San Diego Comicon 2008

Back In Tokyo, musing about Maui…

Posted on 08.18.08 under San Diego Comicon 2008

August 8, 2008

Is 08/08/08 an auspicious date? Sure why not. Safely back in Tokyo after a sixteen day trip. Five intense days at San Diego Comic-con, eight more-or-less leisurely days of family reunion/80th birthday party in Maui. Nothing especially interesting about other people’s family reunions. However, you might be interested in seeing the Lukas, the family acrobat, walk on his hands. He can also juggle. We think he may run away to the circus someday. Disclaimer/cautionary note: you may get a stiff neck watching this.
lukas_handwalks
Lukas is on the right. We’re going to bill him as a five-year-old. Hey the Chinese Olympic committee does it! Brian is on the left. His Drunken Monkey style is pretty good. He managed to snatch the pebble from my hand…

The highlight of this birthday party/family reunion was the fantastic hula performance by the Kanoeau Dance Academy.
Live music by Auntie Ke’ala Kukona backed by Leia on stand-up bass and Kimo on acoustic guitar — singing sweet harmonies. Some very young dancers prepare in the wings.

Here are some of the dancers posing with the family.

A few random sights of Maui. From 200 Leilani Dr, Wailuku, a view of a cruise ship in Kahului Harbor.

This is an attempt to make a living environmental art piece out of a fallen macadamia nut tree. Mac trees are like weeds — even if you cut them down, they’ll grow right back. This tree blew down in a storm half a year ago and it was still as green as the rest of the trees around it. We gave it a major pruning then lifted it off the ground and propped it up. Check back in a couple of months to see how this piece progresses.

Uncle Rob and Dustin stand proudly next to “Tribute to Dali.”

Another random thought: my red eye. At the birthday party, I started recruiting new Black Dog Clan members. I got wound up again, probably raising my blood pressure, and my red eye (which had been in remission) came back. I’m starting to think that this is going to a chronic condition for the rest of my life. Or as long as DOG EATERS is in my life.

I guess I should throw in a couple of gratuitous shots of “beautiful” Maui.
The view from the condo lanai.

From Maalaea, off in the distance, Molokini…

A couple of sunset shots…

Aloha!

San Diego Comicon wrap up and the flight to Maui

Posted on 08.18.08 under cosplay, San Diego Comicon 2008, San Diego Comicon 2009

July 28

Got to bed at 2 AM and was sleeping deeply when the alarm went off at 6 AM. I guess the five days of Comicon were stressful (although it didn’t seem that way or I else I don’t want to admit it) as I was finally able to sleep deeply after it was over. I also had a big red spot in my eye from a burst blood vessel the whole time I was in San Diego which immediately started to go away on Monday after SDCC was over. It started in the San Francisco airport where I had to fight to get priority standby to San Diego so we wouldn’t miss Preview Night and it just kept getting worse until the Con was over.

I felt satisfied with the work we put in at Comicon and the whole experience in general — right up to when I realized that the cab driver had dropped us off at the wrong terminal. We were supposed to go to the commuter terminal which is at the beginning of the airport. Still made our flight with plenty to of time to spare. We did have to buy an extra bag because 2 of our bags were overweight. The good news? San Diego airport has free wi-fi, which no other airport has, it seems.

Got to LAX fine and then to Honolulu. The following shots are from the plane from Honolulu to Kahului.

Tail of a Hawaiian Air jet. Aloha Airlines is out of business leaving just Hawaiian Air servicing the islands with jets.

Next to the HNL airport is Hickham, the Air Force base, which is next to Pearl Harbor.

Top Gun coming in for a landing.

Shots over the ocean.

Coming into Maui.

A lovely rainbow to greet us as we landed!
Dinner with a view of the sunset.

First part of the trip, mission accomplished. The bag that wasn’t on the baggage carousel when we got in was delivered to the condo later that night as well, so we start tomorrow off without a missing bag as a problem that needs to be solved. Hallelujah!!

San Diego Comicon Day 5, Sunday

Posted on 08.18.08 under San Diego Comicon 2008, San Diego Comicon 2009, San Diego Comicon 2010

July 27

The last day of the Comicon and expectations were low, but in fact with people coming in for just this one day, it was quite busy.

I went to bed about 10:30 PM on Saturday, unable to keep my eyes open even after a shower, literally falling asleep at the keyboard as I was writing this and then jerking awake with a long row of the same letter typed on a page. I think that’s how zzzzzzz came to mean sleeping…

I woke up at 2:30 AM, wide awake and continued to blog. With so many photos to upload, I worked steadily until 8:30 AM.

I met with Les and Ernst Dabel at 10:30 AM. We found an empty room on the 2nd floor that had a huge chess board on the carpet to talk. “This is our office!” said Les. I guess there must have been a human chess game the day before. It was a very good and optimistic meeting and things are going full speed ahead with DOG EATERS. There will be some other big DB news announced in the next week or so. Any good news and good sales for the DB books can only reflect well on Dog Eaters. Like I said, I’m optimistic. The game plan is in place. Now it’s all a matter of execution. Execution!

I didn’t really feel like recruiting new Black Dog Clan members after the meeting. It takes quite a bit of energy to “get into character,” and wind myself up to deliver the pitch the way it should — in rising and falling preacher oratory style. I was a bit drained by both the meeting and the past 4 days. What difference would it make to recruit more members? I would just be making work for myself. I had enough members to make a nice presentation on the dogeaters-manga site. Then, as I was standing in line at Starbucks on the 2nd floor, I saw these two guys and I felt the urge to recruit again.

Don’t know quite who they are supposed to be but I am reminded of the Venetian masked parties.

Then I saw this boy under the “Men’s” sign.
And I was off and running again.
This vampire was a fangirl last year.

And this year she is the star of a couple of hard-core, girl-on-girl DVDs and a character in her own hardcore comic. I’m not sure if the fangs in her mouth are dentures or implants. Or real…

This character was a bit confusing. I think it is one of the minor characters in a webcomic called, GIRL GENIUS, but I could be wrong. You see two interpretations, one played by a boy and the other by a girl. Again, not sure what the intention is here as they were both official cos-players for that booth. A unisex character? A transvestite? A character anyone can play?

On the first or second day of the Con, I shot the oldest and second-oldest sister of the Living Dolls. The middle sister, Rannie Rodil, is the photographer. The one in baby blue is the youngest, I believe… And they are somehow connected to a weird “family” that resides at InkPenMutations. Not sure how it all works, but…

This Button Man is like a holdover from the Ken Kesey days of Orange Owsley. Or a flashback…

Quite a few Iron Man’s this year. I think it will be Watchmen next year.

Foxes wouldn’t normally eat dogs, I don’t think. But they did chew on the comic when I shot them for the Black Dog Clan membership initiation.
I visited the booths of artists David Nakayama who gave me a Hulk he drew in exchange for a DOG EATERS and Dustin Weaver who was right next to him in the farthest corner of the Artists’s Alley. David is a Punahou grad, like Barack Obama. Dustin has the same name as my oldest son, a member of the band Ponytail.
I also paid a visit to Angel Medina who’s art I bought last year. Two pieces, actually.

Another artist who’s work I admire, Simone Bianchi, did not want to be inducted into the Black Dog Clan. Savvy guy, aware of the complications of “endorsing” art and a comic that he is not involved with — and will not profit from. I was stung for a long moment, several hours actually, but it’s cool. I haven’t bought any of his art yet either, so it’s not like I deserve any favors.

I also wandered onto an autograph signing by Adoni Maropis who played Abu Fayed, a terrorist on 24.

Kiddy robots with foam for armor. Like a stuffed animal or plush, as they say these days.

A couple of intricate Kamen Raida models.

The Force still lingers.

There were a lot of cameras this year. Lots of small HD video cams shooting for cable and web, lots of stills. More cameras than things and people to shoot, probably. Greedy Productions, working for G4 in Canada, a TV network dedicated to interactive and new media, shot footage of me going through my spiel. They had already done a little about DOG EATERS on their own, which was surprising and hopefully a harbinger of things to come. There is only so much you can do to promote yourself and your project. It has to take on a life of its own if it is going to survive in the marketplace. It went quite smoothly — it better have as I have been delivering this speech hundreds of times with only minor variations for the past 5 days.

Another shot of Isaac and me. Miyuki thinks it’s important to get capture this time together as Isaac goes off to college in the fall.

It’s over!

Azusa spots a t-shirt: Army of One.

The fastest way back to the hotel…
After a quick dinner at the food court near the Westin Horto, I took the suitcase with DE previews, t-shirts, and other stuff collected over the last several days back to the Westin on 400 W. Broadway before we watched the DARK KNIGHT. I’m embarrassed to say that I nodded off to sleep a few times, starting with the opening bank robbery scene. I must have been exhausted, but I’ll never admit that.

Tomorrow morning early, we leave for Maui. Blogging will go on a short vacation. Check back in a week or so to see what kind of progress has been made on the production. I am still hoping that we will soon have a downloadable pdf of the preview issue #1.

For those of those of you who have been reading this, thanks for coming along for the ride and we’ll see you soon!

San Diego Comicon Day 4, Saturday

Posted on 08.18.08 under cosplay, San Diego Comicon 2008

July 26

The expectation for today was that there would be more costumed people, but I don’t think I saw as many as in previous years. This is my 3rd year to attend SDCC. The first year was 2002 when the ATTACK OF THE CLONES came out. The Star Wars people were out in Force — huge throngs of characters from the STAR WARS universe rampaging through the convention center like they owned it in groups and singles. The next time I came was last year. There seemed to be a lot of obscure anime themes and wacky, minor (non-Marvel and DC) stuff in general.

From the 2007 Comicon.

He posed on command…

This year, perhaps because of the incredible success of THE DARK KNIGHT, there seemed to be a lot of “easy” costumes of the Joker. We have one Joker in the Black Dog Clan (we could have had 20), but I chose him because I think this one was particularly inspired — taking special care in his posture and with his hair.

I feel that Hollywood is taking over more and more each year, which is both good and bad and definitely bigger, and that people come more to be entertained than to participate. I was expecting more people to come on Saturday, and maybe they did, but if so then they were upstairs for movie star autographs and panels, not downstairs with the comics, designer toys, independent press, and artists.

Anyway, my day:

Right in the foyer at “B,” there were some really good Predators. There was a roving herd of them and singles as well. Must have been looking for Alien. I didn’t see one Alien so maybe Predator did win that war after all.

You can see these troopers are holding a copy of DOG EATERS. My plan for photography was developed on this shot. First ask for a photo, then ask for a shot with them holding the DE preview issue. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, clan membership was awarded with a badge. Members were given the “manual,” the badge, and told that they must kill a roach. Physical proof of the kill was not required — the honor system would do fine. Squeamish members could even coerce another individual or hire a contractor to do the kill for them. But we ran out of badges, so members had to be satisfied with being photographed with the DE cover.

One of my assignments was to show Azusa and Miyuki at work. They were worried that their colleagues in New York and Tokyo thought they were just having fun and enjoying Comicon — much like going to Disneyland. So I shot some action photos of them as you see below.

Yep, they worked it!

Azusa and Miyuki had a very quick, efficient way of handing out the preview issues. “Free preview issue,” and the exchange was made and then they would be on to the next. They could go through a box of 250 copies very quickly. My approach was much more elaborate, but I had had the additional responsibility of recruiting new Black Dog Clan members. Tthe thrust of my approach was to make an impression. My spiel started with, “Absolutely free!” If their heads turned, interest piqued, I would add, “Mankind failed to transcend the Petroleum Age.” If that didn’t scare them off, I would continue in an evangelistic preacher’s voice: “175 years after the DIE OFF, 9 out of 10 humans are dead. Our hooved source of sustenance has gone the way of the Dodo bird — extinct. Bovine cerebral encephalitis. DOG EATERS!” I would say, pointing to the title on the comic. Then I would move my finger down the page to the cute little puppy, say in a low, intimate whisper, “Mr. Fluffy.” And pause. You would see their faces melt a bit. Some gave an, “Ahh.” Then I would say matter-of-factly, “Endangered species.” If they were still with me, I would continue, explaining, “The Black Dog Clan is making their last trade run between the city-casinos of the American Southwest on their way to the gulf where they will establish their permanent home. Beset on the outside by hostile forces, riven on the inside by domestic conflict.” Then I would ask if they would like to be a clan member. “What do I have to do?” they would ask. I would reply, “First, you must kill a roach. Then let me take a photo of you holding this comic. You will then access the www.dogeaters-manga.com website and find your photo amongst your fellow clansmen. You are spiritually and telepathically bonded to them. Be sure to be able to visually identify them, so you don’t kill them by accident.”

So you see my method takes some time if the process runs its full course. Each one of the clansmen you see on the Black Dog Clansmen page has heard my pitch. Occasionally, I am rebuffed. “You’re not concerned about transcending the Petroleum Age?” I shout at their receding backs. “Are you Republican?”

I don’t always hang out in or by the booth, I also do some roaming, looking for cos-players to recruit. Closer to the door, the street-side of the convention hall, in front of Titan Publishing, I saw Tank Girl.

I asked to take her photo. No problem. Then I dug into my bag and asked if she could hold Issue #0. She quickly declined. “I’m working for this publisher,” she snarled in character, and jerked her head at the Titan booth. OK, Tank Girl, no problem. I looked into the booth and saw that a friend, Roman Dirge (we hosted him and Nathan Cabrera at our place in Tokyo for a week), was signing in the Titan booth. Roman, of course, is the author/creator/artist of LENORE. I walked up and shifted my feet like a nerdy fan. His face lit up and I took his photo with the DOG EATERS comic. He endorsed DOG EATERS (Dabel Brothers Publishing) while sitting in a rival publisher’s booth and nobody complained. So there, Tank Girl!

I’m sort of still working things out with WordPress. With thumbnails, you should be able to choose which area of the image to show, but all I can seem to get is a section of the center of the image. Which is interesting because when you shoot a full-length shot, you get a crotch shot. Hmmm… Anyway, the girl on the right was signing a release form when I approached her. I photographer from Penthouse was shooting, “Hot girls at the Con.” See her in Penthouse! On new stands soon!

But what about these girls? Aren’t they just as hot?

The two on the right are roommates. Hmmmm… My imagination runs riot.

The girl on the right is from Osaki, Tokyo. She’s studying dance and hopes to be an instructor someday.

Not quite sure who she’s supposed to be, but the key to finding out might be in the cake she’s holding.

Or this character, either. Could be a Predator, but I don’t think so. Maybe a bad guy from Battlefield Earth. But no matter, his strong arm belongs to us, for he is also a Black Dog Clansmen.

What I noticed is that these cos-players were very happy to get a free copy of Issue #0 — much more appreciative than many of the “normal” con-goers. I think this is because they are giving a performance and the people taking photos are always, well, taking. They take photos, they take “swag,” they don’t give back. If the cos-players had a place to store things, they were genuinely happy to take the free comic.

The astronaut and his mother (I think), are both clansmen. Or I should say, clanspeople, for the PC among us. They both patiently listened to my pitch, but in complete silence. The astronaut flipped his visor up and down a couple of times, but other than that, no response. Maybe they didn’t speak English…

You know who this group is. And so does everyone else. These X-People were in high demand for photos all day long.

Chucky has often been said to be the perfect boyfriend for Blythe. I don’t quite see it.

Back at the booth, I saw that a few of the prodigals had returned as well. Ernst and Les had finally arrived in San Diego for the weekend. In the background, you can see Isaac sitting on the floor reading one of his purchases. I think he was reading the CLARENCE PRINCIPLE, by Shari Chankhamma, the Thai artist who inked and toned the b/w pages for DOG EATERS, the preview issue. Isaac said it was, “Pretty good.”
Suddenly, Azusa and Miyuki ran up to the booth. They know that you aren’t supposed to run in the convention center and they’re usually pretty good about following rules, so I knew something was up immediately. “Hurry, get your camera!” They shouted at me and then ran off. I followed them as they sprinted to SLG and Oni Press. “We have to get an autograph!” they shouted over their shoulders. From who? It was Matthew Fox. Jack on LOST. Oh, right. The girls were panting with excitement. In the short line, Azusa started applying more make-up. Apparently, SLG hadn’t announced that Matthew Fox would be signing for the graphic novel version of BILLY SMOKE, a movie he’s starring in, to be released in 2010. There was hardly anyone waiting. It was lonely there, SLG needed more bodies! Here we come! The writer, B.Clay Moore, noticing Azusa’s Exhibitor badge, asked her if she was working with the Dabel Brothers. Apparently Moore has been asked to adapt a story for the Dabel Brothers as well.

You can see by these photos that Azusa and Miyuki are absolutely thrilled. No matter what happens on Sunday, you know that this was the peak experience of their trip to San Diego this year. Maybe the peak experience of the year…

As for me…

You can see that I’m in the middle of a sentence. I’m giving Matthew the DOG EATERS pitch.

I gave Matthew a signed copy of DE and a badge, which I told him to wear it with pride. He looked me right in the eyes and said he would. His gaze was so direct and piercing, I could imagine the impression that he makes on the girls. As for me, I’m impervious to charm.

A couple more caped heroes.

It just occurred to me. With all these super heroes, why is bin Laden still on the loose?

Another spin to the toy area yielded this fighting hero. He moved too quickly to keep in focus…

A lovely Poison Ivy

Put a spell on me…
But I was able to break it and return to the booth, safely but without the willpower to stop from taking these girls’ photos on the way back. Only one is a clansman, er, clansgirl.

The other was working for a booth. Dang!

Back at the booth…

From left to right: Ernst Dabel, a great Brazillian illustrator from glasshousegraphics who’s name I forget, Dave Campiti, Les Dabel.

At the ToyQube booth, friends and artists: Tristan Eaton and Filth, from Thunderdog Studios. Tristan is the designer for the forever-popular Dunny.

A few more random images…

Predators frolicking in the lobby.

Macho elf.

Special Forces. The Army is now recruiting civilians to join the U.S. Special Forces. This is a unique opportunity to join up, receive exceptional training and find strength you never knew you had. Be all that you can be!

Jiyu Ranger is all of that — and more!

Or you can go the way of these Evil Cheerleaders…

On our way to dinner at the Gaslamp district, we spotted these stuffed creatures in stores.

This one reminds me of the ventriloquist across the street.

Yikes. But at least she provides a service for the money she gets.

Bags made from little puppies. Mr. Fluffy’s worst nightmare…

San Diego Comicon Day 3, Friday

Posted on 08.18.08 under cosplay, San Diego Comicon 2008, San Diego Comicon 2009, San Diego Comicon 2010

July 25

Every day gets more intense. More people. More people in costumes…

More random cos-players…

Storm Trooper Elvis makes his annual appearance.

Princess Leia adjusts her shoe in an unguarded moment…

A couple of obscure characters…

My Little Pony, customized:

This one was electroplated.

Lou Ferrigno still has what it takes to get $20 – $35 for an autographed photo.

Flanking Wolverine…

People are still wondering what it is about the Lolita complex…

10:00 AM. Ran into Kim Wong of Three-Zero, based in Hong Kong. Kim manufactured the CWC Tokyo toy, Kumanogollo by Chino. He is here with the Ashley Wood Bertie toy series which he also manufactured. They are big! And run from $350. And they were sold out. They look like rusting metal, but are injection-mold plastic.
Kim sets up a Bertie for my viewing pleasure.

This is the one that was sold out. It’s set up on a steel post for stable display.

Here’s the big Bertie set up outside IDW.

RANDOM IMAGES:

Just what I saw as I made my way through the day.
The sights on my way to lunch with Dey Martin, my old roommate from Manoa when I was going to the University of Hawaii. I hadn’t seen him since 1981! He’s the CEO of mTracks and Naked Jain Records. Great to see an old buddy doing well! He came with a friend who’s playing in a band with one of the ex-members of the Queens of the Stone Age.

This old lady parked in her wheelchair near the Hard Rock Hotel charged me a dollar to take her picture. Kind of creepy looking, but I appreciate that she offers a service for her panhandling, not just a bum holding a sign that says: “I bet you a dollar you read this sign.”

Dwayne Johnson was in a motorcade of SUVs in front. The parking attendant, feeling special by being in the Rock’s service, suddenly jumped out into the street and tried to stop us from crossing in an arbitrary, doesn-make-any-sense kind of way. Celebrity has a weird, soul sucking aura. Tons of Hollywood people are here. Paris Hilton is also here in some unknown capacity. She was seen leaving a screening of a movie, surrounded by bodyguards by Gabriel Sauro, Quebecor, who is the printer for DOG EATERS.

At the Dabel booth, an aspiring artist was making the rounds with a documentary cameraman in tow. I gave the artist the DOG EATERS pitch: “Mankind failed to transcend the Petrolem Age. 175 years after the DIE OFF. Mad Cow Disease has decimated the hooved animal population. DOG EATERS!” (I point to Mr. Fluffy on the cover)
mr1
“Mr. Fluffy? Endangered species!”
The artist nodded, hearing but not listening, understanding nothing… Then eagerly showed Derek Ruiz his portfolio.

Inside the booth, Neil Schwarz models a Dog Eaters t-shirt.

Michael Lent, writer/producer, models the other print design of the Dog Eaters t-shirt.

I bought 3 pieces of original comic art today. Just wanted them. One a romance piece by Ric Estrada.

This is a great detail from unknown romance comic.
I don’t know the artist or comic for this one, but it’s heart-wrenching.

The last piece from Chris Batista. Chris is very generous with his time, energy, and art. While I was visiting at his booth, a high school teacher asked him to participate in a charity auction for cystic fibrosis. Chris whipped out a piece right there and then. When I offered Chris a free copy of DOG EATERS, he knocked off $25 off the piece I bought. Incredible. This is a detail of the Aquaman vs. Catwoman piece that I bought.
Catwoman fights Aquaman

As we walk to the Marriot to meet for dinner, a skywriter reminds us of one of the most important things in life we must continue to do:

We ate dinner at the Chianti Restaurant, 644 5th Ave for the 2nd night in a row. Excellent Italian food! The first night, Michael Provost from Hasbro treated us. The 2nd, Gabriel Sauro from Quebecor. We liked the food so much, I made the head waiter and and the chef Black Dog Clan members. One of the diners said: “Dog eaters?” I replied, “Well, this is a restaurant, isn’t it?”