Yesterday afternoon Tina and I attended the special book signing at the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego...  

The book being signed was the special 'Comic-Con: 40 Years Of Artists, Writers, Fans & Friends' that was a Special Edition published for the SDCC by Chronicle Books of San Francisco! 

Gary Sassaman, (Director of Print and Publications), and Jackie Estrada, (Eisner Awards Administrator), were the co-authors of this book.  They were joined by several members of the current Comic Con International (CCI) staff, as well as by friends and fans of the CCI / SDCCI!

The setting of this event was of a more intimate nature and Tina and I had great fun with one-on-one conversations with several people that we couldn't have at the Comic-Con event itself with 125,000 other people in attendance there!

Those included conversations with:

Clydene Nee, (pictured above), who has been the longtime CCI Artists' Alley Coordinator @ Comic Con International: San Diego.  Having spent more hours than usual at this year's Artists Alley, I found talking with her gave more insight on what goes on for qualifying for the 200 tables that there are more than 500 applications for each year!

Martin Jaquish, (not pictured this blog post), is the Masquerade Event Coordinator.  Great talking with him, have not had that opportunity before, although I have attended the Masquerade for years, either in the main program hall, or the run-over hall, or even under the sails!

Eddie Ibrahim, (not pictured this blog post), is the Director of Programming.  Although our conversation was brief, I was glad to give my input on what we saw happened this past year, and what could be improved in both Tina's and my opinions. 

Batton Lash, (also pictured above), well... what I can say about him that I already haven't in previous blog posts?!  Well... let me say that Tina and I had the longest conversation of all while at this event with him, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!  Both Tina and he are East Coasters so they had a great time talking!  For those of you that are not familar with his work, check out his web site at:  http://www.exhibitapress.com/

Jackie Estrada, (see pics above), was very busy, (as usual), at these type of events, and I appreciated having a few minutes conversation with her!  She always does a fine job!

Gary Sassaman, (see pic above), is to be congratulated for his fine work on this book... go buy it now... why don't ya?!

Richard Alf, (also pictured above), helped start the SDCC back in 1969.  It was around that time period that I sold the duplicates from my collection to Richard who was already set up as a comic books dealer even at the young age of 17 years old!   It wasn't until the 1972 Con that I first set up as comic books dealer myself, at the 3rd SDCC, which was held at the El Cortez Hotel.  It was great talking with Richard again so soon.  I had re-met him at the 2009 SDCC recently and forwarded my blog post about 1970's dealers to him to read.

Mike Towry looked familar to me, so I introduced myself to him. Turns out I had seen him at the 2009 Comic Con on a program as being one of the founders of the Con.  He and I must have passed each other during the earliest cons, but we both looked different back then.  Heck, I even had long hair then!  He had left the area in the mid 1970's but started attending the Comic Con again in the early 1990's with his children!

Other Facebook Friends that I had a brief hello with prior to the even starting were Mary Sturhann, and Robin Donlan (both pictured above).

Others that I talked with briefly were Chris Sturhann - who I didn't get to say what a Great Job he does with the On Site Newsletter at the Con!, Ramona (sp.?), (1st year with CCI),  and Jan Tonnesen (husband of Linda).

Those that were also there that I didn't get to meet or talk with were: John Rogers, (President of CCI), Janet Tait, Ned Cato Jr - who was conducting a podcast from this location, and a few other individuals! 

For those that I missed naming... sorry about that!  Between taking photos, taking notes, and listening during the program, I wasn't able to see you all or get all of your names!  Feel free to contact me, as I took 45 photos during this event, which I can't use all of them in this this one blog post!  But I have them for future posts addendums! 

For More Info on this event held at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, please see the following event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=62971681858 

For more info on other future events that Mysterious Galaxy bookstore is hosting please see their main Facebook Fan Page at: http://www.facebook.com/MysteriousGalaxy

For more info on Comic Con International: San Diego, please see:  http://www.comic-con.org/  And be sure to buy your MEMBERSHIP early for 2010!  You don't want to miss out on this Comic Con.  These folks put on the Biggest and Best Con in my opinion!

Our Thanks to the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore owners for hosting this great event!  When You are in the San Diego area, check this great store out for their vast selection of books, AND for their knowledgeable sales staff!  They haven't been around 16 Years without building a large fan base who know a great bookstore when they see one!  Tina says this is one of the Top 10 Bookstores she has been in nationwide!

Yesterday afternoon the results were announced as to the winners of the Facebook Comic Con Silver / Golden / Bronze Age Costume Contest...  

I am blogging the results here in my Blog, because once again I had the privilege of being one of the Judges for this Facebook Costume Contest!

Along with Tiya Coleman, Mark Poe, and Vincent Ferrante as co-judges, I had tough decisions to decide who would best qualify using the judging standards.

The JUDGING CRITERIA was divided into 3 categories:
1-) Character Likeness   2-) Authenticity/Prop Quality   3-) Unique Character Choice- (level of difficulty).

A RATING from 1-10 was given in each category. Being a judge only, I was not privvy to the final tally results.  But knowing how close they scored to each other in my ballot, I know that the above three contestants should all be proud of their entries!

PRIZES Were Awarded To The Winners:
First Prize Winner: Choice of- Comic Book Confidential (1989) DVD or Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked (2003) DVD
Second Prize Winner: Comic Book Artist Collection, Vol. 3 (Paperback)
Third Prize Winner: Project Superpowers Volume 1 (Paperback)! 

For More Info on how this FBCC - SILVER/GOLDEN/BRONZE AGE Costume Contest was started and more results, please click here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=62971681858 

However, this is not the first time there has been a Facebook Comic Con Costume Contest...

For more info on how YOU can easily enter for the next contest, check out the Facebook Comic Con Costume Contest main web site at:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/FBCC-Costume-Competitions/63245482692

Congratulations again to the Winners of this latest FBCC Costume Contest, and I look forward to being asked again to help judge more contests!   Thanks to Lisa Hager-Duncan, Stacey Aragon, Michael Netzer and others @ Facebook Comic Con for setting up the Summer Gala of FBCC!

Last Night Tina and I were among many who attended the third film evening of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival...  

Which is leading me to once again blog about the great work that is being done at the Leo Carrillo Ranch in Carlsbad, California!

I have blogged several times about Leo Carrillo:  his ranch, his 40 different Cisco Kid comic books from Dell Comics, his role as Pancho in the 156 episodes of the Cisco Kid TV series, and over 90 films that he had a either a major or character role in.

However, what Tina and I enjoy most is walking the grounds of what remains of the Leo Carrillo Ranch, also known as 'Rancho de Los Kiotes', and attending the Leo Carrillo Film Festival each year!

This Film Festival Season was cancelled earlier, but then with a $5000 donation from an anonymous member-donor in partnership with the City of Carlsbad and The Friends of Carrillo Ranch Inc, it was brought back.

Thanks to that donor there were lots of others out there on the lawn last night to watch the 3rd night of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival!  Approximately 200+ persons gathered and watched another episode of The Cisco Kid that ran before the 1932 re-make film of Broken Wing that starred Leo Carrillo, Lupe Velez, and Melvyn Douglas. The original film was released in 1923. 

The above photos show the opening credits of The Cicso Kid TV Show. An episode of Leo as Pancho in that TV series is shown each Film Festival evening before the main feature.  The nice thing for the younger members of the audience is that the TV show was originally filmed in color, even though it was originally aired for black and white TV sets!  The series ran for 156 episodes from 1950 to 1956.  Leo started portraying Pancho when he was 70 years old!  Leo passed away a few years later in 1961 at the age of 81.

As I've stated here in my Blog before, it is really 'special' to sit under the stars at Leo Carrillo's Ranch and watch his TV Show episodes and then films he that played in.  That's because the Film Festival audience is actually sitting near the pool and cabana where Leo and his family used to entertain their guests, mostly from Hollywood, who would travel down to the ranch that once comprised the Eastern area of Carlsbad that we now live in!  Matter of fact Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon there at the ranch many years ago!  It is really nice that so many people have worked over the years to keep this little bit of local history 'alive' for the current generations to enjoy!

The film last night was pretty funny, a Paramount flick with Lupe Velez as the love interest.  Leo was great in the role of Captain Innocencio Dos Santos.  It was a love triangle story with actor Melvyn Douglas as pilot Phil Marvin who comes crashing in to become the 'King of Hearts'.  You'll have to watch the film to see what went on in this love triangle film... I'll just say that Leo was great in the role, a leading one for a change, and just wouldn't 'shut up' during the whole film.   I could see why he was 'typecasted' during most of his years in films.  He played variations of that role so well, especially in this film.  This film was among 700+ films that Paramount sold in 1958 to Universal for TV rights distribution.  

BTW, the Ranch hands also cooked hot dogs and had popcorn and candy to eat while watching the TV show episode and film for those that didn't bring food!  At the top right of this post is a placard showing the 'Carrillo Combo' for $4.00 for those that didn't bring a picnic dinner.  Of course Leo used to be a chef at his parties he would throw at the Ranch in earlier years, which is why I am publishing the picture of him on the placard here! 

There will be two more weeks of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival should you be in the Carlsbad, California area, September 26th (Saturday), and then back to a Friday night on October 2nd!  The September 26th evening will be a special 'Phantom Of the Opera' showing of the 1943 film. 

Which reminds me that I want to mention the below organizations before closing out this blog post...

For more info on the Film Festival or just to learn about the ranch, check out the web site at:  http://www.leocarrilloranch.org/

Also, don't miss out on seeing what the Friends of Carrillo Ranch Inc have done, and take a look at possibly joining them and / or donating to their worthy cause at:  http://www.carrillo-ranch.org/ !

And Thank You to Gerry Streff, Archivist @ the Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park, who emailed me after his 'Google Alerts' alerted him of my blog post.  I appreciate the kind words about my earlier blog post from last week!   

Sometimes when at conventions, Tina and I are handed copies of comics or other publications that are either one-shots or a single issue of a mini-series...

One such issue of a mini-series that I wanted to find out more about was issue #3 of Richard  F Roszko's mini-series, 'Dreadnought Invasion Six', which was distributed at the 2009 Comic Con International: San Diego (SDCC).

I normally don't like coming into a mini-series in the second or third issue of a mini-series, but since it was handed to me I felt I should read it, but not necessarily review / blog about it.

Well, this issue was pretty darn good, considering I came into the third act of the mini-series!

I checked out where I could pick up more of this series, and found out that the creator distributed the last of the hard copies at the 2009 SDCC!   Even at his web site, he refers potential buyers of this mini-series to sellers on eBay that have it listed!  Only problem is... All 4 issues are Not currently listed for sale!

So, as I like to share 'new' comics / graphic novels that grab my interest with my blog readers, I thought I would mention this mini-series in my Blog today.

There is a Facebook Fan Page that was started for this mini-series at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dreadnought-Invasion-Six/35491499704?v=wall

Where the following is written about the series:

"TalcMedia Productions was founded by Richard F. Roszko of Illinois. Rick originally came up with the concept of Dreadnought: Invasion Six for production as a film.

The storyline, (at least for issue #3), was well written by Richard F Roszko.  The end page made me want to pursue looking for the next issue; it was that well written.  The pencils and inks by Guillermo Sanna were well illustrated especially as there was a lot of text copy involved.  The colors by Maria Laura fit the tone of this issue.  Lettering by Khari Sampson was well placed, not detracting at all from the artwork, even though there quite a bit of dialogue.  

This issue was dated May 2008 and was the first printing.  As stated above the creator / publisher no longer has hard copies for sale. However you can check out his web site for more info on this series at: http://www.dreadnoughtseries.com/

I haven't communicated with the creator of this series, but it appears it probably had its' beginning on the 'Drunk Duck' web site which is where several independent comics get started.  Issue #1 of the mini-series was released in February 2008 and distributed by Diamond Comics.

There are also videos at the TalcMedia Press web site, where they have created sample videos for a 'flash version e-comic'.  You can also find those at YouTube.

There is also a feature length screenplay that is available from the representation company - Jeff Ross Entertainment.

The Press Release has the following for the concept of the series:

"Set in the distant future, space travel is routine. The newly-wedded
Lord Commodore Ranor Broxton of the Space Cruiser Orius and Lady
Alianna Broxton of the Planet Pirene Garrison are spearheading an
exploration to an uncharted nebula for territorial expansion. They are
eager to begin as it's their first joint mission since they were married.
But before Ranor can join Alianna, invaders strike and decimate her
remote outpost."

It appears that there was a 'big push' for this mini-series during the 2008 comic convention season, as this mini-series was represented at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, Wizard World Chicago, and the New York Comic Con.

Unfortunately I had not seen this publication during that season.  As anyone know that goes to these cons, a person can't see everything... they are usually 'bigger than Disneyland' in what could be seen at each Con!  From what I could see from the con pics at their web site, their booth at the 2008 SDCC was in the small press section of the exhibit hall.

Again, I'm only mentioning this as a topic in my Blog today because I normally only blog about publications that either got my interest enough to blog about it, or that are unique enough or have some other quality to spend the time on writing about it!

Also, it appears that the publisher is going to go 'electronic' in the future. So if you can't find all the issues in hard copy, there is a possiblity / probability that you'll be able to read the issue in some other format down the road...

BTW.... Whereas we don't have all four issues of this mini-series for sale here at Make It So Marketing, we do have a few copies left of issue #3 in our own online store.  While there, please check out our other new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films in both versions of our Blog!  

~ Michael @  http://www.comicbookcollectorsblog.com/