Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Our Take On:   The Dark Knight Rises Film!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3683 -   Well...  We are back from catching a late morning showing of  'The Dark Knight Rises'!  Here is 'Our Take' on the film in this 'Weekend Edition' of my Blog:

Tina:  Walking into the theater for The Dark Knight Rises reminded me of boarding a plane a few weeks after the attacks on September 11. People were quiet, subdued and ultra-polite. But thankfully, most of the seats were filled. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the fans killed in Aurora. I suspect we were not alone in saying a quiet prayer for them before the movie began.

The Dark Knight Rises is a fitting finale to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. The movie builds on events of the second film and harkens back beautiful to the storyline and mood of the origin. If you've read my reviews before, you know I'm a sucker for an origin story; they just can't be beat for building character and an emotional reaction to the action. And, hey, a hot, young Christian Bale doesn't hurt!

This movie opens like a James Bond film with evil Bane stealing a nuclear scientist off a CIA plane and making a mid-air escape. Now that the villian's plans are in motion, it's time to catch up with a battered and beaten Bruce Wayne hiding out in Wayne Manor...and to meet the lovely Catwoman delightfully played by a kick-ass, smart-mouthed Anne Hathaway. We're quickly brought up to date on the past 8 years: Harvey Dent is championed for inspiring the cleaning up of Gotham (1,000 criminals have been imprisoned under the Dent Act) and Batman vilified for killing him. Commissioner Gordon is living a lie, Wayne Enterprises is near bankrupt, and Alfred is worried sick over Master Wayne.

As Bane's diabolical plan unfolds, and Commissioner Gordon is shot, Batman must come out of hiding to battle him. There's only one lone cop played by the terrific Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Who I know you'll be shocked to remember as the kid in Third Rock from the Sun!)

Who else can save Gotham? Unfortunately, this Batman never watched the 1960s tv series and is betrayed by Catwoman. Bane kicks his ass, breaks his back and drops him into a hell-hole of a prison from which no one, save a child, has ever escaped. With Gotham's police force killed or caught in the caved-in sewers, Bane and his army rule Gotham.

Here's where all the Occupy Wall Street references you've been hearing about come in. But if you think that's what this movie is referencing, you need to go back and read your history. (Or, perhaps Nolan is saying Occupiers are just as deceived and manipulated as the French mobs?) Bane and his men 'liberate' the 1,000 prisoners in Gotham's prison. The mob storms the homes and businesses of the rich and hauls them in front of mock courts - look for Dr. Crane/The Scarecrow presiding in a fun cameo. In case you still don't get it, Alfred reads the last page of The Tale of Two Cities. If you're still lost, google "french revolution."

I'm not going to spoil the movie or the ending for you by revealing any more. All I'll say is never trust anyone with an accent in a Batman movie - unless it's Alfred, who had me near tears at one point. In a couple key scenes, Michael Caine finally gets to show the Batman fans why he's considered such a great actor.

I loved Batman Begins, but found The Scarecrow (while very creepy) a little comic-booky.
The Dark Knight grabbed me and never let go, but dark and psychotic, it made for tough going. The Dark Knight Rises pits the Batman against a human foe - no evil powers - just a really mean right hook and a muzzle. Fans can enjoy a new Batman toy - the Bat, a flying fighting machine that looks like a lobster claw - and Catwoman in full leathers riding the Pod or Batmobile - awesome! There's less Batman screen-time and one-liners, those go to Catwoman. But, in The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan pays lovely tribute to the previous films and wraps the trilogy with heart and style. No fan will be disappointed.

My Comic Book Grade:  Very Fine / Near Mint (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grade!

Michael:   Okay, just a reminder that Christian Bale is not exactly my image as Batman... So I wasn't all that thrilled about attending this third of the Batman Trilogy. 

Especially after seeing it was going to be 2 hours & 45 minutes long... With previews in front of the film, I thought that the 3 hours total would be quite long...

Man, was I wrong!  

This third film of the trilogy was the 'Best', IMO!

It could be that Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle / Catwoman / The Cat did a spectacular job!  It could also be that 'Bane', (Tom Hardy), wasn't all that bad as a villain!

The storyline at the beginning was not like a superhero comic book movie, but like Tina and I discussed on the way home... Batman is not a true superhero.  He is a regular guy, without super powers!

The storyline picked up as the film moved along... Batman was not shown for quite a while!  But the minutes before that weren't wasted.  A lot of info was presented, and I could see why this film was 2 hours & 45 minutes long to squeeze it all in, for the final film of the trilogy!

Here's my thoughts on the actors:

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne:  Still not my choice for this character, but an okay job.

Christian Bale as Batman:  Definitely hit 'The Batman' on all cylinders in this film!

Tom Hardy as Bane:  Actually, Tom pulled this portrayal off very well!

Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle / Catwoman:  Anne really shone in these roles!  Loved her portrayals of both characters!

Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth:   Really hung there in this role.  Good job!

Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon:  His role was expanded in this film, and I for one enjoyed seeing more of him.

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox:  Dependable actor in this role!

Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate:  Surprising role!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake:  I enjoyed Joseph's role... and the ending of the film with him in the final scene.  watch for this!

Nestor Carbonell as Mayor Anthony Garcia:  Enjoyed seeing Nestor in this role!

Juno Temple as Holly Robinson:  Seems I kept seeing her in the film with Selina Kyle...

Tom Conti as a prisoner:   Good role playing when helping Bruce Wayne escape from prison.

I found this film to be very worthwhile watching... All 2 hours & 45 minutes of it!

My comic book grade for this film is a Near Mint (NM) 9.4 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

Do not let the incident that took place in Aurora, Colorado Friday early morning marr your attending this film.  I was surprised at the 'lack of violence' in this film, quite honestly...

Here is 'My Take' on the 2nd film of the Trilogy, 'The Dark Knight'.

Here is Tina's 'Take' on the same film, 'The Dark Knight'.

There wasn't a review blog for the first film of this trilogy, as it was shown in 2005, before this blog was started...

If you don't mind spoilers... This is the Wikipedia entry for The Dark Knight Rises!

~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,683 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,759 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On:   Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years (Jack Kirby Collector #58)

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3682 -  I make it a practice of stopping in at the TwoMorrows booth each year during the Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC).

Why?  Well, ever since John Morrow, publisher of this fine magazine, increased the size to over-sized format, I had to stop my subscription to it because of damage in transit to my USPS PO Box.   So I make it a yearly habit to buy the previous issues each year at the Comic-Con, as seen in the above photo!

So what did I miss out on this past year since the last Comic-Con? 

Well, only issue #58 was printed... So I picked it up on the Preview Night of the Comic-Con, and read it while I was standing / sitting in lines for panels during the next four days, (plus this week!).

What's this special double sized issue (book) all about?  Here's the publisher's story on it:

"160-page Trade Paperback - Written by Mark Alexander - Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Fantastic Four #1 with this special squarebound edition (#58) of The Jack Kirby Collector, at regular magazine-size, about the two pop-culture visionaries who created the Fantastic Four, and a decade in comics that was more tumultuous and awe-inspiring than any before or since. Calling on his years of research, plus new interviews conducted just for this book (with Stan Lee, Flo Steinberg, Mark Evanier, Joe Sinnott, and others), regular Jack Kirby Collector magazine contributor Mark Alexander completed this book just prior to his recent passing, and it traces both Lee and Kirby's history at Marvel Comics, and the remarkable series of events and career choices that led them to converge in 1961 to conceive the Fantastic Four. It also documents the evolution of the FF throughout the 1960s, with previously unknown details about Lee and Kirby's working relationship, and their eventual parting of ways in 1970. With a wealth of of historical information and amazing Kirby artwork, Lee & Kirby: THE WONDER YEARS beautifully examines the first decade of the FF, and the events that put into motion the 1960s era that came to be known as the Marvel Age of Comics!"

So, I was pleasantly pleased with this double sized issue that I picked up on Preview Night at the Comic-Con.  As it was a softcover TPB, it would fit nicely in my pack that I carry around during comic conventions.  Plus this was a subject that was dear to me... The Wonder Years from 1961 - 1970 of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. 

First, there was an introduction page by the publisher, John Morrow, stating that the writer of this double issue, Mark Alexander, had died before the double issue (book) was published.  I was sad to hear that...

Then there was the Foreword / Fourword by Mark Alexander, where he explained his mission with this double issue.  Plus what the heck the 'At A Glance' sections were all about.  Those sections would cover the Fantastic Four issues #1 - 102 that Stan & Jack created.  In addition, those sections were broken up into time periods.

Next there was a little bit of background on Atlas Comics (the Pre-Marvel Comics name), of the company that Martin Goodman owned and ran.  This was the chapter titled 'The Knockoff Champion'.  Most of this I already knew, from other books I've read in the past, but it was a good refresher, and would be doubly good for a new reader.

The next chapter was 'Winds of Change: The 1950s', a continuation of the background history.

Then 'The Days of Dr. Droom', (Droom, Not Doom!), which was a feature pre-Fantastic Four. Good little history of this feature...!

Next was 'Genesis', the start of where the Fantastic Four came from, and what led to it being formatted for publication.

Then followed 'The Early Years' with its three 'At A Glance' sections.

Then 'Momentus' with its three 'At A Glance' sections.

Followed by 'Apothesis' along with its three 'At A Glance' sections.

And then... Finally... 'Decline' with its three 'At A Glance' sections!

Very finely tuned for a presentation!

I did find that I didn't agree with all of the choices that Mark made in the 'At A Glance' sections, but found his reasoning to be based on good facts.  

The writing was not 'dry' in presentation, and I found that although I read the book in pieces during sitting in lines for panels, that the writing was not 'choppy', and made sense.

This is a really good overall book, and I'm glad that John Morrow downsized the Jack Kirby Collector to a book size for this double issue!

My comic book grade for this book / double issue is a Near Mint (NM) 9.4 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale!

Here is where you can order your copy now, direct from the publisher!

Oh, and issue #59 was sold on Friday of the Comic-Con, as John received a shipment of them while at the convention.  More on that issue in a following blog!

~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,682 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,759 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On:   The 2012 Comic-Con International: San Diego Souvenir Book!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3681 -   Well... I am still recovering from our five days at the 2012 Comic-Con International: San Diego, (aka San Diego Comic Con or SDCC). 

One of the things that I packed in my bag each day of the Comic-Con was this Souvenir Book that I received on checking in on Preview Night.

Why?  Here's what the Comic-Con had as its promo for the book:

"Here's the cover to the Comic-Con International 2012 Souvenir Book, an exclusive item available only to attendees of this year's event. The cover features the "birthday boys" of Marvel Comics, each celebrating their 50th anniversary this year: Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and Ant-Man. This new piece of art is penciled by John Romita Jr., inked by Klaus Janson, and colored by Dean White. A copy of the Souvenir Book is given free to each attendee (while supplies last). The 192-page, full-color trade paperback includes bios and photos of all the 2012 special guests, plus exclusive content featuring this year's anniversary celebrations, and much more."

I hadn't finished reading this book by the end of the Comic-Con, there was that much content!

Here's my thoughts on this year's souvenir book:

Cover:   Now THAT'S a Cover!  With The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor & Amazing Spider-Man starting 50 years ago... They had to be on the Cover!  Great John Romita Jr. cover!

Table of Contents & Messages from the Comic-Con staff:  Laid out nicely and easily navigated.  Good job on this feature!

Special Guests Feature:  Okay feature, and I liked the colored photos of the special guests.

100 Years of Tarzan & John Carter of Mars:  Very good feature, worthwhile reading.

75 Years of Prince Valiant:  I used to read this in my Sunday newspaper... But we no longer take or get one.  So while it was good reading, my interest in this feature was so-so.

50 Years of Marvel Superheroes:  The ones featured on the front cover of this souvenir book.  Now that was a good feature! 

30 Years of Love and Rockets:  Okay feature, just didn't have the interest for me, as I'm not a regular reader of this series.  Plus it was an interview from 1995 by Neil Gaiman, which was reprinted here because it was out of print(?).

20 Years of Image Comics:  Another just okay feature... Not aimed for my age group... But a good history for those that are not aware of this collective's history.

Program Spotlight -  20 Years of the Comics Art Conference:  I usually attend at least one of the CAC panels / programs during Comic-Con.  Good reading!

Exhibitor Spotlight - 30 Years of Graphitti Designs: Good little history of this company at Comic-Con.

Comic-Con's Inkpot Awards: Nice three page feature on this Award.

2012 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees: Nice listing of the nominees.

Will Eisner Hall of Fame: Seven page feature... Pretty good.

In Memoriam:  Several well written articles on those that passed on this past year.

Other Content:   The artwork submitted by those wanting to be included in this souvenir book ran from pretty good to excellent!  Nice contributions for this book.  Plus the 'Parting shot' page of the contributors to the early years of the 'Marvel Age of Comics' was really swell!

My rating for this 2012 Souvenir Book?  A Near Mint Minus (NM-) 9.2 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.  Thanks to Gary Sassaman and Jackie Estrada for this year's Souvenir Book!

You can find this item, along with other SDCC items from 2012 and prior years  in my online comic book shop!

~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,681 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,759 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents:   My Take On: The Richard Alf Memorial Banquet   (Held During The 2012 Comic-Con International: San Diego on July 14th)

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3680 -   Today I'm taking the time to blog about a special banquet that occured during the Comic-Con International (aka San Diego Comic Con).

I'm talking about the Richard Alf Memorial Banquet that was held Saturday evening on July 14th, 2012 in the Celestial Room of the US Grant Hotel.

If that location sounds familiar, it could be because the US Grant was the first home of the San Diego Comic Con back in 1970!

The banquet was a small gathering, (seating capacity at 130 attendees), but full of well wishes for the man that the Banquet was named for, Richard Alf.

Richard passed away earlier this year in January.  (See Blog #3578 for his passing.) I was able to attend his funeral in Ramona, California, (Blog #3582), on January 12th.  For those of you that don't know... Richard was one of the Co-Founders of the San Diego Comic Con, including financing it for a couple of years.

Greg Koudoulian was the organizer of this event, and was also the host of the evening at the Banquet.  It was a good presentation, where several persons got up after a buffet dinner, and talked a bit about their rememberances of Richard Alf.   Please see the links below for the photos I snapped, and for the videos that will be uploaded.

A Big Thanks to Steve Geppi, of Diamond Comics Distributors / Geppi's Entertainment Museum / Gemstone Publishing,  for financing the memorial banquet!

Others that were there and talked about their experiences with Richard Alf were:  Mark Evanier, George Clayton Johnson, Paul M Sammon, Steve Geppi, Greg Koudoulian, Nick the Doorman from the El Cortez Hotel days, Jackie Estrada, Phil Dana Yeh, Ed Cormier, and Richard's mother!  Plus others that I didn't remember to write down...

The buffet dinner was excellent, the drinks were very fine, the company was great, and a good time was had by all at this memorial banquet in honor of Richard Alf.

This was definitely a Near Mint (NM) 9.4 comic book grade event!

Thanks again to Greg Koudoulian and Steve Geppi for this special event that took place on July 14th!

There is a Richard Alf Legacy Facebook Group Page that you could ask to join.

The photos that I took at this Banquet are shown at this Facebook Fan Page link of mine.

I will be uploading videos to my YouTube channel at this link:  Hamersky On Comics.

Note:  Photos presented at the top of this blog are:

1) The flyer for this special event.  2) Nick the Doorman & Michael D Hamersky prior to the banquet starting.  3) Michael at his table after receiving the 'Blogger of the Century' Award from the Planet El Cortez / 'The Don Room Award' presenters.

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,680 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,759 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents:   Top 10 Takeaways from the Wackiest Trade Show in America: San Diego Comic-Con 2012   By Tina LoSasso!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3679:  

Top 10 Takeaways from the Wackiest Trade Show in America: San Diego Comic-Con 2012 - by Tina Lo Sasso

I've been attending San Diego Comic-Con since 2001. This year marks twelve straight Cons. Lately, I think, never again. The crowds, the lines, the hours, heck, I'm getting old and I really feel it at the con. This year, I thought never again on Preview night! So maybe we ditch Preview Night next year. But, we'll be back.

Here are my top 10 observations of this year's Comic-Con. I wrote this wearing my Observer hat scored at Sunday's Fringe panel.

#1) Firefly: The Smaller the Viewing Audience, the More Ardent the Fans
10 years after FOX cancelled Firefly after one brief season, the Browncoats blew away Comic-Con with their devotion. The line for the Firefly reunion panel will go down in Con history (I hope!). Tears were shed, the origin of Jayne's hat revealed, and graphic novels by Dark Horse announced. All was recorded for a special Science channel reunion show to air December 2012. If you didn't make it into Ballroom 20 (or to Comic-Con), watch the panel for a look at why we love this crazy convention: Firefly 10th Anniversary Panel.  

#2) The Luckiest Fan at Comic-Con
Big Bang Theory fan Mercedes Becerra of Paso Robles, Calif was the luckiest fan at Comic-Con winning the 'golden ticket' - a space flight from XCOR Aerospace on the Lynx Experience. Mercedes was chosen at random from the group of fans asking questions at the Q&A. Runner-up for luckiest fan at Comic-Con was the tallest questioner who kept shaking his head and looked like he would puke while former Shuttle Commander Richard Searfoss described the flight the lucky winner would take. See some of the panel here. At 2:17 note how he bows down in relief!

#3) The Luckiest Panel at Comic-Con
The creators and cast of ParaNorman lucked into the captive-audience opening timeslot on Friday before The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones panels. From Travis Knight, Sam Fell, and Chris Butler, the makers of Coraline, ParaNorman, described as John Carpenter meets John Hughes, couldn't have asked for a better timeslot. The audience got lucky too. The clips looked fun, the stop-motion animation beautiful, and the concept clever. Kodi Smit-McPhee who voices Norman was adorable revealing that his voice dropped during production - you kinda want to see the movie to hear how he handles it! Chris Butler of Laika inadvertently entertained the crowd with unwittingly racy comments about young girls and things you can do with a goat and a camera.  Most cool: Christopher Mintz-Plasse revealed that Kick-Ass 2 starts filming in September. Big surprise for their PR staff for sure!

#4) The Hottest Line on the Exhibit Floor
Beside the collectable toy lines which are always long and unexplainable to this observer, the line to become one of Michonne's pets was the longest - yes, people stood in line all through the three-hour preview night and didn't get their picture taken.

#5) Biggest Mob on the Exhibit Floor
We suspect the San Diego Fire Marshall wants the hide of the genius who booked AMC's The Walking Dead booth across the aisle from The Hobbit. Fans angling to take pics of the ginormous life-size props from The Hobbit jostled with WD fans watching regular folks becoming zombified 'pets' of katana wielding Michonne. But the biggest mob - the kind that makes you think you just might die by trampling - belonged to the Fox booth, even without the signings. Me thinks they must put Ecstasy on those posters or something...

#6) Lines, lines everywhere a line
Now more than ever, we had lines at the Con. At the Falling Skies panel, Drew Roy who plays eldest son Hal explained that when Dad Tom was taken by the aliens, the boys all went up a notch in the family. Well, the same thing happened to the lines this year at Comic-Con. Perhaps this is also the work of aliens. Obscure panels suddenly had lines, people were shut out of "Cartoon voices", Ballroom 20 lines camped overnight, the Hilton ballroom line sat in the sun for hours, large panel rooms had Ballroom 20-like lines...and Hall H - I can't even talk about Hall H. After 4 hours of sleep Saturday night (or I should say Sunday morning), I got up to camp in the Hall H line to see the opening act: Fringe - and ended up in the last row of the cavernous hall!

#7) Line control
My biggest complaint about this year's Con was the line management or lack thereof. Yes, there were more volunteers and security guarding lines and pointing out where to go. However, when the lines moved, latecomers were able to jump easily. The line management for the Hilton's Indigo Ballroom - site of uber-popular TV Guide Fan Favorites panel (where I laughed so hard, the video I took is pretty much unusable) - was insane. We walked into the building, took the escalator up one floor to the Indigo Ballroom where volunteers frantically waved us away from the doors and shooed us downstairs again outside the back of the building where the line snaked Disneyland-style on the walkway by the harbor. No tents. Thanks for the sunburn, Comic-Con (dis)organizers.

But what really got me PO-ed was being usher into Hall H Sunday morning 20 minutes after the opening panel started. Seriously, there's no excuse for not having the room locked and loaded for any opening panel. The Hollywood folks need to test their tech is NO excuse. Have them get up an hour earlier - we all did - and we're not getting paid for it!

#8) The Con is a study in human behavior
For several years now, students have been getting college credits for hanging out at Comic-Con, studying fan behavior and presenting at one of the educational panels. The students are great, their observations are interesting, but they need to come back next year with colleagues from Psych and Sociology departments. Comic-con is a master class in crowd (mob!) behavior, bystander apathy, anger management and group dynamics. To say nothing of the Con goers who could use a little therapy.

#9) Just because you work at WB doesn't mean you're not an idiot
I'm curious who the nimrod is who planned the WB Extra presence at Bayfront Park. Great idea, really poor execution. Why would anyone rent so much space, haul in so much equipment and spend so much money promoting a free venue only to use it when Con goers had much better things to do? Case in point, Wednesday afternoon the convention area was awash with 15,000 Preview night attendees and tons more Con goers checking in. Thousands and thousands of people milled around the Convention area, Gaslamp district and poured over the only part of the WB exhibit that was set up: the Batmobiles. Thursday and Friday there wasn't much else going on - some gaming in a tent. Imagine the fan connections lost by not utilizing the 60,000 foot space when fans had less to do during the day on Wednesday and Thursday.

#10) What the world needs now is more Jackie Chan
When I married Michael over a decade ago, he introduced me to Jackie Chan movies - not just the Rush Hour stuff - the bootleg flicks from China. Needless to say, I love Jackie Chan. Seeing him Thursday afternoon in Hall H was a Con highlight. Answering a question, Jackie talked about bullying and violence and what he portrays in his movies. It was lovely. What a beautiful human being. We could all use a little more of Jackie Chan's attitude - especially when things get crazy at the con.

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,679 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,759 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

---