Con-Man: Comikaze aka Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con

Los Angeles' homegrown con Comikaze underwent a name change this year to Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con. It was a bit confusing but also made sense and putting the man's branding in the title didn't hurt either. With an estimated 70,000 attendees last year, SLLACC(?) welcomed guests Lee, Rob Liefeld, Alan Tudyk and Mike Colter along with hundreds of vendors and artists over a rainy weekend. After being split up into two halls last year, Comikaze was back in the main hall with the Hot Topic stage anchoring one side where speakers and contests rolled out. Across the floor you had Funko, Loot Crate and Nerdist along with a noticeable presence from Legion M, a crowd funded entertainment outfit dedicated to creating genre friendly content where you could pitch your ideas.

Toys and comics aplenty, I picked up a few graphic novels featuring Captain America Duke from G.I. Joe along with some tee shirts but sadly saw no one hocking old issues of Cinefantastique. We ran into our usual con-rades at their booth selling action figures and talked how nice it was being back in one hall after having to walk back and forth last year. There was a full size Power Loader from Aliens with cast members signing at tables not far away. After the massive success of Deadpool it was no surprise that Rob Liefeld had a huge line while we spotted Casper Van Dien, Lee and Adam West at their respective tables. Nostalgia hit hard seeing some old G.I. Joe vehicles including the massive Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Flagg in a display case. Nerdist had some nifty converted pinball machines via coffee tables that ran several grand. Artist Alley was packed to the gills and we were too late to grab the metallic Funko of Colossus from Hot Topic or the funny Pokemon themed shirt from the merch booth.

Cosplay wise there was lots of Star Wars and a surprising amount of Ghostbusters. Neegan from Walking Dead was EVERYWHERE, including on children which is kinda weird if you think about it. There was one Jack Frost, multiple folks in onesie/kigurumi's and a badass duo in full Spawn and Violator outfits. Makes me want to watch the movie and see if the unrated version is any less clunky than what I saw in theaters in the 90's. All in a fun day downtown and great to have the show all in one area again. It seems like the family business is doing well with crossover nights at Dodger Stadium, movie theaters and dance clubs becoming more and more frequent so here's to next year's Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con proper.

Premiere! Live-Evil

Live-Evil is a little horror comedy flick written and produced by Ari Kirschenbaum. I came into contact with the project after meeting Vladimir Kulich at the Pound of Flesh premiere back in May. We had coffee to do an interview and since then I'm proud to call the big guy from Czechoslovakia a friend. He starred as Sheriff Pete in the indie flick which is now playing at film festivals and conventions, mainly on the east coast. After picking up awards at the North Carolina Film Festival and Scare-A-Con, I figured it was time to get Live-Evil some west coast love. Since it's set at Halloween, Comikaze Expo seemed as good as any place to hold an exclusive screening. It would also be my first convention panel after producing and hosting a half dozen other nights through my Dammaged Goods Presents banner. Kirschenbaum was joined by cast members Kulich, Charlene Amoia, Vincent M. Ward, J. Richey Nash, Carter, Ed Ricker, Frank Saverino and Adam Flores.

Set on Halloween night in a sleepy college town, we meet Deputy Hancock (Amoia) as she takes out a wounded piece of almost roadkill. Things get weird when she investigates a mysterious call from a house in town where she finds dead bodies and a seemingly possessed naked woman. Back at the station isn't any quieter as a random traffic stop has netted Sheriff Pete (Kulich) custody of two of America's most wanted, Mr. Eleven (Ricker) and Twelve (Carter) with a trunk full of money and guns. The naked chick is brought in and brings evil with her, infecting near everyone with their worst fears. Visions of dead fathers, serial killers and more invade the usually calm crew and they set out to figure out what is going on. The two fugitives were retrieving some artifacts for a buyer that has unleashed the supernatural forces on "f*cking Halloween". From there we get zombies, machine guns, bazookas, exorcism chants, shotguns, licking whiskey off a table, shooting locals and much more. Kirschenbaum's script is funny while he gives it a stamp of his own as the film unfolds partially in black and white with visual flourishes of blood, eyes and floating evil stuff. There's plenty of laughs throughout as Deputy Eric (Nash) gets to play scared/dumb, the fugitives bicker and instigate and the college Dean tries to make sense of the situation. The cast all gel quite well and bounce off one another with Kulich getting to play angry, crazy and distraught while Amoia is the calming force among all of the chaos. Tony Todd shows up late in the game as a smoking and drinking preacher while the synth tinged score keeps things going in a John Carpenter way.

After the film I brought up our huge panel to talk the film:

- Kirschenbaum wanted to make a throw back film to the 80's like Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Creeps and George Romero's work.
- Nearly everyone made comment on liking the script.
- Long haired in the film, Ricker and Carter showed up with short cuts and weren't recognized by their co-stars. Had originally gone up for other roles.
- Richey had worked with Kirschenbaum on another film.
- Another actress was cast as Hancock but wasn't providing the physicality the director wanted. Amoia got the call, showed she could throw punches, was on a plane by the weekend and shooting Monday.
- Amoia loved being the central female characters in a cast of tall guys as it was never dull.
- Film was shot in Raleigh, North Carolina over several cold weeks, mostly at night.
- Kulich and Richey spent a lot of time tasting the local bourbon and barbecue.
- We're used to seeing Kulich as a bearded viking, this time he's a bearded Sheriff with a shotgun, Kulich was excited to play an American and turned him into a bit of a good ol' boy.
- Lots of guns in the movie but using each one meant the armorer had to painstakingly inspect and test each one for safety reasons which took up a lot of time.
- This was the first film for Adam Flores who had a great time and is thinking of giving acting a go.
- Cast all loved Kirschenbaum's script and would love to see him given a proper budget.

Of course more was discussed but I don't want to give away too much of the film. We handed out several prizes like signed posters and tee shirts with many a viewer sticking around to meet the panel and ask more questions. While it was Halloween night, it had been a long day and with my mission accomplished, it was time to go home. With a stop at McDonald's first... Check out the official Live-Evil website for all the latest news and I'll keep you updated on further screenings and distribution. Keep itching!

Con-Man: Comikaze 2015

 
After the awards gala Friday night, we had no time to rest on Saturday as it was off to downtown Los Angeles for Comikaze and the west coast premiere of Live-Evil! I would have taken an Uber but we had a bunch of promo stuff to carry and ended up parking in some random, semi-sketchy lot a couple blocks from the convention center. While waiting for a light, we saw none other than JIM LEE strolling by with not a person stopping him. Inside, I'm sure people waited hours get his autograph or shake his hand. I've run into the dude a few times at shows and he comes off as a chill dude you're happy to support. The show was split up a little this year as another event was taking up much of the main exhibit hall. So instead of one giant floor you had one section with the Main Stage and celebs while the West Hall housed Artist Alley and most of your exhibitors hocking comics, swag and the like. I was hoping to grab some comics or old Cinefantastiques but sadly came up short. We ran into several con friends and quickly caught up with Mike from the Raw Studios booth. The Main Stage had awesome guests like Stan and Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane. Walking around the "celeb" side Manu Bennett was not at his booth but Summer Glau had a nice line waiting.

Being Halloween there were tons of people in costume with a few Jack Frosts and John Snows, a handful of Daredevils and a surprising amount of Mad Max: Fury Road group players. It was a while before we saw our first Deadpool but once you see one, there's two more behind them. There was a nice mix of exhibitors selling comics, toys, Funko's and whatnot and I picked up the show exclusive U.S. Agent figure. One thing I noticed was how many frigging monthly subscription box things are out there now. You know like Loot Crate and Marvel Monthly Membership something something... With our panel looming I didn't get to walk the floor as much as I had liked but Comikaze always puts on a good show and happy to see Los Angeles' local show not slowing down.

(Pre)miere: Live-Evil at Comikaze

We're just days away from Halloween and the Comikaze exclusive premiere of Live-Evil! Kick off your haunted evening with an appropriate tale of supernatural evil and zombies on Saturday, October 31st at 5:30 PM in room 515B. It's basically right over the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. So when you go upstairs to the third floor, just go to the right for a while! We'll have trivia, prizes and giveaways like tee shirts and signed posters. The panel has grown immensely as we're joined by writer/director Ari Kirschenbaum, leading man Vladimir Kulich (The 13th Warrior), leading lady Charlene Amoia (How I Met Your Mother), Vincent M. Ward (The Walking Dead), J. Richey Nash, Carter and Ed Ricker. Co-star Tony Todd (Candyman, The Rock) is currently working outside of Los Angeles but recently popped up for a screening at Santa Fe's Dark Frame Film Festival. Admission to the west coast premiere is included in your Comikaze Day Pass for Saturday. It's going to be a fun day as Comikaze is really coming into it's own with tons of screenings, panels, contests and special guests along with the giant exhibit floor and Artist Alley. See you there!

Magnificent Seven Week: Con-Man

After our night out in Downtown Los Angeles Saturday it was right back early Sunday morning for the western and Magnificent Seven themed M7 Con! It's a small show but I had no clue there would be so much going on as we encountered closed streets for the Rock and Roll Marathon then crowds inside attending a Tony Robbins Con. We wandered around the 3rd floor looking for our room but there was no signage or sight of other attendees until one of the organizers and star Eric Close happened to walk by! I walked and talked with Close, a veteran of two of my favorite shows, Seven and Now and Again as well as the long running Without a Trace and now Nashville. Close was incredibly nice as he asked for our names and pronounced mine right on the first try! We briefly chatted Now and Again (it came right after Seven and he needed to get in shape real fast), the new Seven flick starring Denzel Washington (wondering why he didn't get a call) and popping up in American Sniper (has known Clint Eastwood for years, put himself on tape and then found himself flying to Morocco working opposite Bradley Cooper).  Again, super nice guy and seemed genuinely pleased to be there.

We checked in and walked the small dealers room with lots of western gear like jewelry, clothing and playing cards while all of the panels took place in a room next door. It was the most intimate convention experience I've ever had and that was part of it's charm. The show is put on by some hardcore fans so they're to be commended for getting it all set up for a third year running. This was to be the biggest Con to date as 5 of the 7 were scheduled to join, including "Buck Wilmington" Dale Midkiff, "Vin Tanner" Eric Close, "Ezra Standish" Anthony Starke, "J.D. Dunne" Andrew Kavovit and "Nathan Jackson" Rick Worthy along with guest stars Fabiana Udenio and Daren Flam. Sadly Worthy was shooting something in Michigan and couldn't make it. But it was a full day of programming starting with a video chat with a Steve McQueen expert from where I don't know as we came in late due to all the closures. His panel focused mainly on McQueen's run as the star of hit show Wanted: Dead or Alive and he showed off some cool and funny pieces of memorabilia that included playing cards, action figures, dart gun rifles (5 different sized toy replicas were produced), comic books and paper backs. We wandered the huge convention center for a few minutes to scope out where the Live-Evil screening will take place during this week's Comikaze and ended up in the West Hall where another show was in progress, a Mexican Jesus Con! While walking the hallway seeing nuns and exhibitors, an excited gent ran up to ask me where I got my bitching Michael Biehn/"Kyle Reese" Come With Me If You Want To Live shirt and we rapped for a few moments. Already I had chatted with Eric Close and helped spread the Biehn gospel, the day was already a success.

Back to M7 Con we sat in for a writing panel with a screenwriter and author who talked how the Western genre is still lasting today with Bone Tomahawk and Hateful 8. It was interesting as he discussed the Western to be a setting that could be used for many kinds of stories but are tough sells as period pieces are not Hollywood's favorites. Many of the attendees write Mag 7 fan-fiction and the guest discussed basic ways to get their writing out and how to protect their material. Then it was time for the main event, the Q&A panel with the cast. Along with the actors, show developer and producer John Watson joined which was a real treat as he was there from the beginning and helped make the show happen:

- Watson and Pen Densham pitched the show to CBS big cheese Les Moonves after acquiring the rights from producer Walter Mirisch.
- Biehn was first cast member in, originally thought to play Vin before sliding over to leader Chris.
- Ron Perlman was the other star name and told Watson if the show got picked up he wouldn't join them. When he found out pilot was going to series, changed his mind. Was supposed to be replaced by the Confederate soldier who rebels against Kurtwood Smith but Watson had to inform him that he was fired and his character was being killed off.
- Biehn and cast had a lot of input into the show and their characters, Watson could always hear Biehn coming down the hallway with his boots and spurs. Like all good actors, wanted the show to be the best it could and asked for less dialog.
- Never had a writer's room on show, one or two scripts at a time.
- Dale Midkiff had the option to audition for multiple roles but only wanted Buck.
- Midkiff's mustache was a last minute decision, 8/10 men of the period had facial hair yet no one on the cast did.
- Flam auditioned for J.D. but lost out, ended up working as a P.A. on show and guest starred on one episode, stood in for Ron Perlman when the star had to head off for the Alien: Resurrection premiere.
- Flam got tossed around by Michael Biehn for multiple takes during a fight scene.
- Close had done an unpicked up pilot with Watson years before and had a deal with CBS.
- Several of the cast members chose the pilot as their favorite working days on the show as it was new, they were shooting outside Tombstone with a great group of guys. Close, Kavovit and Watson stayed out on location going for runs, exploring the mountains and stargazing while Starke drank with Perlman in hotel bar.
- Close never fired live ammunition from the Mare's Leg as it was not long after Brandon Lee's tragic on set accident so safety was paramount.
- Having 7 heroes meant needing double or triple that many bad guys for fight scenes. Not having to worry about squibs and blood made it easier to shoot the mass melee.
- Starke and many cast members were inspired by Michael Biehn's gun twirling skills in Tombstone. Kavovit could always be seen practicing which became second nature.
- Kavovit still has the guns and a hat.
- Starke nearly passed out in the van getting to set on day he had to dress as a woman complete with a corset. Doesn't understand how women breathe while in them.
- Close calls Magnificent Seven the greatest time he's ever had working in the business.
- Watson was producing TNT movie Buffalo Soldiers with Danny Glover concurrently with Mag 7 and they both shot in same areas. Director of Soldiers was not happy about that and threatened to hurt Watson if 7 interrupted their shoot with noise from gunshots.
- Show was always in flux, disappointed they were only picked up as a mid-season replacement, moved from Friday to Saturdays and back again.
- Show was a hit in ratings but didn't do well in big cities, people weren't talking about the show at parties. Moonves liked the show but was overruled and it was canceled.

After that there was a short meet and greet with the guests where I asked Starke, who I just realized goes by Tony Starke...about his appearance on The Flash back in the 90's. He said it was a great time and he'd love to see the character come back on the new series and has Tweeted it to co-star John Wesley Shipp. Sounds good to me, bring back a modern version of The Nightshade while you're at it. It was a long but fun day, hats off to the organizers, while also totally random with our little western fandom, Rock n' Roller runners, Tony Robbins attendees, Jesus lovers and outside next door at Staples was some kind of wrestling event so WWE fans brandishing fake title belts and yelling about John Cena. Oh L.A., there truly is something for everybody. If I'm doing the math right, M7 Con was our 17th show of the year! See ya at Comikaze!

(Pre)miere: Live-Evil at Comikaze

It's been a wild ride this last year and a half producing events that's seen Dammaged Goods presents at three different theaters around town hosting a multitude of guests from Sheldon Lettich, Dolph Lundgren and Steven de Souza to Carl Weathers, cast and crew from G.I. Joe and Transformers and of course, the recent two day He-Man and She-Ra event that saw no less than five screenings and over a dozen guests. On Saturday, October 31st, I can add comic convention moderator to my list of accomplishments as yours truly will take the stage at Los Angeles' largest comic book and popular culture convention, Comikaze Expo! That's right, I'll be hosting the west coast premiere of Live-Evil exclusive to the Comikaze crowd on Halloween night. Written and directed by Ari Kirschenbaum, this quirky, throwback flick is a mash up of Ghostbusters, Dawn of the Dead and The Twilight Zone. Having been accepted to a half dozen festivals on the east coast and picked up a few awards, Live-Evil stars Vladimir Kulich (The 13th Warrior), Charlene Amoia (How I Met Your Mother), Vincent M. Ward (The Walking Dead), J. Richey Nash (Hitting the Cycle) and Tony Todd (The Rock, Candyman). It's Halloween night in a small college town when supernatural forces are unleashed resulting in walking nightmares and zombies armed with machine guns.

The fun starts at 5:00 PM on Saturday, October 31st with the exclusive screening followed by Q&A with Kirschenbaum, Kulich, Amoia and Nash. Admission is included with your Comikaze Day Pass and stay tuned for location updates when the full schedule is released. This year Comikaze welcomes the likes of Stan Lee, Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Jim Lee, Grant Morrison, Rob Liefeld and many, many more. Get your tix and stay up to date HERE.

Con-Man: October Wind Down

There's only two shows on my convention radar this October, the Twin Galaxies Entertainment Festival starting this Friday, 10.2 through Sunday 10.4 and Comikaze Expo 10.30 - 11.1. Twin Galaxies takes place out in Banning, towards Riverside at the Museum of Pinball, a private gaming facility only open to the public a few times a year. Over 800 retro and modern arcade and pinball machines will be set to free play along with live music, guests, exhibitors, food trucks, tournaments and more! We'll be attending on Friday where freeplay goes from 2:00 PM to Midnight then you've got the Intellivision Decathlon, Pac-Man Tournament, An Hour with designer and programmer Warren Davis, musical performances by Digital Lizards of Doom and DJ Ken and a panel with World Record Holders. A stone's throw from the Morongo Casino and Resort along with a couple of outlet malls should make for a fun weekend of gaming, prime rib, buffets, shopping and The Martian!

On Halloween weekend it's off to Downtown for the 5th annual Comikaze Expo, basically LA's biggest comic book flavored show. Guests of Honor include Stan Lee, Grant Morrison, Elvira, Sam J. Jones, William Shatner, Marc Silvestri and Mike Mignola alongside the likes of Casper van Dien, Walter Koenig, a bunch of Power Rangers and comic book staples such as Norm Rapmund, Arthur Adams, Livio Ramondelli and Tim Bradstreet. Attendance had steadily risen from a solid 35,000 attendees in 2011 to an estimated 65,000 in 2014. The exhibition floor and Artist Alley are always quite large here then you've got a couple dozen food trucks outside. You're also only a few steps from LA Live if you need to catch a flick or some Yard House to rest up.

Here's hoping Twin Galaxies has Alien VS Predator or G.I. Joe and I can find some collected Judge Dredd at Comikaze, see you at the shows!

Con-Man: Summer Swell

It's been months since I've been to a convention, months! July is going to be a Kaiju near double event with two of the biggest shows around coming in hot and in a row. Anime Expo takes over Downtown, Los Angeles July 4th Weekend while San Diego Comic-Con International starts on Thursday, the 9th. Then a new, smaller show has popped onto my radar, August's Central Coast Comic-Con on the 28th-30th before the last show of the summer, The Long Beach Comic Con September 12th and 13th, phew!

My inbox has been inundated with guest, event and press releases regarding movie premieres, new apps, products, cartoons, toys and interview opportunities for 2015's Anime Expo. It was also announced that organizer SPJA - The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, has signed a five year contract to stay in Los Angeles. AX has brought in 100,000 plus attendees and exhibitors for years and 2015's show is projected to bring in 280,000! With nearly 300 exhibitors representing gaming, fashion, toys, music, film, animation and a whole lot more, AX brings in an estimated $55 million bucks into the city during it's 4-day stay. This will be my first year attending in earnest as last year was more of a taster or lookie loo if you will. I only spent a few hours walking around but got a feel for the vibe, attendees and offerings. Basically, a whole lotta cosplay and Japanese culture. Panels run the gamut of how to survive your first con, music, karaoke, new and old anime screenings, fandom, audio mixing, e and board gaming, tips on moving to Japan, voice actor studio and much more. Recognizable brands like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Naruto, Ultraman, Robotech and Cowboy Bebop will be well with premieres and screenings. There are multiple separate ticketed events going on like the Maid Cafe, an interactive experience of dances, music performances, photo ops and more or late night Fate/Stay Night Special with screening, Q&A and a concert. Gonna get weird, gonna get crazy, gonna be weirdcrazy!

The following week is the big one, the mecca of all things popular culture, the one, the only, mother fudging San Diego Comic-Con! Comikaze, New York, Salt Lake, any Wizard World show? Children.  Amateurs in comparison. No other show gives you face value like SDCC. Your ticket gets you into the convention, exhibit hall and programming. No Gold or VIP upcharges here. No major plugging to plop down $50 bones for a photo or autograph. Heck, you don't even need a badge as there's plenty of art shows, fan gatherings, movie screenings, parties, Q&A's, concerts and the like going on outside the hall in the streets of downtown San Diego. In a first, late night TV host Conan O'Brien will be hosting four shows from a local theater and moderating a panel. In a probable other first, San Diego Comic Con is banning selfie sticks, GoPro poles, Google Glasses, streaming, e-cigarettes and drones! Good, it's hard enough walking around when a million people stop dead in their tracks in the middle of an aisle or stop to take photos of cosplayers. If anything, SDCC could pioneer small areas between booths for photos so traffic isn't as impacted.

In another step towards weeding out casual fans only looking for famous faces, SDCC has made news over which Hollywood studios would be sitting out this year. Once a part of press junkets, high profile Con flicks turned box office flops like Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Green Lantern, Cowboys and Aliens and Ender's Game have cooled studio presence. This year Marvel, Sony and Paramount are all sitting out as they lack product to promote. Plus, Marvel doesn't need Con anymore, they've got their own events at Disney owned theaters and shows like the El Capitan and D23 Expo. Lionsgate will be back with the final installment of The Hunger Games after bypassing a panel for Mocking Jay Chapter I and The Expendables III. SyFy network has an abundance of screenings and panels lined up with the Thomas Jane starring The Expanse getting an early screening a full 5 months before it's broadcast debut in December. The King of WeirdCool is scheduled to attend. In recent years television has made up for the lack of movies and this year will be no different. Game of Thrones, Agent Carter, The Flash and The Walking Dead are all lined up for panels, some of them in the 6,000 plus capacity of Hall H.

Then of course there's a whole side of the convention center dedicated to comics, artists, toys and swag. Dogs big and small like Marvel, DC, Top Cow, Dark Horse, BOOM!, DelRey, IDW and so many more will be on site. Artists and writers like Stan Lee, Jim Lee, Humberto Ramos, Jeff Smith, Jim Steranko and William Stout are among the dozens of already announced special guests not even including the hundreds filling up Artist Alley. I'll be looking to fill in some gaps in my growing Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commando's collection as I've just about tapped out on Terminator, Big Trouble In Little China, Aliens, Rocketeer and Captain America toys and trinkets. It's gonna be mad. It's gonna be fantastic. Embrace it! See you in San Diego!

Con-Man Double Event: CalComicCon w/ Frank & Son

Sunday funday as we ventured east first to Yorba Linda for the California Comic Con before heading up to the City of Industry for weekly staple Frank & Son Collectible Show.  In this day and age of over hyped and over crowded cons with social media presence, CalComicCon is like taking a step back in time or maybe shopping at the farmer's market of comic book conventions.  Unlike say Comikaze, Wizard World or Salt Lake that tout celebrity guests, charge you to wait in line less and then push you to pay your favorite celebs $40 bucks to sign something for you, CCC is all about the comic books.  Is it small?  Yes.  Is it a nice change of pace?  Double yes.  Yorba Linda is a picturesque sprawl of suburbia with strip malls and greenery off the 57 and 91 freeways in Orange County.  The Community Center is just a few minutes off the 57 and is where CCC has called home since at least 2007.  With only comic book centric Marv Wolfman and Thomas Yeates as invited guests, this show isn't for casual fans; it's for comic book readers and collectors.

Walking up, the atmosphere was warm and inviting with a hot dog/taco stand outside, vendors on the patio selling .50 cent issues and a very friendly staff that welcomed us and explained the set up.  Parking was free with a $10 admission.  You got a raffle ticket upon entry and there were drawings every hour.  The show was being held in two separate rooms and on the patio.  While you could walk the space in just a few minutes, every vendor and table was full of books, comics, graphic novels and novels to flip through.  High end ones in the plastic cases and graded to 50% off trades and of course the .50 boxes outside.  I was only too pumped to grab a stack of 1980's Avengers comics along with a handful of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.  The seller told me I missed out as this was the last of his Sgt. Fury collection, drat!  From another table I picked up movie novelization of James Cameron and Gale Ann Hurd's The Terminator!  Now I get to see how Reese, the T-800 and Sarah Connor play out in print.  Being a small show, we only spent about an hour there but were very satisfied with our haul.  Now it was off to the City of Industry for Frank & Son...

Only 15 minutes up the 57, Frank & Son Collectible Show has it's own warehouse in an industrial complex near Walnut. Parking is free with two lots and street available.  No fee to get in either.  Usually the show only runs on Wednesday and Saturday but extended to Sunday this week as Stan "The Man" Lee was special guest.  I haven't been here in years and was very surprised to see how Con like this show was without the Con.  It was just rows and rows of stalls and vendors hocking toys, video games, cards, knives and trinkets.  All those booths you check out at conventions outside Artist Alley at any other show, that's this place, all the time!  While there were toys, toys and more toys to check out, I was surprised at the lack of comic books for sale.  There were a handful of big spreads selling issues new and old but I just didn't feel like skimming through boxes of unorganized comics hoping to find a gem.  I recognized several vendors from shows around town and everyone was very chill and polite.  A couple were a little overzealous in trying to sell stuff when all I wanted to do was see what they had but ah well.  Then we randomly started chatting with a vendor who ended up being writer and author Pat Jankiewicz.  Nice guy and a fellow #MovieBro, we rapped about flicks, actors and our favorite conventions. 

Seems like the Big Trouble In Little China Funko's haven't shipped yet so I had to be contented with picking up a Rocketeer ReAction figure along with a Funko mini-mystery figure where helmeted Cliff Secord runs 1 out of 72 and was already fetching a $50 price tag.  For $7 bucks, my luck held steady and I pulled out a 1 out of 12 Robocop. There's an exhibition hall in the middle where guests sign.  Frank & Son have a variety of actors and athletes come through for special events, reunions, etc.  Towards the back was a gaming and tournament area as well as a discount household goods store(?!) selling clothes, tools and supplies.  Going strong since 1988, Frank & Son is definitely the place to come to pick up your favorite swag but I think it's more fun to do that at in a convention setting where you can walk the floor, take in a panel, go back, etc.

That's all the Cons I got for January, see you in February for Long Beach!

Con-Man: 2014 Wrap Up

It was a fun year of attending conventions this 2014 as we hit up no less than 9 shows in California, Utah, Washington and Calgary.  It will be pretty quiet around Southern California until February when the Long Beach Comic Expo returns for their one of two annual shows.  Let's take a look back at the year shall we?

March. Emerald City Comicon - This was our first year attending but I enjoy Seattle so it was nice to hit the town, see some friends and check out the show.  It's a big one, encapsulating nearly every floor and cranny of the giant downtown convention center on two sides of the street.  A huge exhibition floor along with a media area for panels and autographs, Lego display, Game of Thrones art gallery and much more kept us busy even if it was a little confusing to get around.  Off site theaters hosted podcasts and special screenings of fan favorites with cast in attendance.  People were very nice and our hotel rate was very swank with a nice con discount too boot.  A little sight seeing at the Pike, some sky high drinks at Rview (since closed) and lots and lots of rain.  We're going back in 2015 so that about sums it up.  Oh yeah, Michael Biehn and his wife Jennifer Blanc were on our flight up so that was cool.

April. Wonder Con - San Diego's sister show in Anaheim is always a blast, tickets are easy to come by and it's a large event stacked with programming.  We opted for a different hotel this year to ensure we had a refrigerator but boy was it not worth it as the place was kind of a dump. Better to stay at the connected Hilton and bring a cooler.  Unlike Emerald City, lots of great panels here about comics, writing, art, movie and television with guests like Bill Paxton and Jim Lee charming and educating the pants off us.  Really looking forward to this one again.

April. Calgary Expo - Another first for us and our inaugural trip outside the country for a convention.  Our plane was filled with guests for the show including Ricco Ross from Aliens.  Calgary was super weird in the sense that I had no idea it was so into oil and cowboy stuff so stetsons and big trucks were everywhere.  A beautiful city filled with polite folks, I was surprised at how bland the food was in Chinatown, at pubs and high end restaurants.  The show was held at a giant rodeo complex and was spread out over several structures of essentially a fairgrounds.  Access was not easy in and out so we stayed the entire day before going to a nighttime panel.  CE corralled cast and crew of The Hobbit films for a night of improv, story telling and demonstrations of fight choreography and make up.  The next night the entire main cast of Aliens was reunited on stage to discuss making a classic and reminding us that Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton should have a sitcom together.  A fun show but we don't have plans to return this year.  If you go, send me some dark chocolate Kit Kats because they are amazing and made from real chocolate.

June. BotCon - Held in gorgeous and idyllic downtown Pasadena, BotCon was one of the most interesting shows we attended this year as it wasn't about the all encompassing Popular/Nerd Culture but simply about The Transformers and their legacy of toys, comics, art and cartoons.  Just crowded enough with lots of exhibitors with all kinds of goodies for sale as well as voice actors from the shows and mother fucking rock and roller Stan Bush.  I actually kind of froze up when I saw him as his music has influenced my life for about 20 years.  Since BotCon changes locations every year, organizers set up tours of Los Angeles attendees could go on culminating in an awards show and concert.  The panel featuring voice actors was hilarious and inspirational.  I'd love to attend again if they come back to Southern California.

July. Anime Expo - Our first introduction to the wild and wooly world of Japanese animation was a doozy as the show packed in over 100,000 attendees in Downtown Los Angeles on a sweltering weekend.  Tickets sold out but there was free admission to the exhibit hall nightly.  It wasn't that different than a comic-con as anime is always a big factor at shows.  It was a nice warm up for San Diego as the place was so packed and B.O. was in the air.  A photographer friend took us around and showed us the cosplay backdrop area where costumed folks could pose in pre-made environments which was a unique touch.  Would definitely like to attend this year.  Better get back to Samurai Champloo and Attack on Titan...

July. San Diego Comic Con - The mother lode.  The mecca.  The place you lose yourself and find yourself, Patrick Swayze style.  From rooftop parties, reconnecting with old colleagues, walking the gigantic floor, hunting down exclusive swag (hello Expendables 3 poster and Batman Animated Series vinyl!), checking out six panels in a row, meeting Ernie Reyes, Jr., eating crappy convention center pizza and hot dogs, walking straight into Hall H and not camping out like a loon, volunteering at 6:00 AM, meeting a future moviebro, sky high dranking, it's just the best way to spend a few days.  Tickets and condo for next year already secured.

September. Salt Lake Comic Con.  Another first for a show and city.  Lines were out the door and just picking up badges was a fucking fiasco.  Really unimpressed with their organization after touting themselves as a challenger to San Diego, etc.  The actual show was fun, not a huge exhibition floor but big and varied enough to make for a nice half day of checking out.  Lots and lots of money gouging I mean autographs and photo opportunities for sale at this one so programming was pretty light.  Arcade set up was a nice touch and we met Danny Glover, who was awesome.  Salt Lake itself was quaint but weird, surprising amount of people living on the streets, built up and fancy one block, falling apart the next, bland food from a couple spots, we checked out a state liquor store and the surrounding area really seemed to be supporting the con which was cool.  They think they're as good a show as San Diego, they're not.  Would maybe come back in a few years once it builds up and gets organized.

September. Long Beach Comic Con -  Always a nice day out in Long Beach with easy access, a decent floor, okay programming and places to hang and check out across the street.  Feels like it used to be bigger with more going on but perhaps has plateaued and maybe on it's way down?  I hope I'm wrong and we'll be there for the next show.

November. Comikaze - Like Salt Lake, flaunts it's celebrity guests and show for fans by fans, grassroots sensibility.  Also like SL, feels the need to compare themselves to San Diego when they're not even in the same league.  Regressed from last year as entry took way longer than it should have considering it wasn't that crowded.  But as usual a nice sized floor, fun guests and light on programming. 

Sadly, we missed out on this year's inaugural Comics Arts Los Angeles show, hopefully it went well and a future event is in the works.  Also sad was He-Man and She-Ra centric attraction Power-Con attempted to move to New York from Torrance in an effort to expand it's audience but failed to sell enough tickets and had to cancel...This year sees Star Wars Celebration hitting Anaheim in April, a first for me and another notch on the ol' convention belt.  See ya at the show!

Con-Man: Comikaze 2014

Downtown Los Angeles was bumping this weekend with not only the premiere hometown Comics and Pop Culture convention Comikaze taking place over three days but new addition Hello Kitty Con kicked off Wednesday night.  Throw in Danny Elfman at the Nokia next door along with the plethora of usual goings on in Downtown and the strange renaissance/gentrification/hipstering of America's last remaining Skid Row continues.

Comikaze started at 9:00 AM Saturday morning so I figured a 10:00 AM arrival would equal an easily accessible convention.  I was wrong, a huge line wrapped around the convention center for peeps who had already bought their tickets but just needed to pick up their badges.  Once we actually got in, I was confused and annoyed to see no less than a dozen staff members waving signs for badge pick up as no one was in line.  Are we throttling crowds here or something?  It wasn't that hopping in the lobby yet and the floor wasn't bad either.  Not sure if it's just me but it seemed like there were less exhibitors this year so we more or less covered the floor looking at swag, comics and random cool stuff then making our way over to the main stage for a few of the presentations.  Right away, a dude from Food Network and company presented Stan Lee with a huge, Hulk statue of a cake then throughout the day Rob Liefeld along with cast members from Game of Thrones and True Blood took to the stage to talk shop.  Again, this is a nice idea but standing in a crowd of people for more than 20 minutes gets annoying as the sound isn't great, people don't fill in gaps then wave their arms around not minding their surroundings and being on your feet all day gets tiring.  Moderation wasn't great either as one host talked way too much about her opinion while another had no flow whatsoever and cut to some really awkward, in your face camera phone questions.

Purveyors of the video games you grew up with continue to grow at these shows, lots of them from Texas!  Apparently there's a physical museum in Frisco, a non-profit that preserves and archives video games along with it's inherent art, design, press and whatnot.  It's a trip to see N64's, Super Nintendos, Sega Genesis' and their cartridges for sale, don't we all have those in a box in the basement our mom threw out?  Funko Pop figures are still everywhere with just about every character you can imagine and I picked up a show exclusive of Captain America aka Steve Rogers in costume but without his mask. 

Speaking of Captain America, I still didn't find issue #14 from his current run returning from Dimension Z but I did pick up a stack of great mid-80's adventures by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary with some covers by Mike Zeck and John Bryne where Cap teams up with the likes of Hawkeye and D-Man to battle Super Patriot, Whirlwind, MODAK, Blue Streak, The Scourge and may others while riding around America on his motorcycle.  Sure I already have these in a box somewhere in Ohio but at .50 a pop, I just couldn't pass up the chance to revisit these great adventures.  Cap firing off with an Uzi on the cover of #321 is reason enough to grab a 2nd copy.  I don't tend to buy many comics in stores these days since I don't read anything regularly and you can usually find great deals at shows.  Take for instance the Frank Miller and Walter Simonson Robocop VS The Terminator series, I've been kicking the tires online and saw a collected edition at my local shop recently but picked up the single issues for cheap at the show.  Was nice to see Mile High Comics set up as I know their physical sales have gone down while online numbers have skyrocketed.

Around the floor you also had set ups for Stan Lee's Museum, Elvira's Spooky something or other, replicas of the Back to the Future Delorean, K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, a smaller set up from Stan Winston's Studio than last year, some other costume and prop shops and a full row of Marvel guys like Cap, Thor, Iron Man and The Hulk from the movies.  Cosplay wise I was surprised to only see one female Loki as that's been a popular choice of late.  Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians was represented and strangely, Elliott from E.T. i.e. dudes wearing hoodies with fake bicycle baskets and handle bars attached to their stomach with the alien sticking out.  Points for creativity for sure.  Lots of guys from Call of Duty and one confirmed Jack Burton sighting.  Food wise, the convention center was surrounded by food trucks but all touted long lines.  Inside was worse as hot items like burgers, hot dogs and tacos were being slung out from single lines at all locations making for huge queues and waiting times.

To wrap up the day we checked out our only panel in a panel room, The Death of Superman Lives, What Happened?  I've been following John Schnep's quest to uncover what became of Tim Burton's big budget take on Superman in the mid-90's that was to star Nicolas Cage and had early drafts written by Kevin Smith then polished by J.J. Abrams and Nightcrawler's Dan Gilroy among others.  Thinking it would take about 8 months to craft a documentary, Schnep and crew are entering month eighteen.  It started late as Kevin Smith ran long, shocker, but the now non-bearded, non-sugar eating icon of movies, film and podcasts introduced the panel as the only real information the public had on Supes was from Smith's rant during a Q&A session years ago.  Smith talked about the feeling of failure from the dismal performance of Mallrats and being shit canned from Superman Lives once Tim Burton came on board.  Dogma co-star Chris Rock was to play Jimmy Olson while they couldn't film in certain parts of Pittsburgh due to them being earmarked for Superman shooting that never occurred.

Schnepp took the stage and explained the genesis of the piece, how he'd save every photo or article about the film then after a production video surfaced of a costume test surfaced on YouTube, the director decided to just go for it.  He's now interviewed most every major talent involved from director Tim Burton to the costume designer and special effects crew to concept artists and of course, writer Kevin Smith.  It looks like it's going be very cool and in depth as they screened an extended clip talking about a light up suit that was to be used for a 2 minute, rebirth/regeneration sequence where the beat to death Superman is brought back to life in an incubation chamber of wondrous technological and alien power.  Schnepp plans to release the film in early 2015 at cons like Emerald City, Wonder Con and of course, San Diego.

Overall a fun day at Comikaze but part of me feels like I'm getting too old for this shit between the crowds, lines and blah blah blah.  Maybe I'll just stick with Wonder Con and San Diego as the hassle is more than worth the experience.  Until then, it's Comics Arts Los Angeles then Phoenix Comicon next!

(Pre) Con-Man: Comikaze 2014

Los Angeles' biggest comic book and pop culture convention returns to downtown this weekend as family spun Comikaze celebrates it's 4th year in existence.  We've attended every year and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  Last year welcomed some 55,000 attendees over 3 days and I'm sure 2014 will match or explosively exceed that figure.  Teaming up with Mistress of the Dark Elvira and Stan "The Man" Lee, Comikaze is your typical new age show with media guests, autograph and photo ops, writers and artists, exhibitors and Artist Alley.  Comikaze does things a little differently on the programming side as they tout their most popular guests on a main stage on the floor.  While it's cool that everyone can participate and view, it's also awkward and uncomfortable to stand for 20-30 minutes.  Like any show based on selling autographs, Comikaze is offering VIP packages to get a little more up close and personal with guests from television shows like Arrow, Serenity and Game of Thrones.

Comics wise you've got some big names attending like Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Mark Silvestri, John Romita, Jr., Brian Michael Bendis, Peter David, J Scott Campbell, Whilce Portacio and Len Wein.  Media guests you're looking at Kevin Smith, Adam West, James Hong, Kevin Conroy and peeps from True Blood and GOT.  I'm actually a little surprised at how low-watt the media guest list is, considering this is Los Angeles but I'm guessing it's a little more special and lucrative to go somewhere where you won't see a familiar actor on a day to day basis like in Iowa or Oklahoma.  Comikaze is known for reuniting casts from your favorite shows and in years past have welcomed Salute Your Shorts, All That and Pete & Pete.  This edition it's a Mad TV celebration along with 1966's Batman.  Programming wise, again, I'm a little surprised at how many fan run panels there will be instead of the actual people involved in the comic, show or movie we're all there to talk about but hey, it's their expo.  Outside the show there's a cosplay after party and a Tetris, 30th anniversary thing where participants can pay to dress in a Tetris piece outfit and create a real life version of the game? 

Con-Man: Long Beach Comic Con 2014

It's been a busy week getting back to regular life with a late night screening of The Equalizer on Thursday, Nightcrawler at Beyond Fest Friday then Long Beach Comic Con Saturday.  Doing the Damme thing since 2009, LBCC has expanded into two shows annually, a smaller show in May and a bigger one in September/October.  While Long Beach was one of my favorite shows behind San Diego Comic Con, recent events seem to have peaked in terms of exhibition floor, guests and panels.  While Southern California doesn't have too many competing comic book focused conventions per se, the rise of Wonder Con Anaheim, Comikaze downtown and the like make me wonder if Long Beach isn't at risk of being passed by.

The good is still the good.  Long Beach is a quick jaunt down the 405 from Los Angeles, parking is ample and the surrounding Pike contains a glut of outside attractions in the forms of restaurants, bars, a $1 book store, movie theater and the Queen Mary village.  The convention center is beautiful and spacious but in past years where movie replica cars and food trucks lined up outside, nary an outdoor attraction was present this year.  Inside, there was a decent sized crowd of attendees and cosplayers and the floor in Exhibit Hall C was filled if not packed.  Vendor wise I ended up grabbing some random issues of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and Captain America, trades of collected The Phantom newspaper strips and some Walt Simonson Thor.  Funko figures were everywhere and there was a decent amount of vendors selling comics new and old.  I even spotted a first, Miami Vice action figures!  So great to see Crockett and Tubbs in plastic form. 

Long Beach Comic Con staple RAW Studios had a sizable booth set up with artists Tim Bradstreet and William Stout as well as X-Files spinoff Lone Gunmen star Dean Haglund.  Bradstreet had some wicked The Shadow prints for sale and we chatted for a few minutes with Mr. Stout who had just returned from Austin's inaugural MondoCon.  As always, he's a cool guy but I wish he had some artwork from the Masters of the Universe film with him.  Last year we met Lance Henriksen at the booth who was awesome and in years past co-owner Thomas Jane would be hanging out.  Without either of their mainstream name and face recognition present, it was pretty quiet around the table.  Elsewhere on the floor you had comic dynamos like Mark Silvestri, Jimmy Palmiotti, Len Wein and James O'Barr meeting the fans but overall, guest wattage was a little low this year.

Panel wise there was plenty to choose from ranging from cosplay to drawing lessons to character and artist/writer spotlights but nothing really jumped out at us, sadly.  Instead we took to the Pike and hit up the $1 bookstore where I continued my The Phantom theme and grabbed the movie tie-in novelization for the 1996 swashbuckler starring Billy Zane and the WWII set The Monuments Men.  Next door at the Auld Dubliner a friend met up with us for a few Dublin Donkeys, Jameson and Ginger Beer with lime in a copper cup.  Sound familiar?  I just had a weekend theme of Moscow Mule's last week which just had vodka instead.  Two of those bad boys and I was feeling good.  The bacon and cheddar topped tator tots and Shepherd's Pie were delicious as well.  Saying our goodbyes to my former co-worker, we headed back to the show and did a final lap, flipping through some more comic boxes, checking out action figures and more of artist alley. 

On my way out I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic for Long Beach Comic Cons past where RAW Studios held film screenings and Thomas Jane sat in front of my friends and I for The Mist.  Or the spectacle of the Zombie March that I believe set some kind of record with a few thousand participants.  Panels with William Stout, Iron Man 3's Shane Black and Seth Green for Robot Chicken were sorely missed for their insight, inspiration and laughs.  I know LBCC has been competing with Comikaze in the last couple of years for dates and then new kid on the block were in Long Beach advertising, now that they've established themselves as a force on the con circuit, I hope they haven't tied up all the guests and exhibiters because we need more cons, not less.  But I can appreciate Long Beach keeping the focus on comics, artists and writers instead of just hocking paid opportunities to interact with celebrities.

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!