Dogeaters Manga | Mankind failed to transcend the Petroleum Age

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?”

SDCCl Day 2, Thursday, after the Dabel Brothers panel

Posted on 08.18.08 under San Diego Comicon 2008

July 24, Wed. 5 – 7 PM

Coasting through the rest of Day 2, some random images…

Discussing the fate of the world with Azusa and Isaac.

She’s got a whip, she’s got a whip!

I carefully anoint this new member by pinning the BDC badge to his lanyard.

These two guys are said to look alike. Hmmm.

Atmospheric DC characters.

This couple didn’t need that much convincing to become Black Dog Clansmen. I hope that her bookshop in Santa Barbara will pick DE up.

Getting towards the end of the day…

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.

With Isaac during a lull in the action.

On the ground @ San Diego Comicon

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

July 23, Wed. 6 PM

Azusa tries to hail a cab while Miyuki contemplates the meaning of life We also waited at the bus stop and then stood at the shuttle stop before deciding it was faster to walk.

While we looked for the right line to stand in, we were “eyeballed” by a couple of aliens.

Still looking for that elusive line for Exhibitors…

Dave Campiti (left) from Glasshousegraphics who runs the agency that DOG EATERS colorists, Ruben Dela Vela and Michael Bartolo belong to, stands with Rich Young (center) and Neil Schwartz (right) from Dabel Brothers Publishing.

Self-portrait with Derek Ruiz of Dabel Brothers Publishing.

Isaac hands out preview issue of DOG EATERS to any and all while Derek tries to look busy.
Simone Bianchi reads DOG EATERS and says, “It’s great!”

Miyuki can’t tell if she’s excited or scared to be chased Iron Man.