CONMANIA
The Guide to Pop Conventions
Art at Heroes Con and Other News Updates
Jun 1st
So we’re starting this one off with a little bit of an art gallery. There is some exclusive art, some so exclusive it’s one of a kind and being auctioned off, showing up at Heroes Con this weekend. First up, Stephanie Buscema‘s piece that is getting auctioned.
Cliff Chiang also has a piece for auction.
Declan Shalvey is going to be selling prints of this Daredevil image exclusively at the show.
And you can get this Tomb Raider print for free from Adam Hughes, if you pre-order the statue it was created for.
- On to guest announcements: Ethan Van Sciver is a guest of honor at Albuquerque Comic Expo.
- Chuck Norris meme creator Ian Spector will also be there.
- “Tenchi Muyo” English VO actor Petrea Burchard will be showing up at Pacific Media Expo.
- Richard Friend will be at Long Beach Comic Con.
- Voice actor Miyuki Sawashiro is a guest of honor at Anime Expo.
- Also, here are the masquerade rules at Anime Expo.
- Funimation is going to be running a bunch of panels at A-Kon.
- Calgary Expo’s program guide is online.
Remembering Stuff and Other News Updates
May 31st
Ah, Memorial Day. When people are doing things other than posting news about their conventions. But here’s what I’ve got!
- Crypticon got namechecked on national news! OK, granted, it’s that news magazine ABC runs in the wee hours of the morning, but hey, still awesome.
- Florida Supercon is going to give away four VIP passes when their Facebook reservations page hits 5,000. Last I checked, it was under 1,250, so if you want the chance for a free pass, get to clicking.
- President of Good Smile Company, Takanori Aki, will be an industry guest at Anime Expo.
Mutants over America and Other News Updates
May 30th
Magneto was right! Do you live in a major American city and occasionally look up? You might have seen these X-Men symbols in the sky. It’s all a part of the marketing campaign for the “X-Men: First Class” movie, but I like to think that Cannonball might be involved somehow…
- NW Pinball is going to have at least 402 games at their show. And yet I know I’m going to be stuck in line behind someone anyway…
- It looks like Pacific Media Expo is lining up the English-language cast for “Tenchi Muyo” to be at their show. No specifics yet, although they say they are coming soon.
Wesley Crusher, Starship and Other News Updates
May 29th
Yes, it’s Wesley Crusher and a Starship, but not the kind you’re thinking of. Wil Wheaton, the nerdy kid from “Stand By Me” is a guest at Dragon*Con, as is corporate prog-rock group Jefferson Starship. We built this city on con nerds.
- BotCon may have run out of slots in their website to show off special guests, but that ain’t stopping them! Steve Blum, aka Spike Spiegel, aka Wolverine, aka Starscream on “Transformers Prime” is gonna be there.
- Brian “Dante Hicks” O’Halloran isn’t even supposed to be here today, but he’s going to be at Spooky Empire.
- This is kind of a weirdly worded post, but ZOMBCON might have Bruce Campbell. Assuming he’s finished filming “Burn Notice.” So he’s a definite maybe?
It’s Morphin’ Time and Other News Updates
May 28th
Go Go Conmania! Anime Expo is throwing what is basically a Power Rangers reunion, throughout the history of the show in all its various iterations. There’s going to be red carpet arrivals, a special Q&A panel and autograph/photo signings at their table in the Exhibit Hall. More will be announced later, but the first bunch of actors include Blake Foster (Justin the Blue Ranger), Walter Jones (Zach the Black Ranger), Karan Ashley (Aisha the Yellow Ranger), Catherine Sutherland (Katherine the Pink Ranger), Nakia Burrise (Tanya the Yellow Ranger), Steve Cardenas (Rocky the Red Ranger), Roger Velasco (Carlos the Black Ranger), Jessica Rey (Alyssa the White Ranger), Barbara Goodson (Rita Repulsa) and Robert Axelrod (Lord Zedd). Heh, Walter Jones. It always seemed off when he was playing Rondell, Mackie’s pet drug dealer on “The Shield.”
- And as if just to rub it in to every other convention, AX also announced that 350 of their 357 Artist Alley tables have been filled. Which means lots of artists to buy sketches from. Although it is kind of a funny number, 357 being a magnum size.
- AX isn’t the only convention suddenly announcing a ton of guests, though. Spooky Empire just dropped a bunch of names for their October show: Lance “Bishop” Henriksen, Michael “That Guy With the Pointy Head” Berryman, Tom “The Cop in Every Horror Movie” Atkins,Suzanne”Killer Klowns from Outer Space” Snyder, and if that weren’t enough, Gunnar “Leatherface” Hansen! Although I have to admit, I did have to look up who Snyder and Atkins were.
- Comic artist J.J. Kirby is headed for Long Beach Comic Con.
- Remember Billy Mitchell, the bad guy from the documentary “King of Kong,” holder of various video game titles, maker of hot sauce and wearer of weird hair? He’s dropping out of NW Pinball. Which raises eyebrows, as it’s the home turf of his cinematic rival, Steve Wiebe. And while I don’t normally make disparaging comments about con guests… hell, the con did it in their announcement of it, not me.
- Florida Anime Experience has gone mobile with Guidebook.
Transformers, Terminators and Other News Updates
May 27th
It’s an all-robot day here at Conmania! Well, mostly robot. Check out the guy to the left, that’s the exclusive Optimus Prime Matrix of Leadership being sold by Hasbro for San Diego this year.
- Continuing with the Transformers theme, Hasbro is selling tickets for BotCon’s Hall of Fame awards directly.
- And if that weren’t enough, Michael Bay is going to show up with scenes from the new movie. Random thought, but I’ve already been apologized to personally for the second movie by one of the producers. Maybe I can go for the sweep?
- And hopefully I’ve filled up enough space that the images don’t crash together too much. Which is why I made all the BotCon news separate bullet points, because this did all need to go together, but the big Optimus picture needed to go first. But check it out, BotCon TV commercial.
- That will conclude our Transformers portion of the evening. Now on to Terminators: Summer Glau is going to be at Calgary Expo.
- This one is wacky awesome — A-Kon is hosting a screening of “Street Fighter: The Movie.” You know, the Van Damme one. But the wacky awesome part? They got Kyle Herbert, the voice of Ryu in “Street Fighter IV,” to do live running commentary. Which I assume means that when Ryu finally kinda sorta does a hadoken, he will provide the appropriate sound effect.
- InterventionCon has some news about their zombie LARP event, Interfection.
- Hatsune Miku’s concert at Anime Expo is almost all sold out. Although by the time you read this it might be.
- And man this final post doesn’t work as well without a picture, but here it is anyway… Bruce the Shark has arrived at Spooky Empire.
Adrienne Barbeau-bots and Other News Updates
May 26th
Good news Canada: Adrienne Barbeau, star of TV’s “Maude,” will be visiting you at the Calgary Expo. OK, they are more likely having her as star of stuff like “The Fog,” “Swamp Thing” and the voice of Catwoman on “Batman: The Animated Series.” But I’m going to go with “Maude.”
- Artist Dustin Nguyen is a guest at Long Beach Comic Con.
- Pro gamer and “Street Fighter IV” whiz Justin Wong will be ruining the curve at the video game competition at Albuquerque Comic Expo.
- Giveaways time! Anime Expo is giving away stuff for liking their Maid Cafe and doing a few other things on Facebook. You can win hand knit items from Ai, a batch of Pokémon cookies from Ri-Chan, a custom pillow from Usagi, a caricature of yourself with a maid from Lowen, or even a 4-day badge to Anime Expo 2011.
- Also, the aforementioned Calgary Expo is giving away tickets to Slayer and Rob Zombie at their Macabre Masquerade.
Long Beach Just Got Awesome and Other News Updates
May 25th
How do I know Long Beach Comic Con is going to be awesome this year? Because they just announced writer/artist of the IDW Parker books and all-around Canadian madman Darwyn Cooke to their guest list. And Darwyn brings the awesome with him. Although, and this is a personal story I may share more of later, if you are trying to get him to a meet and greet, and he wants to stop to smoke a cigarette, you stick with him, or you may not see him again.
- So a couple days ago, I posted about the Jensen Ackles/Steve Carlson jam session you can auction your way into. “But I don’t have at least $150 to spend on a concert!” you say. “What do I do?” Good news to “Supernatural” fans who are either poor or cheapskates — Steve Carlson is also holding a solo concert on the Friday of the event for a measly $20 in addition to registration. And afterward, you get to do karaoke with Richard Spieght Jr. and Matt Cohen. And if that weren’t enough, on Sunday, there’s a third completely free (well, with registration) concert featuring Jason Manns.
- Finishing up with a triple play of BotCon news. First, their exhibitor hall is 100% completely booked up. Which means more stuff for you to spend your money on. Second, they have announced five more artists doing sketches at the show: Ken Christiansen, Sara Lopez, David Wong, Tyla Sprouse and Livio Ramondelli. Finally, and this was probably a given, but the Hub, the network currently airing “Transformers: Prime,” tweeted they were going to be there as well.
Be a Hero in Phoenix and Other News Updates
May 24th
Hero Flyer
Are you going to Phoenix Comicon this weekend? Want to save some money while helping out a good cause? The Hero Initiative is blowing out their inventory at the show — that includes sale prices on everything from the brand new “New Avengers 100 Project” books to t-shirts for only $5. They even have the Stan’s Soapbox book for 55% off, which is important because I personally had to retype all of Stan’s columns for that book.
- Dani Jones, creator of “My Sister, the Freak,” is a featured guest at Kids Read Comics. Also, Darth Vader is going to be there.
- On the other hand, Sean Patrick Flannery is not going to be at Spooky Empire on Friday, due to filming. He will be there Saturday and Sunday though, so fans of “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” need not worry.
There Was No Apocalypse Yesterday
May 23rd
Turns out, that was just Mr. Sinister in disguise. Hopefully no one’s conventions were disrupted. Either way, good excuse to destroy all mutant scum.
