We are right in the midst of a long Comic Con Season...  And I am blogging about another one day show that is happening this time in the Pacific Northwest this upcoming weekend!

Here are the details as known:

Date:       Saturday, May 30, 2009
Time:       10:00am - 5:00pm
Location: Spokane Falls Community College Build 17SUB Street: 3410 W Fort George Wright Dr
City/Town: Spokane, WA

General Admission is $5.00

Children 10 and under free with paying Adult

Free Gift Bag for the first 100 paid attendees!

This is only the 3rd Annual Spokane ComiCon, so I have not been to this one before.

However, I do have four Facebook Friends that are guests / exhibitors at this Con.  They are: 

  Steve Lieber's works have been published by DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, Carus Publishing, among others.  However he is currently best known as the artist of the graphic novel 'Whiteout', which is a film that Warner Brothers is releasing in 2009 starring Kate Beckinsale.

  Brandon Jerwa is a well known comic book writer who writes various comics for Dynamite Entertainment.  Some of those works are Battlestar Galactica Season Zero, and G.I. Joe.

  Paul Guinan is best known as the co-creator of 'Chronos', a monthly title published by DC Comics, with writer John Francis Moore.  Paul also pencilled eleven issues of the series.  Currently Paul is working on the Sci-fi graphic novel 'Heart Breakers'.

  Lars Brown will be selling copies of the two volumes of his graphic novel 'North World'.  He will also be selling original art and taking commissions at this Con.

So what else is at this Con besides those four guests?  Well... The amount of dealer tables has doubled to 53 tables set up.  And for the first time there will be full day programming...  I noticed that Gabe Strine of 'Brinkerhoff' will be on a panel about 'Webcomics'.

Also, per the Con's press release... "Returning are $1 raffle prizes, freebie table, and the ever popular costume contest at 4pm. There will be prizes for best adult and child costumes donated by The Comic Book shop on Division. Kids will get to meet Darth Vader and other Star Wars characters of the 501st Legion that will be on site taking complimentary photos".

Hope all of the above and YOU, if you can make, have sum fun at this Comic Con and Pop Culture Show!  BTW, if YOU are an comics creator / exhibitor at this show, please let me know so I can add your name to this blog post!

Here at Make It So Marketing's Blog, we post daily on comics and pop culture news and events.  Check those out as well as our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online Store! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!

We've been asked... As to why we haven't posted our thoughts on the latest Star Trek Film.  Well, although I have all the Star Trek Films on tape, watched most of the multiple TV series, and went to the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas... I don't consider myself an expert on the Franchise.  Additionally, Tina just hasn't been that much of a Trek Fan of any of the series or films, believe it or not!  Even with the name of her company the way it is...!

Yet, after several emails and messages to us asking about where's our 'review'?, I've decided we should post our thoughts on this 'reboot' film.   First, we are both fans of JJ Abrams works, including 'Alias' and 'Lost'.  Secondly I usually don't like 'reboots' or re-imagining of series or characters that I've been reading or watching for quite a while...

Karl Urban as Bones was there from the beginning and I could see how he would develope into the Bones that I enjoyed in ST: TOS.   Great casting here.

Simon Pegg as Scotty came in much later in the film, but his role was vital and true to the man that I enjoyed watching on TV.  Another great bit of casting here.

Anton Yelchin as Chekov had several funny lines, and several that weren't overly meant to be funny, but with the Russian accent it broke up some 'heavy' scenes.  Good casting here.

I enjoyed John Cho as Sulu.  The fencing bit was a good homage to the original Sulu.  Pretty good casting here.

Already mentioned Quinto as Spock.  The only thing topping him was Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime!  Great scenes and casting (d'oh!) for both.

So that leaves Uhura and Kirk as the major characters not mentioned.  Zoe Saldana was reminiscent of Uhura could have been, I just didn't like the way her part was written in this film.  And try as I might, I just couldn't get Chris Pine as James T Kirk.  It might again have to do with the script, not Chris as Kirk per se, as I could glimmers of him as the Kirk I grew up with...

So, what would I give this film for a rating?  Well, it was a good story even though it changed the 'canon' of the Franchise.  It was worth the money we paid to see it at the Big Screen.  But the time travel which allowed the changing of the Star Trek that I grew up with kept me from giving it more than a Near Mint Minus (NM-) 9.2 out of a 10.0 scale.

~ Michael 

So as promised above, here's Tina POV: 

Star Trek: 9.0

That's my rating for the latest Star Trek movie.

Here at Make It So Marketing's blog, we post daily on comics and pop culture news and events.  Check out our daily blog posts, and new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online Store! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!

Partway through this Memorial Day Weekend...  And I am taking the time to see what is coming up in the way of Comic Cons & Shows in the near future.

One that I've heard is a "good one" for creators that are in independent comics, small press, or self-published comics is the upcoming MoCCA Art Festival that is being held two weekends from this one.

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, (MoCCA), announced a short time ago that the MoCCA Festival 2009 will be held June 6th & 7th at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Avenue and 25th Street in New York City.

Besides hearing good reports from Facebook Friends, I see that the Village Voice calls the MoCCA Festival ""the best small-press nexus (anywhere!)". Plus MoCCA itself says that this year's Festival is  "Now BIGGER than ever!".

So if you are in the area during during that time, prepare for an incredible weekend of comic and cartoon art exhibitors, panels, lectures, sketches, autographs, and more!

So Where Is It?
69th Regiment Armory
68 Lexington Avenue, between 25th and 26th Streets

When Is It?
June 6th and 7th, 11am-6pm

So What's the Cost?
$10 per day
$15 per weekend
MoCCA Members: $10 per weekend.

Who's Going To Be On Panels?
Scheduled to appear are John Green, Tom Hart, Charles Hatfield on Jack Kirby, Al Jaffee, Arnold Roth, Tom Kaczynski, David Mazzuchelli, Dave Roman, Frank Santoro in Conversation with Gary Panter, Seth, Raina Telgemeier, Adrian Tomine, Marion Vitus, and more.  Please Note: Guests and scheduling are subject to change!

Thousands come every summer to meet and purchase works from some of the world's best cartoonists, animators, and graphic novelists. I am including just a few of those in the listings below:

  Kevin H Dixon will be there, along with copies of his works including Gilgamesh, which I blogged about earlier here: CLICK HERE!

  Paul Friedrich, creator of Onion Head Monster will be there also!

  S. Marek Bennet, known for his "Mimi's Doughnuts' and his Comics Workshops will be there. Ask him about his Workshops, which is comics education for all ages!  Plus:  Marek will be debuting his new 'Xeric' book so stop by and find out what that is!

  Danny Hellman, publisher of many comics related publications including Typhon will be there. For my review on Typhon Volume 1, CLICK HERE! 

  Michele Witchipoo, Publisher - Artist - Writer at WitchesBress Press will be there.  She is well known for Psycho Bunny and Babalon Babes!  

  Howie Noeldechen, a.k.a  H.C. Noel says... "I'll have Mr. Scootles, Vincent: The Painter of Death and some promo items for
my new webcomic Tara Normal! Tons of fun!"! 

  One of my all time favorite artists who passed away in 1994, has an active organization carrying on his legacy.  Representatives from The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center will have a table there also. This Museum is organized exclusively for educational purposes; more specifically, to promote and encourage the study, understanding, preservation and appreciation of the work of Jack Kirby. Check it out!

As the 69th Regiment Armory is a much larger venue, nearly 100 more exhibitors will be attending than the previous year.  The above listings are just those creators whose work I am familar with.  Note: If you are a creator reading this post, and wish to be mentioned in this post or future posts, please see my note at the bottom left corner of this blog post!

Here at Make It So Marketing's Blog, we post daily on comics and pop culture news and events.  Check those out as well as our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online Store! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!

Terminator Salvation... takes you on an action-packed ride from the desperate world of the Resistance straight into the inner workings of Skynet.

You'll enjoy hearing famous lines from the previous
films, laugh at a surprise "cameo" and marvel at this new generation of machines.
 

  It's fun to see the young Kyle Reese in his muffled get-up foiling terminators with a mute side kick. Made me think of young Luke Skywalker! Not sure if that's good or bad!

The machines are fascinating - some seem surprisingly easy to kill; others are insidious and nasty. As always, there's always one that just refuses to die! My favorite new machines - those crazy snake-like creatures in the river!

  Sam Worthington steals Christian Bale's thunder in the plum role of Marcus Howard. Is he human? Is he machine? Well, a litte of both. He's a death row inmate reincarnated as a machine. Worthington is great - conflicted and bad-ass like all good action heroes.

Bale, on the other hand, struggles with the thankless role of savior JOhn Connor. Like most women, I like Bale. Every women I told that I was going to see the new Terminator movie told me the same exact thing: "I like Christian Bale." Translation: "He's hot, I'll watch him in anything." Well, ladies, here's your chance to prove it. There's not a lot to love here. He's dirty and scruffy. If he's not kicking metal butt - rather unconvincingly, I might add, he's giving an uninspiring speech over the short wave to rally the troops or listening endlessly to his mother's taped messages - yikes! Those were boring enough in the first movie.

In the previous movies, John Connor is always asking: "Why me? Why am I so special?"  In this movie, I'd hoped we'd get an answer. Unfortunately, we never see how John Connor becomes the savior of the human race.  Yes, he's the clear leader, people are listening to him, but why? How did he carve out this place for himself in human history? It's hard to see him as the leader when he's really just one guy who's extremely lucky and effective against the machines.  To me, he's not the savior, he's the Jack Bauer of 2018.

Think about it:

Bauer has a really bad day
Connor's had a really bad life

Bauer's got Chloe
Connor's got the best tech team in the Resistance

Bauer carries a man-purse of weapons
Connor always has a stash of weapons

Bauer can improvise grabbing anything handy to kill his enemy
Connor makes do with what's at hand at Skynet HQ

Bauer's partners always meet an unfortunate end
Connor's always the last man standing

Bauer's cell phone never fails
Connor's got a Sony!

Bauer's a slightly-built guy who always manages to beat the crap out of much-larger enemies
Connor's tiny compared to the machines he destroys sometimes in hand-to-hand combat

Bauer's always getting double-crossed
Connor's terminators get rebooted

Bauer's family is always being targeted
Connor's family - "You tried to kill my Mother before I was born. You killed my Father!"

Bauer's fate is uncertain at the end of his day
Connor's fate is uncertain at the end of T4

Thankfully, the movie is mostly action leaving us little time to wonder over the implausibility of it all. Don't fret yourself over silly details like where is the Resistance getting its endless supply of jet fuel, bullets, flares, weapons or aircraft?

  Or, how does Connor's wife stay so fresh-faced and clean while she lives in an underground hovel?

  And, don't get me started on Moon Bloodgood's hair. Apparently, the Resistance maintains an endless supply of high-quality hair products which are reserved for their female fighter pilots.

As a straight-out summer action flick, Terminator Salvation is fun and engaging. As a reboot to the Terminator franchise, it's an immense improvement over T3 - but anything would be. I give it an "8" on a scale of 1 to 10.

Here at Make It So Marketing's ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com, we blog daily on comics and pop culture news and events.  Check out our daily blog posts, and new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online Store! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!!