Dragon-Con 2009, part 3: Blog Crossover!

The last part of my DragonCon involves a crossover with another blog: Firestorm Fan! I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with the proprietor of the blog and Firestorm fan extraordinaire, the Irredeemable Shag!

Shag and I met up after he'd finished going to the Patrick Stewart panel (an experience he details here). We headed over to the mall food court and grabbed some eats while we chatted and people watched. Somehow, we kept running into people we both knew. In fact, we randomly sat down next to a friend of mine from college. I tell you, thousands of geeks at the con, and you still manage to run into the same people every year :)

Anyway, Shag and I had a great time chatting about all manner of geeky things, including our respective favorite DC heroes. So you all can see how much fun we were having, here's a shot with Shag and I at the mall:
I'm on the right, looking slightly sweaty in my bright green shirt. You'll have to forgive me, but DragonCon takes place in Georgia, in the summer :) Shag is on the left, rocking it out in his Firestorm t-shirt. If only I had been thinking, I would have donned my super-awesome Green Arrow tee!

While chatting, Shag and I found out we had another thing in common (besides our love for relatively obscure DC superheroes, that is): we'd both gotten a head sketch from George Perez that weekend!

Mr. Perez was one of the top tier talents at the show this year, and he was offering quick head sketches of whatever you requested in exchange for a donation to the HERO Initiative. I jumped at the chance, of course! I wanted to get a character Perez would be familiar with, but that would also make good material for the Arrowcave...and the I hit upon an idea. Everyone's favorite archery based Teen Titan, Speedy!


How awesome is that? Way awesome, at least.

I have to say, George Perez is one of the nicest people you will ever encounter in the comic book industry. If you EVER get the chance to meet him, take it. I promise you'll not regret it. In fact, this is how gracious he is:

He was willing to hug a sweaty Adama and then compound his error with photographic evidence! A helluva guy, I tell ya!

Shag, of course, got a sketch of Firestorm. You can check out his sketch, plus his take on our Super-Blog Crossover Event here, at Firestorm Fan.

In fact, he was even kind enough to set up a Green Arrow/Speedy/Firestorm action figure diorama! Be sure the heck it out post haste! (Hopefully he won't mind if I steal the picture!)

Dragon-Con 2009 Con Report, part 2

Hey guys, more pictures, more GA, more fun!

Here we have a slightly shaggy Green Arrow and a Wonder Girl. It is just me, or would this guy also make an awesome Thor?
Another super nifty GA, again from the DC photo shoot I stumbled on. This gentleman was kind enough to pose for me and everything!
This is a costume idea that I would never have come up with on my own: a civil war era Green Arrow and Black Canary! Love it!
And lastly, we have a modern era Black Canary demonstrating her Canary Cry. Luckily, I managed to snap the picture before it could shatter the glass in my camera.

Acquisitions:

Not much this year, honestly. In my current unemployed state, I couldn't afford to go wild like I normally do.

In fact, I didn't pick up any single issues at all! My only comic related purchases were a few Crossgen trades I pulled out of discount bins, namely Sigil vol. 1-3, Scion vol. 4, and The Path vol. 1. So far I've enjoyed everything I've read. I might have to track down the other trades when I find work again!

I also got a sketch from an artist you may have heard of...but that will have to wait until next week :)

Dragon-Con 2009 Con Report, part 1

Hey folks! Sorry it took me so long to get this together, but there was plenty to see, do and report on at the con this year!


In this first section of the con report, I'm putting up a selection of the cool costumes and such that I spotted. Some of these are GA related, and some aren't, but they're all cool!

First up, we have Penance, of Generation X. I love it when people put so much effort into an obscure character!

Next up, we have a pair of Bat-Villains, Two-Face and Poison Ivy! I saw these ladies leaving a huge comic book photo shoot near the con, which you'll see more of below.

I guess there was a French castle nearby that needed invading. Too bad they forgot to climb inside first!

Here we have Diance, Princess of the Amazons, complete with bracers and Lasso of Truth!

Aquaman, King of the Seas took some time off from protecting the Earth's oceans to attend the con. I spotted his arch enemy, Black Manta, later on that day. He had a tattered orange shirt hanging from his trident. Hope poor Arthur's alright...

Black Lightning also made an appearance. I really like this guy's dedication. It had to be 90 degrees outside that day, and you know he had to be sweltering inside that costume!
Here's me and comic art legend George Perez! Mr. Perez was doing quick head sketches in exchange for donations to the HERO Initiative. I'll be posting that sketch soon!
The lovely Zatanna prepares to pull something out of her hat. Yes boys, she is in fact holding a hat :)
Here's me and an amazing Green Arrow! In fact, there were several Green Arrow's at the con. Its always nice to see other GA fans, since we're so few and far between :)
A post-fight Comedian from Watchmen. Who knew that an old brown bathrobe and a smiley face button could make such an awesome superhero costume!

More to come folks!

Dragon*Con Report, Part 1: Pictures

Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get the Con report up, but this weekend was really draining, and your humble correspondent needed time to recover! Tomorrow we'll go over my acquisitions (very few on the comic front, unfortunately) so today we'll focus on the amazing sights that were there to be seen at Dragon*Con.

You can view all the Con pictures here



First off, we have everyone's favorite crazed loner, Rorschach! I especially like the detail of the stained trenchcoat.




Next up we have WWII icon Rosie the Riveter! This was one of my favorite costumes at the whole convention. Not only was it a really neat idea, but it was also extremely well done. The young lady even looks like Rosie!


This...is....DRAGONCON!!!! Here King Leonidas and one of his 300 soldiers form a shield wall, protecting the Exhibit Hall from marauding Persians.


The Superman Family was well represented this year, including this lovely lady dressed as Supergirl, and the young man next to her, dressed as the Connor Kent Superboy.




Tony Stark was out on the town, as usual. Here we have a rare shot of Mr. Stark without a drink in his hand. Look closely for the movie version of Iron Man's chest plate, complete with glowing lights.



This one gave me a nice chuckle. Poor Lego guy, all alone in a world not made of bricks.


Here's another Watchmen costume, this time of retired superhero Nite Owl!



I caught this shot of the nefarious Nazi war criminal Red Skull as he stepped outside for a quick smoke.


Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, along with paramour Maid Marian, made a good showing this year. Unfortunately, it appears that not all the men were Merry at this particular moment.



Thousands of people attend Dragon*Con every year, but I believe this is the first time royalty have shown up. Here we have the King and Queen of the Inhumans, Black Bolt and Medusa! They even brought a little stuffed Lockjaw with them.


Iron Man in all his glory. I guess Mr. Stark managed to find a storage closet to change in...
(Isn't that costume amazing?)


So, we were walking into one of the hotels, and the guy in front of us was nice enough to hold the door open. Well, low and behold, it turned out to be Jerry Doyle, most famous for portraying Mr. Garibaldi on Babylon 5. He stopped to chat for a second. Nice guy!


The villainous Crime Syndicate of America was out in full force at the convention. Unfortunately I only managed to get a quick shot of Johnny Quick.



OOOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEAAHHHHH!!!!!



I'm not sure why Colossus was hanging out by the trash can, but since he was in his armored form, I wasn't about to ask!


The merc with the mouth, Deadpool!


Emma Frost is a lovely, wholesome woman. And I'm not just saying that because she threatened to melt my brain if I said otherwise!



No one did manage to catch the Gingerbread Man that weekend. All we found after this picture was one of his candy gumdrop buttons.



Here we have Hawkgirl, in all her glory, and complete with mace! Luckily she happened to be on the ground briefly, so I could get a picture.


The Bat Family also put in a good showing at the convention this year, with Batman, Batgirl, and Robin all together for a picture.


Psylocke and Black Cat folks. Aren't they lovely?



Here's me and noted supervillain Black Manta. BM was good enough to pose for a picture with me, and he didn't stab me with his trident or anything! This guy's costume was great, complete with voice modulator, light up eyes, and surely attitude.


Where in the world is Carmen SanDiego? Well, this weekend, she was in downtown Atlanta!



Catwoman, complete with whip. Yipes!

There are more, which you can see at the link I posted above, but these are my favorite.