cosplay | Dog Eaters

Comiket — or as they say in English: Comic Market

Posted on 08.14.09 under comiket, cosplay, Uncategorized

We saw how they do it in San Diego. Now we see how they do it in Tokyo. Unlike San Diego, the emphasis is on fan art. It’s 90% fan art, 10% corporate. 90% of the fan art is copyright infringement of existing intellectual properties. They turn your favorite characters into gay lovers or porno. Interestingly, female artists like to draw boys, coupling. They do not identify with their art, they are voyeurs, innocent but … how do you say, “depraved” in a neutral, non-judgmental way?

There are cosplayers, but not to the extent you see in San Diego.
cos_club

I estimate there were 100,000 people on the first day. There were lines to get into lines. We were led in through different doors by very efficient volunteers and the wait was only 45 minutes. Admission is free! Catalogs are 2000 JPY or a little more than $20 USD, though. And you need a catalog to find what you’re looking for. It’s like a telephone book for a city, over 1400 pages in all. Each day, the booths change.
comimarket
catalogpages
Each image on the page is a booth. Each booth is like a cell of a honeycomb. Tokyo Big Sight is comprised of the West Halls, which is an architectural wonder.
bigsite
West Hall and the monorail tracks curving in front.
bigsight1
Frontal view.

And the East Halls, which are huge and sprawling. In terms of participants and viewers, this is a much, much bigger than San Diego Comicon. And yet Comi Ke couldn’t hold our attention for a full day.
easthall2
East Hall with the monorail tracks above.

As mentioned, the fan art is based on IP (intellectual property) which the fan artist does not have the rights to. Their work is an inspired mash-up or rip-off, depending on how you look at it. Yet the owner of the IP does nothing to stop it and even seems to encourage it. Why they would allow a Gundam character to be in a porno is a mystery…
cogito_detail
Detail of cover (you should see the rest): “Cogito, ergo sum.” Artist: Junki Mutoh (female)

Female artists love to depict boys coupling. They will riff on something like “Boondock Saints,” (Willem Dafoe played a gay cross-dresser) and run with that motivation. Here are some examples:
coupling_1
This one is called: “Western Child”
coupling_2
A couple of large posters

delicatezone
Here’s one called, “Delicate Zone.” The small figures are like paper dolls.

jerktrick
This one is called, “Jerk Trick.”

Well, I think you get the idea.

So the female artists are into boys coupling. What are the male artists into? Take a guess. Ummm… well, porno. Corporate imagery is not as explicit but Kotobuki did have these shower curtains.

These go for 8000 JPY or a little more than $80 USD.

Here are some large posters. I think that since about 50,000 people saw them today, it’s okay to show!
pornbanner
Big lines for whatever these people were selling.

pornbanner2
Lot’s of this kind of stuff. And girls draw it as well.

Here are some examples of shopping or swag bags.
bags
bags2
bags3
bags4
bags5
Would you walk down the streets of your home town with bags like these? I thought so!

For those of you who enjoy seeing cosplayers, here are a few images. You’ll notice they don’t hold anything. It is against regulations to have any accessories longer than one foot and absolutely nothing that looks like a weapon. In San Diego, there were so many realistic weapons, it would have been easy for someone to smuggle in a real gun or sword.

Here is one of the Cosplay zones (down below) where you were allowed to take photos.
cosplay_zone
I think there was another zone which probably had better cosplayers, but you can get the idea.

cos_chubba2
She’s cute!

cos_club3
What did you say?

cos_club41
Come closer, please…

cos_clubchubba
Oh, that’s who you wanted to come closer!

cos_crossred
This guy was wearing a padded bra. I think his day job is figure skater…

cos_eyepatch
Sweet couple!

cos_hanged
This character has auto-asphyxiation issues…

cos_redhed2
You are the only one for me!

cos_redhed4
And she doesn’t take, “No,” for an answer!

cos_redweird
Another lovely couple.

cos_muscles
At the end of the day, this character is sure to get better muscle tone because of all the flexing and isometrics he did for the cameras.

cos_whitemini3
She casts a mean spell.

cos_pink
Your standard pink-haired bunny character.

We went by car and were lucky to find parking. Note to self: definitely take the train next time!
3cars
However, we did see these great cars, tricked out in manga motifs in our parking lot.

Here’s the car on the left.
suzuki
The hood.

suzuki2
Side window.

suzuki3
Rear view.

This is the middle car.
silvercar
This one has cushions with a manga motif.

silvercar2
The rear right bumper.

We saw a couple of cars on the road as well.
blackcar
This one was headed for Big Sight.

We slowly overtook this car at about .001 mph in heavy, heavy traffic.
whitecar

It took us about 20 minutes to pass him.
whitecar2
He was in the lane to turn to see the giant, full-size Gundam. That was where we were going, too. But it was just too agonizing.

We skipped it for today and went back over Rainbow Bridge. And you can see Gundam from there.
gundam
He’s just a bit far away. But we’ll catch him later!

Comicon, Day 4 (Sunday, July 26, ’09)

Posted on 07.27.09 under cosplay, San Diego Comicon 2009

Left the hotel at 5:30Am to catch an early flight to LA… Kinda burnt a bit crispy… SD Airport has free wifi, which is very, very nice. However, it’s a bit slow for the amount of images I’m trying to upload.

Here are the last day’s images of Comicon.
sdharbor2
Went the back way (on the “boardwalk”) to the convention center. It’s a nice walk!
strangeco2
Was hoping to get some wholesale Tokidoki’s from Strangeco for the Junie Moon shops in Tokyo, but they were sold out of the ones we wanted. Jim was in a lather, stocking goods. Their booth was the busiest in the toy section of the floor.

strangeco3
Other figures of interest to me:

Kumanogollo was created by Chino and produced by CWC. That’s us!
johnnyk_figs
John Krisfalucci (Ren & Stimpy) had a booth.
angryclobbermunkyking
Munky King had a nice case for Angry Clobber.
corgimonster
This monster loomed over the customers in the lowest brow section.
radicalcomicsfig2
Figure at Radical Comics.
warriorscreativeteam1
The creative team for Warriors, the comic book.
conanbronze
Conan, the bronze. Frank Frazetta.
livingdoll2
Living Doll, middle of three sisters
livingdoll3
Living Doll, youngest of three sisters
madalorian2
Maladorian couple.
silenthillnurses
Silent Hill nurses
steampunk
Steam Punkers
steampunk2
More Steam Punkers
wonderwoman
Don’t ask me silly questions!
wonderwoman1
That’s better!
apressdcc
The walk back to the hotel. And that’s it for the Comicon, 2009!

Comicon, Day 3 (Saturday, July 25, ’09)

Posted on 07.25.09 under cosplay, San Diego Comicon 2009

The day started off with an immediate sighting of a Predator. They hunt in packs (as you know), so I knew that we would be seeing a lot more.
predator01
This particular Predator was passive, but I knew that would quickly change.
predator05
Then another was spotted…
predatorleader
Then the leader materialized.
predators
Right behind him, a pod emerged.
predator02
Then, they attacked a helpless con attendee. The aftermath wasn’t pretty. The janitorial staff was going to have their work cut out for them.
predator04
The Predator, who had been quiescent outside, spotted the girl. To her credit, she wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
predator03
In fact, she seemed more aggressive than him. I heard her whisper sweet nothings into his auditory port.
300
This Spartan had the guns, so he didn’t need his sword.

This warrior also kept his sword sheathed in his codpiece.
redarmorninja
But more powerful weapons were called for. This dude stepped out of the shadows, his gun slung low.
bluewars
A portal from the Star Wars universe opened and a couple of enforcers stepped through.
The public disturbance was snuffed before it had a chance to get too serious.
trooperarrest
But as usual, law enforcement took it one step too far.
terrified
They traumatized a couple of innocent bystanders.
twoguns
These two guns came too late.
2batmans
Doppleganger Batmans
whereswally
The answer to the question of the day: “Where’s Wally?”
vlad
Vlad…
bluehaircleaveage
And his blue-haired sidekick.
Just outside the booth, another gang arrived.

The gang from Crackwood, looking to recruit some actors for the next wacko film.
Who should show up next was…
prisagain
Pris again! This time incarnated as her favorite character from FireFly.
bdcmember
Believe it or not, these two are Black Dog Clan members. But not Dog Eaters!
manicannouncer
These three wanted to be a music group and a TV reporting team and couldn’t decide what to do first.
withhero108
When ever the Hero 108 booth babes were slow and looked lonely, I stimulated interest in them by taking photos with them. Soon photographer would swarm them and they’d be happy again.
In transit to the Namco/Bandai game area to meet Isaac for a bite, I came across…

A voluptuous version of Catwoman, and…
giantforearms
This forest creature with impressive forearms.
Isaac was playing a game somewhere. While waiting for him to show up at the Tekken area, I spotted a couple of:
namcogirls
Namco Girls, and:
namcoagain
Their colleague, who you may recognize from yesterday’s post.
Isaac and I had sandwiches, cokes, and shared a bag of chips from the Cafe Express and I was surprised that the total came to $25!
After eating, I left Isaac to play more games (he had spent all his money on books and all he could do was something for free) and I went back to Independent Publishing.
toffee
Right across from Cafe Express, this booth almost made me lose my lunch. I had a brief conversation with them and the guy gave me attitude. Imagine, a Blythe imitator pretending he knew more about Blythe than I did. Put me in a black mood for about 5 minutes!
aquasomething
This is either Aqua or Iguana-man — or something with a finned Mohawk.
girlsinblack
Two random semi-hotties
greentrek2
I shot an unflattering pict of this green Trekker yesterday and I called out to her: “Second Chance!” She was part of the captain’s chair shoot that people were lined up for but posed for me by herself when I explained the situation. “Why did you post it!” she asked. Umm, well, I’ll post this one, too.
I saw a crowd of people in front of this man.
leonardnimoy
I think he was signing but it seemed that everyone would rather shoot a photo without having to pay for the merch. At least that’s what I did. Spock was happy enough to show emotion, though.
maleghostbustas
Male Ghostbusters.
hewants
I think he was looking for a “Cursed Pirate Girl.”
Came across these Black Dog Clan members from last year.
luckylegendary
Lucky Legendary! They were stoked to see the first 3 issues in color.
2luckies
Two of the Luckies
reaper
A take on the Grim Reaper.
withhero108_2
Getting slow around the booth again.
independentsat12gauge
Across the aisle at 12 Gauge. Looks like there’s something to shotgun.
yugiobatman
Yugio character and his pal.
yugiocharacters
Yugio characters
shadowhedgehog
This Shadow Hedgehog was so endearing, he was on TV twice so far during this Comicon!
swatman
I call him, Swatman. His wings snap open with the yank of a cord!
warriorscreativeteam
Creative Team of Warriors, the comic/graphic novel
I took the Suicide Girl challenge and went to their booth to see what they had to offer.
suicide1
suicide31
Then Stormtrooper Elvis showed up and the crowd went wild!
suicidestormelvis3
suicidestormelvis21
Looks like Stormtrooper Elvis can have his way with any of the Suicide Girls!
suicidegroup
Aren’t they lovely!
On the way back, the always seductive Sideshow Collectibles had a “Moroccan” at the counter.

I wonder if he’s authentic…
Had to stop and take some shots of these dinosaurs.
dino1
dino2
And Felica —
felicia
From Vampire Nights (Japanese title)
orc
Is this Orc from Lord of the Rings?
steampunkroman
Steam Punk with Roman influences?
steampunkglasses
Nice glasses!
redhammer
I call him, Red Hammer!
stuntteam
The Stunt People. These guys are the first ever Black Dog Clansmen ever inducted into the Clan.
Suddenly, in front of the Stunt People’s booth…
samurai
A lacquered-masked samurai!
viking
Some kind of Viking in attack mode.
On the way out…
captainamerica
About to throw his mighty shield.
zombiesupersisaac
zombiesupermal
sdsunset25
And that’s the end of Day 3.

comicon, day 2 (Friday, July 24, ’09)

Posted on 07.24.09 under cosplay, San Diego Comicon 2009

Friday was a larger wave than Thursday, but less defined — like a bit of a mushy swell with an onshore wind. I tried to get a handle on it by taking a trip to Image Comics. On the way I passed Dark Horse.
lovecomics

And saw this on the back of a woman.
backtattoo
And was almost arrested by a pair of Judge Dredds, one male, the other female.
judgedredd
We are the law!
judgedredd2
OK, OK!
mixedsuperheroes
Mixed and matched universe of characters.
mixedsuperheroes2
Another scrambled group…
starwars
And then back through Star Wars territory.
troopercu
But what’s this?
whitebodic
A pretty odd couple…
But then another surprise at the Dabel Brothers booth. Who was this mousy girl?
pris5
Why it’s Pris in yet another of her marvelous manifestations. Truly a chameleon.

Cung Le, undefeated MMA Middleweight Champion was signing his action figure. He is also an action movie star.
cungle
I pitched Dog Eaters to him and his manager and it was interesting to see how their faces closed (his manager was a bit more open). My “thin slice” perception of this was that people were always trying to get a piece of him and use it to their advantage. He’s overcome some incredible odds, so I give him props.

bluelady
Pale blue skin with ears like — mannequin
— this. Sort of…
jacksparrow
he seems to love kids…

At the Props Store of London, an almost museum-like presentation of props
lostarkidol
The idol in the beginning of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
naziskullprop
Skull in Nazi helmet.
vforvendetta
Nothing to this prop. The kind of thing you get at a dollar store.
skullknives
Kinda shiny…
mattelcar
So is this.
twinevil
The glossy version of the evil sisters.
bigheadchara
The Blythe-like proportions of this character caught my eye.
eyepatchblackleather
Low-belted, high-holstered style.
girlninja
Not much of a bicep, but could be deadly in other ways…
greentrek
I’m not responsible for this unflattering shot. I asked for a photo and the assistant told me to get her now before she went on camera. I wonder how she looked then…
feedfear
People react to fear in different ways. One laughs. One is burnt to a crisp. One has no reaction at all.
somekindaswat1
In a dangerous world… Let’s just make it even more dangerous by pointing guns!
glowinghammer
I prefer a magic hammer to a gun. More explosive!
chrisbautista
Took a trip to Artists Alley and bought some art from Chris Bautista. My second piece. Here he critiques (in a nice way) an artist’s portfolio.
supermanbatmanannual
This is from the Superman/Batman Annual 2008.
I also got these pieces:
marvelclassics07
“Aargh!! I am hit” Marvel Classics (Iiliad) 1977
avp_benherrera
This is AVP Issue 4 (undated) by Ben Herrera, a not-so-well-known artist.
legendinmind
I spent some time with this “legend” ( I worked with Stan Lee!), but did not purchase anything.

We left the Convention Center for lunch. Fog had burned off. Nice and sunny.
notghostbusters
Azteca TV — not Ghostbusters.
criminalminds
Heard a murmur in the crowd. That’s the guy from Criminal Minds! Not him, the guy on crutches.
gamelovelies
These two were promoting a game. Both extremely near-sighted…
beefcakesecurity
This guy was wearing a Space Exploration Security Force uniform. Think that’s authentic?
syfyimagine
I hope they really mean this…
clan_5331
Troy Duffy, director of Boondock Saints and the sequel, is a Black Dog Clan member.
garretwang
Garrett Wang, from Star Trek Voyager, is also a Black Dog Clan member.
auntielolita
Auntie Lolita

These Ghostbusters have cleavage!
inker_cops
With the cops in the background, the inker/writer Saleem, kept a low profile…
zombieattack
Always have to be alert for a zombie attack.
pele
She called herself, “Pele.”
sunset1
The San Diego sun at seven-thirty.
hotelview
View from the hotel.
sunset2
Gonna call it a day…

Comicon, Day 1 (thursday, July 23)

Posted on 07.23.09 under cosplay, San Diego Comicon 2009

The line for passes stretches all the way to the water, about 2 NYC avenue blocks. And it’s 8AM…

I believe that height of American civilization peaked 40 yrs ago. I base my premise on: Woodstock, the Apollo Moon landing, and the first Comicon…

comicon_catalog

And not because of military might, although those were also the days of Vietnam… But a gentle reminder of US firepower cruises out to sea early in the morning.

navy
Not sure what class of ship this is. Only one forward gun…

Breakfast was a wonderful place to catch up on the Comicon catalogs and event schedules, but this young man chose to read DOG EATERS, Issue #3.

isaac_reading
His comment: “So thin…” And yet this particular issue took 6 months. What the — ??!!

Our waiter from Ethiopia is now a proud Black Dog Clan member.
clan_392
For more images of clansmen, please visit the Clansmen page.

On our way to the Convention Center, it seemed to me that the cos-players were out early this year, rebounding from last year’s flat first day.
minimarios
Mini-Marios…

Saw these balloons in the sky. Last year, their booth was across the aisle from the Dabel Brothers.
ageofinsects

Saw these 3 lovelies as well…
dominitrix

What was a bit disturbing was that this cop was texting on the job. With all the accidents that have been happening with on-the-job texting, this cop just seemed stupid.
textingonjob
“You’re under arrest! Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law!”

Again the mesmerizing Side Show Collectibles…
ackbar

alienvspredator
Two Aliens vs. one Predator

conan
Pre-governor Arnie as Conan

evangelion_1300
Evangelion, $1300

Stay tuned, Day 1 still not anywhere near finished today’s entry… I’m fading out and it’s only 9:30 PM. Still got jetlag.

Okay, I’m back, it’s 4 AM and I have to finish this entry before the Con starts, today.

More Sideshow Collectibles.
predator
Makes a lovely pet…
grevious
The Force still lingers…
vader
And lingers… Will you never die?!
handgun1
Maybe if I use this…
hellboy2
And recruit my friends…
ironman
But enough about Sideshow Collectibles…
zudaandme
And more about me!
Actually, more about the very interesting people around me.
hero108girls
the girls working the booth next door: Hero 108
artistrow_gabriel
An owner-creator on artist row.
jason
A truly scary dude. This was his inner self coming out.
2inblack
“Come home, darling! I miss you!”
chestscreens
These girls wear their hearts on their sleeves, I mean their video screens over their chest. They actually play movie trailers and are available for rental. The girls come with the screens. Really!
kim3zero
Ran into Kim from 3-Zero. CWC has done a couple of projects with him: Kumanogollo and Runts with Tristan Eaton.
pikachu
Hovering ominously overhead…
pumpkinhead
Notice the air vents in the head?
redblackpirate
A man without his ship. Or his parrot…

making friends and influencing people — RockBand!
More Star Wars…
clonewars
whitebluestormtrooper
darth
Aren’t we getting tired of these guys, yet?
How about if their costumes are more homemade and they strike more intimidating poses?
trooper
troopers2
Okay, still want to do it? Well, then — how about being Padme?
760padme
It will cost you $760 for this costume.
1300obiwan
And almost twice that much — $1300 — to transform into Obi Wan.
Speaking of tranformation, the Hasbro booth and the Transformer display was packed like sardines.
hasbrobooth
hasbro2
transformers
If this robot, designed by James Cameron for “Avatar,” got into the octagon with Bumble Bee, what round is the knockout and by who?
coolrobot
But enough about violence, let’s move on to social issues.
adultswim
A meditation on Capitalism…
adultswim2
And communism!
gentlegiant
Like an anguished composer…

With Glenn Farrington…
glenn
Ex-NYC cop, ex-dot.com millionaire — currently… a screenwriter!

Elephantman: Bladerunner meets Taxi Driver (but looks like an elephant) signing
3200kirby
Original comic art by Jack Kirby: $3200 — and that might be cheap…
Lou Ferrigno lurks in his customary spot. He’s only $25 a shot.
lou
lou2
But he’s still got the guns!
tankgirl
Tank Girl in the flesh.
tankgirl2
And in the vinyl. schoolgirlreaper
These Grim Reapers are kinda cute…
donothire
They warned us not to hire them — so we didn’t. inblack_glasses
We think she might do a better job. And you should see her with her gun!
trooperattack
These guys kept butting in, though…
A coven of vampires. Surprisingly scarce after all the Twilight hype a few months ago.
vampireteethmaker
He’s the leader — and he makes the fang protheses with dental molds. Each one is individually crafted at $55/tooth. Check out his contact lenses.
vampireprothesis
Here’s what they look like. They fit into the roof of your mouth like a retainer.
This is a bit of what you’ll find in the figure area
anatomyfigure
You can study anatomy!
Or check out rotocast vinyl at Super7. Brian Flynn does this when he’s not doing graphic design for Nike.
super7
glitteroooze
Just a few of the limited edition pieces…

You cannot escape the Star Wars universal reality.
slaveleia
I have not seen a more lovely Slave Leia.
yellowblack
Not a Slave Leia, but she’s not bad, either.

There was a Zombie walk through San Diego. They had “professional zombie makeup artists” assisting anyone who wanted to get into character. Here are some of the results.
zombie4
zombie21
zombies3
zombie3
“Maggots, anyone?”
zombiemannequin
She’s just a mannequin who needs a new wardrobe — these are the same clothes she had last year.

Moving on…
gamecharacter
Namco booth
gamecharacter2
I will give you the power…
buttocks
Wait, what does she look like from the front?
buttocks2
That’s what he wanted to know!
What is the significance of these images? I don’t know…
bart
pris2
Do you recognize this girl? You’ve seen her before when she was incognito. Go to the Preview Night post and look at the girl standing next to Derek. It’s Priscilla!
pris
She looks good in costume!
whitedress2
Looks a little dangerous… redblackjestser
But can she tell a joke, make you laugh?
violeteyes
You might not demand that of this girl.
adamimages
I visited with Adam Hughes…
mal_adam1
I stealthily made him a BDC member…
couple2
But not these two… No particular reason I didn’t… Just didn’t.
batgirl
She wears the mask well…
redtwins
They must be twins.
mixedheroes
At the end of the day, they were tired, but Supergirl still had the freshest smile!