, prevailing against all odds. Nobody wanted to work on He-Man back then as Barbie was the successful brand that could launch a career. Battlecat came from the Tarzan line Mattel had already done but his back was too broad for He-Man figures so the saddle was created. Kids responded so well to the toys, test groups tried to steal them. Mark ended up working on Hot Wheels as well as in Japanese animation. A truly fascinating individual and his wife Rebecca is a sweetheart as well.

Two classic episodes screened before the Filmation panel of artist/director Tom Sito, writers Larry DiTillio, Marc Zicree and Brooks Wachtel along with voice actors Alan Oppenheimer and Melendy Britt took the stage. Unfortunately I had to miss most of this panel as I was running things in the lobby but caught snippets about how He-Man was actually a pretty bad hero since he's totally reactive to Skeletor's scheming versus being proactive. Oppenheimer had no idea the cartoon would live on as long as it has and make such an impact. Oh yeah, when we met, he totally went into Skeletor and Mer-Man voices without even trying, it was awesome. Part II coming up!

Ask Me a Question: Masters of the Universe

My two part experiment to mash a convention with repertory screenings kicked off Friday night at the historic and beautiful Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood with 1987's Masters of the Universe. Mattel had really come through, providing display cases full of figures from the 1980's through today, Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, 6 foot character displays and a 15 foot tall He-Man statue that barely fit inside the lobby! Pretty In Plastic kicked in with an awesome mounted bust of Battlecat, one of less than a dozen in existence and valued at a cool 8 grand. We had a solid turnout for the evening and one by one our guests arrived. Myself, programmer and voice actor extraordinaire Grant along with editor at large Jim Branscombe spliced together a pre-movie clip show of beautiful randomness that included the credits to Dolph Lundgren's awe-inspiring workout video Maximum Potential, He-Man toy commercials and a fan edited version of 4 Non Blondes What's Up featuring Prince Adam and Cringer.

Mattel had provided a dozen rare figures from their Matty Collector line to give out as prizes and we got right into the film. The 35mm print looked solid for being nearly 30 years old and the audience was enthusiastic, cheering, clapping and laughing at all the appropriate moments. Starting on war-torn Eternia, the evil warlord/wizard Skeletor (Frank Langella) has taken Castle Grayskull, where mystical forces are housed and give the power to become the Master of the Universe. With keeper of the house The Sorceress (Christina Pickles) captured, it's up to a small band of Eternian heroes to save her including the ultra heroic He-Man (Dolph Lundgren), troop commander Man-At-Arms (Jon Cypher), his daughter Teela (Chelsea Field) and locksmith/inventor Gwildor (Billy Barty). You see, Gwildor has invented a music based Cosmic Key that can open a doorway to anywhere, which Skeletor used to infiltrate Castle Grayskull and take over. During a botched rescue attempt, Gwildor frantically opens a doorway our heroes escape into, landing on...Earth! There, with the help of two local teens (Courtney Cox and Robert Duncan McNeil), He-Man and his crew battle Skeletor's pursuing mercenaries (including Robert Towers as Karg and Anthony De Longis' Blade) while dealing with earthly customs like eating fried chicken and ribs and trying to get back home, free The Sorceress and save Eternia.

This was the first film I ever saw in a movie theater and I've loved it ever since. The last time I saw it was in 2009 or so at the now defunct Regency Fairfax down the street from the New Beverly which played the film a couple of years ago, both times screening at midnight. It's become my staple to not only spread the gospel of the 80's and 90's but also take midnight back to prime time. For me, much of MOTU still works. The Castle Grayskull set is huge, impressive and immaculate, the costumes ornate and unique, the action crackles with a kinetic swashbuckling energy while the cast is terrific and most of the matte painting, laser blast, pyrotechnics and space door special f/x look great. Bill Conti's epic score gives the flick a Star Wars meets Superman scope, Dolph is picture perfect as a living action hero while Frank gets to dig his teeth deep into the fiery yet sorrowful Skeletor. Plus the message of there being only one of you in the universe is still a great message.

After the film, I called down our panelists of director Gary Goddard, production designer William Stout, Teela Chelsea Field, Karg Robert Towers, Blade Anthony De Longis and armor suit makers Robert Short and Max Cervantes:

- Goddard has a background in large scale theme park attractions as well as theater. Always wanted to be a filmmaker, made films in high school, never gave up and his mother always encouraged him.
 - Chelsea Field was a dancer before auditioning seemingly twenty-five times for MOTU and it was her first acting role. Auditions had no scenes per se, acting out action, fighting with swords and laser guns. Had met Goddard to discuss Conan stage show previously and he remembered her.
- William Stout originally hired as storyboard artist but hit it off with Goddard, both loved Jack Kirby while hired production designer didn't see eye to eye with director or have faith in film.
- Anthony De Longis worked on Conan the Barbarian stage show, worked with William Stout on a Roger Corman flick after Masters. Played Blade and doubled Frank Langella for final battle where Skeletor is in a huge helmet the size of the New York skyline.
- Robert Towers knew Goddard from Conan as well. Went through lots of auditions as Goddard was adamant performance had to come through prosthetics. Had a great time with Billy Barty who always brought great energy and told dirty stories. Went through 3.5 hours of make up and could barely eat.
- Robert Short's shop produced 300 some suits of armor in 30 days.
- Grayskull was biggest set Hollywood had seen in 40 years, two stages with wall knocked down.
- Goddard described the difficulties of the film that included costumes, contact lenses that almost made wearers blind, make up, pyrotechnics, fights, stunts...everything but rain. Cannon Films also going out of business, was told three times that there was no money. Would tell cast and crew that they were already there, go ahead and shoot day and figure it out. Producer went to Mattel for money.
- Field hasn't seen film since opening, only 2nd time, lots of 30ish guys walk up and freak out about Masters. Best summer of her life, most fun she ever had on a shoot. Night shoots felt like they went on forever, was only 6 weeks, only getting about 4 hours a night on Whittier streets. Fond memories of working with James Tolkan, Jon Cypher, Cox, McNeil, etc.
- Frank Langella was in town and wanted to come but had to head back to New York early, drat!
- Great to work with, 2-3 hours of make up and anchors the film. Goddard spread story to more characters versus giving all to He-Man and somewhat telling story through villain's eyes.
- Big film for Cannon but still a skeleton crew, department assistant Josh Olson would go on to write Oscar nominated A History of Violence.
- Strapped Dolph to a truck for the Air Centurion sequence, had him 30-50 feet up a ladder.
- Towers kept some costume pieces and wig, Goddard has Skeletor's sword, Field kept memories, Stout has 200 paintings, Max has some armored suits and revamped for Alien Halloween costume, Short has a garage full of molds and suits, De Longis has a sword, donated one to charity.
- It was William Stout's birthday, we wished him a hearty "Good journey!" and I passed out cupcakes after.
- Field warned her son that it would be very cheesy but was surprised how well it held up. Everyone gave massive props to Goddard for making for such a great experience, keeping things rolling even though Cannon was falling apart behind the scenes.

 It was a beautiful night paying tribute to one of my favorite films and a warm up for the next day which would include 12 hours of setting up, hosting and running a mini-convention, 4 screenings and 4 panels, phew! Until then, don't say goodbye, say "Good journey!".

The 80's Called: Gunship & Double Dragon

A couple of cool videos celebrating the glorious 80's, today! First up is synth artist Gunship with their latest track, Tech Noir. You know, like from The Terminator?! I don't watch too many music videos anymore but this one was just very clever, inspired, fun and violent! Watch as our hero utilizes the power of VHS tapes to rescue the damsel in distress; battling evil icons of the era like Pinhead, Jason and Leatherface while harnessing the power of Robocop, Rocky, He-Man and...a Care Bear?!

Next up is a video sent to me from a Dammaged Goods supporter who attended The Van Damme Double Dip, one Chris Anthony. Mr. Anthony has put together an homage to classic arcade side scrolling brawler Double Dragon, where Billy and Jimmy Lee battle thugs after the death of a lady friend. Martial arts, 8-bit tunes and super knees to the face action ensues. Keep spreading the gospel of the 80's and 90's, my friends!

Workout of the Day: Month Out

September is shaping up to be a busy month with theme park visits, outdoor movies, conventions and my very own He-Man & She-Ra Celebration so it's time to lift it up another notch. Standing in front of a crowd next to someone like Dolph Lundgren is pretty solid motivation so I'll be focusing on keeping up weight workouts as well as cardio because when you feel good, you look good then you do good, right?! Right. I've been keeping it pretty basic in August with weight sessions or early morning cardio but with the rising heat, it can be hard to get motivated to get even sweatier. To change things up I've already started implementing circuit training, swimming and shadow boxing to go along with a few weight workouts a week.

Circuits can get a good pump in minimal time with:
Kettlebell Swings - Chins - Push Ups - Battling Ropes - Dips - KB Curls
That's 6 exercises in quick succession to get the entire body running. You can always swap out exercises here with Clean and Press for Swings or add in more specific exercises to target your body like Squats or Step-Ups for legs, Curls and Pushdowns for Arms, Shoulder Raises, etc. Jean-Claude Van Damme once said he got into his best shape during the production of Kickboxer by training his entire body 3 times a week.

As far as straight weights go, today was Chest and Biceps:
Incline Dumbbell Press/Preacher Curls - Decline DB Flys/Incline DB Curl - DB Pullover/Hammer Curls - Forearms - Neck - Calves - Intervals on Elliptical
Doing supersets for Chest and Biceps is one of my training foundations, leaving alternate days for Back/Triceps, Legs and then Shoulders/Arms before starting over. Doing everything in superset style had me finishing weights in 30 minutes with 10 minutes of interval cardio to make me feel better about that big Burger King lunch yesterday.

Nutrition and exercise form a kingdom so remember to try and eat whole foods in smaller portions throughout the day rather than 3 large meals. Aim for 3 meals and 2 snacks and you can experiment with eating in a 10-12 hour window, not eating carbs after 2:00 PM or reducing calorie dense protein like red meat in favor of chicken and fish if available. There's plenty of information out there so keep educating yourself and experimenting to figure out how to make fitness a daily habit. Keep lifting!

(Pre)Ask Me a Question: He-Man & She-Ra Celebration

Dammaged Goods Presents is back! With our biggest and craziest line up yet, a He-Man and She-Ra Festival! That's right, we've teamed up with The American Cinematheque and He-Man World for  a night and a day of all things He-Man, She-Ra, Skeletor and The Masters of the Universe! Cannon Films' 1987 classic Masters of the Universe starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella kicks things off Friday night, September 18th at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood; home to Dolph Night, An Evening With Carl Weathers, The Sunbow Animation Celebration and most recently, Conan the Cinematic Barbarian. A clip show of animation, commercials, oddities and rarities will precede the film. A stellar line up of guests join us for pre and post Q&A including director Gary Goddard, production designer William Stout, actors Chelsea Field, Anthony De Longis and Robert Towers as well as SFX lead Max Cervantes!

On Saturday, September 19th, the theatre lobby will be transformed into Eternia as a mini-convention with displays, guests and exhibitors including Mattel, Pretty In Plastic, Super7 and La-La Land Records along with voice actors Alan Oppenheimer (Skeletor) and Melendy Britt (She-Ra) continues the event. The nostalgic fun doesn't stop there as a full day of programming and panels follows beginning with a very special appearance by Erika Scheimer who will discuss all things Filmation, her iconic father Lou as well as voice acting and song writing on He-Man, She-Ra, Ghostbusters and BraveStarr. Then it's on to the origins of He-Man with co-creator Mark Taylor and prolific brand designer Errol McCarthy. Filmation Animation is highlighted next as we screen clips from the original 1983 after school phenomenon and hear from storyboard artist and director Tim Sito, writer Larry DiTillio, writer Marc Zicree along with voice actors Oppenheimer, Britt and Diane Pershing.

But wait, there's more! Much more! 1985's theatrical release and She-Ra introducing film The Secret of the Sword gets a rare repertory screening, on 35mm no less. Our day closes with the west coast premiere of documentary Toy Masters, Corey Landis and Roger Lay Jr's amusing look at the iconic toy and cartoon series. The duo will be on hand for a post film Q&A as well.

Tickets are on sale now, going for the astoundingly low price of $11.00 for Friday night and $15.00 for all day Saturday. You have the power! And Good Journey!

Con-Man: San Diego '15 Thursday

After getting in most of my floor walking Wednesday at Preview Night, there was no rush to get over to the show today. After a little spell walking on the comic side of the exhibition floor I headed up to the first panel of the day, Peanuts 65th Anniversary! It was more a tribute to Charles M. Schulz with representatives from the museum up north and several artists inspired by the man. Of course it was a love and appreciation fest with the artists discussing Schulz's simple and economic style being one of the most difficult to emulate. Apparently, Schulz's famous squiggly line style came after he got on heart medication so it became even harder to copy. Of course The Peanuts gang is still firmly in our mind with a new movie on the way, holiday specials on every year, MetLife ads, etc. A limited series comic book based on Snoopy's Red Baron adventures is due out in September and looks like a lot of fun.

Then it was over to Bringing Toys to Life in Video Games: He-Man and G.I. Joe Complete the Toy Soldiers: War Chest, an action/strategy game coming out in August that pits armies from the Dark Lords, etc against 80's favorites G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe and just announced Cobra and Assassin's Creed! Like Toy Story meets Warcraft, gameplay looked like a lot of fun as you're on a play set in a child's room. Controlling armies you can play as the hero Duke or He-Man. Joe historian and Hasbro exec Derryl DePriest, Mattel Director Mark Morse and game producer Josh Mast talked about the evolution of the title and translating the figures to the digitized world. As a Joe aficionado, DePriest asked for some broken thumbs and various fan favorite vehicles, sticker decals and the like. While He-Man was originally going to be based on the 1982 figure but if you'll remember, only had 5 points of articulation so they used a newer model in order to provide extra animation and movement. In a nice touch, you call down upgrades and support like Battle Cat or a new tank and it drops in it's original packaging box. There was some fun trivia (Duke was the first mail order figure available, "Let the power return" signals the transition from He-Man to Prince Adam, etc.) and Toy Soldiers looks like a good time.

I was late so of course Jim Lee's panel was fully booked but I just wandered over to see his former protege Humberto Ramos' Spotlight panel. To start, the Spider-Man, Impulse, Crimson and Out There artist/creator was awarded with Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award which identifies individual contributions to the worlds of comics, science fictoin/fantasy, film, etc. It was a stacked guest list to help Ramos including Jimmy Palmiotti and writer extraordinaire Mark Waid who helped start the dialog. Ramos always loved Spider-Man and got into the business by submitting his work and going to conventions for portfolio reviews. A still prominent artist told him to give up and now they share panels at shows, so eat that, douche! Industry stalwarts Tom Brevoort and Walt Simonson were early supporters, telling Ramos he had something special and to keep working. My favorite Ramos work came from his stint at the creator owned Cliffhanger label in the 2000's where high schoolers vs demons book Out There ran for 20 some issues. Asked about his contemporaries Joe Madureira and J. Scott Campbell who had trouble shipping books in a timely manner while Ramos put out two books, Ramos felt they owed it to the audience to finish their story and wrapped up first series Crimson. Unlike Joe Mad's fun but perpetually late Battle Chasers which went on hiatus and never returned. Everyone on the panel more or less described Ramos as the nicest guy in the world which was more difficult than succeeding. Ramos was humble, funny and thoughtful throughout so his success is well deserved.

There were several more panels I meant to check out but got caught up reuniting with friends and colleagues like #ActionMovieBro David J. Moore. While I'm here for fun, David has work to do and just came from interviewing Wesley Snipes, promoting new NBC show, The Player. It's a very rare thing when you can discuss hardly known action movies at a rapid fire pace. Was looking forward to checking out Miami Vice 30th Anniversary Retrospective but I totally forgot my badge coming back to the show and opted to go to Happy Hour with some cosplayers instead. Later that night it was time to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at their welcome party. Was a nice shindig at the Westgate's old school hotel where we had some delicious Incredible Hulk cocktails. Our pedicab driver told us about a semi-hidden bar on our way that was Alice in Wonderland themed complete with trick entry. We made it though and continued the Con-ebration. It's been a really fun year and it's not even time for Friday! See ya at the show!

Con-Man: San Diego '15 Preview Night

 
Are you ready?! It's finally here! San Diego Comic-Con is upon us and all is right in the world! We arrived into Downtown San Diego aka The Gaslamp District aka Con Central, grabbed some Jameson during Happy Hour then moseyed on over to the Marriott to check in for Volunteering. Warner Brothers always has a heavy presence at SDCC and this year they're pulling out all the stops for...Conan O'brien? The funny host of late night is doing four show tapings and moderating a Hall H panel. Conan was plastered on the train and adjoining hotel. Next it was time for Preview Night, where you walk the exhibition floor with many less people than the rest of the week. It wasn't too crowded and I surprisingly made back and forth across the floor twice. I had no real plan in mind except to check out the Hollywood stuff first for any exclusive giveaways then walk through the comic and swag portion.

Mattel ended up being my first stop as they always have a great set up of He-Man and The Masters of the Universe. There's a semi-secret pop-up shop in The Gaslamp which requires a Skele-token for entry, which I was able to snag a few of. Lionsgate was promoting the last chapter of The Hunger Games but only had posters for American Ultra to hand out. Legendary was promoting the upcoming Warcraft movie and right behind them was the one and only Tim Bradstreet displaying his awesome art and manning the RAW Studios booth. Co-founder and kind of weirdcool Thomas Jane is scheduled to attend the show as well as a panel on his new SyFy series, The Expanse. The Brad is always a chill dude and RAW usually has guests, comics and art aplenty. Artists turned brands like Alex Ross, Jim Steranko, Frank Frazetta, Art Adams and Jack Kirby were all well represented on the floor. Speaking of artists, I ran into one of my absolute favorites towards the end of the night, one Mike Zeck! Zeck had a stellar run on Captain America in the 80's and was also responsible for some terrific The Punisher action and multiple memorable G.I. Joe covers. I picked up Raw Fury, his art book and told him how his Cap was the one I grew up with. All in, a nice enough guy that I wish I could express what his work meant to me as a comic book reading youth.

Neca always has an awesome display along with Con exclusives. This year you had a Pacific Rim set up joined by mother fudging Arnold in Commando, new Rambo figures and as always, the ever popular Predator. I grabbed their set of mini-figures from the surprisingly short line. Last year Mondo had some exclusive Batman: The Animated Series vinyls up for grabs and this year went Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with mini-metal pins. I grabbed Leonardo, the calm, cool leader who's always ready for a scrap. Lots of comics around going for a couple bucks up to a few grand. Vendors with 50% off graphic novels is always an alluring rat trap but I have enough comics to last me a while...Over by Capcom and Nintendo's video game exhibits I wandered upon Whedonopolis. Great folks I plan to work with in the future.

It was a great start to four days of chaos, walking, reuniting with friends, partying, panels and a diet consisting of turkey, swiss and spinach or bologna sammiches along with Jameson and the occasional pretzel dog. Thursday marks the start of SDCC officially with a multitude of panels on deck for your viewing pleasure. So far my day should consist of Peanuts, Street Fighter, He-Man & G.I. Joe, Jim Lee, movies from 1985 and the 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF MIAMI VICE! See you at the show!

Dolph Days: Keeping Up

"Like none of this shit ever happened? It happened! And it doesn't just go away. 

You just can't walk away, do you hear me?! 

Do you hear me? (holds up necklace made of human ears)"

That's our boy Dolph Lundgren as Sgt. Andrew Scott in the 1992 classic action karate flick from Carolco, Universal Soldier. If you'll recall, Dolph Night at the Egyptian screened two of Mr. Lundgren's most well known works, Unisol and Rocky IV. Come April and Dolph is hitting Australia for a double feature tour featuring the same line up. Fans in Sydney, Melbourne and on the Gold Coast can meet the big Swede and see him on the bigger screen on his week long tour that also includes appearances at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo alongside other genre favorite actors, artists and writers.

For the stateside fans, Dolph popped up on Comedy Central's 90's loving Workaholics as himself looking oh so suave in a blazer, deep v-neck shirt and white pants. Dolph appeared throughout the episode in the forms of a life size standup doing karate and various photos in an obsessed fans computer slideshow. A burning question about Showdown in Little Tokyo ended the episode which also included references to Jean-Claude Van Damme and Unisol. TV viewers may also catch the Iron Man in a new Fox event series based on film series for older cinematic tough guys The Expendables. Details are scarce at the moment besides star Sylvester Stallone producing and hoping to reel in some TV icons of action. I'm not sure why they don't just use Dolph, Terry Crews and Randy Couture's characters as a base then add a guest star or five each episode.

On the film front, a new trailer and a poster for Dolph's passion project Skin Trade hit the web recently showcasing an awesome cast that includes Tony Jaa, Michael Jai White, Peter Weller and Ron Perlman. So that's He-Man, Ong-Bak, Spawn, Robocop and Hellboy all in the same 90 minutes! Inspired by real life human trafficking, Skin follows Dolph's detective as he interferes with a gangster's business then teams up with a Thai cop to exact bloody, high kicking, explosive and bullet riddled revenge. The trailer looks solid with lots of practical stunts, martial arts and a terrific cast. Magnolia releases the film on VOD in late April followed by a theatrical release Friday, May 8th. Horror flick Shark Lake just finished shooting, World War II men on a mission flick with Luke Goss and Mickey Rourke War Pigs is in post-production and a small role in action thriller 4GOT10 alongside Michael Pare, Johnny Messner and Danny Trejo recently wrapped.

If that still weren't enough, Dolph was interviewed for the upcoming The Art of Masters of the Universe coffee table book from Dark Horse hitting shelves on April 15th that will take a deep look at the phenomenon of cartoons, comic books, toys and the live action movie.

Gotta Play! Blipsy Bar

If you've been paying attention you know I have a thing for sky high dining and drinking.  I also have a thing for arcade games.  My mom used to take me to the mall on Saturday's so she could shop, I'd hit up Aladdin's Castle and play stuff like Street Fighter, Final Fight, Avengers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the G.I. Joe run and gun.  With the rise of home gaming, arcades took a tumble in the 2000's and you'd only find machines at a pizza parlor, bowling alley or Dave and Buster's style establishment that blended gaming with food and drinks.  On the rise today are Barcades, where entrepreneurial 30 year olds mix video games and booze so you can relive your childhood.  Eighty-Two in Downtown has had great success in it's short lifetime while Neon Retro just opened up in Pasadena where you can play unlimited games and pinball for a flat fee but no booze. Up-Down in Des Moines is about the best example of a barcade I've encountered as you've got a full bar, 80's and 90's inspired wall paper and games of all kinds for fighting, driving, shooting along with physical attractions like skee-ball and giant Jenga.  Ground Kontrol in Portland is pretty cool too as they had the giant 6 player X-Men along with Alec Baldwin's The Shadow pinball.

I feel like Blipsy's has probably been around for a quite a while though as I came years ago and is far from the clean, shiny and club like Eighty-Two.  Blipy's is basically a dive bar but with video games.  It's small, dark, cramped and hot.  The outside has Pac-Man inspired decor and inside you'll find He-Man and the Masters of the Universe prints and a Christopher Reeve Superman poster on the wall while a big ass Cobra Terror Drome hangs upside down from the ceiling like a chandelier.  There's a quarters machine all the way in the back and it's so dark you can hardly see where to insert your dollar.  Blipsy's sticks to more classic 80's style games like Galaga, Gauntlet, Punch-Out, Rampage and Ms. Pac-Man without a shooting or fighting game in sight.  That's where it loses points for me but hey, it's their theme.  Most games cost a quarter and while I stretched that out on Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man, the joystick didn't work too well for WWF's Superstars as I couldn't select the Ultimate Warrior then got counted out when I was unable to get back in the ring!  Located on Western Avenue just past Beverly Blvd across from a giant Kentucky Fried Chicken, you can totally head down the street a little and hit up some Korean BBQ.  Just take Oxford, it's faster.

The Way We Weren't: Masters of the Universe

Ah, Masters of the Universe.  Starting with action figures and cartoons, into the first movie I ever saw in a theater, He-Man, Skeletor and their supporting casts have long been a part of my pop culture upbringing.  Starting it's syndicated run in 1983, I was too young to have seen the show in it's original broadcast.  New episodes ran through 1985 and it remained in syndicated reruns until 1988.  It must have been sometime in those years that I got to see the after school adventures of super tan and yoked Eternian hero He-Man and his allies fighting the evil forces of ultra buff, blue skinned wizard Skeletor.  I remember having several of the action figures, vehicles and even inherited Castle Grayskull from a neighbor.  One of my earliest memories was watching the He-Man & She-Ra Christmas Special in 1985 followed by my mom taking me to see the Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella starring big-screen adaptation in 1987.  That film, one of Cannon's last major efforts, was beset by financial issues, pressure from the studio and toymaker Mattel and received a less than stellar reaction from critics and moviegoers alike.  While it's enjoyed a cult following for years as a guilty pleasure, I've always openly loved the film's mix of sci-fi, fantasy and action with it's big sets, larger than life characters and the simple message that there's only one of you in the universe. 

Cut to 2014 where every movie has to be based on an existing intellectual property; be it a news article, comic book, toy line, video game, novel, television show or film.  Unlike Hasbro's fellow 80's cartoon/toylines turned hit movies Transformers and G.I. Joe, MOTU has somehow not made the journey back to the big screen following decades worth of cartoons, comic books, video games, toys and the like.  A new, well regarded animated series hit Cartoon Network in 2002 and by 2004, there were rumblings that Hong Kong action maestro John Woo would be bringing He-Man back to the theater with a script from writer/director Adam Rifkin (Small Soldiers, Mouse Hunt) and studio Fox 2000.  Details were mum and by 2008, rumors swirled that Woo had lost enthusiasm, rights reverted back to Mattel who took it to Warner Brothers where super producer Joel Silver and fresh writer Justin Marks were looking to create a Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings trilogy utilizing 300 style CGI backgrounds (barf, f*cking hated 300's look).  I read a draft last week by Marks, a prolific young scribe who has been hired to adapt Masters, fellow 80's cartoon Voltron, DC Comics' Arrow and many more but none have come to fruition besides an awkward update of Street Fighter in 2009.  It's said that Warner Brothers gave Marks' script to several A-List directors, all of whom passed.  Randomly, Kung-Fu Panda co-director John Stevenson became attached, looking to make the jump from animation to live action. The project went away when Silver, Warner Brothers and Mattel didn't see eye to eye on the creative direction.  After reading the draft, I can't say I was too surprised.  The problem with trying to turn everything into a franchise is that it seems no one is focused on making ONE solid film.  Instead, everything has to be stretched out and milked so of course, shit gets boring.

The script I read, if indeed authentic, starts with a cosmic blacksmith crafting two special swords, one of good and one of evil.  Cut to years later and ruler of Eternia King Randor has the good half, his evil brother Keldor has the bad and they battle for control of the land.  Randor hides the sword and when Keldor takes over, the evil power in his blade begins to suck the life out of him.  The land starts to die, people suffer, an underground resistance is formed, blah blah blah.  Randor's teenage son, Adam, goes into hiding and after meeting with a descendent of the ancient Eternian council, The Masters of the Universe, then trains to reclaim the throne.  Teaming up with the resistance made up of former familiar supporters, Adam treks to find Castle Grayskull and the Sorceress, who can help him fulfill the prophecy.  We get franchise friendly faces like Man-At-Arms and Teela then villains Trap-Jaw, Tri-Klops, Beast-Man and Evil-Lyn working for Skeletor.  There's machines, swords, laser guns and the like but it all unfolds in a very ho-hum fashion.  I think the story reached a little wide in it's origin roots so we get hungry villagers revolting, Skeletor being killed by the item that gave him power, Adam walking around the wasteland, etc.  The large scale battle scenes aren't particularly inspiring as Adam doesn't become He-Man until the final pages of the post-Batman Begins, we have to explain EVERYTHING script.  At least in Begins, Batman showed up halfway through.  If you're embarrassed or unsure of how to use your title character, things really have nowhere to go, do they?  It was a fun and corny cartoon about muscle bound warriors and wizards who use technology and magic simultaneously, methinks "reality" shouldn't be the end goal.

In 2009, Columbia Pictures picked up the rights from Mattel and previous drafts were dropped.  Predators screenwriters Alex Litvak and Michael Finch come on board and like others before them, cast off the charm of the original series and want to go "gritty" with no Adam to He-Man transformation, no muscles and actually, no He-Man?!  Uh, ok...because I'm sure every kid wanted a Prince Adam action figure and threw away their He-Man...The project picked up steam as Expendables 2 co-writer Richard Wenk was brought in to do a rewrite and G.I. Joe: Retaliation director John M. Chu was set to direct.  After working on the designs and script in 2013, Chu departed due to scheduling conflicts.  In a bit of coincidental cinematic "coming full circle", Small Soldiers co-writer Terry Rossio (Zorro, Pirates of the Caribbean) is now re-writing the script and another short list of directors is being sought.  Will this film ever be made?  I kind of doubt it.  Seems like everyone is embarrassed by the source material and its simplicity but just want to cash in on the franchises former glory. 

(Save a) Con-Man: Power-Con

One of the great things about living in Southern California is the abundance of conventions.  From the long standing Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention to the five year strong Long Beach Comic Con to newer giants Comikaze and relocated WonderCon to the mecca of all things artistic and fandom, San Diego Comic-Con.  For the last 3 years, a He-Man and She-Ra centric show was kicking ass in Torrance, Power-Con.  I've attended twice and had a blast each year as there's a nice exhibition floor along with fantastic panels and guests.  A very, very well run show with exclusive art prints and tee shirts up for grabs as well as an awesome staff made up of passionate yet professional fans.  By the 3rd year, Power-Con added beloved franchises like Thunder Cats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to help broaden the appeal and I figured they'd add G.I. Joe for 2014's edition.  Then, con-tragedy struck as the organizers of Power-Con announced they were moving to New York this year.  But why?!  Apparently, attendance had peaked in SoCal so after years of clamoring, Power-Con was moving out East to Queens.  It seemed logical as the New York Comic Con brings in over 100,000 attendees and Power-Con would only need to tap into a fraction of that audience to break even.

Unfortunately, pre-sales for Power-Con are not going well and if limits are not met by TODAY then the show faces cancellation.  With so many guests on the west coast, travel expenses have mounted on top of the basic costs of running a show like securing a venue, advertising, etc.  There are only a handful of announced guests thus far so it will be an intimate show with a segment of super fans which makes these things more special as you're all on the same page and not some casual fan taking up space.  So come on New York, if you're at all into the nostalgia and future of He-Man, She-Ra and the rest of the Masters of Universe, buy some tickets.  I had an absolutely wonderful time in my 2 years attending as just about anything He-Man related is up for grabs in the forms of toys, comics, statues, clothing, posters and more from the various toy and cartoon series as well as the live action motion picture starring none other than Dolph Lundgren.  I hope the show meets it's pre-reserves today because it's definitely a show that deserves to be enjoyed.  It's for fans by fans in the best way, not one of those new age shows that's an excuse for "celebs" to make a few bucks charging for photographs and signatures.

You have the power!

(Pre) Con-Man: BotCon

I know I've been busy lately but that's no excuse for me not knowing that a frigging Transformers convention is happening in my backyard this weekend!  That's right, BotCon will be celebrating 30 years of the Robots In Disguise this weekend in Pasadena.  Sponsored by toy giant Hasbro, BotCon is being held at the Convention Center and touts special guests, panels and seminars, an exhibit hall with over 200 tables of merchandise and swag, a film festival, local tours, autographs, contests and much more!  It was a bummer to hear the He-Man and She-Ra centric Power-Con was heading to NY this year but here's another fine toy/animation franchise show to take it's place.  Perusing the site, there will be panels and seminars covering collecting, voice actor spotlight, official updates from Hasbro and I'm sure a sneak peek at the new film hitting theaters next week.  The organizers have done a terrific job of engaging patrons coming from out of town and state as they've arranged group outings to Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios for the Transformers Experience as well as a tour highlighting local Los Angeles landmarks like The Chinese Theatre, Santa Monica Pier and everything inbetween.

Since I wasn't aware of the show, I missed out on special ticket packages that include Convention exclusive toys and swag, early entry and a whole lot more but no biggie, General Admission is available at the door for the low, low price of only $20 bucks!  Looking forward to seeing all the sweet toys, models, merchandise, tee shirts etc of all the greats like Optimus Prime, Jazz, Hot Rod and Wheelie.  I love these genre/brand specific conventions like BotCon, Power-Con and G.I. Joe Con.  BotCon got it's start in 1994 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and has since been held all over the country in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Texas and Florida with international versions popping up in Japan and the United Kingdom!  Recent years have had actors and writers from the cartoon series and live action movies in attendance as well as 1985 soundtrack rock n' rollers Vince DiCola and Stan Bush on deck to play the hits.  So Dare and remember, You Got the Touch!  I want those guys to play my birthday party...

Getting excited now...

Con-Man: Emerald City Comicon

In case you didn't know, Comic/Nerd/Pop Culture Conventions are hot shit.  San Diego Comic-Con welcomed tens of thousands for years before selling out Saturday in 2007.  Since then, it's been a mad rush to be one of the 130,000 attendees.  Local Los Angeles show Comikaze expected 10,000 goers at their inaugural show in 2011 but welcomed 35,000 on it's way to 50,000 attending in 2013.  Not to be outdone, Seattle's Emerald City Comicon has been running strong since 2003 where 2,500 fans showed up.  In 2008, the show moved to the Washington State Convention Center with a crowd of 10,000 and 2013's edition brought in a whopping 60,000 attendees.  The organizers have put together quite an event with Emerald City taking over the entire convention center as well as the local Cinerama movie house hosting flicks/Q&A's then an additional theater for podcasts and more events.  This would be my first year attending but I'd definitely come back again, albeit with much more preparation.

The Convention Center is smack dab in the middle of Downtown Seattle, there's shopping and eating for days nearby.  Things got confusing almost immediately as we didn't prep for the show much and did not realize it would take place over so much of the center.  I didn't see the usual table of flyers and programs nor was there any staff handing them out so I ended up grabbing a discarded one off the top of some cardboard boxes by the trash.  What we came to realize was that the exhibition floor was on one part of the 4th floor, continuing across a bridge to the other side AND on the 3rd floor beneath the North side.  Then all of the celebrity centric panels were on the 6th floor.  Only problem was, there was no direct route to travel between levels.  Escalators marked on the map did not exist in real life so you had to walk across a section, get on an escalator or two then walk somewhere else.  Talking to some veterans, they all let us know that the show had blown up year after year so that lead to some of the confusion.

Show wise, it was great.  A lot of exhibiters with some awesome swag ready for purchase.  Since we were flying, I had to be conscious of my buys since plane space would be a premium.  Besides, we're going to Wonder Con in our backyard soon so I'm pretty sure I can get most of the same stuff.  We ran into artist Tomas Overbai again, whom we met at Comikaze.  He had some new artwork for sale so we bought some postcards featuring Arnold, Nathan Fillion, Robocop and Jean Reno from The Professional.  At another booth I spotted the Thermal Vision Dutch from Predator action figure.  You know, where he's lit up like a rainbow the way a Predator sees him through his mask?  Turns out, the gentleman selling was from Cape and Cowl, a store in Fountain Valley, CA, 5 minutes from my family in Orange County.  We'd seen him at shows and in the store before, it's a sweet spot, check it out.  A few issues of Buckaroo Banzai later and we headed up to the 6th floor to check out the Main Stage where a reading of Empire Strikes Back was in session featuring various voice actors famous for their animated roles.  Next door was also the Celebrity signing area where Michael Biehn, Karl Urban, Ron Perlman, Eliza Dushku, Alan Tudyk and many more were meeting fans.  Expensive ass Richard Dean Anderson didn't have much of a line I saw.

My goal for the day was to secure birthday presents for two of my best friends.  If you're one of them, stop reading right now.  Basically, I hoped to get a sketch from Ed McGuiness but he was all booked up on commissions.  Down the row was former Udon Comics' Street Fighter artist Alvin Lee to save the day.  Lee was super cool and chatted it up with everybody in line while he cranked out full sketches of Dark Phoenix and X-23 with a My Little Pony motif.  Yeah, he didn't get it either and the guy who asked for it didn't know anything about My Little Pony but randomly had an issue of their comic with him.  Don't know what else to say.  While in a perfect world I would have commissioned a piece featuring the Hulk and Doc Samson or Guile and Ryu doing the Predator handshake, Mr. Lee was only doing headshots.  He did throw in a thumbs up for me though as an extra Happy Birthday to my friend.  Across the floor was former Filmation and Masters of the Universe artist Thomas Cook.  I hoped to get a sketch of He-Man for the other gift but Mr. Cook sketches at night and delivers the next day.  I had to settle for a print and birthday greeting.

If 3 show floors, a celebrity signing area and main stage weren't enough, Emerald City also included a Game of Thrones themed art gallery done by artists near and far on the 2nd floor.  Then even more was in the lobby as there was a Lego exhibit featuring renditions of the Batcave, Rivendell and child sized statues of the Avengers among many more.  After nearly 5 hours of checking out the show, we decided to skip out on any panels and hit the streets of Seattle to find some grub and booze.

See ya next year, Emerald City!