My Highlights of New York Comic Con 2012

I’ve got to say, there weren’t that many panels this year that I felt that I had to go see, which was disappointing, as was the fact that the show was actually smaller than when I went last year.  That said, I enjoyed my time wandering the show floor and cosplay-watching.  Even though everyone is posing or taking pictures, it still feels incredibly awkward to me so unfortunately you won’t find cosplay pictures in this post.  I saw Nathan Drake, Street Fighters, wielders of the Keyblade, various Batman, Robin, Joker, Penguin, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy, Solid Snake (one of which was sneaking around in a cardboard box), Doctor Who and the Tardis, X-Men, Darth Vader, Sith and Jedi, Ezio Auditore. Transformers, and many more.

I’m a fan of the popular web series Red vs Blue and finally decided to purchase the remastered edition of the first five seasons.  I had put off purchasing this set because I already own all 9 Seasons of Red vs Blue, but I “bit the bullet” because I didn’t want a repeat of what happened last year.  At last year’s Comic Con I could have had it signed by Gus Sorola (Simmons) but, being me, I hesitated and instantly regretted it.  I wouldn’t make that mistake this time.

The enthusiasm by the fans for Rooster Teeth was readily apparent.  After waiting for what seemed like forever due to how many people were waiting to purchase, meet, get an autograph (sometimes even on X-Box controllers), or have a picture taken, which didn’t seem so bad after Matt Hullum, upon request, called a convention-goer a “dirtbag” in the voice of Sarge, I finally met Matt and got his autograph on the remastered DVDs.  It’s not wrong that it made my day when he complimented me on my Luigi: Always Angry t-shirt from TeeFury.com, right?  When I later went back by the booth Kathleen Zuelch (Tex) was there and she was nice enough to also sign my DVDs.

Throughout the weekend I managed to score several free books: “Dragon Keeper” by Robin Hobb, “The Warded Man” by Peter V. Brett, “Old Man’s War” by John Scalzi, “Blood Riders” by Michael P. Spradlin, “Oath of Fealty” by Elizabeth Moon, and “Star Wars: Allegiance” by Timothy Zahn.  Even better than free books?  How about signed books!  I got “Blood Riders,” “Oath of Fealty,” and “Star Wars: Allegiance” signed and inscribed for me.

I also had the opportunity to play a little bit of “Spartacus Legends” on Friday and Saturday.  It’s a fun, bloody fighting game that (at least the demo at the con) consisted of only one round before the spectacle became… final.  I seemed to do well on Friday.  Of the four rounds I played I won half of them.  I won’t beat around the bush.  I don’t know if it was because I was playing on the right side of the screen (versus the left side on Friday) or if it was because my opponents were button-mashing, but I sucked horribly on Saturday and didn’t win any matches.  Still, I wouldn’t mind playing more when it is released in Winter 2013.

One unfortunate experience I had was when I went to the Cyanide and Happiness booth and discovered, after waiting on line for at least a half hour, that they weren’t accepting credit cards.  It seemed like a raw deal, but the wi-fi was terrible at NYCC and no matter how many times they tried my credit card would not go through.  They must have been in a dead spot because I was lucky in other instances where my card was able to go through.  So, I tracked down an ATM to get some fast cash and when I went back to the booth they let me get back on line roughly where I left the first time around.  Once back on line I purchased two shirts:

Since I spent $40 on the shirts, I was able to get a custom picture drawn in front of me.  The catch?  It would be based off of two ideas of my own or two random ideas drawn from a jar in front of the comic’s creators.  I had thought to have something drawn relating to monkeys and books but decided instead to see what randomness was possible.  The two ideas drawn from the jar:  Hitler and umbrella.  When I drew Hitler I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but the end result was amazing.

The Venture Bros panel was fun and amazing but I won’t actually write about it since I wouldn’t be able to do it justice.  Why don’t you just watch the panel instead?  Part 1 and Part 2. The sizzle reel was hilarious.  (via kittininja on YouTube)

I also went to see the pilot screening of The Following starring Kevin Bacon, James Purefoy, and Natalie Zea.  Without giving anything away, it was about former FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Bacon) being asked to help track down the escaped serial killer (Purefoy) he helped put away named Joe Carroll, who was a literary professor fascinated and obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe.  What makes this show different is that Carroll is caught in the pilot but the style of his serial killings continues through the members of a cult that has formed around him.  It was incredibly dark and disturbing and I found myself wondering how it wound up being on a network channel.  Bacon even joked during the Q &A that he wasn’t sure if FOX had even read the script.  There were some jump scares but overall it felt more psychologically taxing than many horror type shows.  I’m certainly looking forward to when it begins airing in January 2013.

I’m not really comfortable dressing up as I don’t like to stand out; I prefer to be able to move about and not have eyes drawn to me so it took last year and the first two days of NYCC before I finally decided to try the cosplay thing.  Before going to the convention I had purchased a Star Wars Wicket the Ewok hat and on Saturday I bought some steampunk goggles.  Granted it’s not much, but I may (eventually) try to expand on this ewok/steampunk theme.  Considering it was just two pieces of clothing, a few people complimented me, which I found quite surprising, and one person even took a picture with me.  Even more surprising was I got the “I’m watching you” stare down from a fellow ewok (though her costume was more fully realized and actually looked like an ewok).

And now, dear readers, I leave you with this disturbing image.

Team Venture And Monarch Hockey Jerseys? Yes!

If you’re a fan of The Venture Bros. then you really should check out the designs at Dave’s Geeky Hockey.  He has mock designs for The Monarch/his henchmen, as well as for the Ventures and S.P.H.I.N.X.

When you realize the awesomeness of these jerseys (and that shouldn’t take long at all) make sure to leave a comment.  Hopefully The Monarch jersey will eventually be sold by Rinkgear!

 

 

 

Can you be a (video game) hero?

After heading out through a tunnel you come across a quiet glen and after some investigating you press onward.  Suddenly a dragon appears, spews out fire, and you die.

Then you hit RETRY and since you know that there’s a dragon ahead you realize where not to step.  This time you are prepared for the beast and know just how to take it down.

Sure, it is exciting to learn from your mistakes and how to overcome once enormous obstacles but are you really the “hero” in such video games?  What seems to be  the real reason that you are the hero is in your ability to retry.  This time you will be stronger.

Is this something that bothers gamers?  Does this take away from the enjoyment of said game or do you accept it because were the ability to retry removed from a game end with you being frustrated and not want to return at all to it?

Check out the article below for more thoughts on this subject.  Aside from the deaths in games like Demons’ Souls or Dark Souls where the games are meant to be challenging and the player is meant to learn from every death, I’ve never really given this concept much thought.

Video Game Deaths: Are you really a hero? | Game Over You Suck.

 

 

 

WHAT TIME IS IT?!?! | The Geeky Hooker

It’s Adventure Time! (via The Geeky Hooker)

League of Shadows Hockey Jersey

Check out this Dark Knight Rises -League of Shadows- hockey jersey design. Pretty cool, huh?