San Diego Comicon 2009 | Dog Eaters

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 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?”

Day 2, Thursday, Dabel Brothers panel in Room 7AB

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

July 24, Wed. 4 PM

I was on the Dabel Brothers panel with authors Jim Butcher (Dresden Files), Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter), and DB members Derek Ruiz and Neil Schwartz. We gave the premises of the projects we are working on with Dabel Brothers and then there was a Q and A after.

The Dresden Files is about a detective with magical powers. It was a TV show on the Sci-Fi Channel as well.

Dark Hunter is about a vampire who fights against evil.

Dog Eaters is… Well… “Mankind failed to transcend the Petroleum Age. 175 years after the DIE OFF, civilization is starting to coalesce around the casino-cities of the US Southwest. The Black Dog Clan is making it’s last trade to the Gulf where it will establish its own casino-city.

I discuss the nutritional merits of eating canines versus the sucking of human blood from the neck with Sherrilyn. I think we both decided that with either protein source, supplementing was a good idea, and that every meal should include fiber, especially raw vegetables.

Derek runs the show.

Jim talks about the upcoming Dresden chapter, Storm Front.

Sherrilyn talks about how doing comics is a dream come true.

I explained the premise of Dog Eaters and how this came to be a Dabel Brothers project.

Azusa was spellbound by my oratory! Notice the leg? Whose is that?

Lining up for autographs.

Not only does Stephanie hang in the Dabel booth, but she studies glassblowing with Rick Mills at the University of Hawaii! Rick and I were contemporaries at the glass lab at U.H. in the late 70s and we’re both still blowing. Here’s a few of my recent wine glasses.

Notice my signing process using the the double chop and gold Sharpie technique.

They’re still lining up…

Connor’s questions were so “on the money,” that Azusa and Miyuki thought that he was a “sakura.”

I give my attention to a very interesting theory…

But this is what I really meant by that dream sequence.

San Diego Comicon Day 2, Thursday @ SDCC

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

July 24, Wed.

What a day! Not only was the sky cloudless and blue (the only day like this, San Diego has been having uncharacteristically bad summer weather), but you feel the energy level rising — the Star War cos-players are coming out!
First up was a Wookie giving an interview in the low-pitched roar of the Wookie language. This wasn’t surprising, after all, it was a Wookie. The weird thing was when one of the people walking by (in ordinary garb) and also added a few words of Wookie! This is a language you can learn at Berlitz?

Inside, in front of the Dabel booth, Miyuki ran into an Oyako (parent and child) pair of cos-playing Storm Troopers.

Then on my way back from visiting Dov Kelemer and Mary Jo Marks at the DKE booth (they wholesale figures and dealt both plush runts and Kumanogollo),

I was attacked by Storm Troopers.

And in the booth itself, I downloaded a couple of the color images Neil planned to use in the Powerpoint presentation for the panel meeting we were going to have a few hours earlier.

I was told by the Design Team at CWC that they wanted to Transformers goods, so I went to the Hasbro booth.

But I couldn’t get near it, there was a triple-thick line of people wrapped around it!

Toy prototypes at the Super7 booth. Super7 hosted one of the “Behind Blythe” exhibitions we had in North America a couple of years back. Micro-manufacturing done with love.

Klim and Brian.

Authors and Black Dog Clan members, Anne Elizabeth and Jim Butcher.

Super Girl and Wonder Woman are not to be trifled with!

Harry Dresden, the wizard detective. He loved the Preview Issue if you must know…

Azusa and Miyuki really did come to Comicon to work! Here they are enlisting a Clan member.

I’m signing using the double chop (inkan or hanko) and the gold Sharpie. Looks pretty cool…

Recruiting members one at a time. Hopefully, they’re members for life.

Michael Provost, a vice-president at Hasbro, one of our colleagues with Blythe, shows me a photo of Ugly Betty holding a Blythe bag.