While Marvel was definitely a force at the con, with its model of Odin’s throne from the upcoming Thor movie, DC was celebrating its 76th anniversary in a big way. There was a discussion of the Blackest Night storyline and the follow-up, Brightest Day, involving the White Lanterns. A picture was displayed as a teaser, with many plot elements shown graphically as to the upcoming events for the story. Some of these elements included Aqualad posing near a cave with Black Manta’s red eyes glowing within, Deadman carving into a stone tablet, the White Lantern symbol on a tree (possibly the Tree of Life perhaps?) and Aquaman in a state of repose near the White Lantern as Queen Mara rushes to him. Also mentioned was Flashpoint, a storyline featuring Flash and just about every speedster/Speed Forse user in DC history. Details weren’t laid out, but expect to hear more from DC in the near future on this one. The major event for Superman is the upcoming Superman:Grounded story, where he walks across the country, trying to reconnect with the people. Of course, Batman was a big topic, with his upcoming return to Gotham from the dead and his travails through history. Grant Morrison will be writing a new series, called Batman Inc., where he coordinates the activities of the various Gotham heroes. Also of interest is House of Hush, where an inmate is released from prison and has a score to settle with Thomas Wayne and who is seeking out Hush for assistance in his search for vengeance against Bruce Wayne. On the Vertigo imprint side of things, there is a sequel to Road to Perdition being written by Max Allen Collins called Return to Perdition in the works. Also mentioned was Revolver, where a man who lives a pretty ordinary life suddenly wakes up in a post apocalyptic nightmare, and switches back and forth between these two worlds when he sleeps. He must then investigate why this is happening, and also, why to him specifically. Daytripper will continue as we learn more about the main character’s plane crash, rise to stardom as an author and the odd events in his life that sometimes lead to bizzare conclusions. In Hellblazer, John Constantine is getting married, and certain entities don’t want this to happen. Look for the arc “Bloody Carnations” for the answers. Finally, a new Li’l Endless title is coming out called Delirium’s Party, which showcases the Endless as cute superdeformed children.

Smaller press was also out in force this year, and Oni Press has some good titles to entertain the masses with. SuperPro KO is about professional wrestling, and the comic is cartoony, over the top and looks wonderful so far. A new title called 6th Gun, set in post Civil War America, is about 6 weapons of power and what happens when the last one is in the hands of a pacifist named Emily. Does she trust shifty men to protect her, or give up the gun to even shiftier men and be done with it all? Finally Resurrection is ending up its first year. This is a series that asks the reader what would happen after an alien invasion we won, and the aliens leave? The planet is in disarray and humanity must now start anew.

Dark Horse was also showcasing a lot in this year’s panel. Gerard Way’s Umbrella Academy will continue, The Goon’s backup character the Buzzard has a miniseries that will continue and their licensed titles will continue to go strong. Star Wars will have a ‘series of series’ called Blood Ties, where 2 characters with a blood tie of a sort will be showcased in a miniseries. The first one will be about Jango and Boba Fett working together. The upcoming vampire movie Let Me In will be made into a comic adaptation, about a female vampire who is physically only 12 years old. The Gold key heroes Dr. Solar, Magnus Robot Fighter and Turok Son of Stone will be brought into the fold, with Jim Shooter as writer, who edited their adventures when he was at Valiant.

While there is a lot more to discuss, I did detect a note of secrecy at many of the panels, and there was of course a push towards digital comics as well as TV shows and movies. With all of the new material coming out, now is a wonderful time to be involved in pop culture and comics in general.

The main idea of this blog is to review books that have recently come out or to give you an idea of books in advance by obtaining advanced copies. My next blog will run down the rating system and include a review of 3 books, and look for a top 10 list of my personal favorite of the new crop of books. Until next time, boys and girls, I’ll see you in the funny papers!

That grinning guy in the corner is a mask from the new studio of Brian Pulido, of Lady Death fame!

A huge fake tattoo from The Expendables.

AGENT and Animation magazines!

A Spirit of Halloween shwag bag, I think it’s from a costume shop here in San Diego.

A Balrog hologram card!

A TV Guide Superfan Fan – get it? And a TV Guide lightup pendant that flashes!

Yes, those are light-up Bam Bams still in the package, those things drive me nuts!

A palette of pins from the SyFy Channel!

Piranha beach ball? Oh, the irony!

Red Suckerpunch wristband.

A book of LOST artifacts. Does that make them found?

FX Channel sample DVD!

A fake tat from Fringe!

Gears of War 3 ad sticker.

Darth Vader keychain, and a Drive Angry keychain, from the upcoming Nicholas Cage movie!

Hunted by Alicia Glass

By Connie Canseco

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  Cosplay is a form of that.  Fans of any genre, be it animation, cinema or a period of time, tend to show their appreciation by dressing up in their favorite hero or heroine.  It is a sincere appreciation of the art.  Cosplay takes a lot of time and effort on the player and of course, if you are going to put that much time an effort into a costume or prop, you are going to want to show it off.  Conventions, gatherings and even just everyday events can bring cosplayers out in droves.  They are just having some harmless fun with other fans and should be appreciated.   That being said, remember some guidelines when approaching these “people”.

Guidelines for mere mortals (non-cosplayers) 

Acknowledge them if you can.  Don’t be rude and scream out to them, but if you can, recognize the character or the story and let them know you know who they are.   

DON’T NITPICK!!!!!  So the blaster on the storm trooper looks too much like the Nerf gun you just picked up for your little sister or the lines on the Alchemist’s jackets are ¾” off from center.   IT IS A COSTUME!!!!!!  Unless you are one of the prop masters from Warner Brothers or the actual artist of Deathnote (even that is pushing it) it is a REPLICA!!!!!!  No one really has the exact specs on all the costumes.  Enjoy for the hard work they put into the costume and their creativity to create the illusion they are presenting.

 Take pictures.  “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”  Yes, yes it will.  Cosplayers are out and about to be seen, whether it be at a convention or at a showing of whatever it is they are cosplaying, they want to be seen.  If their picture turns up on someone’s Facebook or someone’s site, they accomplished what they set out to do…be seen.

  Be polite.  If you do want a picture, ask.  As said before, they want to be seen.  They want to be acknowledged.  Just be mindful of what you are taking pictures of and where.  If you know that it will be a quick click just grab the opportunity and take the picture.  If you are on a busy show floor or a crowded street, try to step aside so that you are not blocking the flow of ‘traffic’ and you can avoid being bumped and banged with bags, strollers or such and your subject is getting glared at because they are the cause of the blockage.

 Be compassionate.  Even though everyone can wear spandex, doesn’t mean that they should.  You will get those players who you will just look at as say “NO”.   Keep it to yourself.  These players put in a lot of time and effort to make these illusions come to life.  They are very proud of their work.  Don’t be a hater and bag on them if they don’t meet your specification for the perfect Wonder Woman or Spartan.  Do you have the confidence to pull off that look?

Guidelines for Players (you costume folk)

 Play the part.  You are here in full costume you are here to make an entrance.  Like RuPaul says, “Work it honey”.  You put in a lot of hard work for that costume.  You should show it off. 

 Be tolerant. Remember that not everyone is into the same things as you are.  People may have questions about your character.    People may have questioned how you made things.  Be prepared to answer them.  Don’t be frustrated if you constantly get stopped to take pictures.  These are fans just like you.  Remember, you put yourself out there to be seen. 

 Accept the compliment graciously.  That may be the 50^th time you have heard, “I love how you made the belt holster” but in the mean time, no one has even taken the time to notice that wrist armor is actually embroidered and stamped with that crystal.  True fans will notice.  Just accept the fact that some of your hard work will be missed.  In the same light, you never know when someone really appreciates the work (PIXAR).

 Have a bit of a thicker skin.  Just like I mentioned in rule 5 for the mortals, some people who, more power to them, are confident to wear the micro shorts and the 6” platforms may want to take that second look in the mirror before stepping out.  There will always be those critics out there that will just not get the look you are going for and although you may think that the bodysuit that Ivy is wearing in Soul Caliber is the sickest look, you may want to rethink the pirate instead.  We tend to have a different vision of ourselves if we really want something.  Like I said, take a second look.

 Remember your audience.  This goes with the thick skin.  That Dawn costume is great at Comic-con but do you really want to have your co-workers remembering you at the water cooler the day after Halloween like that.  Be aware of who is around you and what can be said.  Also, not that I am trying to censor anyone’s creative liberties but, age appropriate.  I don’t really think anyone really wants to see a 12 year old Leeluu from ‘The Fifth Element” without feeling like a pedophile.

  Are these the official guidelines, heck no. These are just things that I keep in mind when I go out in costume.  Remember, this is all fun.  Mortals, remember, if you see something you like, let the players know.  If you see something you don’t keep it to yourself unless you can do better.  Players, you are awesome for getting out there and living your fantasy. Just remember everyone is entitled to an opinion.

Check the lack of website

Written by Alicia Glass

Falling Skies is the latest opus from executive producer Stephen Spielburg, that’s right the man himself, to be drooled over on tv in Summer 2011. Brought to you by the TNT Channel, only the two main stars of the show, Noah Wyle and Moon Bloodgood managed to make it to the panel. I’m a big fan of the Librarian movies with Wyle, and Bloodgood’s actually rather reserved in person, so it was an interesting panel. A trailer was shown, and they had a movie poster on a tripod, but I’m sorry to say aside from Spielburg’s name there was little to make me remember the show amidst the rest of Comic-Con insanity.

The actual show Falling Skies is slated to be a dramatic telling of human survivors who begin a rebellion six months after the aliens have invaded and taken over. Wyle’s character is a former American History teacher who uses his historic skills in real life now, and Bloodgood stars as Anne Glass, therapist to survivor children. It seems very different roles for the both of them, so I’m anxious to see how they do, and how Spielburg pulls a rabbit from wherever to make this show stand out amongst the rest.

See Noah Wyle talk about his character!

]]> http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/cci-2010-friday-falling-skies/feed/ 0 aliciamovie falling61 http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/congratulations-to-tmes-masquerade-winners/ http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/congratulations-to-tmes-masquerade-winners/#comments Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:59:42 +0000 tmee3 http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/?p=351 Continue reading →]]> By Angie Quidim

In case you missed this year’s Masquerade, TME awarded prizes for the best videogame/anime costume and the most entertaining skit this year. 

For Best Videogame/Anime, we picked

Mass Effect

For Most Entertaining Skit we picked

Murimasa: Smells Like Demon Spirit

Check out all things Dexter

Written by Alicia Glass

The panel for what is probably the most anticipated next season of a show out there, Dexter Season Five, was packed beyond capacity. Some genius of scheduling decided to do The Expendables panel in Hall H right before Dexter in Ballroom 20, so basically you really have to choose between the two. I went with everyone’s favorite serial killer.

Michael C. Hall is a veteran of the Comic-Con scene at this point, having done a panel for Dexter since the start of the show, but man did he look tired. He certainly seems willing to answer every fan question posed to him at the panel, but really, the variations on ways to ask something to the affect of, “What do you think of all the bad stuff your character does?” get tiresome. See Hall talking about the fun he has on the set from Season Four with John Lithgow here.

Sadly none of the newcomers for Season Five – Julia Stiles, Peter Weller, Maria Kennedy, Johnny Lee Miller, and Shawn Hatosy – made it to the panel. It would have been good to include them in the Dexter phenomenon, perhaps next year then.

]]> http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/cci-2010-thursday-dexter/feed/ 0 aliciamovie http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/gaming-at-comic-con-2010-take-2/ http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/gaming-at-comic-con-2010-take-2/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:23:48 +0000 tmee3 http://tmeatcc2009.wordpress.com/?p=341 Continue reading →]]> By Lawrence Cicchetti 

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 

 Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (AC:B) Continues where the last Assassin’s Creed left off and brings back the familiar protagonist, Ezio Auditore, as he assembles his own Brotherhood of Assassins to defeat the Templars.  Ubisoft promises over 15 hours of gameplay for the single-player version as well as bringing multiplayer for the first time in the franchise. 

 At the Ubisoft booth you could play a demo of the multiplayer wanted mode of AC:B where up to 8 players compete against each other for the highest amount of points based on quality and quantity of kills.  Each player is given a target and 

must eliminate the target as silently and swiftly as they can.  Every player chooses a character and a set of 2 abilities like a hidden gun or smoke bombs.  The game plays just like Assassin’s Creed with multiple players but still feels new and amazing.  Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood comes out November 16. 

Dragon Age 2 

            Ah yes the biggest game presented at Comic-Con.  EA had a room setup at the Gaslamp Hilton for Deadspace 2 and Dragon Age 2 for anyone to come and enjoy.  DA 2 premiered for the first time with actual gameplay just for the fans before they even talked to the press.  The spokesman gave a presentation on what people didn’t like about the first game and how they are working on improving it, than he gave a demonstration of the game showing us the new mechanics.  Afterwards we could actually play the demo shown to us.  The system itself is the same only without nearly as many bugs and much more impressive animation and action.  The demo included a battle using a warrior and a mage against a  

Dragon Age 2 

 Ah yes! The biggest game presented at Comic-Con.  EA had a room setup at the Gaslamp Hilton for Deadspace 2 and Dragon Age 2 for anyone to come and enjoy.  DA 2 premiered for the first time with actual gameplay just for the fans before they even talked to the press.  The spokesman gave a presentation on what people didn’t like about the first game and how they are working on improving it, than he gave a demonstration of the game showing us the new mechanics.  Afterwards we could actually play the demo shown to us.  The system itself is the same only without nearly as many bugs and much more impressive animation and action.  The demo included a battle using a warrior and a mage against a a slice of the framed narrative that is new in this game.  Dragon Age 2 comes out in 2011collection of dark spawn then followed

Walking the halls at Comic-con, you are met with a plethora of video games that you can play that still have yet to come out that you can play if you are willing to wait in line.  There were some big companies there like Electronic Arts and Capcom, who were displaying their newest up and coming games.

Deadrising 2:

Capcom’s next big game coming out is the sequel to their early 360 zombie-massacre game from way back in 2006.  The game takes place in Fortune city 5 years after the first Deadrising.  You take the role of Chuck Greene as he participates in a reality show called Terror is Reality where contestants must fight off zombies for a large cash prize.  Chuck is competing in the Show in order to gain Zombrex, the only cure for the zombie disease, for his daughter, who is infected.  However during the show there is another outbreak outside of where the competition is, and Chuck is framed for everything. 

The photography mechanic from the first game has been removed and replaced with a crafting system.  The player will pick up trading cards representing components that the player will combine using duct tape.  The player will be able to create weapons like the “Paddlesaw” which is an oar with chain saws attached to each end.

Thursday there was a panel with the executive producers, Keiji Inafune and Shinsaku Ohara, where they discussed the game as well as made quite a few announcements.  The first was the announcement was Deadrising 2: Case Zero, a game coming out exclusively for the Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points coming out August 31.  The scind announcement was the special Zombrex edition of the game which comes with making of featurette and the ps3 edition comes with a blu ray disc with the featurette and a dynamic theme for the XMB.  The third announcement was the mini-series based on the games called Zombrex: Deadrising Sun.  The series will debut on XBL and each episode will be exclusive for a week before it will appear in the official site (http://www.deadrisingsun.com).  The first episode will appear August 4 on XBL and the entire collection will be available with the Zombrex edition of the 360 game.  Deadrising 2 will be coming out September 28.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

 The next Bioware Star Wars game is also the next Star Wars MMO and Bioware has promised a lot for this game.  They have released a lot of information on this game so far including all 8 classes and customizable Starships.  This time they’ve announced starship combat but they did not release any other information trying to keep as much as they can under wraps while still being able to please the crowds.

 The game will feature full voice-over for all dialogue, a separate story for each class, and a morality system just like in their last Star Wars game series, Knights of the Old Republic.  On Friday they hosted a panel for the game called Beyond Solo: Crafting the Multiplayer Experience.  The first order of business was announcing Starship combat but they said that if you wanted more info on it you would need to pick up the October issue of PC Gamer.  There were slight discussions during Q&A like about how Jedi Knights will be able to specialize in order to have the ability to dual-wield lightsabers while the Jedi Consular class will be able to specialize to use Double-sided Lightsabers.  Star Wars: The Old Republic will be available next year.

 Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions

 The new Spiderman game from Activision will be Shattered Dimensions, a game that crosses over 4 different version of Spiderman into one story.  The game revolves around the tablet of Order and Chaos which stabilizes the different realities before it is shattered and endangers the different worlds while it in the hands of a different enemy of each Spiderman.  Wednesday night they announced the fourth dimension involved in the game: Ultimate Spiderman.  The Ultimate Spiderman uses the black symbiote suit making his part like a hack-and-slash game, while Amazing Spiderman centers around the classical style and involves a lot of over-the-top web-based combat, Spiderman 2099 is based on the series of comics from the early 90’s where it is the year 2099 and this universe revolves around aerial maneuvers and combat, and lastly the Noir universe is a stealth version of the game.

 The game itself was on demo at the Activision booth where you could play a demo with the Noir and Ultimate universe.  The game had a great feel and the transition between the two actually felt like a different game altogether.  The Noir universe felt like playing Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid, while the Ultimate universe played like God of War or Dante’s Inferno.  The game also features first-person combat at certain points which are used to accentuate certain moments like when you first com across carnage.  Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions will be available September 7.

Dead Space 2

 Released back in 2008 Dead Space put a different spin on survival horror games by giving it a sci fi twist.  The series follows Isaac Clarke, an engineer in the future that repairs space stations.  The first game took place in a space station that had “gone dark” out in a dead space area and when he gets aboard he finds that the entire population of the ship has been mutated into monsters called necromorphs and he must stop all of them.  In the Sequel from visceral games, the necromorphs have appeared on another space station on this time Isaac is on it at the time.

The demo starts with Isaac in his old engineer’s suit form the old game and it’s at the beginning of the necromorphs’ invasion.  As the demo progresses Isaac makes his way to the cathedral and he has to fight off hordes of enemies. Afterwards you come across a store where he obtains the new armor as shown in the trailer for the game and he is attacked by a gunship that causes explosive decompression and it causes a quicktime event then the demo ends when he has to climb down a vent to be confronted by a giant Necromorph.

The demo also included another great part of the dead space series: the puzzles. The game brings back the challenging puzzles from the first game by giving you what’s called a stasis puzzle where have to use your stasis projector in order to stop the ship’s artificial gravity and then use the loss of gravity to advance to the next part.  In the first game when the gravity disappeared you had to jump from magnetic surface to magnetic surface, but now you can use boosters to move from place to place.  The demo seemed to keep the same horror feel as the first one which seemed like a huge plus it just seemed not as intense when in a room with a bunch of other people.  Dead Space 2 will be available January 25.

DC Universe Online

            DC Universe came to Comic Con 2 years ago back when it was first announced and they presented a pre-alpha sequence that looked amazing.  Now, 2 years later they have the game setup at the SOE booth again and this time they’ve brought a PVP level showcasing the game’s system.  Unfortunately the demo left much to be desired.  It was a simple 2on2 battle between Nightwing and Batman versus Joker and Harley Quinn.  It seemed a lot like it was the only game SOE had to showcase, which is a huge contrast to how they used to be.  The PVP demo showcased the icon battle where you play as classic characters as opposed to characters you create yourself.  DC Universe is Scheduled for release in November of this year.

Playstation Move

            Sony Computer Entertainment of America had the Playstaion Move up for demo at Comic-Con with 4 games for anyone willing to wait in line to try out.  They had SOCOM 4, The Shoot, The Fight: Lights Out, and Sports Champions.  SOCOM 4 played just like Metroid on the Wii, which was pretty good. The Shoot was a stereotypical rail shooter with powerups that require you to do a 360 spin, or move the controller below the camera in order to give you bullet time or shoot all targets on the screen.  The Fight:

Lights Out is a fist fighting game using the move controllers and calibration with your arms so that it can track the movements in order to beat the living crap out of someone.  Sports Champions is a sports simulation game including: archery, ping pong, volleyball, or sword fighting.  Sports Champions comes out September 7.

Playstation Move

 Sony Computer Entertainment of America had the Playstaion Move up for demo at Comic-Con with 4 games for anyone willing to wait in line to try out.  They had SOCOM 4, The Shoot, The Fight: Lights Out, and Sports Champions.  SOCOM 4 played just like Metroid on the Wii, which was pretty good. The Shoot was a stereotypical rail shooter with powerups that require you to do a 360 spin, or move the controller below the camera in order to give you bullet time or shoot all targets on the screen.  The Fight:   

This year I was not able to attend all the days of Comic Con due to being ill.  In fact, I only felt well enough on Saturday to visit the hordes of people up and around the convention center.  What I was able to do though, was wander the crowded exhibit halls and see the sights you can only see at Comic Con.

I didn’t heed the warning of the convention staff to use mass transit, so I drove down there thinking I would be able to score some parking at PETCO Park.  I could have actually parked there but not for $25, (what an outrageous price for convenience).  I backtracked and made my way to the trolley station by my house, eventually getting there at 2pm.  Upon entering I wanted to make my way towards the video game companies.  Unfortunately I entered when there were multiple signings going on at once.  Veteran convention goers usually have an ability to find openings and dodge people, rather than staying in the pack of people.  Using said ability, I eventually made my way down to the far corner of Hall G which housed most of the game companies.

Capcom had the largest booth with the most games available to play including Marvel vs. Capcom 3 inside the boxing ring.  EA had a large booth but only displayed two games, Rockband 3 and Medal of Honor.  THQ, Bandai Namco, D3, Activision and Microsoft were also in that corner with much smaller booths and more crowded demo stations.  Wanting to explore the rest of the exhibit hall, I made my way west towards Hall A.  I found Sony and saw some kid going crazy with the PlayStation MOVE, Nintendo was close to the Pokemon booth showing Metroid Other-M and Dragon Quest IX, Konami was mainly focused on the latest Yu-Gi-Oh game but had demos for other games as well.  What got my attention at Konami was Otomedius G playable and news of Otomedius Excellent coming later this year.

All of the smaller shops and booths are generally located in the older sections of the exhibit hall.  I explored the area looking around but without any spending money made me hesitate into doing some detailed browsing.  The usual anime shops were there, Media Blasters, J-List, Anime Pavilion, and so on.  That giant poster shop was also there lined up on the wall. On the anime side of things, there was not much to do booth wise.  Viz probably had the largest booth, second came Funimation.  TokyoPop was barely noticeable with a tiny booth, no Bandai Entertainment or Sentai Filmworks (Neo ADV) presence at all.  Instead of the money vacuum machine at Viz’s booth, they had a crane machine where you could win a blow up sword.  The only problem was that it wasn’t on at all times.  Funimation’s booth had the usual FYE store and free posters and stuff, they were also promoting some live action stuff which was interesting itself.

If I wasn’t sick, I probably would have taken my time at each area to just soak it up but I was not sure if I was going to go the next day.  Even if you are able to go one day, you can still enjoy the “Comic Con Experience”.  Lots of costumes, lots of people, lots of funk, and lots of entertainment around you.

Check out Showtime

Written by Alicia Glass

The AntiHeroes of Showtime panel was the highlight of my Comic-Con Thursday experience, even despite the Dexter panel immediately following. Not often is there a grouping of shows on a single channel that each have their own villains and heroes, and most often the main character is more than a bit of both!

Dexter is a phenomenon, still, more so now than ever given the bloody and despairing end of Season Four. Check out the exclusive Comic-Con trailer for Season Five!

Nurse Jackie isn’t entirely my cup of tea, I have seen a few episodes. A brash nurse with a pill popper problem among other things, eh, you can take it or leave it. The show does seem to be doing well though, here’s the Comic-Con trailer for Season Three.

Californication I haven’t actually seen yet, but David Duchovny is a smooth charmer even in person, so it seems worth a try. Be aware, the Comic-Con trailer is NOT for children.

Weeds Season Six looks remarkably different, with all new characters and things since the Botwins are now officially on the run. Again, the Comic-Con exclusive trailer isn’t for the youngins.

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